Section officer, Ministry of Environment, Pakistan
Today's Date: July 26, 2006
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
Love to the nature.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
Green mountains and clean river water.
Now? Same but in dream.
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is, and why?
Leopard, because of its beautiful walk.
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?
low forest cover, loss of habitat, climate change, Ozone depletion, water quality.
5. If you could give everyone one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
Care the nature .
Thanks to my sister Michelle McIlroy for designing the logo!
July 26, 2006
Maurice Burns
Secretary, Friends of the Gippsland Lakes
Today's Date:27/07/2006
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
Fishing has led me to admire nature
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
The banks of the Murray River, Mildura, Australia
Now? Not really, the more unspoilt the better
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is, and why?
No favourite, no special affinity just respect for their right to be in the environment that suits them
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?
Reining in and undoing the damage of unsustainable consumption
5. If you could give everyone one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
Stop thinking of ourselves as the master species entitled to destroy the environment beyond our genuine needs
Today's Date:27/07/2006
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
Fishing has led me to admire nature
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
The banks of the Murray River, Mildura, Australia
Now? Not really, the more unspoilt the better
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is, and why?
No favourite, no special affinity just respect for their right to be in the environment that suits them
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?
Reining in and undoing the damage of unsustainable consumption
5. If you could give everyone one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
Stop thinking of ourselves as the master species entitled to destroy the environment beyond our genuine needs
Doug Heiken
Restoration Coordinator, Oregon Natural Resources Council
Today’s Date: 7-26-06
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
Old-growth forests and wildflower meadows.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
Yes, the woods and creek behind my house in Clackamas County, Oregon and the Crooked River Canyon in central Oregon. And the beaches of the Oregon Coast.
Now? Not currently. Too busy! (Must change that.)
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is, and why?
At any given time, my favorite animal is the one I mostly recently learned something fascinating about.
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?
Population growth, climate change, native habitat destruction. Compounded by the fact that appropriate management of nature requires complex and adaptive mechanisms while our human minds and institutions tend to latch onto simple concepts that don't mesh well with nature.
5. If you could give everyone one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
1) Immerse yourself in far from equilibrium thermodynamics and complex dynamical systems science then apply that to what you already know about nature.
2) Don't forget that it's the uncharismatic microfauna that really make the world go 'round.
Today’s Date: 7-26-06
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
Old-growth forests and wildflower meadows.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
Yes, the woods and creek behind my house in Clackamas County, Oregon and the Crooked River Canyon in central Oregon. And the beaches of the Oregon Coast.
Now? Not currently. Too busy! (Must change that.)
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is, and why?
At any given time, my favorite animal is the one I mostly recently learned something fascinating about.
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?
Population growth, climate change, native habitat destruction. Compounded by the fact that appropriate management of nature requires complex and adaptive mechanisms while our human minds and institutions tend to latch onto simple concepts that don't mesh well with nature.
5. If you could give everyone one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
1) Immerse yourself in far from equilibrium thermodynamics and complex dynamical systems science then apply that to what you already know about nature.
2) Don't forget that it's the uncharismatic microfauna that really make the world go 'round.
Claudine Sierra
Consultant at University for International Cooperation, Principal Researcher in a TNC Program and audit for Rainforest Alliance and Ecological Flag, Costa Rica
Today's Date: July 26th 2006
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
Underwater encounter with a Humpback Whale in the Caribbean, Encounter with wild elephants in India
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
Yes, The Delta of Tigre in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Now? Yes, tropical forest, tropical beaches and Cocos Island, Costa Rica
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is, and why?
Impossible to answer, almost all of them!!!
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?
Restrain from indiscriminate use, respect nature for what it is, change the standards of comfort and urban life.
5. If you could give everyone one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
Enjoy by watching, smelling, feeling, listening, thinking, praying (however you pray and caring). Enjoy by being. Don't have more than what you really really really need and use, don't throw in the garbage unless you are sure about where it will end and how, plant a native tree ..... every month and multiply your good actions.
