The work I’ve done for my placement so far is very similar to the expectations outlined in my proposal and preparatory discussions with my current supervisor. Namely, I’ve been handling community outreach, mitigation planning, review of the Flooding Resilience Scorecard and ingesting an almost obscene amount of terminology and associated acronyms. One key difference is target audience. While most of my proposal and initial work focused on the Village of Viola, now that they’re “off the ground” they have also slowed down their process and are in what appears to be a holding pattern until Hazard Mitigation Grant awards are in circulation. However, another community, the Village of La Valle is just getting started. So, much of the work description that follows comes from engagement with their newly formed Revitalization Committee, which has been a pleasure to sit in on.
It’s hard for me to believe that this is already the fifth week of my placement at TNC. I am finally learning my way around WO (TNC’s Worldwide Office), and I am enjoying seeing familiar faces outside of my small team. I’ve become even more comfortable making connections with other TNC staff from different departments. In other efforts to get to expand my TNC network, I have been attending brown bag lunches and other events. Last week, I attended a lunch meeting for the office’s Women in Nature group. Yesterday, I attended a fascinating lecture about NASA’s GEDI project- an International Space Station laser which captures topographic data and detects deforestation.
It has exactly been 1 month that I started working with the Rainforest Alliance on Accountability framework, in this period, I learnt a lot about the deforestation commitments of the companies whose supply chains affect the forests in South-East Asia and South America. I am helping the team in the initial phase of uptake of the guidelines by the companies, providing them a practical roadmap to achieving their commitments.
Now that I’ve had 3 1/2 weeks behind me, I finally feel like I’m making some real progress and can see my deliverables coming together. The first two weeks were definitely challenging and I initially had some doubts in my abilities to successfully and meaningfully create maps about the elk reintroduction project. But I was able to problem solve and now look forward to sharing with you what I have done so far and what is still coming.
Not too little. Not too much. Just right. Lagom. The Swedish way of life which includes a healthy work-life balance and a more simplistic way of living is often accredited to the Lagom philosophy. It is this balanced way of life that allows for many Swedes to enjoy long summer holidays, leaving their work behind until the autumn returns.
… or in this case, it takes four to keep an island debris free.
Sàwàtdee-kâ! (Hello!)
My first ten days on Koh Yao Yai have been an interesting blend of hazy recuperation mixed with a flurry of activity. When I arrived at Klong Hia pier, I met the stationed field officer, Salisa, who has been invaluable in helping me adjust to not only living on an island but also in a new culture.
I always thought the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was bubbling with pristine water to be able to reflect its surroundings so beautifully. Then, a few years ago when D.C. overnight shipped ducks from a massive die off in the pool via private jet to Madison’s USGS, I started to question this belief of mine. Seeing the pool in person, I now thoroughly understand the context. This story parallel’s well with my wide-eyed view that conservation organizations have it all figured out. Although still in amazement with the work of CI, with more information, I am now able to identify potential flaws and areas for improvement.
“A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.” -Aldo Leopold
For my placement, I am grateful to join the team at the Dane County Humane Society’s Wildlife Center as an intern. The wildlife center is a non-profit organization in Madison, Wisconsin that takes in around 4,000 wild animals in need each year and fields more than 5,000 calls from the public annually. The center follows the mission of the National Wildlife Rehabilitators Association, which is “to provide professional care to sick, injured, and orphaned wild animals so ultimately they can be returned to their natural habitat.” Wildlife Rehabilitation is important not only for respecting the lives of individual animals (including their right to humane euthanasia when necessary,) but also for tracking and studying ecological trends and zoological diseases with vast implications for conservation. The center doesn’t receive any funding from the government and relies on donations. They have 6 paid staff members and hundreds of hardworking volunteers!
The Nelson Institute: Environmental Conservation Leadership Projects 