Christopher X J. Jensen
Professor, Pratt Institute

Model suggests that warming climate will catalyze greater insect-pest crop losses

Posted 30 Aug 2018 / 0

Science “Insect threats to food security” Science “Increase in crop losses to insect pests in a warming climate” This is scary, especially since this is a global estimate that has never before been modeled. I found it interesting that the temperate-zone effects are most profound because the effects of warming are not so extreme as to lower Read More

A Minor Post, Climate Change, Food, Sustainable Agriculture

Escape is a big risk in aquaculture

Posted 30 Aug 2018 / 0

Science “Chile’s salmon escape demands action” Feral crops and livestock can present potential invasive species problems on land, but it is easy to see how aquaculture would present even larger problems: although aquaculture does involve “domesticated fish”, those fish are far less dependent on human care than their terrestrial counterparts.

Aquaculture, Food, Invasive Species

Is it possible that Trump’s science-adviser is a stealth climate-change accepter?

Posted 30 Aug 2018 / 0

Nature “Trump’s science-adviser pick hedges on climate change” There’s not a lot of reason to think that anyone can soften President Trump’s irresponsible stance on climate change action, but maybe Kelvin Droegemeier is trying to sneak some climate realism into the White House? It’s bizarre how these things work, but I am actually somewhat more optimistic Read More

A Minor Post, Climate Change, Political Science, Public Policy, Uncategorized

Is sexualization of women driven by the structure of our economy?

Posted 30 Aug 2018 / 0

PNAS “Income inequality not gender inequality positively covaries with female sexualization on social media” This study kind of blew up my head (well, at least blew up the preconceptions in my head). It would seem so logical to predict that gender inequality would be the main cause of the sexualization of women on social media. Read More

A Minor Post, Competition, Economics, Human Evolution, Human Nature, Sexual Competition, Uncategorized

Both primates have their own uses for the same land

Posted 30 Aug 2018 / 0

PNAS “Small room for compromise between oil palm cultivation and primate conservation in Africa” This study reaches what is probably not a surprising conclusion: if we want to grow tropical plants for food, we are likely to displace tropical mammals. Palm oil is particularly frightening because it seems to like to grow in areas where endangered Read More

A Minor Post, Anthropogenic Change, Conservation Biology, Primates, Sustainability, Sustainable Agriculture

Can a realistically-parameterized model tell us why our brains are so big?

Posted 30 Aug 2018 / 0

Nature “Sizing up human brain evolution” Nature “Inference of ecological and social drivers of human brain-size evolution” This is an interesting study that I simultaneously think is really cool and has some major flaws. What’s cool about this study is that it trys to get at this question with a model that’s (reasonably) constrained by observed parameter Read More

A Minor Post, Allometries, Articles, Brain size, Cognitive Ability, Evolution, Human Evolution, Individual-based Models, Modeling (General), Neuroscience, Uncategorized

Professor Jensen’s Guide to Urban Cycling

Posted 22 Aug 2018 / 0

Welcome to Brooklyn: it’s a great place to cycle if you know how to do so safely. In August of 2018 I was asked to give a one-hour workshop on urban cycling as part of Pratt’s new student orientation program. I figured that I should condense my thoughts on the why, how, when, where, and Read More

A Major Post, Altruism, Pollution, Pratt Institute, Sustainability, Sustainable Transportation, Urban Planning

PBS’ Deep Look on mole crabs

Posted 11 Mar 2018 / 0

Here’s another great Deep Look on one of my favorite creatures, the Pacific Mole Crab. As usual we get amazing video of behaviors that are really easy to miss… even if you like to mess with these critters on the beach.

A Minor Post, Adaptation, Behavior, Behavioral Ecology, Marine Ecosystems, Predation

PBS’ Deep Look on Firefly communication and deception

Posted 11 Mar 2018 / 0

These Deep Look shorts are really well-produced! This one gives us a beautiful view into the luminescent courtship and predatory deception of various species of fireflies.

A Minor Post, Adaptation, Behavior, Behavioral Ecology, Coevolution, Communication, Film, Television, & Video, Predation, Sex and Reproduction, Sexual Selection

I will present my EnviroAtlas class activities at NCSE 2018

Posted 04 Jan 2018 / 0

I guess that some people are really good at planning out where they are going with their careers, but for me serendipity seems to play a really big role. Rather than charting a particular course and then plotting my expedition from “now” to “future goal”, I seem to be more apt to catch a wave Read More

A Major Post, Conferences, Conservation Biology, Ecosystem Services, Environmental Justice, Geography, Higher Education, MSWI-270C, Ecology, Environment, & the Anthropocene, Sustainability, Sustainable Urban Design, Teaching, Teaching Tools