The Virginia Tech Paleobiology team hosted an outreach event at Frank’s Theaters Cinebowl & Grille in Blacksburg as part of the hype for the new Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom film! GCC Faculty affiliates, Michelle Stocker and Sterling Nesbitt, along with IGC Fellow, Brenen Wynd, and additional members of the VT Paleobiology and Geobiology Research Group shared real fossil specimens from the team’s fieldwork and more with Jurassic fans of all ages![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery interval=”3″ images=”23903,23904,23905,23899,23909,23906″ img_size=”large”][/vc_column][/vc_row]
VectorBiTE: Vector Behavior in Transmission Ecology by the Quantitative Ecological Dynamics Lab
JUNE 21, 2018 | BY FADOUA EL MOUSTAID
The Quantitative Ecological Dynamics Lab, led by Leah Johnson, just wrapped up a third VectorBiTE workshop at the Asilomar Conference Center in Pacific Grove, CA. The VectorBiTE project is a Research Coordination Network that seeks to build a collaborative network of interdisciplinary researchers to investigate the effect of vector behavior and life history on transmission dynamics. More about the goals and the organizing team can be found at http://vectorbite.org/about-rcn/.
As it has become well known, disease dynamics are sensitive to climate change. Vectors, usually small bodied ectotherms, change their behavior and life histories according to changes in temperature, precipitation, and humidity. This contributes to variation in transmission of vector-borne diseases (VBDs) leading to environmentally mediated outbreaks. As a result, it is crucial to consider climate factors, both in theory and practice, when studying disease dynamics. Our first two VectorBiTE meetings successfully brought empiricists and theoreticians together to discuss what we know and what don’t, and to begin to identify the most pressing questions to address to improve our understanding of climate impacts on VBDs. So far there have been two systematic reviews published by VectorBiTE working groups, and further reviews and research papers are planned.
This year’s meeting consisted of two portions: a training session on quantitative tools for VBDs and an open session aimed at providing time for working groups to form and meet. In the training session, the goal was to teach participants (grad students and postdocs) quantitative tools that can be used to solve previously generated questions. Instructors for the workshop included researchers from Virginia Tech, Imperial College London, and Stanford, specifically:
Leah Johnson, GCC Faculty at Virginia Tech
Samraat Pawar, Faculty at Imperial College London Fadoua El Moustaid, Ph.D. Candidate and IGC Fellow at Virginia Tech
Marta Shocket, Postdoc at Stanford University
Matt Watts, Ph.D. student at Imperial College London
VectorBiTE 2018 training session participants
We covered an introduction to data management, visualization, and fitting models to data. We then explored how to use these tools for data on VBDs. For instance, we showed participants how to fit trait data to mechanistic and statistical models and how to fit population dynamics models to data taken from Vectorbyte‘s VecDyn database (www.vectorbyte.org). VecDyn is one of two databases being constructed by the VectorBiTE team. All of the training materials (including lecture slides, exercises, and examples) are freely available through the VectorBiTE GitHub repository.
The open session started off with group leaders for the 7 working groups presenting an overview of their proposed projects. The working groups divided up to tackle their problems. They reported back on their progress before wrapping up. More about current and previous working group projects can be found at http://vectorbite.org/meetings/vectorbite2017/working-groups-2/.
Participants from the VectorBiTE 2018 open session for working groups
Scientists have completed the most exhaustive assessment of changes in Antarctica’s ice sheet to date. And they found that it’s melting faster than they thought.
Ice losses totaling 3 trillion tonnes (or more than 3.3 trillion tons) since 1992 have caused global sea levels to rise by 7.6 mm, nearly one third of an inch, according to a study published in Nature on Wednesday.
Before 2010, Antarctica was contributing a relatively small proportion of the melting that is causing global sea levels to rise, says study co-leader Andrew Shepherd of the University of Leeds.
But that has changed. “Since around 2010, 2012, we can see that there’s been a sharp increase in the rate of ice loss from Antarctica. And the ice sheet is now losing three times as much ice,” Shepherd adds.
The annual sea level rise that’s attributed to Antarctica has tripled, from 0.2mm to 0.6mm, he says.
“That’s a big jump, and it did catch us all by surprise,” Shepherd says.
