Conservation Education Live

This blog is written by me -- a novice conservation researcher, who is learning more than I ever could have imagined at the Smithsonian (yes you heard me -- that Smithsonian) Conservation Research Center in Front Royal, Virginia. I am a student in the George Mason University Mason-Smithsonian Semester. This is an intense experience because we are learning from some of the world's best conservation researchers, and we are living at the research center too. So this is sort of like MTV Real World, minus the perpetual drug-induced hook-ups among really bizarre and unnaturally tan people. Instead of "ten strangers picked to live in a house," our version is "fifteen undergraduate students picked to live in the middle of a major research facility, and gain more knowledge and experience than most people get in 10 college degrees." Our cast is a bunch of conservation crazy, animal loving, adventurous college students who are here to soak up all this knowledge to become the best conservation researchers of the next generation. I will invite them to guest blog throughout this adventure.

I am also a world-traveling student (last year I did a semester in New Zealand learning about Maori culture, language, and media - and in the last few years I studied in Japan and Mexico - check out my pics), who looks at this whole experience from a slightly different perspective. I am not a scientist, but I want to learn how to explain science through pictures, video, film, writing, social media, and any other way I can make a living doing what I love. The way I see it, if I can actually learn about the most important issues in conservation, and learn about all the scientific, cultural, political, and economic factors that impact conservation research and education, I can take better pictures, create more compelling stories, and hopefully find my work in Smithsonian or National Geographic Magazine someday!!

So that is me -- a novice conservation researcher, who wants to make a career in telling the story of nature and animals and (although I am slightly terrified of science) I will share my perspectives, pictures, and video to let you learn along with me. We have amazing speakers, research opportunities, and tons and tons of work (this gig is not for the lazy types) as part of the GMU-Smithsonian Semester. I look forward to sharing as much of it as I can with you.