- Today we speak with Dawn Biehler, an associate professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, whose research focuses on the history and public health impacts of rats and other pest species in Baltimore.
- The issue of urban pests like rats in Baltimore has been in the news lately due to tweets sent by US President Donald Trump about the city being “rat and rodent infested.” Trump isn’t the first American politician to use this kind of rhetoric to target communities that are predominantly made up of people of color, while ignoring the fact that policies deliberately designed to marginalize communities of color are at the root of the pest problems in many cities.
- Biehler, who is also the author of the 2013 book Pests in the City: Flies, Bedbugs, Cockroaches, and Rats, joins us on this episode of the Mongabay Newscast to discuss how rat infestations in cities are actually an environmental justice issue and how they can be dealt with in an environmentally sustainable manner.
Today we speak with Dawn Biehler, an associate professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, whose research focuses on the history and public health impacts of rats and other pest species in Baltimore.
Listen here:
The issue of urban pests like rats in Baltimore has been in the news lately due to tweets sent by US President Donald Trump about the city being “rat and rodent infested.” Trump isn’t the first American politician to use this kind of rhetoric to demean communities that are predominantly made up of people of color while ignoring the fact that policies deliberately designed to marginalize communities of color are at the root of the pest problems in many cities.
Unlike Trump, Dawn Biehler actually knows what she’s talking about when it comes to the root causes of rodent infestations in cities like Baltimore. She has just penned an op-ed in the Baltimore Sun newspaper that looks at how racial segregation and inequitable funding for urban housing and infrastructure contributes to rat infestations.
Biehler, who is also the author of the 2013 book Pests in the City: Flies, Bedbugs, Cockroaches, and Rats, joins us on this episode of the Mongabay Newscast to discuss how rat infestations in cities are actually an environmental justice issue and how they can be dealt with in an environmentally sustainable manner.
Here’s this episode’s top news:
- July 2019 was the hottest month ever recorded on Earth
- As Amazon deforestation in Brazil rises, Bolsonaro administration attacks the messenger (commentary)
- In Indonesia, a court victory for Bali’s ban on single-use plastics
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