Hi Wendee, I am a graduating student at UC Berkeley, and one of the most fascinating stories I discovered in my time here is Theodore Papenfuss' herpetological work in Afghanistan, prior to the 9-11 attacks. Due to the country's political climate, not much research in the field of animal biology has been done there, so Ted's story can be of interest to those who are interested in a biological census perspective. But of course the main drawing point of the story are his experiences as an American researcher in a predominantly anti-American setting. I don't want to spoil it for you if you intend on looking into this any further, but it goes without saying that his story certainly contains some very fascinating viewpoints related to today's political climate, in terms of war, cultural differences, and friendship.
There isn't much online that can be found about the story, so I think it could certainly use a follow up. Keep us updated on how this turns out. Good luck! - Todd P.S. Here is a link to an article I grabbed online: http://berkeley.edu/news/berkeleyan/2001/10/17_tlibn.html Ted's email is [email protected], but I'm not sure how much luck you'll have getting a hold of him. He seems awfully busy these days. On Thu, Dec 17, 2009 at 2:46 PM, Wayne Tyson <[email protected]> wrote: > Wendee: > > Well, that depends upon your reader demographic, I reckon. Are you shooting > for the touchy-feely stuff, the most sensational, the most scandalous, or > are you interested in some other angle? The California condor is one of my > favorites ("The Last Days of the Condor." The New York Times, February 8, > 1986; > "The Only Hope for the Condors?" San Francisco Chronicle, January 16, 1986; > "A Condor Chick Is Hatched, and Hope Is Born, Too." Los Angeles Times, May > 24, 1988), and I think this story badly needs accurate updating in the > "popular" press. > > But what I would most like to see is a kind of ranking of all species at > risk, with those due to anthropogenic causes (and the nature of those > causes) distinguished from those not due to anthropogenic activity (and the > nature of the causes, together with their natural history and habitat > requirements). Anybody got any links, sources, references, or ideas about > how to get this done? > > Please post your replies. > > Good luck! > > WT > > PS: Please send a link when your pieces are published. > > > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Wendee Holtcamp" < > [email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Thursday, December 17, 2009 7:25 AM > Subject: [ECOLOG-L] top ten animal stories/+sci writing class > > > I'm curious what you guys think are the top ten animal-related news >> stories >> for the past decade? What animal-related success story, story of decline, >> or >> exciting discovery was most talked about, or most intriguing? >> >> I'm doing a post for my Animal Planet blog >> (http://blogs.discovery.com/animal_news) on this, and though I have a >> couple >> ideas I wanted to get some input from ecologists! :-) The blog will be >> going >> from 5/week to 1/week starting January 1st but will still be there. >> >> And I have a couple more openings for my 6-week online writing class (many >> professors and scientists take it to learn how to write for general >> interest/science/enviro magazines)- I have it set to start Dec 19 but I >> think I'm moving that back to Dec 26 to start right after Christmas since >> some people may be a wee bit busy the week before. If you're interested I >> can send you a course outline or you can visit the website >> www.wendeeholtcamp.com/nature.htm >> >> Happy holidays! >> Wendee >> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ >> Wendee Holtcamp, M.S. Wildlife Ecology ~ @bohemianone >> Freelance Writer * Photographer * Bohemian >> http://www.wendeeholtcamp.com <http://www.wendeeholtcamp.com/> >> http://bohemianadventures.blogspot.com >> <http://bohemianadventures.blogspot.com/> >> ~~6-wk Online Writing Course Starts Dec 19, 2009 (signup by Dec 12)~~ >> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ >> I'm Animal Planet's news blogger - http://blogs.discovery.com/animal_news >> > > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 8.5.427 / Virus Database: 270.14.110/2568 - Release Date: 12/16/09 > 08:02:00 >
