One of the many awesome science fortune cookies given out at the Institute for Biodiversity Science and Sustainability open house at the Cal Academy yesterday. More about the Cassidine beetle and its unique fecal defense: The larvae of tortoise beetles (Chrysomelidae, Cassidinae), so called because of the turtle-like appearance of the adults, have an odd habit. …
Park rangers are unsung naturalists and science educators. But they serve a critical, front-line role in facilitating public engagement and understanding of natural systems and phenomena. Plus, they get a killer uniform. This beautifully designed poster by Tyler Nordgren emphasizes how bad ass park rangers are. I’m putting a print of this up in my …
On Friday at the museum we are all rushing to finish various tasks before the big holiday weekend. My colleague Lindzy comes by and says, “Hey, Rik, do you have a sec for a nature moment on the balcony?” I walk out to the balcony of our floor facing the ball field behind the …
I’m excited to announce that I will soon be taking on a newly created role at the Academy, the Senior Instructional Design Lead for Science Action Club. This is a new position working with our largest youth program, the Science Action Club (SAC), a high-impact STEM learning program that designs professional development and teaching kits for middle school afterschool …
Check out this short tour of the Cal Academy’s field laboratory in Puerto Galera, Philippines, guided by the Academy’s curator of invertebrate zoology Dr. Rich Mooi. This was shot fairly late in the evening to avoid the crush of scientists crowding the lab earlier in the afternoon. So there were not as many beautiful specimens on …
One of the awesomest parts about being on the 2015 Verde Island Passage expedition is getting to connect with and educate the local communities around the area. For our presentations, we try very hard to emphasize the enormous wealth in marine biodiversity that the Philippines possesses. For these island communities, being able to see the …
We’ve completed two outreach events we’ve organized as part of the 2015 Philippines Verde island Passage expedition. It has been a really remarkable experience getting to connect with local Filipinos to educate them about marine biodiversity and environmental sustainability. Our first outreach event was for a group of about 60 high school teachers at the …
Today is the first of four outreach events that Meg Burke, Lindzy Bivings and I will be leading all around the Batangas area. I’m nervous and excited about sharing about science, biodiversity, and sustainability for people on local communities in the Philippines! Our first stop today is a training for about 60 teachers at the …
Working at the Cal Academy, I have spent a good amount of time in our aquarium, particularly our main setpiece, the giant Philippines coral tank. I must admit I have wondered if the sheer diversity and density of life in our tank actually represents what you would encounter here in the Philippines. Having done several dives …
As I mentioned in a previous post, we’ve got a really neat makeshift lab that we’ve set up in the dining area of the Atlantis Beach Resort. I did a little walk through and spotted these cool specimens that were recently collected. Kelly Markello was working on this beautiful echinoderm. It appears to be leeching …