Collaboration

Collaboration At High Altitude

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Percy Fernandez for The New York Times. Norbu Sherpa on the Khumbu Glacier near the Everest base camp in Nepal.

Percy Fernandez for The New York Times. Norbu Sherpa on the Khumbu Glacier near the Everest base camp in Nepal.

Mountain-climbing is often perceived as a solo, even lone wolf style pursuit of adventure.  The higher the climb, the more collaboration is required for success. Over at India Ink, Malavika Vyawahare shares her conversation with one of Mt Everest’s great guides:

NEW DELHI—Norbu Sherpa, 32, has been working as a climbing guide in the high mountains of Nepal, over 6,000 meters (19,685 feet) for more than a decade. He has been a member of seven expeditions to Everest, the highest peak in the world, at 8,848 meters (29,029 feet), and reached the summit five times. Norbu, who was educated in Darjeeling, is currently part of a National Cadet Corps Everest team from India.

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First Egg: Same Box; Same Female; Same Ordinal Date!

/ Justin Proctor / 2 Comments

We couldn’t believe it either, but an ASY female (an ASY is a bird known to have hatched earlier than the calendar year preceeding the year of banding) that we banded last year has returned to the same box at the same site, built a nest and laid her first egg on the same ordinal date as last year. (In 2012, February had 29 days and the first egg arrived on April 30th, this year February has 28 days and the first egg arrived on May 1st.)  We celebrated how any other field biologists in the middle of nowhere would – a hot cup of tea and an invigorating game of cribbage. Continue reading →

Community-Enhanced Blogging

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On occasion we have linked to stories in The Atlantic, one of the oldest continuously published magazines in the world. Most recently we have been paying attention to a science writer there. One writer we have not had occasion to link to is Ta-Nehisi Coates, who writes often about race, social justice, politics and other topics we care deeply about but which are not the focus of this blog.  He writes for the print magazine but he is also among the most prolific bloggers on the magazine’s website.  He has just posted a profound note (pasted in full below, but please click here so he gets full “internet metrics” credit for it) about the importance of community, aka The Horde, in his writing:

Last night The Atlantic won two awards. The first was for best website. The second was for essays and criticism. The essay in question was written by me. In my mind, these awards are linked. Writing for the website has fundamentally changed how I write in print. Continue reading →

Madagascar Pochard, Rescued From Expected Extinction

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We are always more than happy to share news stories where a turn of luck, a bit of effort, and/or the will to survive keep a species in the game.  Here we thank Dr. Lee Durrell, the WCT and the WWT for their news release on the return of a nearly gone group of ducks:

The Madagascar pochard – arguably the world’s rarest bird – has bred successfully in captivity building hope that it can be saved from extinction.

Eighteen precious pochard ducklings are being reared at a specially built centre in Antsohihy, Madagascar, opened last year by Dr Lee Durrell. The birth of the ducklings is a key milestone in the conservation of the species, including an emergency expedition two years ago to take eggs into captivity. It is the ducks from those eggs that have now bred for the first time. Continue reading →

Tracking The Golden Swallow

/ Justin Proctor / 5 Comments
Marisol and Justin

Marisol and Justin

Dear La Paz Group followers,

I’m excited to have been invited to share with you current updates from the Cordillera Central of the Dominican Republic where I am active in uncovering the life history traits and conservation strategies surrounding the Golden Swallow (Tachycineta euchrysea), a threatened passerine endemic to the island of Hispaniola. Continue reading →

For Bees, Europe Does The Right Thing

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A bee collects pollen from a sunflower in Utrecht, the Netherlands. EU states have voted in favour of a proposal to restrict the use of pesticides linked to serious harm in bees. Photograph: Michael Kooren/Reuters

A bee collects pollen from a sunflower in Utrecht, the Netherlands. EU states have voted in favour of a proposal to restrict the use of pesticides linked to serious harm in bees. Photograph: Michael Kooren/Reuters

At a time when news out of Europe often points to political dysfunction, on at least one front we can point to some good news for these creatures who need help perhaps more than ever, and deserve it; they are finally getting it in at least one part of the world:

Europe will enforce the world’s first continent-wide ban on widely used insecticides alleged to cause serious harm to bees, after a European commission vote on Monday.

