Thanks to my sister Michelle McIlroy for designing the logo!

Welcome!

Ever since I was a child, I have been very interested in nature and the environment. I have a B.S. degree in wildlife biology, and have worked as a zookeeper, wildlife biologist, and ecologist. I am conducting a brief survey of world leaders, government officials, religious leaders, corporate CEOs, environmental groups, wildlife experts, and others regarding nature and the environment. I am also very interested in religious views, customs, and beliefs from around the world, and the interactions between religion, culture, society, and the environment. This is something I am doing out of personal interest, and is not connected to any group or organization. I have been working on this project since the summer of 2006, and hope to eventually turn it into a book and/or documentary. I am hoping to make this into a global project, with responses from all segments of society. Feel free to contact me directly if you have any questions or comments. If you have not already done so, I hope that you will consider taking part in my project, and please spread the word to anyone you think might be interested! Thanks for stopping by!

TAKE THE SURVEY ONLINE HERE http://tinyurl.com/nx4ng7

December 18, 2015

To The Heartland Institute


Dear Self-Proclaimed Experts,

Your recent diatribes regarding the Omnibus Spending and Tax Bill are laughable. Everyone knows that you are just shills for the fossil fuel industry and ultra-conservative right-wing "Christian" ideologues, not representative of the majority of decent American citizens. If you were really such an influential organization, then please explain to me why your trip to the Vatican had no impact on the release of Laudato Si, in fact, why you were unable to even secure an audience with the Pope. Also, please explain why your "Day of Examining the Data" had no impact on the COP-21 proceedings. Indeed, your keynote video speaker Senator Inhofe is one of the biggest imbeciles in Congress. I would assume that you are also fervent backers of the repugnant Donald Trump? You claim that your climate conference in Germany was also a success, but what has come of it? It was nothing more than a chance for you to mingle with your European denier counterparts, coming up with more of the same sad rhetoric that you already spew at every opportunity. A conference of climate deniers and skeptics is really sad in a day and age when the majority of the populace  as well as almost all credible scientists and faith leaders agree that climate change is happening, is human-caused, and is something we need to urgently address.

Why is your organization so hell-bent on putting the country and planet on a fast-track collision course with a death sentence? Your organization and those like you would take this country back to the dark ages if you had your way, back to an industrial age filled with smog and pollution, and high death rates. You are not visionary, you are people who look in the rear-view mirror and think you see the future. You long ago replaced the blood in your veins with oil, and became polluted by the greed of the fossil fuel industry and the right-wing lunatics who would love to see this country become one based on biblical law, a xenophobic land with no opportunity for a decent future. The RepubliCAN Party, which used to be a party concerned with the environment, has become the RepubliCANT Party, where the vision of the future is whatever the dirty money filling their pockets wants it to be. More environmental regulations were passed and environmental agencies created during Republican administrations than Democrat, yet the Republican Party of today would turn the planet into a cesspool of despair given their chance.

I for one am proud to be a registered Democrat, and pleased that I can see through the lies and disinformation that is being shouted out as the truth by your "experts" and those that you try to hold influence over in Congress. I would rather struggle to make ends meet and know that I was doing right for the planet than cave to the likes of you and have a more financially-secure future. I work 2 jobs 7 days a week to make ends meet, but still donate a portion of every paycheck-to the tune of thousands of dollars each year-to environmental and conservation organizations, because they have the vision and common sense to work towards a positive outcome for the planet and the species that it supports. I would not give one red cent to you or any of the organizations or people that you support or work with, even if you were destitute in the street begging for change. 

I can only hope that at some point as your outbursts become more and more outlandish that people will see them for what they are, a desperate attempt to appease those who fund you, and will not give them any credence. You do more harm than good, and should be ashamed of the dim and dismal future that you seek for all of us.

Sincerely,
Jeremy Taylor

December 11, 2015

December 10, 2015

Lynn Braband

Senior Extension Associate, NYS IPM Program - Cornell University

Jul 23, 2009

1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?

Growing up in a rural environment with easy access to outdoor areas.


2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood? How about now??

Marshes, lakes, and woods in the county where my grandparents lived. The farmland creek near where I grew up. Currently, close by: several marshes and a railroad bed turned hiking trail; further away: the Adirondack backcountry

3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is, and why?

Siberian tiger. Top of the food chain predator.

4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?

Combination of human population growth and materialistic lifestyles.

5. If you could give everyone one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?

Get to intimately know a natural area. You cannot love what you do not know.

December 08, 2015

An Open Letter to the Republican Party

This will be running on December 11th on The Hill's website, and they have asked me to take my blog post down. I will share the link once it is posted....

Jeremy