Featuring - Chris Filardi, Director of Pacific Programs at the Center for Biodiversity & Conservation of the American Museum of Natural History
Chris Filardi recently collected the first Moustached Kingfisher any human had encountered in 20 years, in the Solomon Islands. Shortly thereafter, he started receiving death threats. From the inner workings of our bodies to grand cycles of change in climate and ecosystems, science has incredible power to reveal the natural architectures that maintain our lives and lifestyles. Still, we struggle to integrate the best science into real world decision-making. Chris will talk about the way basic natural history – the act of meticulously and persistently recording observations of the living world – can help us live better lives, and can fuel the social engines for confronting big issues like ecosystem degradation and climate change. Using examples from fieldwork with grizzly bears, remote island birds, and the people who have lived alongside these animals beyond memory, Chris will talk about why natural history matters in our everyday lives and how it is important to confronting some of the great challenges to human societies.
