A blog that began with two university students in far-off places is now going into its fifth calendar year. We are committed to its ongoing relevance, and notice that we were all rather quiet in recent weeks, with sparse postings as time permitted, but one thing that has been very consistent is our “bird of the day” posting. We are heartened just now reading by what may be the last guest comment of the year from one of the properties we care for, which shows that our effort with birds is bearing fruit:

…best thing for us was the dedication this resort places on bird watching…a dedicated birding guide…patient , funny, and very knowledgeable about the birds one would expect on the premises. We learned so much from him and it carried over as we continued with our CR trip…

As important as birds are, we head into a new year thinking about all the important topics we still need to give attention to. For example, there is much to be said on changing approaches to leadership of organizations we respect; from the upcoming issue of a magazine we have relied on for new ideas and deep reporting, here is some new click bait:

To the right of the stage was written a series of words that described Ford’s hoped-for future: Justice, Opportunity, Voice, Dignity, Creativity, Change, Visionaries. Walker himself was beloved for his democratic exuberance, manifested both in his vivacious clothing (his jaunty ties, his pocket squares, his pig cufflinks) and in his untiring enthusiasm.

“There is a lot going on at the Ford Foundation,” he declared. “So fasten your seat belts!”

If that is your last read of 2015, you will not regret it. We will be back in the new year, in full force with voices that have gone quiet recently to complete this year’s work, to continue linking you to the best examples we can find about community, conservation and collaboration. For now, over and out.

Thanks to our friends at Ecowatch for this story:

Michael Pollan: What You Should Eat to Be Healthy

Cole Mellino

A new documentary from Kikim Media based on Michael Pollan’s bestselling book, In Defense of Food, helps consumers navigate a food system complicated by globalization and industrialization.

“I’ve been writing about the food system for a very long time,” Pollan said in the trailer for the new film. “But what I kept hearing from readers was ‘yeah yeah yeah, you told me where the food comes from and how the animals live and everything, but what I want to know is what should I eat.’”

Courtesy of Jungle Rhythms. Koen Hufkens and colleagues digitized the tables, but quickly realized the marks were simply too faint (image 1). “The notes are basically small pencil lines that overlay a grid on the paper, and the lack of contrast between the two makes it difficult to separate. It needs the human eye to tease them apart,” he said. Image 2 shows what the grid looked like after it was annotated.

The Harvard Gazette’s story on the citizen science project that will put dormant analog data to new use with digital assistance:

Koen Hufkens is trying to solve a scientific mystery, and he’s asking for the public’s help to do it.

Hufkens, a postdoctoral fellow working in the lab of Associate Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology Andrew Richardson, this month launched Jungle Rhythms, a citizen-science project that aims to digitize thousands of pages of detailed observations on the life cycles of African trees. Continue reading →

We are delighted to have Conservation, one of our longstanding go-to sources for environmental science news, back in business:

A herpetologist holds a Blanchard’s cricket frog (Acris blanchardi). Credit: The Wandering Herpetologist via Flickr.

DEGRADED HABITAT ALTERS FROG MICROBIOMES

Human-caused changes in the environment are linked to differences in the microbiome – the community of bacteria and other microbes that normally inhabit the skin – of a threatened species of frog, according to a new study.

Since the skin microbiome is essentially a major component of a frog’s immune system, the findings suggest that land use change could increase amphibians’ vulnerability to disease. In turn, this could be a clue to why some populations of frogs are more susceptible than others to a chytrid fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, that causes a fatal skin infection and has resulted in declines and even extinctions of amphibian species worldwide.

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We are aware that his work depends on well-protected geological wonders so we are automatically attracted to his activities; we cannot recommend this as a sport, but we cannot help but point out Alex Honnold’s feats as inspiring. From his website:

Alex Honnold is a professional adventure rock climber whose audacious free-solo ascents of America’s biggest cliffs have made him one of the most recognized and followed climbers in the world. A gifted but hard-working athlete, Alex “No Big Deal” Honnold is known as much for his humble, self-effacing attitude as he is for the dizzyingly tall cliffs he has climbed without a rope to protect him if he falls. Honnold has been profiled by 60 Minutes and the Continue reading →

Atacama 1 concentrated solar power plant being built by Spanish firm Abengoa in Chile. Photograph: Jonathan Watts for the Guardian

Not yet guaranteed, but promising nonetheless, we will consider this one of the best pieces of news on this day of gift-giving:

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We have a special place for any citizen science project, no matter what kingdom of natural life it covers, or whether its accomplished at home or in the field. Now we’re learning about a new project covering trees from The Nature Conservancy’s “Cool Green Science” blog:

What Is i-Tree?

i-Tree is a Swiss army-knife collection of tools that people can use to measure the impact individual trees and forests.

In fact, the collection of tools is so comprehensive it can seem overwhelming. But don’t be daunted. Here’s the information you need to get started.

For citizen scientists, i-Tree Streets and i-Tree Pest Detection are two key instruments in the i-Tree arsenal. (Many of the other tools are designed primarily for city officials and forest managers.)

For each tree that you select to inventory, i-Tree Streets can estimate the tree’s effect on greenhouse gasses, air quality, and stormwater overflow. Find a group in your area that is conducting a tree inventory with i-Tree Streets. City governments and conservation organizations can collect the data for use at the local level.

Continue reading →