First Pieces

My first pieces of content for The Nature Conservancy in Washington and Carbon Washington have hit the Internet.

Last month, I blogged about continuing my work in environmental communication. Now, I am excited to reveal the publication of two of my initial projects, one exploring nature-based solutions (NBS) for The Nature Conservancy and the other highlighting some important legislative work by Carbon Washington.

The most recent publication on The Nature Conservancy's City Habitats site, my article on NBS allowed me to make use of my academic background. It looks at new research into the best strategies cities can use for employing NBS. Translating the research into an article for the general public's consumption gave me the opportunity to combine my understanding of scholarship with my professional work in environmental communication. Check out the full article here.

About a week before the publication of the NBS article, Carbon Washington started making legislative headway on a bill aimed at fostering sustainable farming. With considerable momentum behind the bill, writing about it for the organization proved very exciting. I enjoyed being a part of the move toward progress. Read my write-up here.

These pieces are just the beginning of my work with these organizations. Watch for the addition of more pieces soon.

Plan Bee

A recent piece of student-led research from the University of Oregon should have people buzzing.

Declines in bee populations have at least brought the details of our relationship with these insects into the spotlight, and as this announcement of the Oregon study shows, much can be done with our new knowledge to improve the human-bee connection. The study looks at the role bumblebees play in pollination. After showing that bumblebees pollinate at a rate three times faster than European honeybees, the study lays out plans farmers can use to attract more bumblebees to their land.

The study is exciting for several reasons. First, it gives us greater insight into our interactions with bees. Second, the practical ideas it produces are beneficial to both agriculture and native species of plants and bees. Finally, it represents what can happen when people collaborate to find solutions to problems.

Fostering ideas is crucial when we are confronted with challenges. In the case of Oregon's bee study, the university empowered its students to find ideas, the students responded with research that yielded results and gave them applied experience, and the local farmers embraced the findings.

That sounds like a plan that would benefit the whole planet.

The Center of it All

It's funny how a certain idea or topic will pop up in a number of places all around the same time.

Taylor's checkerspot

The idea I've been running into a lot in the last couple of days is that solving our problems requires people from seemingly different walks of life and perspectives coming together.

On Thursday night's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, President Bill Clinton talked about how his Clinton Global Initiative focuses on finding solutions by identifying the different strengths people have and putting them in the same room. Many of these solutions revolve around environmental issues.

Then, this morning, I read an article from the National Wildlife Federation about programs that unite conservation groups, communities, and local farms. These programs emphasize both conservation and local buying and commerce. By working together, people address many problems and strengthen the health of their communities and local environment.

Oregon spotted frog

Finally, tonight, I came across a Huffington Post article about prison inmates in Washington state helping endangered species. The story would be great even if it only involved the inmates and the endangered species, including the Taylor's checkerspot and the Oregon spotted frog. However, it's so much more than that. It involves the military, some institutions of higher learning, the Oregon Zoo, nonprofit groups, the National Science Foundation, and many agencies, and they are all working together to address species' population declines.

These are the kinds of things that we are capable of if we look past our self-imposed limitations and barriers. They make for a better world and stronger communities, and at the heart of it all, we find a stronger commitment to the environment.

Whad'Ya Know?

For this entry, I'm linking you to a great story.

I saw it (and maybe you did too) on the Natural Resource Defense Council's Switchboard blog link on the right side of this page, but I wanted to make sure that it got a little more attention before the blog link updated to a new story.

This one has some interesting lessons about what people think they know about nature and their place in the environment. Even better, it has a happy ending. I hope you like it.