Tony Briscoe

Tony Briscoe is a former reporter for the Tribune.

Farm manager Peter Bowyer inspects tanks at AquaBounty Farms Indiana, a commercial fish farm raising Atlantic salmon in Albany, Ind., on April 30, 2019.

Indiana salmon hatchery to raise nation’s first genetically modified animal cleared for human consumption

June 3, 2019 at 4:46 p.m.

On a winding road on the outskirts of a small Rust Belt town in eastern Indiana, a fish hatchery is poised to raise the country's first genetically engineered animal approved...

Animal geneticist Alison Van Eenennaam shows dairy calves that won't need to be dehorned thanks to gene editing. The calves are descended from a bull genetically altered to be hornless.

What is an Enviropig, a GloFish and a Friendly Mosquito?

March 22, 2020 at 4:44 p.m.

For the past several decades, scientists have wielded the ability to alter the genomes of plants and animals. Gene editing has been explored in the United States and abroad as...

The west side of Lake Calumet, along the Bishop Ford Expressway. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced last week it had detected traces of Asian carp DNA in the body of water.

Asian carp DNA found in Lake Calumet, only 7 miles from Lake Michigan

May 25, 2019 at 4:17 p.m.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service detected several traces of Asian carp DNA in a body of water on Chicago's Far South Side, a mere 7 miles from Lake Michigan,...

Dogs and people navigate their way through the flooded entrance to Montrose Dog Beach on a warm and sunny spring day, May 5, 2019, in Chicago.

Lake Michigan water levels: ‘They’ve been higher than this before, but not by much’; meanwhile lakes Superior and Erie set to break May records

May 23, 2019 at 7:04 a.m.

After a snowy and soggy April, water levels on all five Great Lakes rose by more than a half-foot and are forecast to remain well above their average this summer,...

A memorial dedicated to the Haymarket Affair is seen April 25, 2019, on Desplaines Street, just north of Randoph Street, in Chicago.

Why May Day is an international workers’ holiday — and how it began in Chicago

May 2, 2019 at 1:30 p.m.

Today is May 1, May Day, a workers' holiday in most nations, although not the U.S. The holiday has its origins in Chicago, as a commemoration of the 1886 Haymarket...

What is a meteotsunami? Why a little-known wave poses a major threat in the Great Lakes

April 25, 2019 at 10:00 a.m.

In the past century, the remarkable Great Lakes waves that swept fishermen from piers and plucked swimmers from beaches have gone by many names. "Freak wave." "Wall of water." "Killer...

Volunteer divers Robert Domkowski, left, and Chuck Napravnik search for missing bodies on June 26, 1954, at Montrose Harbor after what was believed to be a seiche hit the lakefront. Experts have since determined it was a meteorological tsunami.

Lake Michigan’s deadly ‘freak wave’ of 1954 is Chicago folklore. Turns out it was a meteotsunami. And they happen pretty often.

June 18, 2024 at 5:22 p.m.

On a Saturday in June 1954, Marvin Katz motored his cabin cruiser onto Lake Michigan for what was supposed to be a pleasant day of fishing. However, when his father...

Chad Tongue checks his home during flooding along the Rock River in Machesney Park, Ill., on March 19, 2019.

Deerfield native led climate panel disbanded by Trump. Now he’s launched a new group to help local communities.

May 23, 2019 at 6:57 a.m.

When President George H.W. Bush's administration signed a law mandating long-term research into the consequences of global warming, Deerfield native and fledgling climate scientist Richard Moss was tapped to join...

Annette Prince, director of the Chicago Bird Collision Monitors, searches for birds on the sidewalks early in the morning at Daley Plaza on April 2, 2019.

As many as a billion birds are killed crashing into buildings each year — and Chicago’s skyline is the most dangerous area in the country

May 23, 2019 at 6:55 a.m.

On a brisk weekday morning, before the sunrise shimmers across Chicago’s downtown skyscrapers, Annette Prince walks a perimeter around the glass facades while carrying a duffel bag and net. Every...

Chad Tongue checks his home in flood waters along the Rock River in Machesney Park, March 19, 2019.

Climate change has already started disrupting life in the Great Lakes region — and it’s only going to get worse

August 22, 2019 at 3:45 p.m.

As the Rock River began to rise near the riverfront village of Machesney Park, homeowner Jack Dillon assembled a crew of contractors, friends and family to shore up his two-story...

All Stories