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Proud Partner of the United Nations 2010 International Year of Biodiversity
Visit the official sitehere.
Biodiversity is life.
Biodiversity is our life.
What is Biodiversity?
Biodiversity, the variety of life on earth, is essential to sustaining the living networks and systems that provide us all with health, wealth, food, fuel and the vital services our lives depend on.
Our Biodiversity Activities for 2010
Insect Workshops in Guatemala: In April, we continue our consultant work in Guatemala with the Norman Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture. We will be teaching farmers to discern beneficial arthropods on their crops in an effort to minimize damage to native predators. Our day-long workshops will include lab sessions in insect identification and sustainble field practices integrating traditional techniques.
IYB Podcast on Bug Bytes: In honor of the International Year of Biodiversity, we will devote a podcast to the initiative on Bug Byte, our ongoing podcasts for the Department of Entomology at Texas A&M University. These podcasts are about biodiversity, natural history and current research on insects and spiders. These podcasts are for a general audience, not just scientists. Subscirbe on iTunes or go to the website here.
Arachnid Outreach: Solifuge arachnids are a little known group containing about 1200 recognized species. Kristie Reddick, an associate director of Solpugid Productions studied these animals in Kenya for her graduate work. We will create educational posters for the National Museums of Kenya and the Kenya Wildlife Service on the diversity of solifuges in Kenya based on this research.
The 15 Project: Human cultures and backgrounds are diverse and how we teach about biodiversity should reflect that. Our 15 Project lets students learn about anything they wish and undoubtedly some choose animals and plants. We will promote biodiversity and the International Year of Biodiversity 2010 for this project. This project is in its pilot phase with the Bryan Public Library in Bryan, TX and will start with 10 students who show potential for college.
An immature female solifuge, Zeria fordi, from Kenya.
Learn more about the NSF Bioinventory Survey of these amazing animals here.