The melting is caused by rising ocean temperatures due to climate change.
Shepherd says they’ve seen the most dramatic effects in West Antarctica, where the ice sheet rests on the sea bed. “When we look into the ocean we find that it’s too warm and the ice sheet can’t withstand the temperatures that are surrounding it in the sea,” he says. That’s causing glaciers to flow more quickly into the sea.
East Antarctica, which is home to the South Pole, has seen considerably less melting because most of its ice is above sea level. That’s “an important distinction, because it means it’s insulated from changes in the ocean’s temperature.”
Sea level contribution due to the Antarctic ice sheet between 1992 and 2017. imbie/Planetary Visio
This assessment, conducted by 84 scientists from 44 international organizations, is known as the Ice Sheet Mass Balance Inter-comparison Exercise (IMBIE).
There have been many other estimates of how much ice has melted in Antarctica. And many of those papers showed different results.
“Some of the estimates covered different proportions of the ice sheets, some of them covered different time periods, and all of them used different methods and so it became difficult for people who are not specialists to try to pick them apart,” says Shepherd. “So that was the motivation for originally setting up the project.”
The scientists combined 24 different satellite surveys, which Shepherd says provides a more complete picture of the overall ice sheet change than previous studies. “We believe that we’ve captured all of the different satellite records that exist on the planet,” he says.
To analyze the ice, the researchers use three different kinds of measurements. Satellite altimeters measure the height of the ice sheets, to see how much they are thinning or thickening over time. Another measurement records the speed of the glaciers and how they’re moving into the ocean.
Finally, the scientists are recording gravity measurements for Antarctica. These “tell us about changes in the earth’s gravitational attraction over time and that can be related to the mass of the ice sheets overall,” Shepherd says, “and they are really powerful measurements because they can add up everything across Antarctica.”
So what accounts for the apparent three-fold speed up in Antarctica’s melting in the last five years?
Shepherd says that actually, their data shows a “a progressive increase in ice loss throughout the whole 25 year time period.” However, a period of heavy snowfall between 2005 and 2010 masked some of the immediate effects of the ice loss, accounting for the sudden, steep increase in more recent years.
This new data creates a much starker picture of the future than previous estimates. Shepherd says until 2010, the data had been tracking a lower scenario which estimated that Antarctica “wouldn’t make much of a contribution to sea level rise at all” because of the effects of higher snowfall. However, he says that now the data is tracking a higher scenario, which could mean nearly 6 inches of additional sea level rise in the next century.
That could be a big deal, he says, “for anybody who lives, works and governs a coastal region.”
Understanding the rate of Antarctica’s melting is crucial for these communities. If all of the ice in Antarctica melted, global sea levels would rise by more than 190 feet.
A team of scientists led by Shuhai Xiao, of the Virginia Tech College of Science, have discovered the oldest known footprints ever found, estimated at 540 million to 550 million years old.
Found in a small chunk of sediment rock in a shallow sea bottom in China, the tiny tracks – millimeters in width – were made by an unknown bug-like creature no bigger than a thumb. The footrail is only a few inches long, no bigger than an average hand palm. The findings of these ancient footprints are published in the latest issue of Science Advances and may help scientists determine when and how legs and limbs evolved.
A closeup photograph of the world’s oldest known footprints, made by a small unknown bug, were found in South China by Virginia Tech’s Shuhai Xiao and a research team. The total area covered by the tracks is no larger than the palm of an average person’s hand.
“We were trying to answer the question ‘when did animals began to have appendages, such as legs and leglike structures?’,” said Xiao, a professor in the Department of Geosciences. “The formation of legs helped animals to change the world. Animals use legs and limbs to move sediments, to help mate, to feed, to fight, and, of course, to travel.”
Xiao and his colleagues from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology and Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, both part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, discovered the trackway fossils from rocks in the Yangtze Gorges area of South China.
Previously identified footprints pegged the first walking animals with paired appendages at between 540 million and 530 million years old, in the early Cambrian Period. The new fossils are up to 10 million years older than previously known footprints.
Shuhai Xiao
“Many animals, from bumble bees to bristle worms, have legs or leglike appendages,” Xiao said. “Some have a few appendages, others, such as centipedes and millipedes, have hundreds, but all have an even number of appendages placed symmetrically on both sides of the body. Appendages come in different forms, some are jointed legs as in bumble bees, and others are simple outgrowths of the body.”