Today's Date: July 26th 2006
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
Underwater encounter with a Humpback Whale in the Caribbean, Encounter with wild elephants in India
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
Yes, The Delta of Tigre in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Now? Yes, tropical forest, tropical beaches and Cocos Island, Costa Rica
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is, and why?
Impossible to answer, almost all of them!!!
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?
Restrain from indiscriminate use, respect nature for what it is, change the standards of comfort and urban life.
5. If you could give everyone one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
Enjoy by watching, smelling, feeling, listening, thinking, praying (however you pray and caring). Enjoy by being. Don't have more than what you really really really need and use, don't throw in the garbage unless you are sure about where it will end and how, plant a native tree ..... every month and multiply your good actions.
Anne F. Bellenger
Ph.D., retired teacher, Miami/Dade County FL Public Schools
Today's Date: 7/26/06
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
The biggest impact on me was probably the time I photographed a family of 3 whooping cranes. These huge birds allowed me to approach them and photograph them from a distance of about 25 ft. It was a thrill of a lifetime because they are so rare.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
Highlands, North Carolina
Now? Everglades National Park
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is, and why?
Ivory billed woodpecker, if they ever locate it. It's my favorite because of the mystery associated with it, and the fact that it was supposed to be extinct. I believe it still exists.
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?
Habitat destruction is the greatest environmental challenge now and global warming in the future.
5. If you could give everyone one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
Don't believe anything the government says.
Today's Date: 7/26/06
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
The biggest impact on me was probably the time I photographed a family of 3 whooping cranes. These huge birds allowed me to approach them and photograph them from a distance of about 25 ft. It was a thrill of a lifetime because they are so rare.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
Highlands, North Carolina
Now? Everglades National Park
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is, and why?
Ivory billed woodpecker, if they ever locate it. It's my favorite because of the mystery associated with it, and the fact that it was supposed to be extinct. I believe it still exists.
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?
Habitat destruction is the greatest environmental challenge now and global warming in the future.
5. If you could give everyone one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
Don't believe anything the government says.
Tim Riding
MSc student, University of Auckland
Today’s Date: 27/7/06
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
Sailing on the open ocean with all manner of cetaceans and fish, and diving amongst them.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
Yes, up a tree!
Now? On the open ocean
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is, and why?
Sharks and rays. That’s what I study and that's what fascinates me...
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?
Human over-population and the consequences that has.
5. If you could give everyone one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
Breed sensibly. The less people in this world the less pressure on the environment and our natural resources. Seems obvious really, doesn't it??
Today’s Date: 27/7/06
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
Sailing on the open ocean with all manner of cetaceans and fish, and diving amongst them.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
Yes, up a tree!
Now? On the open ocean
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is, and why?
Sharks and rays. That’s what I study and that's what fascinates me...
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?
Human over-population and the consequences that has.
5. If you could give everyone one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
Breed sensibly. The less people in this world the less pressure on the environment and our natural resources. Seems obvious really, doesn't it??
Susan Phelon
former president of the Urner Ornithological Club
Today’s Date: 7-26-06
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
In the mid eighties, I was on the West Coast and hoped to see 3 things, a sea lion, a whale, and an eagle. While on the San Juan Island ferry a Bald Eagle flew right by the ferry at eye level at about the same speed as the boat. I blurted out, "Wow! It's just like the Post Office commercial! That statement made me realize how far away from nature I had drifted. My adult experience was sadly limited to TV. As soon as I returned to New Jersey, I signed up for NJ Audubon birding trip and now travel all over the world birding.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
As a child my favorite place to be in all the world was the forest behind our house which is now part of a Monmouth County Park. I couldn't wait until I was home from school, so I could change clothes, snack, and then stay in the woods until dinner or dark, whichever came first. I was always alone, just enjoying nature. Once I even saw a White-tailed Deer. Of course, now New Jersey is inundated with deer, but in the 1950's that was a great sighting.
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is, and why?
