Joan Melcher is a writer and editor based in Missoula, Montana.
Sitting squarely on the Continental Divide, the mining town of Butte routinely hosts a fair piece of the world's movers and shakers as it works to shift its gaze from one boom to another.
Additional studies suggest that common pesticides may be endocrine disruptors, bad news that nonetheless warms the heart of one citizen scientist.
John Lennon said imagining world peace is easy if you try. Imagining the energy makeup of a country four decades from now may be a little more difficult.
The manager of the energy portfolio for the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory discusses the benefits of evening out our day’s use of electricity and how future appliances will decide when they can spark up most cheaply.
The Friendship Paradox may provide a handy predictor for whether a flu bug will result in a mass outbreak or a few cases of the sniffles.
A groundbreaking study of pristine national parks in the Western United States found an amazing array of airborne pollutants, including some chemicals banned for decades.
Oil spill cleanup remains a most primitive science, but it hasn’t been for a want of experimentation. Here are seven methods that have met with varying success.
In a Miller-McCune.com Q&A, Asia watcher Christina Larson questions the zero-sum mentality in which green-tech advancement elsewhere somehow hurts the United States.
In a Miller-McCune Q&A, the co-author of the 'Rising Tigers, Sleeping Giant' report addresses the United States' stumbling response to green energy.
Judy Hoy's lonely crusade to determine if farm chemicals are deforming deer boosted by falling populations
Depression-era health solution may find new favor in the modern American struggle for health care change.
Wonking Class Hero wins grant to continue work on preserving Montana's evaporating indigenous culture.
The perception that a veneer of certainty must reign over all levels of climate change has led proponents to come a cropper.
Two recent studies find more Xena than imperiled Penelope among stereotype-busting women.
With the right parenting, the mischievous -- but not the outright evil -- may be on the fast track to a leadership role.
Worldwatch founder Lester Brown, long known for dire prognosis, reports cheerful climate and energy news for United States.
In honor of Global Handwashing Day, we examine the hygiene of public restroom users and what motivates them to wash up.
Fleeing congestion and high taxes, America's internal migrants must have Horace Greeley spinning in his grave.
Science casting wide net in search of chemicals seen as likely suspects in feminization and reproductive anomalies being spotted worldwide.
Judy Hoy has tracked genital malformations among Montana's roadkill for years. She's been reporting disturbing trends for years, but few are paying her heed.
Researchers have found that greater use of flu shots was accompanied by a reduction in prescriptions for antibiotics — a blessing for those concerned about overuse.
Our Joan Melcher visits a town hall featuring Barack Obama and reflects on the nature of free speech.
Ancient Greek wanderers knew something modern mortgage agents and serial snackers don't: It's easy to overestimate your willpower to resist.
The states producing the most carbon per capita are financially the states least-capable of paying for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The executive director of the Consortium for Conservation Medicine explains that while zoonotic diseases like swine flu are increasingly with us, quick public health reflexes can successfully clamp down on the outbreak. A Miller-McCune.com interview.
The current swine flu pandemic is surprising in some ways and predictable in others.
Julie Cajune leads a groundbreaking Montana initiative to compile American-Indian history and include it in public education.
Americans seem to be of two minds on the reality of climate change, and which mind is ahead depends on when you ask.
Geothermal energy, dubbed by some as a 'sleeping giant' or renewable power in the United States, appears as one of the most attractive climate-friendly options available.
The nation's largest natural gas producer discusses the 'ocean' of untapped product available in North America.
Energy researcher Jonathan Dorn says he backs electric cars, dismisses natural gas as our savior and reluctantly supports a Big Three bailout.
A method of buttressing California's aging levees shows promise for capturing carbon dioxide.
The fossil-fueled portions of T. Boone Pickens' energy plan for the U.S. have had a rough ride.
Researchers say strictly land-line phone polling is missing a younger, wireless demographic.
With a clear cash incentive to reduce garbage, the 'one-can' concept gains ground.
Our Joan Melcher, in Denver with her Democratic delegate dad, notes how a big event can still be a green event.
In planning a diet based on global concerns, sometimes it's better that there are miles to go before you eat.
Solar is a great theoretical answer to climate concerns and energy independence. Although some nettlesome questions keep it from becoming a practical solution, skyrocketing oil makes some answers more palatable.
We've got deserts with no people and people with no power. So, like an electrical Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, we've got thinkers with an idea ...
A conversation with renowned entomologist Hans Herren on a United Nations report calling for changes in how the world produces its food.
While industrial production of ethanol may not be the savior as it was once heralded, home distillers are willing to tap into a more parochial form of energy independence.
A recent study shows that life spans are decreasing for some regions in America where reduced access to Medicaid is common.
Keeping trace contaminants out of drinking water is easier and cheaper than removing them later.
Humans are actually less likely to be harmed by traces of detergents and drugs in our drinking water than are other species.
As weather patterns are likely to change with the climate, a national NOAA project centers on gathering meteorological data both before and during significant storms to create precision forecasts that researchers hope will allow us up to a week's notice.