The when of the tracks is known, but not the who. “We only found the footprints,” Xiao said. “We have not yet found the animals that made the footprints. Unlike many modern animals that have hard skeletons, these early animals did not yet evolve hard skeletons, so their likelihood of being preserved is slim.”
Xiao and his team gauge the little crawler may have had legs similar to a bumble bee or a bristle worm, as evidenced by the width and gait of the tracks. The trackways – so tiny they can be missed if seen at the wrong angle or in low light – are about half an inch in width and a few inches in length, consisting of two rows of dimples on the surface of the rocks.
Future visits to the site by Xiao and his team will include searches for more evidence of early animals.
The rock with the foot imprints was formed from sediments deposited in a shallow sea bottom that was covered by microbial mats similar to pond scums. Animals moved across on the microbial mats and sediments using their appendages, leaving tracks of footprints that were later preserved to create the fossils at the heart of this study.
“Oddly, the tracks sometimes transition into tunnels, suggesting that the animals occasionally dug into the microbial mat,” added Xiao, also an affiliated member of the Global Change Center at Virginia Tech.
Scientists believe that the animals may have dug into the microbial mats to mine oxygen or food. The microbial mats, constructed by a group of photosynthetic bacteria known as cyanobacteria that produced oxygen as a side product, were a reliable source of both oxygen and food for early animals.
“Back then, oxygen was scarce in the atmosphere and ocean, and animals needed to find oxygen to make a living,” Xiao said. “Pond scums were an animal’s best friend.”
Funding for the study was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the U.S. National Science Foundation, and the National Geographic Society.
Sounds from the low land rainforest, recorded by Taryn Smith
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Being in the jungle gives you a whole new appreciation for your senses. The sights, smells, sounds and feel of the jungle is an all encompassing experience. In the Shiripuno when we were on our hikes I quickly learned the importance of paying attention to everything you’re doing.
Being a keen observer is a hard thing to master. Our guides are absolutely amazing the way they can spot birds in trees that look like leaves or frogs that blend into the understory completely except for a single stripe of yellow down it’s back. The past week I have had to try and keep up. Learning how to scan the tree line as we go down the river for any of the plethora of bird species that could be perched and waiting.
The smells of the jungle can range from the sweet smell of fruits to the stink of a monkey pack above. One day one of our Huaorani guides was looking at some leaves on the ground and with out looking up, he alerted us to a troop of monkeys. After asking how he knew they were there – he told us that he could smell them.
One of the most important senses in the jungle is hearing. Our guide Rudy described it as “if you rely on sight alone to find animals in the jungle you’re lost”. The animals are evolved to the point where they are next to impossible to spot. Over the course of the trip I’ve learned 4 or 5 bird calls so that when I hear them I know what they are. This is not even a scratch in the list of species that live in Yasuni. Often as we are walking down the trails we will stop abruptly and listen to the sounds of the forest. Sounds of rain on leaves, bugs chirping in the distance, several bird songs, or even a monkey troop in the distance. Being in Shiripuno has given me time to let my ears take a break from the noise pollution of civilization which has improved my hearing greatly.
Lastly, touch is an important sense of the jungle. The trails are often very muddy and slippery. Being able to feel if your footing is stable is very important if you don’t want to take a spill. The jungle floor is not an ideal place to land when slipping in the mud. Other than walking, touch can be important in identifying plants. The feel of the different parts of the plants can be key. The guides often hand us leaves to feel when they talk about classification. We feel for the waxyness of the cuticle or how flimsy or flexible it is.
To be successful in the jungle using your senses to their full capacity it essential. The Huaorani are a great example of this they walk around the jungle with great ease and comfort because they have adapted their senses. From a young age the Huaorani are taught how to use their senses to best navigate the jungle.