I love giraffes and hope to someday visit the Rothschild Giraffe Research Center in Kenya. My love affair with giraffes began at age 3 when I was given a stuffed giraffe. He became my best friend (as any only child will tell you it's very important to have a resident best friend). Giraffee went everywhere with me and I still have him (or what's left of him - no eyes, nose bitten off, no tail). Whenever I'm really upset, he still gets a teary hug.
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?
Global warming without a doubt. Also the growing demands on natural resources by China and India.
5. If you could give everyone one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
My advice, vote Democratic. George Bush is a disaster. (I'm a life long Republican)
Today’s Date: 7-26-06
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
In the mid eighties, I was on the West Coast and hoped to see 3 things, a sea lion, a whale, and an eagle. While on the San Juan Island ferry a Bald Eagle flew right by the ferry at eye level at about the same speed as the boat. I blurted out, "Wow! It's just like the Post Office commercial! That statement made me realize how far away from nature I had drifted. My adult experience was sadly limited to TV. As soon as I returned to New Jersey, I signed up for NJ Audubon birding trip and now travel all over the world birding.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
As a child my favorite place to be in all the world was the forest behind our house which is now part of a Monmouth County Park. I couldn't wait until I was home from school, so I could change clothes, snack, and then stay in the woods until dinner or dark, whichever came first. I was always alone, just enjoying nature. Once I even saw a White-tailed Deer. Of course, now New Jersey is inundated with deer, but in the 1950's that was a great sighting.
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is, and why?
I love giraffes and hope to someday visit the Rothschild Giraffe Research Center in Kenya. My love affair with giraffes began at age 3 when I was given a stuffed giraffe. He became my best friend (as any only child will tell you it's very important to have a resident best friend). Giraffee went everywhere with me and I still have him (or what's left of him - no eyes, nose bitten off, no tail). Whenever I'm really upset, he still gets a teary hug.
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?
Global warming without a doubt. Also the growing demands on natural resources by China and India.
5. If you could give everyone one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
My advice, vote Democratic. George Bush is a disaster. (I'm a life long Republican)
Steve K. Sherrod, PhD
Executive Director, Sutton Avian Research Center
Today’s Date: 7-26-06
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
As a child (I am 58 now) at a time when nobody cared nor did laws regulate, I raised all kinds of wild animals from coyotes to squirrels, from snakes to lizards, and from mourning doves to red-tailed hawks. While I was always interested in everything, raptors and other predators really captured my obsessions, and I became a falconer. I am still a falconer today, a passion that has kept me in the field and taken me all over the world, but my interest in raptors and their declines due to DDT during the 60's led to my interest in wildlife conservation, and consequently, habitat conservation, and then to human population concerns, and finally to the problem of a world economy based on a U.S. economy ultimately failing the world's ecology due to the need for continued growth.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
During my childhood, I loved spending time in the Wichita Mountains of southwest OK, and also the mountains and streams around Red River, N.M.
Now? I love the arctic most of all; followed by the high plains, scrub deserts, and grasslands.
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is, and why?
Although least suited for life in a zoo, after raptors, I really love the cheetah (with what you might find to be an odd description), but what I will call all the grace and beauty of predatory swan.
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?
As already stated, a U.S. economy based on continual growth, one that dominates and drives a world economy based on same.
5. If you could give everyone one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
No one can do everything, but everyone can do something. Vote for environmental candidates and help educate those candidates regarding what reasonable steps can be taken to conserve habitat geographically, temporarily, quantitatively, and qualitatively. (and encourage your friends to do likewise).
Today’s Date: 7-26-06
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
As a child (I am 58 now) at a time when nobody cared nor did laws regulate, I raised all kinds of wild animals from coyotes to squirrels, from snakes to lizards, and from mourning doves to red-tailed hawks. While I was always interested in everything, raptors and other predators really captured my obsessions, and I became a falconer. I am still a falconer today, a passion that has kept me in the field and taken me all over the world, but my interest in raptors and their declines due to DDT during the 60's led to my interest in wildlife conservation, and consequently, habitat conservation, and then to human population concerns, and finally to the problem of a world economy based on a U.S. economy ultimately failing the world's ecology due to the need for continued growth.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
During my childhood, I loved spending time in the Wichita Mountains of southwest OK, and also the mountains and streams around Red River, N.M.
