As an alternative to costly, heavy GPS tracking technology for monitoring presence of small animals, Dr. Eli Bridge at the University of Oklahoma has developed a customizable Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) reader that you can build yourself on the cheap.

A barrier to effective enforcement is the inability to quickly and accurately identify timber species prohibited from logging. The portable XyloTron will bring wood identification capability to the field. Its use by customs agents, police, and other officials should help slow the movement of illegal timber across boundaries.

Laurel Neme reported on a gathering of the world's wildlife forensic scientists in Montana When border agents seize two tons of smuggled ivory, how do they tell where it's from?…

Legal or illegal? Technology can help. Photo by Rhett Butler. Seven years ago, Brazil’s São Paulo State Environmental Police set out to crack down on the illegal timber trade. In…