– Taryn Smith, Biological Sciences[/vc_column_text][vc_separator][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]We were walking through the lowland rainforest of Ecuador’s Yasuni National Park. Our guide, Ramon, wielded his machete, and was constantly clearing the brush in front of us. By that time I had already realized how keen his eye was because of the things he had shown us. Ramon, a Huaorani native, is very experienced in the forest. For some reference, Huaorani children are expected to be able to survive alone in the Rainforest by age 10. Suddenly he stopped. I was wondering, “What could this guy be up to?” He looked at the ground beside the trail intently. He then proceeded to kneel down and slowly pick leaves away from an area about the size of my open hand. He looked up and me and said, “sapo.” I am slowly learning more Spanish during this trip, but at that time I had no idea what sapo meant! He repeated himself pointing at the small area, “sapo.” I gazed intently at the small area. I could see nothing! I was trying to figure out what he was showing me. I then knelt down and sqinted my eyes. I saw a small leaf with a white petiole. I looked at this area for 20 or more seconds, and then all of the sudden I realized that it was a frog! It was spectacularly camouflaged! Dark brown with black spots adorned its back, along with the white stripe right down the middle. I couldn’t believe it. It was quite impressive, but what’s more was that Ramon had even spotted this motionless camouflaged frog. After I finally realized what he meant by “sapo” Ramon laughed and laughed until he was out of breath! I now know that frogs in the rainforest are incredibly hard to see, and that sapo means frog in Spanish.
– Dominic Latona, Biological Sciences[/vc_column_text][vc_gallery interval=”3″ images=”23622,23621,23627,23620,23610″ img_size=”600×800″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]What strikes me the most about the Amazon basin is the diversity of life that surrounds you wherever you go. Each tree can differ from the one next to it, hosting species unlike the other. On a single tree, you can find hundreds of species covering it from the base of the roots to the ends of the branches. From epiphytes, orchids, lianas, and mosses, to crazy looking orange beetles and lines of leaf cutter ants hauling their cargo across the roots. If you look closely at night you can find a poison dart frog on a leaf, a salamander on a twig, or a vine snake wrapped around a branch. Although there is no equilibrium of diversity, everything fits together. It really makes me realize how much of a difference one tree can make in the biodiversity of the forest.
– Annelis Stunes, Biological Sciences[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Coming into Ecuador, I figured the green would be overwhelming, but I was unprepared for the sounds and heat. After two days of serious travel, we were told the night would be spent in Coca, a city just a bit smaller than Ecuador’s capital, Quito. Fernando and Rudy, the guides for our initial travel to the lowlands of the jungle, were introduced, dinner was had, and deep restful sleep was achieved.
The next morning, I woke up to a small cat like call and a few croaks. I realized this was the first time in years that I didn’t recognize any of the sounds around me, other than generalizations such as a crow like squawk or pigeon like coo. Nothing was familiar and everything was exciting. Grabbing my camera I wandered out to see if coffee was ready and ran into our guides on the patio. Currently 6:20 in the morning, no one looked fully awake yet except the birds singing their hearts out. Periodically one or the other would point in a direction and say a name, and after everyone had some caffeine in their system they told me they were trying to see how many bird species they could identify using only their calls.
All together, the point count at the Hotel Auca came out to be roughly 10 or 12 species, all in one courtyard. I could only spot one or two before they flew and still had trouble detangling the various sounds coming from the garden. By breakfast of day 3, I was in complete hearing sensory overload and still had a full day of birdwatching left.
These mornings continued the whole time our group was in the lowland jungle, Fernando would point out a monkey or bird because he said he heard a leaf fall in a strange pattern or Rudy would help us pin point an owl because he was able to mimic its call to keep it talking. Pictures only show a single part of how overwhelming and awe inspiring the jungle was, the cacophony of sounds completed the scene.
An invasive insect that has damaged agricultural crops in the Northeast United States and creates a black sticky mess on homeowners’ trees that stinks of sour vinegar has been found in Virginia.
Now, officials are hoping citizens across the commonwealth will help monitor and track the movement of the pest known as the spotted lanternfly.
“We think we could see them covering homeowners’ trees in numbers that could even be worse than the 17-year cicadas,” said Eric Day, manager of the Virginia Tech Insect Identification Lab, which is helping monitor the spotted lanternfly’s geographic reach. “We are still determining how bad this impact is going to be on both agricultural producers and homeowners.”
The insect prefers to feed on the invasive tree of heaven that is rampant around the state, but for much of its lifecycle, the spotted lanternfly will attack apple and pear trees, hops, grapes, and other valuable crops.
