Consider Yourself Updated

Well friends, it has been a long and interesting summer and I apologize for my inconsiderate silence over the past few months. There has been so much going on and I wish I could share it all with you and perhaps I shall in time. For the moment, I will simply try to tell you what is happening in my present as best I can. I am currently living at the Smithsonian's Conservation and Research Center in Front Royal, Va. My work with the Nature Camp this summer led to a part time position in the education office here. Or rather, is leading or will be leading to, depending on your point of view. As is common with government work, there has been some issue with the approval of my position and the source of my funding, but slowly and surely it is working through the beauracratic runaround. Any day now, I will start getting paid for the work that I am continuing to do in the mean time. And what is it that I am doing? As per usual, a little bit of everything. I am foremost and primarily learning to teach the outreach and school programs that run through this office as I will take these over for at least a few months while my co-worker recovers from an accident earlier this year. I am also helping with on-site workshops, tours, and programs.

It is quite an interesting place to be living, for sure. Now that I am no longer busy 60 hours a week with Nature Camp, I have been able to take advantage of some of the neat opportunities available here. I attend talks from scientists, keepers, and conservationists on a regular basis. I am also volunteering to help various scientists with some of their field research in an effort to expand my ever widening base of skills. One of these days, I might even find what it is that I want to devote my career to specifically. Last week I wrestled white tailed deers while they were tagged and collared and then searched through muddy creeks for salamanders to swab for the chytrid fungus. Never a dull moment right?

So this is where I will be for the next few months. I don't know exactly how many months of course, because that would take all the fun out of life! I am really struggling right now with deciding what exact direction I want to take in the conservation field. Research, animal husbandry, education, policy work, fundraising, field work... If this was a perfect world, I would find a position that was all of the above. For the moment I will keep hop scotching from opportunity to opportunity and eventually I will find a niche that will allow me to make the difference that I want to. And I am certainly looking forward to the ride!

So that is me, stranded in the middle of nowhere that just happens to be conservation central. Conditions could be slightly improved if I were a.) to actually start getting paid b.) to get a car so I had a little freedom and c.) could meet a gorgeously intelligent young man who wanted to join me on my quest to save the world. Hey, if I've ever been one thing, it's a dreamer!

Reason for Hope

One of the most uplifting experiences of my education career happened to me recently. I spent six weeks of my summer helping to run a nature camp held by the National Zoo at its Conservation and Research Center in Front Royal, Va. On a rainy day towards the end of the last week of camp, I was asked to come up with an activity on the spot to fill some time when the kids would normally have been out on a hike. Feeling as strongly as I do about amphibian conservation and the need to educate everyone about it, I decided to do an informal discussion with the kids about the global amphibian crisis. We sat down and I started talking about my amazing summer experience in Ecuador looking for frogs at Reserva las Gralarias and how 2008 was the Year of the Frog and why. Not wanting to make it into a dry lecture (ninth and tenth graders get enough of those), I decided to let the kids do some of the teaching themselves. I started asking questions and was immediately surprised by the amount of students who knew all about amphibian decline and even the chytrid fungus. Those who didn’t know listened intently and asked thought provoking questions.

At one point in the talk, one of the boys threw up their hands and dejectedly declared that it was pointless, we had done too much damage, there was no way to save them so why should he even try, caring just wasn’t enough! So often I hear this response from kids these days that have been so inundated by the doom and gloom of the environmental world and it sadly smothers their youthful passion. I remember how frustrating it was (and at times, still is) to be young and have to sit by and watch the world fall apart before you are “old enough” to do anything about it. This is one of the most depressing things to see in environmental education so I launched into action. I first impressed upon them that yes, things are in pretty bad shape, but that is even more reason to try, not less! It took countless individuals all making decisions on a daily basis to get the world to the place that it is now, so it will take individuals like you making better decisions in your everyday life to slow or reverse those effects. More than that, it takes only a few very passionate, dedicated people to get the ball rolling. The field of conservation is currently gaining momentum; it’s fashionable these days to be eco-friendly. The ball is rolling and with any luck it will gain enough speed to flatten the problems in its path.

I also spoke about all the work that is being done in an effort to conserve amphibian species. I mentioned RLG and the value of both private and publicly conserved land. I spoke about the amphibian ark program and the value of captive breeding. I touched on the beginning of skin peptide analysis on frogs in the hopes of breeding chytrid-resistant strains that could be released back into their native habitats. In short, I said, there is hope! The environment has been hit with a huge arsenal of weaponry over the years but the most damaging attack of all, the one that would put the nail into the coffin, is surely the lack of hope.

At the end of the talk, when the kids had run out of questions and I had run out of motivational jargon, they all stood and applauded. I was overjoyed by the obvious amount of passion and excitement that they had for amphibians, conservation, and the environment. These kids care deeply and they are the future of our society. They are my reason for hope.