The suspension is a landmark victory for millions of environmental campaigners, backed by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), concerned about a dramatic decline in the bee population. The vote also represents a serious setback for the chemical producers who make billions each year from the products and also UK ministers, who voted against the ban. Both had argued the ban would harm food production. Continue reading →

So I’ve arrived at Cardamom County

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This week, I arrived in Thekkady, at the frontier between Kerala and Tamil Nadu. My name is Allegra I’m a french professional who decided to take a break from hectic Paris to learn about entrepreneurial conservation and eco-tourism. I’ll spend the next two months at Cardamom County with Raxa Collective. Cardamom County borders the Periyar Tiger Reserve. As it nears the center of a bustling spice-trading town, I sometimes forget we’re in a forest. Nature always finds a way to remind you though. Continue reading →

Job #43 – Sailing the World for Food

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Barbara following a footpath in the wine country of Stellenbosch, South Africa - during one of her many adventures

Barbara following a footpath in the wine country of Stellenbosch, South Africa – during one of her many adventures

There is a book called “150 Good Food Jobs” and I’ve had 43 of them. This means I’m either really old, I can’t keep a job or I get distracted and curious by shiny objects. But basically, these have been encapsulated within two long-term careers, one in Napa Valley as a winery culinary director and the other at Cornell University and in Ithaca.

Two-and-a half years ago, I “retired” from my 20-plus years at the Hotel School. After some years teaching about wines and later restaurant management and co-owning an Ithaca restaurant, I served as an academic and career advisor to “hotelies” – some of the most entrepreneurial, engaging, smart young adults around. After a serious cancer scare I retired at age 55 and went rogue, looking for a new career combining my love of travel, food, culture and service.

A SEMESTER AT SEA

I found my calling in fall 2011, as the adult lifelong-learning coordinator for the University of Virginia’s Semester at Sea program. With my husband Dave, 500 undergraduates, 60 adult learners, the faculty and the crew, I sailed from Montreal to Casablanca, Morocco; Accra, Ghana; Cape Town, South Africa; Port Louis, Mauritius; Chennai, India; Penang, Malaysia; Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; Hong Kong and Shanghai, China; Kobe, Japan; Hilo, Hawaii; Puntarenas, Costa Rica; and Coxen Hole, Honduras before docking in Fort Lauderdale at the end of 120 days. students getting a semester’s credit while circling the globe, making 14 stops in 120 days.

My job was to keep the adults (“the Salty Dogs”) happy and occupied. A perk of the job was the opportunity to chaperone field food programs, which I often did, including a Tropical Spice Garden in Penang Pang, Malaysia; a cooking class in Capetown, South Africa; and a coffee plantation tour in Mercedes, Costa Rica.  This freedom in ports allowed my husband Dave and me to explore each host country independently for three to six days at a time. I spent that time focused on food; food in the markets, restaurants, and the street (which caused a bit of food poisoning and worse, two days in ship’s quarantine). Continue reading →

Swept Away

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The “Three C’s” on our banner are more than words. They solidify into reality and action when people with similar views and interests reach out to us after reading them. This is what happened recently when Jennifer Harrington, a Toronto-based illustrator, writer and graphic designer introduced herself to us. Her collaboration with illustrator Michael Arnott on an eBook and animated short film versions of the The Spirit Bear and other stories is aimed at educating children about conservation while entertaining them at the same time.

Although sounding like a character out of Native American legend, the ghost or spirit bear actually

come from a small community of bears called Kermodes, which are a subspecies of black bears. Kermode bears may be black or white, but they all carry the recessive gene for white fur. 10% of Kermodes will fully express the recessive gene, and will be born with white or cream-coloured fur. Continue reading →

If You Happen To Be In Ithaca

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Not sure what to do this upcoming Earth Day?  If you happen to attend Cornell University here’s a suggestion: If “Nature never stands still”, taking an interdisciplinary approach toward her recovery and restoration seems like a logical step.

We especially like the circular nature of choosing Dr. Kareiva to give the 2013 Iscol Distinguished Environmental Lecture. Kareiva received his PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Cornell University in 1981 and after serving on the faculties of Brown University and University of Washington he is now the Chief Scientist for The Nature Conservancy. Continue reading →

Earth Day In Historical Context

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Earth Day began as a minimally organized teach-in.

Earth Day began as a minimally organized teach-in.

Those who do not know their environmental history may or may not be doomed, but they are missing something. Knowing the history is a pleasure in itself, as this article in the current issue of the New Yorker demonstrates.  Know this:

…Earth Day’s success was partly a matter of timing: it took place at the moment when years of slowly building environmental awareness were coming to a head, and when the energy of the sixties was ready to be directed somewhere besides the Vietnam War and the civil-rights movement. A coterie of celebrated environmental prophets—Rachel Carson, David Brower, Barry Commoner, Paul Ehrlich—had already established themselves, and Rome reminds us of  Continue reading →

University-Based Groups Worth Noting

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syn-mosaic

An occasional feature, beginning here, will point to university-based groups–informal organizations, living arrangements, secret societies, etc.– we can relate to:

Co-operative societies bring forth the best capacities, the best influences of the individual for the benefit of the whole, while the good influences of the many aid the individual.