An adult spotted lanternfly is approximately 1-inch long and 1/2-inch wide. The forewing is grey with black spots and the wing tips have black blocks outlined in grey. The hind wings have contrasting patches of red and black with a white band that are visible when it flies. The legs and head are black; the abdomen is yellow with broad black bands. During immature stages, it is black with white spots and develops red patches as it grows.
“It is vital that we learn where the insects are spreading around the state so we can develop ways to stop their movement and build a strategy to limit their damage,” said Doug Pfeiffer, an entomologist with the Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and a Virginia Cooperative Extension specialist.
[/vc_column_text][vc_video link=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-xUNpA3DF4″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The volunteer Master Gardeners around the state are also tracking the spread of the bug using sticky tape to trap the insects as they climb up trees of heaven – which are also called ailanthus or paradise trees.
The insects are native to China, India, and Vietnam, but moved into Korea in 2006, where it attacked more than 60 different plant and agricultural crops. In 2014, it was found in the U.S for the first time in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Despite best efforts to control it, it has since moved into more than 15 Pennsylvania counties as well as Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Virginia.
One of the challenges with containing the spotted lanternfly is the ease with which it can spread. In addition to host plants, it lays eggs on concrete, rocks, wood pallets, and vehicles, which are then moved around the state. When spotted lanternfly eggs and dead adults were discovered in Winchester, Virginia, earlier this year, they were located adjacent to a railway and highway. The egg masses began to hatch in May.
“They were found in a spot that creates a perfect storm,” Day said.
The lanternfly feeds on the tree of heaven because the chemical that gives the tree its distinct, pungent odor, also makes the insect taste bad when birds eat it. This taste makes birds less likely to eat the insect a second time.
Merely cutting down the trees of heaven to detract the spotted lanternfly doesn’t help. They will grow back up from the roots, often in bigger numbers, creating more feeding opportunities for the lanternfly. Researchers are looking into ways to control the trees of heaven.
Beyond the trees of heaven, the spotted lanternfly will also feed on more than 70 other host plants, including a wide range of agricultural crops.
When the spotted lanternfly is feeding on a plant, it secretes what is known as honeydew, a black, sticky, stinky substance that coats the plant and can cover the ground below. This promotes fungal growth, damaging the plants and attracting other insects. Grape growers have reported that yields have decreased from 4.5 tons per acre to about a half ton per acre after the lanternfly attacked the plants.
Officials are calling on people around the state be vigilant and report any sightings of the insect.
“We don’t know how bad it can get with this invasive insect,” Day said. “But the more we can learn about its movement, the better we can control it.”[/vc_column_text][vc_video link=”https://youtu.be/gH5j3ducGMs”][vc_separator][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Imagine a world where scientists use computers to predict the impact of climate change and other stressors on international food security, migration, and civil conflict, and then use those predictions to increase the availability of vital resources.
Project researchers are working to develop models that illustrate how farmers make decisions about food production and to help explain how those decisions affect, or are affected by, strains on the environment and social systems.
She is part of a team of researchers from the University of Southern California, the Pennsylvania State University, the University of Minnesota, and the University of Colorado that brings together experts in artificial intelligence, model coupling, hydrology, agronomy, and economics.
Cobourn’s role will be leading the socioeconomic modeling work needed to develop a computer modeling system that will help predict how human activities can impact the natural world, and vice versa.
More specifically, her work will contribute to an understanding of food security via the integration of socioeconomic and biophysical models, as well as the streamlining of data tools used in assessing food security issues.
“Food security is a big issue in much of the world, and it’s probably going to become a more pressing issue moving forward,” said Cobourn, a faculty member in the Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation. “Climate change contributes to food insecurity, and food insecurity contributes to civil conflict.”
In considering the complex interplay between humans and environmental issues such as climate change, the researchers are working to develop models that illustrate how farmers make decisions about food production. They will then create models to help explain how those decisions affect, or are affected by, strains on the environment and social systems.
The four-year project, called MINT for Model INTegration, is led by Yolanda Gil, professor of computer science at the University of Southern California’s Information Sciences Institute. It is funded with a $13 million grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) as part of DARPA’s World Modelers program.
