Conservation Science

"We can tell you that bear and deer and moose use these pools a great deal," says University of Maine professor Aram Calhoun, one of Hoffman's advisors. "The animals that breed in thise pools and then go out into the forest provide food for a lot of other wildlife species that are important to Mainers."

Ryan Carle, an ecologist with Oikonos, has been studying the "rhinos," as they are known, for several years. "Today, there are only three islands in California with suitable habitat for rhinoceros auklet breeding colonies," Carle said. "Islands are refuges for seabirds because they are free of predators. But island ecosystems are fragile and most have been heavily impacted by human activity."

The relationship between Belize and Guatemala is complex. The history goes back hundreds of years and begins with a territorial dispute between Spain and Britain over who rightfully owned the region that would later become Belize. Guatemala has picked up the feud after gaining its independence from Spain and argues 4,900 square miles of Belizean land – which amounts to over half of the country – belongs to them. The entire nation of Belize is roughly the size of New Hampshire.

Monty Don presents Shared Planet, the series that looks at the crunch point between human population and the natural world. In this programme Howard Stableford reports from Connecticut on the complex decline of the once very ubiquitous Chimney Swift, a story Monty Don believes is the paradigm for the series. The wider issues of human population and nature are explored in the studio with Lord May, past president of The Royal Society and from Vienna, Professor Wolfgang Lutz, a specialist in human population dynamics.

This article was inspired by colleague David Guggenheim, president of Ocean Doctor, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, DC and dedicated to protecting and restoring our oceans through hands-on conservation.

With its ocean views, walking path, and ice plant-covered cliffs, many in Santa Cruz consider West Cliff Drive to be a jewel of the community. Now a couple of scientists want the community to help them restore native habitat to the coastal bluffs. They’ve started the non-profit West Cliff Ecosystem Restoration project to help organize the restoration. Last winter, volunteers with the group ripped out ice plant in a small bed near the entrance to Natural Bridges State Park.

What if you had to decide between feeding your family today and saving the environment for future generations? That's exactly the choice families along the stretch of river between Guatemala and Belize have to make. Switzer Fellow Dave Kramer of EcoLogic Development Fund is helping them find common ground to create a sustainable fishery that will serve everyone.