Author Archives: sclayton

Long, long ago — way back in 1975 — a UNESCO group described environmental education as including not just knowledge but also skills, attitudes, and participation in attempts to address environmental problems. More recently, the OECD define… Continue reading →

Sara Falkoff ’11 got her dream job, working for the Udall Foundation’s Parks in Focus program to take inner-city children into outdoor places. Here’s her update: “Next week I will be bringing 12 middle-schoolers from the Boys an… Continue reading →

“we will conserve only what we love, we will love only what we understand, and we will understand only what we are taught.” (Baba Dioum) A great quote. But is it true?  I’m struck this week by how much Americans … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I came to Glacier National Park this year because I wanted to see the glaciers while I still can. If you want to see glaciers in the lower 48, better get here soon – they’re predicted to vanish completely by … Continue reading → Continue reading →

In these days when government seems to be ineffectual and paralyzed, it’s important to be reminded of what governments, and only governments, CAN do.  In the National Park system, the US government set aside huge amounts of land “for the … C… Continue reading →

Today I saw what I hadn’t seen previously during my week in Chengdu: blue sky. Yes, there was rain for the past two days, but at other times the sky is usually covered by a haze of industrial pollution so … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I had to include one!  Looking at it dispassionately, surely pandas are an evolutionary frivolity. It takes a lot of bamboo to keep a panda happy. But it’s hard to name an animal that inspires more affection than this one. … Continue readi… Continue reading →

Love of nature — biophilia.  Some have argued that it’s imprinted in our very genes. It’s certainly in our institutions. Many religions emphasize respect for nature and for animals, as was evident at this 1000 year old Buddhist templ… Continue reading →

Mark Wilson reports on a dying coral reef. http://woostergeologists.scotblogs.wooster.edu/2011/05/28/a-visit-to-a-dying-reef-system/ Corals are threatened around the world. In addition to the negative impacts on ecosystems, the loss of beauty is also s… Continue reading →

From China, where I’m looking into ways to promote animal conservation:  I visited a site today that left me stunned.  AnimalsAsia is primarily dedicated to rescuing bears that are being “farmed” for their bile, an important part of… Continue reading →