Repost: Island Species-Led Action Course

Below is the course flyer to this year’s Island Species-Led Action (ISLA) course to be held in Iligan City, Philippines in September. The course is organized by the International Training Center of the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust.

Kindly pass on to whoever might be interested. Thanks!

Tags: ISLA course

Repost: Student Conference on Conservation Science: Cambridge UK, 23-25 March 2010

Dear Colleague,

11th Student Conference on Conservation Science: Cambridge UK, 23-25 March 2010

The conference series aims to bring together conservation scientists in the early stages of their research careers. SCCS also uses its location in Cambridge to build firm links between the new generation of conservation scientists and the many national and international conservation agencies based nearby.

The conference has an internship scheme, which is available for conference delegates from developing and eastern European countries. This scheme enables student delegates to spend up to one month after the conference with a UK-based NGO or university department carrying out a conservation-related project of mutual interest.

The closing date for applications for the conference and the internship scheme is 31 October 2009.

Further information about the Student Conference on Conservation Science and details of how to apply can be found on our website: www.sccs-cam.org

Best wishes,
Shireen

Shireen Green
Conference Administrator

Student Conference on Conservation Science
Department of Zoology
University of Cambridge
Downing Street
Cambridge
CB2 3EJ

Tel: 00 44 (0)1223 762979

Student Conference on Conservation Science
www.sccs-cam.org

spreading the word

i recently spoke with my undergraduate thesis adviser. he wrote my recommendation for the course so when i got back from china, he was excited to hear about it. so i told him about the things we did, new subjects that i found interesting, the topic i chose for independent project, people i met, etc etc. i had so many exciting things to say, and he probably thought i needed more time (and a bigger audience!) for it. and so he suggested that i talk about the course in his ecology class which i took 2 years ago. so that’s what i did yesterday. i compiled pictures, and also looked through my notes. and on the first page, for chuck’s intro lecture, i wrote spread the word. maybe he mentioned it then. and i was like “hey, that’s what im doing!” i hope students from that class will apply next year.

*i’d like to thank everyone who responded to my request for pictures on such a short notice. orr, nayana, jerpin, yen, nana, andes. i hope i didnt miss anyone. many thanks to you guys

on the way home

so…a lot of people have posted their “so now i’m home” stories. i’m a little bit behind, because this is just about what happened on the way.

so, all the while I thought my flight from kunming to hongkong was at 2pm. i checked my ticket the night before i left banna, and then changed my story to 3:45pm. that’s why i went to the airport with Hua Xia, whose flight was at 4. it was only when we arrived at the airport that i looked at the paper again that i found out that my flight actually leaves 20minutes earlier than what i’ve been telling everyone! (*this is the kind of thing that irritates my parents. i can almost hear my mom saying “what were you thinking?!”) so, i wasnt late, but i was i was one of the last few people to check in. and when i got to the counter, the airline person didnt attend to me right away because…..(drumroll here) there were no more seats left!!! and all i could say was “how is that possible?” and no, i didnt have a tone, and i didnt have a look either. i want to say that im proud of how i didnt go “rawr” on her, that i was very composed and mature in handling the situation. but i really didnt handle it at all. i didnt even react to it. i think a lot, i worry about the small things, i even worry about nothing. so i was surprised at how non-reactive i was about the whole situation.

here i was, in a foreign country, i dont speak the local language, i might not get on this plane, i have a connecting flight that i might also miss, my phone didnt have any credit left (which wouldnt have mattered anyway because the battery is dead and the charger is buried somewhere in my luggage (*again, “what were you thinking?!”).

it was a good 5minutes before she finally spoke to me and told me that i was upgraded to business class. yahoo!!! i’ve never flown business before. i wasnt used to the “fanciness.” the attendant knew my name, and i wasnt using plastic utensils. haha.

the flight was delayed for more than an hour because of some H1N1 case, i suppose. they had to quarantine some people, and disinfect the plane before finally letting us in. but i didnt mind waiting. i slept through the entire thing. that dangerous card game we played the night before kept me up really late, so i welcomed the opportunity to rest, even in the cold uncomfortable seats of the airport.

that’s it. everything after was pretty much normal, nothing out of the ordinary that’s worth telling a story about. well there was my seatmate on the plane who contemplated on taking home the earphones. whaaaaaattt? but this is too long already.

welcome home everyone!!! til the next time we see each other.
im looking forward to hearing about “what’s next” in your lives

in transit

hi guys!

im writing this post on a computer at the hongkong airport.
i left kunming this afternoon, and will be leaving for manila in an hour. probably by the time you read this in the morning, i’m already catching up on sleep in my bed, in my room, in my country

i’ll write some more once i’ve settled down, visited family, distributed presents, caught up on gossip (haha), etc.

till next time!

nature as remedy for depression :-)

you’re on the right track nature lovers! TIME came out with this article on how psychologists are now prescribing the great outdoors as part of patient care.

Eco-therapists, as they are called, believe that we are hard-wired to interact with nature, but the industrial revolution, and all the technological advances that came after it, have steadily removed us from our natural environment. And that depression is just a manifestation of our longing to reconnect with mother nature.

I may be misquoting the article, so it would be best if you read it for yourself. click HERE

*tiars, thanks for the link