Barbara Lucas

Michigan’s maple syrup industry is growing at a time when climate change is both shortening the sap collection season and moving northward the range of sugar maples.  But new technologies have increased efficiencies, and the recent cold winters have been great for maple sugar farmers. 

Things are sweet in Michigan’s Sugarbush!  In this installment of WEMU’s “The Green Room,” Barbara Lucas explores the environmental considerations of this homegrown industry.

Are today's children spending too much time indoors and online? Might a year-round, outdoors education serve them well? Find out as The Green Room explores 'Learning Without Walls.' 

To decrease its carbon footprint, the Climate Action Plan of Ann Arbor calls for increasing walking, biking and public transit.  But heavy precipitation events have increased 37% in the Midwest in the last century, and keeping pathways clear can be a challenge.  In this installment of WEMU’s “The Green Room,” we explore local attempts to make sustainable travel viable, year-round.

Toxic algae has been plaguing Lake Erie—why, and what can we do to stop it?  Perspectives abound, especially when it comes to whether or not measures to prevent it should be voluntary or prescribed by law.  In this month’s “Green Room” show Barbara Lucas explores this simple organism and the complex problems it’s causing.  

Michigan gets more sunlight than Germany. Why does that matter? Germany happens to be the world leader in solar installations.  But we lag far behind Germany in terms of how much of our solar energy we harness.  In this segment of WEMU’s “The Green Room,” Barbara Lucas looks at factors that may spur more local folks to go solar.

In today’s world, most of our food comes in packages at from the grocery store, and few of us have a real connection to how it got there.  The locavore movement is all about  the benefits of knowing your foods. In the November installment of 89.1 WEMU's 'The Green Room', we  look at local groups reaping myriad benefits of from working to grow their own food.

Bats are in double trouble:  Bat species that migrate long distances are being killed in wind turbines, while White-nose syndrome is devastating bat species that migrate shorter distances.  Meanwhile, homeowners routinely kill bats when they find them in their houses.  But we need bats (just not in our attics!), so safe and humane removal can be done via a “bat exclusion.” That's the focus of the Halloween installment of WEMU’s “The Green Room".   

DDT wiped out Osprey from Southern Michigan, but a reintroduction program has resulted in over fifty breeding pairs in the region.  It is reason to celebrate, but several challenges remain. Listen for more in the September edition of WEMU’s “The Green Room”. 

After years of industrial contamination and economic stagnation, things may be turning around in Ann Arbor’s Lower Town, thanks to a new recreational feature in the Huron River, and the soon-to-be-announced DTE proposal to develop the Mich-Con property across the river.  Community responses are mixed, ranging from cautious optimism to elation.  

Michigan's bee population has been devastated. Monarch Butterflies are in swift decline. Our food, and landscaping habits, may be to blame.

Approximately 15 percent of Americans under age 70 have preventable noise-related hearing loss. New research is showing that seemingly benign levels of noise can have impacts, and the effects can go far beyond just hearing loss. In this month’s edition of 89.1 WEMU's “The Green Room,” Barbara Lucas explores sound in our environment and it’s potential effects. 

Water is life-giving, but too much, too fast is destructive. Climate change is causing more severe rainstorms, creating challenges for both homeowners and municipal governments.

In nature, Chimney Swifts nest in large hollow trees, but when the logging of Michigan did away with those, the swifts adapted to large chimneys.  

Now, suitable chimneys are also in short supply, and Swift numbers are dwindling.  In the March installment of The Green Room​, Barbara Lucas looks at what we can do to help out.

High numbers of White-tailed deer in the southern Lower Peninsula are causing concerns about deer-car collisions, rising auto insurance premiums, crop losses, Lyme Disease borne by deer ticks, lack of forest regeneration, and ecosystem imbalance, to name just of few of the many issues.  Opinions on what to do about the abundance of deer are even more wide-ranging.  In this installment of WEMU’s The Green Room, Barbara Lucas examines some of the complexities involved, and some of the solutions offered.

Collegiate athletic events are big generators:  of excitement, of revenue, and of waste.  How can we cut down on the trash, while leaving the finances and fun intact?  In this month's installment of The Green Room, WEMU looks at game-day waste at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, and Michigan stadium in Ann Arbor.

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Of 22 fatal crashes in Washtenaw County in 2012, six of those fatalities were bikes and pedestrians.  Some say our speed limits are too fast, while others say they are too low.  In this month's installment of WEMU's "The Green Room", Reporter Barbara Lucas explores the controversies regarding speed limits.  

When you buy a clove of garlic or jar of honey at the chain grocery store in your town, do you ever wonder where it came from? Chances are, it was produced in China. Think about the amount of fuel, and carbon emissions,  it must take to get those items to your table.  In this month's installment of WEMU's "The Green Room",  Reporter Barbara Lucas explores access to local foods and its impact on environment and community.  

Open natural areas such as meadows, prairies, and "oak openings" are declining habitats, which spells trouble for the species that depend on them.

Barbara Lucas reports:

Washtenaw County continues to be a leader in environmental stewardship. Among the ideas and initiatives underway is an increased commitment to wind energy.

In this month's installment of WEMU's The Green Room, reporter Barbara Lucas explores the myriad of issues surrounding wind energy. Barbara travels to communities where wind energy is more prevalent, and then returns to Ann Arbor to see where we are, and where we are going.

Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti are increasingly becoming bicycle-friendly.  As residents throughout Washtenaw County look long and hard at how to better live sustainably in the future, this form of alternative transportation will only continue to grow. In this month's installment of WEMU's "The Green Room", Barbara Lucas explores where we are locally, and how we stack up against a city like Copenhagen, Denmark where 55-percent of the population commutes by bike.

Clean Water sustains life. And, clean water is dependent on a healthy watershed. Measuring the health of these watersheds is not just the job of scientists, As Barbara Lucas discovers in this months installment of WEMU's "The Green Room",  it also takes a virtual army of citizen volunteers.  

From a half-dozen college students with a beat up truck to a major business, Barbara Lucas traces the 35 year history of Recycle Ann Arbor on The Green Room from WEMU.

Being environmentally responsible, even in death.  A fascinating look at 'green burials' on The Green Room from WEMU.

This week on The Green Room, Barbara Lucas examines how available housing choices -- or the lack thereof -- in Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor, impact the level of greenhouse gasses.

On any given day, we waste a lot of food, whether it's during preparation, after it hits our plates, or because it's gone bad in the refrigerator.  Most of us probably don't think of this as an environmental issue, but it is.