Tropical field stations yield high conservation return on investment

Conservation funding is currently limited; cost‐effective conservation solutions are essential. We suggest that the thousands of field stations worldwide can play key roles at the frontline of biodiversity conservation and have high intrinsic value. We assessed field stations’ conservation return on investment and explored the impact of COVID‐19. We surveyed leaders of field stations across tropical regions that host primate research; 157 field stations in 56 countries responded. Respondents reported improved habitat quality and reduced hunting rates at over 80% of field stations and lower operational costs per km 2 than protected areas, yet half of those surveyed have less funding now than in 2019. Spatial analyses support field station presence as reducing deforestation. These “earth observatories” provide a high return on investment; we advocate for increased support of field station programs and for governments to support their vital conservation efforts by investing accordingly

Engineering Soft, Elastic, and Conductive Polymers for Stretchable Electronics Using Ionic Compatibilization

Designing materials that are soft, elastic, and conductivea complement of properties that are useful in a number of applications such as bio-interfacingremains a major challenge due to the high stiffness of conventional conductive materials. For all-polymer systems, this problem is compounded by the general immiscibility of elastomeric and conducting polymers, resulting in inhomogeneous mixing and poor properties. Here, electrostatic interactions are shown to be an effective strategy to compatibilize distinct polymer chemistries and backbone architectures, resulting in homogeneous and multifunctional polymer complexes that are soft, elastic, and highly conductive. An anionic conjugated polyelectrolyte (CPE) based on polythiophene was blended with a cationic bottlebrush polyelectrolyte (BPE). The CPE provided electrical conductivity, while the BPE helped to control the mechanical properties. Strong electrostatic attractions between oppositely charged side chains of the CPE and BPE suppressed phase separation and the polymers formed a nearly homogeneous charged complex despite marked differences in their chemistry and architecture. Upon drying of the solvent, the ionic groups act as dynamic crosslinks and the resulting material behaved as a viscoelastic and reprocessable solid. Once doped with a strong acid, this composite had an electrical conductivity of up to 0.3 S/cm while maintaining a low tensile modulus (0.2 MPa). These findings highlight the potential of designing advanced materials with processing and performance advantages through the use of electrostatic interactions to compatibilize polymers

Tropical field stations yield high conservation return on investment

Conservation funding is currently limited; cost-effective conservation solutions are essential. We suggest that the thousands of field stations worldwide can play key roles at the frontline of biodiversity conservation and have high intrinsic value. We assessed field stations’ conservation return on investment and explored the impact of COVID-19. We surveyed leaders of field stations across tropical regions that host primate research; 157 field stations in 56 countries responded. Respondents reported improved habitat quality and reduced hunting rates at over 80% of field stations and lower operational costs per km2 than protected areas, yet half of those surveyed have less funding now than in 2019. Spatial analyses support field station presence as reducing deforestation. These ‘earth observatories’ provide a high return on investment; we advocate for increased support of field station programs and for governments to support their vital conservation efforts by investing accordingly