National Geographic Magazine April 2022

DEAR READER, For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to make a difference, to help make the world a better place. It’s why I became a journalist 42 years ago and why I came to National Geographic. This is my last letter to you as editor in chief. I’m deeply grateful to have spent eight years working with some of the world’s best journalists—dedicated professionals who’ve received 10 National Magazine Awards, three Pulitzer Prize finalist nominations, two Webby Media Company of the Year honors, and hundreds of other accolades during my time as editor. I’m leaving National Geographic for the world of higher education. At Arizona State University I’ll do what I can to strengthen journalism during a challenging time for the free press. And I’ll be working with the next…

WHY LINCOLN? That’s the question Greta Pratt asked the costumed men before her camera, all of whom committed a portion of their lives to a president now gone for more than 150 years. For these fans, Pratt learned, Abraham Lincoln “embodies one of America’s most cherished tenets: that the common man, through sheer hard work and determination, can elevate his status in society.” At four annual conventions of the Association of Lincoln Presenters, Pratt met men and women who perform as the president and first lady at schools, senior centers, and other venues. For the portraits in her project, she framed the men in softly focused, pastoral backgrounds reminiscent of historical paintings, and she challenged them to “summon up your inner Lincoln.” They did so gladly. “Lincoln brings out the best in…

ILLUMINATING THE MYSTERIES—AND WONDERS—ALL AROUND US EVERY DAY AT ITS MOST PEACEFUL, the Indiangrass Preserve in southeast Texas is hushed and still. Its springtime canvas is lush with prairie grass; monarch butterflies cling to yellow tickseed flowers as eastern bluebirds circle overhead. Come summer, rains will douse its shallow wetlands, where bobcats pause to drink as they prowl for cottontails An agrochemical research facility occupied part of the site as recently as 2001. Then the Katy Prairie Conservancy restored the land into a nature preserve. Since 1992 the conservancy has protected more than 18,000 acres of Texas land that otherwise might have been developed, says Elisa Donovan, its vice president and general counsel. The conservancy has championed tallgrass prairie and wetlands, plentiful species, and rare ones, such as the crawfish frog and the…

When a human life’s end raises the question of what to do with the mortal remains, are some solutions greener than others? Parties to the debate give different answers. Conservation cemetery advocates point to the environmental impact of conventional burials, in which a person is laid to rest in a casket, with a concrete liner, underground. Such interments typically involve headstones and other end-of-life products that may travel thousands of miles, creating emissions along the way. Cremation is an alternative but not a climate-friendly option, experts say: Similar to how carbon stored in roots is released when a tree is cut down, carbon that makes up part of the human body is released into the atmosphere when the remains are incinerated at 1,400 to 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit for multiple hours.…

In a conservation cemetery, if markers like gravestones aren’t used, how will visitors know if a grave is nearby? Planners at the Katy Prairie Conservancy intend to use metal survey spikes with small medallions on top. They will be inserted into the ground near graves yet will be subtle enough to not interrupt the appearance of the preserve’s landscape. As Donovan says, though, the group wants a clear way to tell where everyone is buried. That’s why GPS coordinates will also be used as part of the grave markings, allowing friends and families of the dead to locate a grave on their smartphones if, say, the prairie grass is too tall to recognize it. The conservancy also hopes to create digital remembrances for each person buried at the preserve—online obituaries…