Eureka! Lab

Comic artist brings invasive species to the funny pages

By Bethany Brookshire

It turns out that science teachers can be eco-villains, too. Not intentionally, but accidentally. Science teachers often release specimens from science class into the wild. And this means that science teachers could be contributing to a problem with invasive species.

Our environment is in a balance. Some animals eat others, helping populations stay under control. But when a new species arrives, it can upset the balance. It could eat too many of one tasty species. It might outcompete other species, being bigger or meaner. Even one animal released into a foreign environment can disrupt the balance there.

Eureka! Lab did a post on this problem, covering Dr. Samuel Chan’s work asking teachers about releasing invasive species into the wild. Other people have noticed Dr. Chan’s work as well. One of them was Jan Eliot, the artist behind the comic strip “Stone Soup.” She worked with Dr. Chan to write an educational comic strip about invasive species. We are pleased to present it on the blog today!

Stone Soup by Jan Eliot STONE SOUP © 2013 Jan Eliot. Used courtesy of the cartoonist and Universal Uclick. All rights reserved.
Stone Soup by Jan Eliot STONE SOUP © 2013 Jan Eliot. Used courtesy of the cartoonist and Universal Uclick. All rights reserved.
Stone Soup by Jan Eliot STONE SOUP © 2013 Jan Eliot. Used courtesy of the cartoonist and Universal Uclick. All rights reserved.
Stone Soup by Jan Eliot STONE SOUP © 2013 Jan Eliot. Used courtesy of the cartoonist and Universal Uclick. All rights reserved.
Stone Soup by Jan Eliot STONE SOUP © 2013 Jan Eliot. Used courtesy of the cartoonist and Universal Uclick. All rights reserved.
Stone Soup by Jan Eliot STONE SOUP © 2013 Jan Eliot. Used courtesy of the cartoonist and Universal Uclick. All rights reserved.
Stone Soup by Jan Eliot STONE SOUP © 2013 Jan Eliot. Used courtesy of the cartoonist and Universal Uclick. All rights reserved.
Stone Soup by Jan Eliot STONE SOUP © 2013 Jan Eliot. Used courtesy of the cartoonist and Universal Uclick. All rights reserved.
Stone Soup by Jan Eliot STONE SOUP © 2013 Jan Eliot. Used courtesy of the cartoonist and Universal Uclick. All rights reserved.
Stone Soup by Jan Eliot STONE SOUP © 2013 Jan Eliot. Used courtesy of the cartoonist and Universal Uclick. All rights reserved.
Stone Soup by Jan Eliot STONE SOUP © 2013 Jan Eliot. Used courtesy of the cartoonist and Universal Uclick. All rights reserved.
Stone Soup by Jan Eliot STONE SOUP © 2013 Jan Eliot. Used courtesy of the cartoonist and Universal Uclick. All rights reserved.
Stone Soup by Jan Eliot STONE SOUP © 2013 Jan Eliot. Used courtesy of the cartoonist and Universal Uclick. All rights reserved.
Stone Soup by Jan Eliot STONE SOUP © 2013 Jan Eliot. Used courtesy of the cartoonist and Universal Uclick. All rights reserved.

About Bethany Brookshire

Bethany Brookshire was a longtime staff writer at Science News Explores and is the author of the book Pests: How Humans Create Animal Villains. She has a Ph.D. in physiology and pharmacology and likes to write about neuroscience, biology, climate and more. She thinks Porgs are an invasive species.

Use up and down arrow keys to explore.Use right arrow key to move into the list.Use left arrow key to move back to the parent list.Use tab key to enter the current list item.Use escape to exit the menu.Use the Shift key with the Tab key to tab back to the search input.