Shorter dispatches than the Field Guide — methodology updates, new datasets, observations from the work, occasional digressions on Davidson County's environmental history. For longer-form writing, see the Letters page.
The Journal · Volume I
Notes from Volume I.
The Golf Course Next Door
A landmark 2025 study in JAMA Network Open found that living within one mile of a golf course is associated with a 126% increased risk of Parkinson's disease. The researchers identified two pathways — airborne pesticide drift and groundwater contamination. Several of Nashville's most desirable neighborhoods sit squarely in the proximity zone. What the research says, and what it doesn't.
Read the essay →What Zillow Doesn't Show
Zillow's climate risk scores are a real public service. But they operate at zip-code resolution, which means two houses 200 feet apart receive identical scores even when their actual environmental exposure differs significantly. A structural look at why point-source environmental records fall through the gap between Zillow, the disclosure form, and the home inspection — and what to do about it.
Read the essay →