Tag: Conservation

Save the seals.  Congress is trying to shoot its way to salmon recovery

Posted on By Ali Gaster
Conservation, News, Policy, Science

Let’s not mince words: current federal ocean conservation policy is a cocktail of chaos and disaster, with a generous sprinkle of incompetence. Following a brutal stretch of legislative and regulatory rollbacks (including the completely indefensible bureaucratic magic trick of removing habitat destruction from the Endangered Species Act’s definition of “harm”) Capitol Hill decided to double … Read More “Save the seals.  Congress is trying to shoot its way to salmon recovery” »

First, do no harm.  

Posted on By Ali Gaster
Conservation, Policy, Science

How the Trump Administration has yet again hobbled the Endangered Species Act. The Trump administration has officially finalized a rule stripping habitat destruction from the definition of “harm” under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). In a joint announcement by the Department of the Interior and the Department of Commerce, officials rolled back a 40-year conservation … Read More “First, do no harm.  “ »

For when the madness ends: a 5-point plan for getting conservation back on track in the US

Posted on By Ali Gaster
Conservation

Let’s not mince words: the last eighteen months have been an absolute nightmare for federal ocean and conservation policy. Landmark environmental protections have been rolled back or severely hobbled, while agency budgets were slashed more than Janet Leigh when Norman Bates was in a particularly stabby mood. But looking towards the 2026 midterm elections, the … Read More “For when the madness ends: a 5-point plan for getting conservation back on track in the US” »

The evolution of the International Whaling Commission – from  whaling quotas to whale conservation

Posted on By Chris Parsons
Conservation, Featured, Science

For decades, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) was defined by a single, highly polarized debate: the battle between pro-whaling and anti-whaling nations over commercial catch quotas. Today, however, the landscape of the IWC has radically evolved. For the current IWC Commissioners, conservation-related topics (such as sustainable whalewatching, marine pollution, and protected areas) hold an equal, … Read More “The evolution of the International Whaling Commission – from  whaling quotas to whale conservation” »

Egosystem management. Or how tantrums and unprofessional behavior are hindering conservation

Posted on By Chris Parsons
Academic life, Conservation

In helping to organize several meetings and events for conservation groups, I’ve frequently encountered conservation professionals loudly declaiming “Don’t you know who I am!” and expecting special treatment. Recently I got an email from someone whose abstract was rejected by a conference committee I was assisting, in which they had quite a tantrum. There were lots of … Read More “Egosystem management. Or how tantrums and unprofessional behavior are hindering conservation” »

I spent 50 days working out in Virtual Reality and everything went better than expected.

Posted on By Andrew Thaler
Uncategorized

For the last several years, I’ve been working off the weight gained and fitness lost from a decade of grad school, post-doctoral research, job hunting, and, ultimately, launching my own company. The gym, to put it mildly, had not been a priority. Running and weight training went a long way towards getting me back to where I wanted to be, but I had hit a plateau. Every spring and summer I’d make incremental improvements, every winter, I’d fall back into old habits. It was a sustainable situation, but not fantastic.

Last summer, I set a goal for myself. While the weather was just on the wrong side of that threshold that makes running something I’m willing to do first thing in the morning, I would instead swap out my sneakers for an Oculus Rift, and spend an hour, four or five days a week, playing fitness-oriented virtual reality games, for fifty sessions. That schedule would get me through the winter and hopefully keep me more active than I otherwise would.

To better illustrate this plan, I made a GIF, just for you:

Yes, it’s me. Yes, we put googly eyes on the Oculus.

Unsurprisingly, the science behind Virtual Reality and exercise is still in its infancy.

Read More “I spent 50 days working out in Virtual Reality and everything went better than expected.” »