“Food insecurity can often lead to conflict in many parts of the world. Ultimately, we want to understand how different factors drive food security outcomes and how that can lead to civil unrest,” Cobourn explained. “This can also help us better understand what measures should be taken to guard against food insecurity and prevent some of that conflict.”
The members of the research team also hope to use their varied expertise to speed up data collection and food security modeling.
Kelly Coburn
“Right now, modeling involves a lot of data collection,” Cobourn said. “A researcher working on food security would go collect field data or manually gather it from various sources. It could take years to gather data and then figure out how to couple models between disciplines. This project would create computational ways of pulling data from various sources and automate the modeling process.”
By automating data collection and modeling, the team will be able to greatly reduce the amount of time needed to connect models across disciplines, which will lead to a fuller understanding of the intersection between human activity and the environment.
Over the next four years, the researchers will develop models of human activity and impacts on natural resources to create predictions for certain parts of the world based on such factors as climate change and crop yields.
“I’ll primarily be developing models and creating human behavior and policy scenarios,” Cobourn said. “The computational experts know how to automate the data collection and modeling process, but they may not have background in the disciplines that are working on these problems. The other disciplinary experts and I will help them bring together things like agronomic and economic models in a way that makes sense.
“It’s exciting to work with such a large team of experts and think about how we can push forward coupled human and natural systems modeling efforts by developing new computational tools,” she added.
Being in Ecuador made me realize how hard it can be for people to communicate when you don’t speak the same language. It makes you feel as though you are very far from the person speaking the other language because you cannot communicate back. It makes it hard to get to know the other if you don’t speak the same languages. However, I see this feeling as an amazing opportunity to learn more and to try my hardest to understand and speak other languages. This barrier is very easy to break as well with universal signs. People ask me why I laugh all the time. There are many reasons to laugh and be happy, and one lesson that I have learned on this trip is that laughter is universal. No matter where you are, no matter what the language barrier is, laughter is a sound that everyone knows. There was a group of kids waiting with their families when we got dropped off at a check point. We all started to play games with the toys that Dr. Hopkins had brought for them. There was one little girl who was very shy and didn’t say a word as she started to play the game as well. After a little while, with no words spoken, we were playing the game and laughing. At the end when we all had to leave, the little girl got up with me and shook my hand. She walked me to my luggage and continued to wave goodbye even when I had gotten on the bus. All the while sharing no words. This was an amazing experience. There can be so much done with just a smile and some laughter. However, I do have a new desire to learn more languages so that I can really get to know the people that I am around and have connections that I would have never thought I would get to have.
– Written by Georgia Martin, Undergraduate Student studying Fish and Wildlife Conservation within the College of Natural Resources
Georgia playing with toy sapos, or frogs, with Huaorani children in their home along Shiripuno River.
[hr]
Trying New Foods
One of the main experiences of traveling abroad is trying new foods. Even if there aren’t new foods to try, there are probably different cuisines. Ecuador is a Latin American country, and staples such as plantains, rice, and beans are common in meals. Another big staple for Ecuador is yucca or manioc. Yucca is a new food for me that I have really enjoyed. Three course meals are common here and typically start with a soup and end with a dessert. The desserts are usually fruit based. A common fruit used in desserts is the tree tomato, but fruits aren’t only served for dessert. Breakfast normally comes with fruit as well as fruit juice. The fruit juices here are exotic compared to what we drink in the USA. Some of my favorite are blackberry juice, pineapple juice, and passion fruit juice. Another popular Ecuadorian drink I got to try is an oat based drink called Quaker that consists of oats blended with milk. Also unlike in the USA, the main meal in Ecuador is lunch rather than dinner. It’s the biggest meal and the most important for plans. My personal favorite food from Ecuador is the bananas, I’ve found them much more flavorful. Bananas with chocolate sauce was definitely the best combination that I tried while in Ecuador.
