From my earliest memory I was fascinated with nature, more than anything else. Once I realized the environment was in trouble, this kindled a powerful motivation to work actively in conservation. Science was the path I chose to do this. A PhD in ecology was followed by 13 years working for state government environmental agencies. I started out wanting to know how conservation is actually done, ‘on the ground’, and to use my skills and knowledge to do it better. I have tried to inject scientific facts and logic into conservation policies and projects, with varied levels of success.
But recently I’ve come to the realization that facts aren’t very effective in changing human behavior (and conservation is primarily about changing human behavior). The climate change debate is a good example of this. There is probably more scientific evidence that climate change is real, and caused by people, and its consequences will be dire, than for any other topic in human history. And there is no shortage of communication channels to convey this information far and wide (although some media outlets certainly do not help). But still there is doubt and skepticism. Because of this, I have become more interested in other ways to engage people in nature, and to awaken concern for the environment.
Science is the best way of improving our rational understanding of nature. But perhaps we have forgotten why people like nature in the first place. And what makes them want to conserve it.
So in this blog I am letting my creative, artistic side, accompany my scientific brain, in an exploration of all that is fascinating about nature. I hope you enjoy it.