Véronique LaCapra

Science Reporter

Science reporter Véronique LaCapra first caught the radio bug writing commentaries for NPR affiliate WAMU in Washington, D.C. After producing her first audio documentaries at the Duke Center for Documentary Studies in N.C., she was hooked! She has done ecological research in the Brazilian Pantanal; regulated pesticides for the Environmental Protection Agency in Arlington, Va.; been a freelance writer and volunteer in South Africa; and contributed radio features to the Voice of America in Washington, D.C. She earned a Ph.D. in ecosystem ecology from the University of California in Santa Barbara, and a B.A. in environmental policy and biology from Cornell. LaCapra grew up in Cambridge, Mass., and in her mother’s home town of Auxerre, France.

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Mo. gets federal grant to build online health insurance exchange

Credit (via Flickr/Jennifer Boriss)

By Véronique LaCapra

Missouri has received a federal grant of close to $21 million to help build an online health insurance exchange.

11:49 pm

Tue August 9, 2011

EPA says north St. Louis residents near Carter Carburetor plant are safe from pollutants

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Credit (Véronique LaCapra, St. Louis Public Radio)

The Carter Carburetor plant spans an entire city block and has been vacant since 1984.

Credit (Véronique LaCapra, St. Louis Public Radio)

The Herbert Hoover Boys & Girls Club sits directly across the street from the former Carter Carburetor plant.

By Véronique LaCapra

The Environmental Protection Agency says testing near the old Carter Carburetor plant in north St. Louis shows offsite contamination is too low to cause health problems.

The EPA tested air, soil, and sediments in a one-block radius around the plant for PCBs, dioxins, and other industrial pollutants.

3:09 pm

Tue August 9, 2011

Nitrate pollution in Mississippi River Basin remains at 1980s levels, despite reduction efforts

Credit (Courtesy U.S. Geological Survey)

A map showing each of the sites involved in the U.S. Geological Survey's study on nitrate pollution in the Mississippi River Basin.

By Véronique LaCapra

A new study shows that despite decades of effort to reduce nitrate pollution in the Mississippi River Basin, concentrations remain as high today as they were in the 1980s.

The U.S. Geological Survey conducted the study, which looked at nitrate levels at eight sites on the Mississippi, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, and Ohio rivers.

USGS hydrologist and study lead Lori Sprague said the next step will be to figure out where the pollution is coming from.

3:12 pm

Mon August 1, 2011

Public asked to comment on proposal to replace hundreds of trees near Gateway Arch

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Credit (David Cappaert, Michigan State University)

An adult emerald ash borer.

Credit (James W. Smith, USDA APHIS PPQ)

An ash tree showing damage from the larval stage of the emerald ash borer.

By Véronique LaCapra

The National Park Service is bracing for the possible loss of more than 900 trees near the Gateway Arch. That’s what could happen if the emerald ash borer makes it to the St. Louis area.

The emerald ash borer has killed millions of ash trees since it was accidentally introduced to the U.S. in the early 1990s.

6:35 am

Mon August 1, 2011

St. Louis blogger helps inner city youth find "on-ramp" to science

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Credit (Alecia Hoyt Photography - www.aleciahoyt.com)

Danielle Lee has been blogging about science since 2006.

Credit (Danielle Lee)

Lee blogs about science you can see in your neighborhood park or backyard. Here, she holds a young goldfinch.

By Véronique LaCapra

Listen

The text that follows is a condensed version of a longer interview, which you can listen to above.

Science blogger Danielle Lee is on a roll.

The Memphis native recently got her Ph.D. in animal behavior at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

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health insurance exchange

4:38 pm

Fri August 12, 2011