Now? I love the arctic most of all; followed by the high plains, scrub deserts, and grasslands.
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is, and why?
Although least suited for life in a zoo, after raptors, I really love the cheetah (with what you might find to be an odd description), but what I will call all the grace and beauty of predatory swan.
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?
As already stated, a U.S. economy based on continual growth, one that dominates and drives a world economy based on same.
5. If you could give everyone one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
No one can do everything, but everyone can do something. Vote for environmental candidates and help educate those candidates regarding what reasonable steps can be taken to conserve habitat geographically, temporarily, quantitatively, and qualitatively. (and encourage your friends to do likewise).
Steve Sosensky
SoCA Bird Guides
Today's Date: 7/26/06
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
Seeing a Magnificent Frigatebird fly over my head about 20 feet up spurred the decision to take up birdwatching enthusiastically. I now work in the industry.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
My neighborhood had several patches of woods and a pond and marsh that froze over for ice skating in the winter.
Now? I can't count that high. Some examples are Yosemite NP, East Mojave Preserve, Salton Sea, any rocky shoreline in California.
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is, and why?
I don't really have one. I like Empidonax flycatchers for the challenge of identifying them (but any bird I see for the first time), most mammals, but especially cetaceans, and butterflies.
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?
Republicans. The greatest environmental challenge is people who care more about overuse for economic gain than about the quality of the environment and the legacy we will be leaving for future generations.
5. If you could give everyone one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
We need to ensure that renewable resources stay renewable and that non-renewable resources are used sparingly until alternatives are discovered and developed.
Today's Date: 7/26/06
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
Seeing a Magnificent Frigatebird fly over my head about 20 feet up spurred the decision to take up birdwatching enthusiastically. I now work in the industry.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
My neighborhood had several patches of woods and a pond and marsh that froze over for ice skating in the winter.
Now? I can't count that high. Some examples are Yosemite NP, East Mojave Preserve, Salton Sea, any rocky shoreline in California.
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is, and why?
I don't really have one. I like Empidonax flycatchers for the challenge of identifying them (but any bird I see for the first time), most mammals, but especially cetaceans, and butterflies.
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?
Republicans. The greatest environmental challenge is people who care more about overuse for economic gain than about the quality of the environment and the legacy we will be leaving for future generations.
5. If you could give everyone one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
We need to ensure that renewable resources stay renewable and that non-renewable resources are used sparingly until alternatives are discovered and developed.
Firefly
Volunteers for Tawo
Today’s Date: 7/26/06
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
Visiting an Ihanktonwan Sioux reservation in SD by the banks of the Missouri River.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
Yes, the beach.
Now? Still the beach.
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is, and why?
Eagle. Because it can fly and see well at great distances.
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?
FYI-- young man---Humanity is now facing the tipping point of total planetary destruction.
Your blind survey seems utterly ridiculous to indigenous old folks (61) like me---but since you are obviously young and naive--with painfully naive Q's--- I am doing you this favor---plus giving you a present to read. [A Critical Review of Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth by Catherine Austin Fitts, Solari, Inc.]
5. If you could give everyone one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
STOP DRIVING.
Today’s Date: 7/26/06
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
Visiting an Ihanktonwan Sioux reservation in SD by the banks of the Missouri River.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
Yes, the beach.
Now? Still the beach.
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is, and why?
Eagle. Because it can fly and see well at great distances.
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?
FYI-- young man---Humanity is now facing the tipping point of total planetary destruction.
Your blind survey seems utterly ridiculous to indigenous old folks (61) like me---but since you are obviously young and naive--with painfully naive Q's--- I am doing you this favor---plus giving you a present to read. [A Critical Review of Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth by Catherine Austin Fitts, Solari, Inc.]
5. If you could give everyone one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
STOP DRIVING.
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