– Written by Leah Perdue, Undergraduate Student studying Biological Sciences within the College of Science
Dried bundles of leaves of Ilex guayusa. (Photo: Anna Premo)
This trip has been the best experience in nature that I have ever had. We have visited places with the most amazing wildlife and food. In the highlands of the Andes, for example, we went to a lodge that had hundreds of hummingbirds. They would even land on you if you stood still! In the lowland forests of Yasúni National Park, we’ve seen many unique species of birds, spiders, insects and snakes. Another cool part of this trip is that we are completely disconnected from the outside world since there is not any cell or internet service, and the nearest town is six hours away by boat only. Being isolated from social media and the internet is great because I am focusing on what is in front of me instead of other people’s lives.
Though the nature is fascinating, I am here to research guayusa. This plant has been used by indegenous people for thousands of years to make tea that has many health benefits. I want to research this plant because it can be grown sustainably, and has the potential to bring money into Amazonian communities. These communities could use the money to promote conservation and invest in education and business. Economic solutions are essential for protecting the rainforest from deforestation and illegal resource extraction. I have begun interviewing people, such as our guide, about guayusa and potential economic solutions. I hope to gain valuable insight so that economic solutions to these problems can be found.
We are wrapping up our time in the lowlands and at Shiripuno Lodge. This saddens me because it is the most unique place I have ever been. It is a place of contradiction. The physical conditions here are the most intense that I have ever experienced. It rains for hours or even days, I’m wearing dirty, damp clothes and I have almost no contact with the outside world. At the same time, it is the most peaceful place that I have ever been to. I am totally immersed in nature, with no worries or thoughts about what is going on elsewhere, and I am very focused on what is going on in my vicinity. I have never been so relaxed or calm in my life. Everything is much more rustic and simple here, which I love. I can also feel myself getting stronger. I no longer fear spiders and insects nearly as much as I used to. I am also a lot more comfortable walking around the forest with things brushing up against me than before (I write this with an annoying insect buzzing around my head). Finally, I have been practicing my Spanish by talking to the Waorani tribesmen who work here, and it has been a great experience. It’s very cool hearing their perspectives on the world.
Though I am leaving with a heavy heart, I look forward to experiencing other parts of Ecuador and indulging in a bit more luxury, though the Shiripuno lodge is surprisingly comfortable. There is something very special about getting into true wilderness. Shiripuno will always have a special place in my heart.
Starting today, in keeping with its promise of “food service for a sustainable future,” Bon Appétit Management Company will ban plastic straws and stirrers companywide in its 1,000 cafés and restaurants in 33 states. The phase out has begun and will be completed by September 2019. Bon Appétit is the first food service company — or major restaurant company — to make this commitment in the country.
Bon Appétit Management Company’s signage to discourage the use of even paper straws (Graphic: Business Wire)
“The plastic problem is horrific,” says Bon Appétit CEO and cofounder Fedele Bauccio. “When I heard the stats and learned how much damage is being done by straws — a product of convenience — my gut reaction was, we have to change this!”
“Bon Appétit’s move to eliminate single-use plastic straws sends a resounding signal to U.S. companies that the time for change is upon us,” says Kate Melges, Greenpeace USA’s oceans campaigner based in Seattle, who leads Greenpeace’s Ocean Plastics work. “Its policy shows strong leadership within the food service sector, and most importantly proves to all companies that rely on throwaway plastics that it can be done. We can no longer rely on half measures to tackle the plastic pollution crisis. Companies must reduce their plastic footprints to save our communities, waterways, and oceans. This decision provides a tremendous foundation for Bon Appétit to build upon.”
Last month the University of Portland became the first U.S. university to ban plastic straws, with more campuses on the way. In addition to being a client of Bon Appétit Management Company, UP also happens to be CEO Fedele Bauccio’s alma mater. “This proves it can be done, so why are we still using them anywhere?” he challenged Bon Appétit’s senior leadership team.
The purchasing group leapt into action. In fiscal 2017, the company purchased 16.8 million plastic straws and almost 420,000 plastic stirrers. (Bon Appétit has long set wooden stirrers as its standard, purchasing 9.1 million of them in fiscal 2017, but until now had not banned the plastic version.) Paper straws will be available to guests with physical challenges or who strongly feel they need a straw.
In addition to changing the company’s own purchasing habits, Bon Appétit hopes to magnify the impact of its choice by educating guests about the damage plastic straws cause to the environment and the nonrenewable resources they use. With more information, perhaps they’ll skip straws at non-Bon Appétit venues as well.
