Things I like
I love data. I love to collect data, and plot data, and analyze data, and share data! It can confirm (or deny) so many things we suspect, and it can tell us so much more than we ever imagined. My favorite data answers the questions we need to answer about conservation, restoration, and stewardship.
This leads to the next thing I love: I love our amazing planet full of mysteries. Our anthropogenic footprint is inconceivably large. Data, research, and science are tools to teach us about that footprint and to show us how we can make changes in order to leave a better planet to future generations. I've worked around the world, and in a variety of roles, to try and add to our understanding on these pivotal topics.
This leads to the next thing I love: I love our amazing planet full of mysteries. Our anthropogenic footprint is inconceivably large. Data, research, and science are tools to teach us about that footprint and to show us how we can make changes in order to leave a better planet to future generations. I've worked around the world, and in a variety of roles, to try and add to our understanding on these pivotal topics.
Latest news
Excuse my indulgence, but this one may be a bit of a travel blog. The Society of Ecological Restoration International just held their biannual conference in Foz de Iguaçu, Brazil. The location was incredible, with the Iguazu Falls a short drive away from the conference venue. The falls are the widest in the world and run along the border of Argentina and Brazil. The Iguazu River tumbles over the Paraná Plateau, covering about 1.8 km of the plateau edge. Visiting them made for an unbelievably couple of days, and allowed me a few hours stopover at the Parque das Aves, a conservation-driven bird park a short distance from the falls. The park is largely populated by birds confiscated from the illegal trading market or bred in captivity for potential rewilding.
The conference itself was an incredibly diverse mix of passionate, pragmatic restoration ecologists. The world is pushing for restoration on enormous scales. Programs such as the New York Declaration on Forests are calling for the restoration of 150 million hectares of forests by 2020 and a further 200 million hectares by 2030. The science and policy needed to achieve these lofty goals are immense, and the entire feel of the conference was driven by restoration's rising importance. It was an energizing, exciting week.
The conference itself was an incredibly diverse mix of passionate, pragmatic restoration ecologists. The world is pushing for restoration on enormous scales. Programs such as the New York Declaration on Forests are calling for the restoration of 150 million hectares of forests by 2020 and a further 200 million hectares by 2030. The science and policy needed to achieve these lofty goals are immense, and the entire feel of the conference was driven by restoration's rising importance. It was an energizing, exciting week.
The Argentine side of the Iguazu Falls. Selfish sidenote, I rode in a helicopter!
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A curious toucan at the Bird Park
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Projects I think about
(click a photo for more information!)
Above: Minesite restoration in Australian mesic plains
Below: Microscopic communities to test landscape questions 
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Top: Searching for warning signals of bog collapse
Bottom: Global study of community recovery after disturbance |
Top: Wetland mitigation in the marshes of Texas
Bottom: Garry Oak meadow management in British Columbia 
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Above: Land use change and mammal extinctions in British Columbia
Below: Fire and invasion in Western Australia heathlands 
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