Researchers, patients optimistic in fight against alpha-gal syndrome
A support group and a lab in the St. Louis area provide resources for people with the allergy to mammal products — and evidence that its effects can be reversed.
Projects
Explore special series and collaborative reporting projects conducted by the Ag & Water Desk and other news partners.
When Data Centers Come Knocking: A special reporting project from the Desk and the Missouri School of Journalism scrutinizes the national push for more data centers.
Down the Drain: Wetlands are places where land and water meet. Throughout the Mississippi River Basin, wetlands store floodwater, improve drinking water quality and serve as homes for millions of birds and other animals. But this special ecosystem is facing growing threats from development, pollution, climate change, and recent court rulings that leave them vulnerable to destruction. This landmark reporting project explores the wonder of and threats to wetlands.
Farm to Trouble: Flowing down the Mississippi River, the excess fertilizer that washes off vast swaths of farmland fuels a persistent “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico and threatens drinking water supplies upstream. Yet despite more than a quarter-century of federal effort and billions spent on potential solutions, experts say the watershed is “not even close” to its targets for fixing the problem. In this special series, the Desk examines what can be done to stem the flow of the farm runoff choking the Gulf.
A Changing Basin: It’s a crucial moment for the watershed — climate change is bringing more extreme weather patterns, with the river and its tributaries frequently swinging between flooding and drought, straining infrastructure and flooding communities. Extreme heat and smoke-filled skies are threatening public health. Key species are being affected by these extremes, threatening ecological collapse. The Desk shows how climate change is changing the basin, and how humans and other species are adapting to the new normal.
When It Rains: A Desk analysis found that average annual rainfall has increased by upwards of 8 inches in the past 50 years in much of the basin while also falling in heavier bouts, causing repeated flooding and raising many questions about how we live in a wetter world. In its first collaborative reporting project, the Desk explores how this is affecting the region and what people are doing about it.