Live updates from opening day 

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support

If you’ve been near a boat landing in Minnesota this summer, you’ve probably seen dire warnings about zebra mussels. The 

Department of Natural Resources says about five percent

 of Minnesota’s more than 11,000 lakes are infested with the fingernail-sized mollusk, and they are always trying to limit spread.   

That word — infested — hints at what the DNR thinks of invasive zebra mussel. It’s the language of contamination, infection and ruin. In her new book, “

Invasive Species, Humans, and Where We All Belong

,” science writer Amy Crawford examines how we came to see certain plants and animals as invading and marauding. She writes that, in his age of anxiety, “stories about invasive species tap into widely held feelings about environmental loss.”

This week on Big Books and Bold Ideas, Kerri Miller talks with Crawford about invasion biology and the hard questions that surround it: What’s considered native to an ecosystem? What do we do when our own damage of a habitat gives way to new plants, insects and animals? And is it time to reconsider our attempts to control these environments?

Subscribe to Big Books and Bold Ideas with Kerri Miller on 

for the latest book and author news and must-read recommendations.

Arts and Culture

Science

The Thread® - Books and Literary News

Shows

Big Books & Bold Ideas with Kerri Miller

On Air

Host

Author

A new book by science writer Amy Crawford examines what we call invasive. How do we decide that one plant or one animal is undesirable? It’s more random and less scientific than you might think. 

A new book by science writer Amy Crawford, "Undesirable," examines what we call invasive. How do we decide that one plant or one animal is undesirable? It’s more random and less scientific than you might think.

What makes something invasive?

An orange sign says "Invasive species alert." 

What makes something invasive? A new book explores that, and environmental loss

Go Deeper.

Like this?

News you can use in your inbox