The Project
I will be accompanying Dr. Anne Millhollen (formerly known as Dr. Anne Mertl-Millhollen), my former professor, who has studied ring-tailed lemurs, sifaka, and habitat resources at the Berenty Reserve since 1975. She offers an exceptional opportunity to learn while working side-by-side with her. This volunteer project will not only expand my experience through restoration of the reserve’s delicate and impacted forest resources, but will also allow me the chance to make a difference in a community outside of my own that will essentially prove to be fundamental in the work I will continue to do at home.
Past studies performed by Anne have provided baseline information which we will reassess through transecting and plotting to evaluate changes in vegetation over time. This information will allow us to work towards understanding the causes of changes throughout the area, and provide a valuable management plan for the owners of the reserve. This will include advising the owners, who have started a tree nursery, on where to plant seedlings and at what quantities per perspective species. In addition to sampling for updated data, and providing a management plan, we will continue to remove devil’s backbone, an introduced and invasive plant contributing to the decline in the health of the forest system.
It is my hope that I will be able to keep you all updated throughout my time in Madagascar through blogging here, Facebook and/or Instagram. That is if the “clouds” let me do so. If this turns out to be an issue, I will certainly give you all the lowdown when I return.
I will be accompanying Dr. Anne Millhollen (formerly known as Dr. Anne Mertl-Millhollen), my former professor, who has studied ring-tailed lemurs, sifaka, and habitat resources at the Berenty Reserve since 1975. She offers an exceptional opportunity to learn while working side-by-side with her. This volunteer project will not only expand my experience through restoration of the reserve’s delicate and impacted forest resources, but will also allow me the chance to make a difference in a community outside of my own that will essentially prove to be fundamental in the work I will continue to do at home.
Past studies performed by Anne have provided baseline information which we will reassess through transecting and plotting to evaluate changes in vegetation over time. This information will allow us to work towards understanding the causes of changes throughout the area, and provide a valuable management plan for the owners of the reserve. This will include advising the owners, who have started a tree nursery, on where to plant seedlings and at what quantities per perspective species. In addition to sampling for updated data, and providing a management plan, we will continue to remove devil’s backbone, an introduced and invasive plant contributing to the decline in the health of the forest system.
It is my hope that I will be able to keep you all updated throughout my time in Madagascar through blogging here, Facebook and/or Instagram. That is if the “clouds” let me do so. If this turns out to be an issue, I will certainly give you all the lowdown when I return.
What does this mean to YOU?
The Environment and Extinction
How does the loss of habitat and species halfway around the world impact you, and why you should care? You can think of it like a thread unraveling or dominoes being removed from the center. Animals of this planet are all connected, this includes you. When dominoes are pulled out of the middle of a long chain it throws off the entire structure, and causes it to stop working properly. Sure you can just flick the next one and get it going, but it will again be disrupted by the missing pieces, similar to the unraveling of a thread from a tapestry. Once it starts it’s difficult to keep intact, and can never be the way it was before. This concept is actually called the food web or the living web, and the removal of one species is far reaching with impacts that may not be realized until it is too late.
You
As a compassionate and thoughtful person who appreciates what this planet offers you, you feel good when you care. By giving whatever amount you can afford to promote environmental health, education, and the goals of people around you, a warm fuzzy feeling will come over you and pride in stewardship of this cause will be yours for the rest of your life. Plus, you get prizes!
Me
Maybe all of this other stuff is a given, and you already do your part or more than your part, but you think I’m awesome, hardworking, committed, and deserving. This is a project I have been working towards for nearly two years, but building towards for several. My love for wildlife and the environment drive my ambitions to protect this planet and all of its inhabitants, so of course this makes me your protector too. Plus, you get prizes!
The Environment and Extinction
How does the loss of habitat and species halfway around the world impact you, and why you should care? You can think of it like a thread unraveling or dominoes being removed from the center. Animals of this planet are all connected, this includes you. When dominoes are pulled out of the middle of a long chain it throws off the entire structure, and causes it to stop working properly. Sure you can just flick the next one and get it going, but it will again be disrupted by the missing pieces, similar to the unraveling of a thread from a tapestry. Once it starts it’s difficult to keep intact, and can never be the way it was before. This concept is actually called the food web or the living web, and the removal of one species is far reaching with impacts that may not be realized until it is too late.
You
As a compassionate and thoughtful person who appreciates what this planet offers you, you feel good when you care. By giving whatever amount you can afford to promote environmental health, education, and the goals of people around you, a warm fuzzy feeling will come over you and pride in stewardship of this cause will be yours for the rest of your life. Plus, you get prizes!
Me
Maybe all of this other stuff is a given, and you already do your part or more than your part, but you think I’m awesome, hardworking, committed, and deserving. This is a project I have been working towards for nearly two years, but building towards for several. My love for wildlife and the environment drive my ambitions to protect this planet and all of its inhabitants, so of course this makes me your protector too. Plus, you get prizes!