News

It’s been a busy spring for us. Days after we returned from a story in Mozambique, we were invited to return to Africa for a week’s work in Tanzania. TEAM (Tropical Ecology Assessment and Monitoring) is a Conservation International project designed to provide an early warning system on the status of biodiversity in the tropics. The network generates real time, publicly available data through a rapidly growing global network of field stations. In early April, project staff from around the globe gathered outside of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania for a Network meeting and training.

On the last day of the workshop, Nancy Baron – a naturalist featured in our Natural Histories Project – led a communication training on the “risks and rewards of science communication.” Her book, Escape from the Ivory Tower is a fantastic resource designed to help academics and researchers strengthen their communication skills and effectively reach non-scientific audiences. We were honored to join Christopher Joyce from National Public Radio, Ken Weiss from the Los Angles Times, and Nicola Jones from Nature as the journalist trainers. Side by side, we interviewed the participating scientists in front of the group, and then collectively deconstructed the conversations. Our favorite part was watching seasoned science reporters such as Chris and Ken work their magic; I think we learned as much as anyone.

(Check out this recent piece from Christopher Joyce on nuclear peril in Japan. And Ken Weiss was behind the LA Times Pulitzer Prize winning series Altered Oceans.)

We’ll have more to share from our work with TEAM in the coming weeks. Below are a few photos from the workshop and overnight trip to the Udzungwa National Park field station.