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Morgan Erickson-Davis

About

Morgan has been writing for Mongabay since 2008 and came on full-time in 2014. Trained in biology, Morgan has taken any available opportunity to learn more about the world, from working as a fisheries biologist aboard longliners and freighters in the South Pacific to evaluating river health in western Montana. Morgan spent eight years editing technical papers before jumping into journalism, with more than 50 manuscripts under her belt. Currently, she manages Mongabay's forests and global palm oil reporting programs.

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1026 stories
Paddle boarders over a coral reef in Indonesia.

Will temperate seas act as refuge for coral reefs? Not in time, study says

Edward Carver 8 Jul 2025
Squat lobsters and soft coral in the deep sea.

U.S. federal agency clears ways for deep-sea mining — and companies are lining up

Elizabeth Claire Alberts 8 Jul 2025
A brittle star (Gorgonocephalus sp.), recognizable by its numerous abundantly branched arms, attached to a white coral (Desmophyllum pertusum).

First-ever assessment highlights threats to Atlantic cold-water corals

Keith Anthony Fabro 30 Jun 2025
Fishermen releasing a sea turtle.

Peru’s new bycatch training aims to help save hooked sea turtles: Q&A with fisher Gustavo Rosales

Ana Cristina Alvarado 18 Jun 2025

In Peru, Yine women show how defending the Amazon supports local livelihoods

Geraldine Santos 18 Jun 2025

Microplastics and melting ice reveal deepening crisis in Antarctica

Soledad Domínguez 16 Jun 2025
A shortfin mako

Endangered shark trophies dominate the online wildlife trade, study finds

Spoorthy Raman 11 Jun 2025
A diver applies an amoxicillin paste to stony coral tissue loss disease-affected corals in Roatan, Honduras. The antibiotic paste can slow or halt lesion progression. Image by Antonio Busiello.

Researchers race to understand disease killing Caribbean corals at unprecedented rates

Ruth Kamnitzer 6 Jun 2025

Researchers identify 22 key areas for protecting struggling giant otters

Geraldine Santos 4 Jun 2025
Two lithodid crabs exhibiting mating behavior while perched on top of a basaltic rocky outcrop with an anemone (Liponema sp.) and a white sponge in the background.

Only a tiny % of the deep seafloor has ever been visually observed: Study

Edward Carver 30 May 2025
Residents of the village of Baraca gather at a mangrove restoration site.

Guinea-Bissau’s grassroots efforts offer a blueprint for global mangrove restoration (commentary)

Abdoulaye Ndiaye 29 May 2025

Scientists rediscover a Mexican rabbit they hadn’t seen in 120 years

Astrid Arellano 23 May 2025
A forest fire burns in Valparaíso, Chile, in February 2024. Image courtesy of the Gobierno de Chile via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0 CL)

Tropical forest loss hit new heights in 2024; fire a major driver in Latin America

Ruth Kamnitzer 21 May 2025

Study finds fast traffic noise is infuriating Galápagos warblers

Spoorthy Raman 20 May 2025
A crab-eating macaque (Macaca fascicularis), incredulous that its habitat may be able to coexist with oil palm crops without affecting commercial productivity. Image by Alain Rival/TRAILS.

Borneo project hopes to prove that forests and oil palms can coexist

Louise Hunt 15 May 2025

Scientists warn coral restoration can’t keep pace with global reef collapse

Elizabeth Fitt 29 Apr 2025

Whales and dolphins at risk as report reveals ecological decline in Gulf of California

Astrid Arellano 25 Apr 2025
The 14 women who make up Las Chelemeras.

‘It has been worth it’: The local women saving Yucatán’s mangroves

Astrid Arellano 25 Apr 2025
A part of Putumayo rainforest showing areas of deforestation.

Armed groups, cattle ranchers drove 35% rise in Colombia’s deforestation in 2024

Antonio José Paz Cardona 18 Apr 2025
Red deer in the Rhodope Mountains, Bulgaria.

How is conservation preparing for a much hotter world? Experts share

Jeremy Hance 10 Apr 2025

As Acapulco’s mangroves disappear, Mexico takes strides to protect its coastal forests

Gonzalo Ortuño López 8 Apr 2025
Roots and nodules of a lab-grown yam plant. Image courtesy of Asrat Amele / IITA.

Farmers turn to living ‘yam sticks’ to grow their crop and spare the forest

Mark Hillsdon 3 Apr 2025
A grizzled tree kangaroo (Dendrolagus inustus)

PNG’s Torricelli Mountains teem with life — and the risk of extinction

John Cannon 31 Mar 2025
A collared wolf from the Druid pack

How one woman’s wolf ‘moon shot’ changed Yellowstone forever: Interview with director Tom Winston

Jeremy Hance 11 Mar 2025
A flooded field in Lake Province, Chad, in October 2024. The Lutheran World Foundation (LWF) is working with farmers groups as part of their three year "Gender Transformative Climate Adaptation" project. Image courtesy of Marie Renaux/LWF

Lake Chad isn’t shrinking — but climate change is causing other problems

Ruth Kamnitzer 28 Feb 2025
Black flying foxes are found in the forests of the Kimberley region of northern Australia. Image by Andrew Mercer via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).

In Australia’s little-known rainforests, tradition and science collaborate for good

Nick Rodway 28 Feb 2025
The Kazembe nursery group with Mulanje cedar seedlings in 2018. Community tree nurseries, set up with assistance from MMCT, BGCI and other partners, have been central in building support for Mulanje cedar restoration. The nurseries also demonstrate that it is possible to cultivate native trees, something many people previously did not think was possible. Image courtesy of Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI).

Reforesting Malawi’s ‘Island in the Sky’ to save its vanishing woodlands

Ruth Kamnitzer 28 Feb 2025
A Chinese pangolin in Guangdong, China

Pangolin burrows are biodiversity magnets in burnt forests, study shows

Spoorthy Raman 20 Feb 2025
Liberia is home to three species of pangolin, which are also referred to scaly anteaters. This tree pangolin (Phataginus tricuspis) is listed as Endangered while the other two - the giant pangolin (Manis gigantea) and long-tailed pangolin (Manis tetradactyla) - are listed as Vulnerable. Image by Sharp Photography, sharpphotography.co.uk via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How ‘country palm’ could help pave the way toward a sustainable palm oil future in Liberia

Louise Hunt 18 Feb 2025
In September, Moo Deng went viral, becoming famous for her playful, no-holds-barred attitude.

Has the Moo Deng craze helped wild pygmy hippos at all? (analysis)

Jeremy Hance 3 Feb 2025

In Honduras, communities race to establish reserve as La Mosquitia forest disappears

Maxwell Radwin 30 Jan 2025

Study looks for success factors in African projects that heal land and help people

Ruth Kamnitzer 13 Dec 2024

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While navigating the Kafue River inside the national park, the team regularly pauses to deliberate on the best route to take around hippos that block their way.
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Beach on Mioskon Island in Raja Ampat. Photo by Rhett Bulter/Mongabay.
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