Read the latest biweekly Policy News from ESA’s Public Affairs Office.

This opportunity was a fantastic introduction to the to the workings of science, policy and government. I had minimal background in policy and this event was perfect for someone who is beginning to consider science/policy interactions as a career interest.

Last week, I had the privilege to spend several days in Washington DC as a graduate student representative of ESA. Along with biologists from several other organizations, we met with congressional staffers to advocate for the expansion of several federal programs that fund non-medical life science research in the 2008 budget. It was my first experience navigating the marbled halls of Capitol Hill, and although I didn’t come away with pockets full of research money (which was my secret motive for going), the trip was eye-opening on several levels.

Read the latest biweekly Policy News from ESA’s Public Affairs Office.

Earth Day as a special event once a year had never really meant much to me. But last year was different. For the first time I decided to participate in an Earth Day celebration event in my town of Reston, Virginia together with my 2-year old daughter, Anna. The event, which featured a native plant sale, stories and music by clowns, face painting, etc. was definitely fun but it was what happened afterwards that made this particular Earth Day memorable.

In response to several requests, ESA is making several letters exchanging views about China and Tibet, originally published in the February and April issues of Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, available to the general public. To read these letters, click on Frontiers letters on Tibet. Readers who wish to add comments may do so in the comment section of…

Read the latest biweekly Policy News from ESA’s Public Affairs Office.

Steve Beissinger discusses his and Zachariah Peery’s article “Reconstructing the historic demography of an endangered seabird” in the February 2007 Ecology (88(2): 296-305). Read the full article at http://www.esa.org/esablog/blog_docs/Beissinger_article.pdf.

I can distinctly remember what got me interested in environmental issues. When I was in 3rd grade I had this really amazing teacher who taught us about the environment. It was my first exposure to “reduce, reuse, and recycle” and she taught us about things we could do to help improve the environment. I was a little skeptical at first…

Throughout National Wildlife Week (April 21 – 29), which intersects Earth Day, about 30 bloggers (signed up in a mere three days since the announcement) will be spending the week conducting bioblitzes across the world – the US, Panama, Canada, etc. – compiling the information gained into tallies and grand totals of species, then georeferencing the whole bit on an interactive world map, showing our results spatially.

This year�s Earth Day, marking the anniversary of the founding of the modern environmental movement in 1970, is Sunday, April 22, 2007.

In celebration of this event, ESA News and Views will feature your thoughts, reminiscences, polemics, and general musings on Earth Day

Contributed by Edward B. Barbier, Department of Economics & Finance, University of Wyoming

In a recent editorial in the New York Times (“False Hopes and Natural Disasters”, December 26, 2006), Andrew Baird has criticized Bill Clinton in his role as special envoy for UN tsunami recovery for endorsing publicly a $62 million program for preserving mangroves and coastal reefs as “natural barriers” to future tsunamis in 12 Indian Ocean countries.