Nearsightedness and Nature-Deficit Disorder
Will kids read this eye chart better if they spend more time outdoors? Why are 80% of kids in Singapore nearsighted? Perhaps it’s a nature-deficit disorder. Singapore has one of the highest rates of...
View ArticleHow to Measure Human Well-Being in a Conservation Project
Goats belonging to Samburu tribe drinking at Namunyak water project; Namunyak Conservancy, Northern Rangelands Trust, Kenya. Suzi Eszterhas photo By Craig Leisher, Senior Social Scientist Measuring...
View ArticleNo Surprise: Protected Areas Work
Yes, protected areas do have less deforestation — usually. Photo: Mark Godfrey By Craig Leisher, senior social scientist Ferraro, P. et al. 2013. More strictly protected areas are not necessarily more...
View ArticleThe Horseshoe Crab: World’s Most Successful Animal
Hundreds of thousands of horseshoe crabs come ashore to lay eggs in the sands of Delaware Bay in the eastern United States. Photo: Asturnut under a Creative Commons license. By Craig Leisher, senior...
View ArticleBook Week: ‘Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global...
Cool Green Science is featuring reviews this week by Conservancy science staff of great books you should check out this summer (or winter, depending on which hemisphere you live in)… Poor Economics: A...
View ArticleWeird Nature: A Bat that Eats Scorpions
A pallid bat catches a scorpion. Photo: Merlin Tuttle/Bat Conservation International By Craig Leisher, senior social scientist, The Nature Conservancy During a recent trip to Carlsbad Caverns National...
View ArticleIs China’s Coastal Aquaculture Production a House of Cards?
Shrimp cocktail. Photo: © BrokenSphere / Wikimedia Commons By Craig Leisher, Senior Social Scientist More than a dozen species are now aqua-farmed on a large scale, but Penaeid shrimp—like the ones on...
View ArticleRemembering Alfred Russel Wallace
Alfred Russel Wallace c. 1895. Photo by London Stereoscopic & Photographic Company, now in the public domain. By Craig Leisher, senior social scientist Today marks the 100th anniversary of Alfred...
View ArticleAre Latin America’s Protected Areas Effective at Conserving Nature?
Sierra del Lacandon National Park, Guatemala. Photo: © Susan G. Ellis/TNC By Craig Leisher, Senior Social Scientist Protected areas are the single most important conservation strategy in the world, and...
View ArticleAn Ounce of Prevention Worth a Pound of Cure? Not for Poverty and Conservation
School children enjoy working in their school’s vegetable garden in Ecuador’s Tungurahua Province. Photo: © Erika Nortemann/TNC By Craig Leisher, Senior Social Scientist Grant me the indulgence of...
View ArticleWinter Weight Gain and Why There Are More Plants and Animals in the Tropics
Walrus. Photo: Captain Budd Christman, NOAA Corps By Craig Leisher, Senior Social Scientist Every winter, no matter how hard I try to avoid it, I pack on five pounds. Perhaps it’s the big holiday meals...
View ArticleA Conservation Scientist’s Advice on “Green” Light Bulbs
The range of light bulbs currently found in the author’s home. Photo: Craig Leisher/TNC By Craig Leisher, Senior Social Scientist My takeaway lesson from long-term experiments with light bulbs in my...
View ArticleLeech Logic and the Need for Conservation Baselines
Implements used for bloodletting. Photo by Peter Merholz through a Creative Commons license. For more than 2,000 years, physicians used leeches to treat everything from hemorrhoids to headaches. Few...
View ArticleMola Mola: The Weirdest Fish in the Ocean?
The Mola mola. Photo: Per-Ola Norman, released into public domain. By Craig Leisher When it hatches, a Mola mola is the size of a pinhead but will grow to be the heaviest bony fish in the ocean—and the...
View ArticleOn Understanding Varying Approaches among Conservation Professionals
Madang Lagoon in Papua New Guinea. Photo: Wikimedia user Goldsztajn under a Creative Commons license. By Craig Leisher, Senior Social Scientist When was the last time you read a science journal article...
View ArticleNYC-DC: What’s the Best Way to Travel Green?
Image courtesy of A Dash of Scrapbooking. Craig Leisher is senior social scientist for The Nature Conservancy. The Washington DC to New York City trip and its reverse is one of the most traveled routes...
View ArticleWeekend Book Picks: The Sixth Extinction
A Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis). Photo by Flickr user Willem v Strien through a Creative Commons license. The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History. By Elizabeth Kolbert. 2014. Henry...
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