outdoors

Climbing rocks and revenue in the not-so-flat Midwest
A person climbs a steep rock face with a line of rope stretching from the ground up to their harness.

A climber navigating Slugg’s Bluff, the 80-foot-tall quartzite cliff that climbers have been enjoying since the 1970s. (Courtesy of the Upper Peninsula Climbing Coalition)

Cameryn Cass
Michigan State University
Rock climbing as a sport is gaining popularity in America and around the world. Can outdoor climbers fill an important role as environmental stewards and conservationists?
Planting seeds of mental health wellness in the face of COVID-19 stressors
Poonam Narotam
Northwestern University
As the COVID-19 pandemic increased the nationwide prevalence of common mental health conditions, such as anxiety and depression, and Chicagoans turned to community gardening to counteract the symptoms last summer.