Many people in the conservation world and beyond have heard the term “Meatless Monday” by now. Between publicity events at universities involving free t-shirts and recipes to social media, Meatless Monday has always been a hot topic. The concept is simple enough – cut out meat from your diet for one day. This isn’t some ploy by vegetarians and vegans
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During my summer in Rwanda, I spent most of my time quite literally at the interface between humans, wildlife (i.e. baboons) and domestic species (i.e. cattle). Because Rwanda suffers from severe overpopulation, virtually all of their “wild” places are in close proximity to human settlements. I saw this as a sort of glimpse into the future of the rest of the world, if the human
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For lack of a better phrase, this book pretty much “fell into my lap” during an environmental education conference. Having attended a panel about Leopold, I discussed with the instructor how I had not yet acquired a copy to read; he insisted I take his, and I did so graciously. I had heard of Aldo Leopold; who in any
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When I tell people I am a primatologist, the number one question I get is “Why?” It’s not an easy question for me to answer. I typically enter into a fifteen minute (at least) conversation discussing the plethora of information out there, and how much still needs to be studied. Mostly because it’s not a simple answer, but also because
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The days are getting shorter here in Tampa, FL and with less sunlight means less opportunities to take great pet photographs. By utilizing sunlight we can achieve more natural expressions and composition. Lighting is essential to great photography, and with fast moving animals, lighting is even more critical. Another benefit of natural sunlight is we can almost completely limit the
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This photo was taken at Sunken Meadow State Park (Long Island, NY). Sometimes I get so caught up in zig-zagging across the globe that I forget how beautiful nature can be, even in the midst of suburbia. Sunken Meadow in particular has always had a special meaning to me, as the beach that I frequented most often as a
Read moreI spent 7 months last year (Jan-Jul 2014) collecting behavioral data on wild olive baboons in Kenya. Here I give an overview of a typical day at the field site. The alarm goes off at 5:10 AM. I growl and scramble for the snooze button. Repeat 1 to 3 times. By 5:25 AM I have my headlamp on, and I
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Entering into primatology as young student with minimal experience and education can be confusing. You need field experience to get into graduate school. The lists of volunteer work and internships can be overwhelming. I am providing some information that I felt would have been helpful to me when looking for experience. Where exactly do you start? Through my personal experience
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Art or Science? Animal training is a little bit of both. Timing and communication flow together with basic laws of behavior and form actions. Before we get into the specific behaviors we ask our pets, we should first learn how to train them. Positive reinforcement is associated with : negative reinforcement, positive punishment and negative punishment. It is not important
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What is Environmental Education? This is a question I am often asked when I identify myself as an “Environmental Educator.” More often than not, less informed people equate it with “tree hugger,” or “hippie.” Those stereotypes are only a couple labels that could potentially fall under the large umbrella that is environmental education, also known as EE. The Definition The
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DANTAisms 