Leland Stanford
October 1, 1891
Stanford University Opening Ceremonies

Ecology’s Social Enterprise

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ESA

 

This organization (click the banner above to go to the site), new to us but working its way to a centennial birthday (click the banner below to go to that section on the website)–

ESA History

 

A meeting was held at Columbus, Ohio, on December 28th, 1915, at which it was decided to organize the Ecological Society of America….The interests and activities of this society will be of the broadest character, embracing every phase of the relation of organisms to their environmental condition…–The Geographical Review 1916–

About the Ecological Society of America

1914: The beginning…

–is as modern and practical as one could want, including this section on its website titled Explore Ecology As A Career with a wealth of links and related resources:

Ecology As A Career

What Do Ecologists Do? Continue reading →

My First Periyar Tiger Reserve Experience

/ Douglas Bruce / 3 Comments

At the Periyar Tiger Reserve

I’ve been in Kerala 10 days now and in Thekkady about a week of that time. After all the orientation, yesterday was my first opportunity to explore the Periyar Tiger Reserve, the Kerala national park located right across the street from Cardamom County where I’m spending the next 2 months. As a management  trainee with Raxa Collective my responsibilities are to develop the tools that I’ll implement in what will be the best lodging within Ghana’s Mole National Park. (In fact, my day off actually began the evening before by experiencing Earth Hour at the hotel as well as with a candlelight procession with other hoteliers and townspeople.)

Earth Hour at Cardamom County

Earth Hour at Cardamom County

Continue reading →

Exoskeletal Bling

/ Amie Inman / 3 Comments

The caddis worm (order Trichoptera) may not be as popular as its famous shiny cousin, the scarab beetle, but it carries the extra charisma of an intrinsic aesthetic behavior.

French artist and science enthusiast Hubert Duprat took his natural curiosity to an elaborate level when he began providing these case building larva with gold spangles and semi-precious materials in lieu of the bits of sand and gravel they would normally use.

An amazing observation is that the worms seem to approach their work with an artistic eye, choosing the color and quality of the materials they use. In the 1930s an American entomologist observed in a Nevada river that “among all the little particles of sand and minerals swept along by the water, the Trichoptera make meaningful selections of bright blue opals—in other words, the most conspicuous or garish materials.” Continue reading →

Sharks As Charismatic Megafauna

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If you are like most people, the words shark and trust do not normally work well together in the same sentence. Sharks are predators, and predators predate. So unless you are a professional you should not take anything for granted when in their waters. But the two words work together well in a sentence about this organization, and the project they have launched to help sharks is intriguing. Entrepreneurial, even.  Click the image above to read more about this initiative:

With over 600 species of skate and ray worldwide, at least 16 species have been regularly recorded in UK coastal waters; most of these species reproduce by laying tough leathery eggcases on the seabed. Of more than 30 species of British sharks, only two species lay eggcases that are commonly found on our beaches; the Smallspotted Catshark and the Nursehound. Continue reading →

Happy Birthday, Douglas Adams

/ Crist Inman / 1 Comment

One year ago today I posted this to make sure that anyone who loves this author would be aware that there are still opportunities to celebrate his life in tangible, meaningful ways that he would have appreciated.  I encourage anyone and everyone to continue to do so because the conservation needs have grown rather than diminished.  You might also enjoy his final public appearance above, which will give you 90 minutes of intense amusement and learning.   Continue reading →

If You Happen To Be In Washington, DC

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Nordic

From our friends in the north comes our favorite kind of cultural festival–all mixed up. It is reviewed in this podcast and explained on the Kennedy Center’s website:

About the festival

February 19-March 17, 2013, the Kennedy Center presents Nordic Cool 2013, a month-long international festival of theater, dance, music, visual arts, literature, design, cuisine, and film to highlight the diverse cultures of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden as well as the territories of Greenland, the Faroe Islands, and Áland Islands. Continue reading →

The Tate Modern Happens To Be In Kochi

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Only 24 Days left for the Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2012.

Nada Raza, writer and curator currently working at the Tate Modern in London, speaks about the site-specificity of the works and how history and culture plays a huge part in the works exhibited at the Kochi-Muziris Biennale.

Take her advice and be there!