On May 27, 1907, Rachel Louise Carson was born. She spent her entire life loving the natural world, particularly the ocean. She studied English and marine biology and wrote copy for weekly education broadcasts for U.S. Bureau of Fisheries [later named the U.S. Fish…
On May 22, 1993, the United Nations sanctioned this date as the International Day for Biological Diversity to increase awareness of biodiversity issues worldwide. Building a Shared Future for All Life is this year’s theme on International Day for Biological Diversity. Biodiversity, the variety of life on our…
On May 10, 1946, primatologist Biruté M. F. Galdikas was born. As scientist, conservationist, and educator, she has made uninterrupted study of and invaluable contributions to the scientific understanding of Indonesia’s biodiversity. The orangutan was a species barely known to science before Galdikas initiated…
On April 27, 1947, American forester and conservationist Mollie H. Beattie was born. The first woman Director of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Beattie fought to conserve species by managing whole ecosystems rather than waiting until individual species were endangered. “What a country…
On April 24, 1996, Wapusk National Park, an area covering 11,475 km2 (4,430.5 mi2 ), became part of Canada’s National Parks system. Wapusk, “White Bear” in Cree, protects one of the world’s largest polar bear den areas. On the transition between boreal forest and…
April 22, Earth Day, is celebrated around the world as tens of millions of people make time to attend their environment. The United Nations calls this International Mother Earth Day because “Mother Earth” is a multi-national common expression used in most cultural references to…
On April 21, 1838, John Muir was born. Muir was a naturalist who championed the creation of the first National Forests in the United States of America and co-founded the Sierra Club. As an explorer and writer, he inspired President Theodore Roosevelt’s innovative wildlife…
On April 17, 1899, English entomologist Sir Vincent Brian Wigglesworth was born. He created a new science – the study of Insect Physiology – and researched extensively into the role of hormones in insect growth, metamorphosis, and reproduction. Wigglesworth detailed many physical mechanisms and…
On April 15, 1452, Leonardo da Vinci was born. Without formal education, he recorded much of his interest in every facet of life and study. He was an observational scientist who tried to understand something by illustrating and describing it, taking joy in quiet,…
On April 14, 1912, sightings of large icebergs were radioed ship-to-ship in the North Atlantic. Little was generally known about icebergs except that they could damage a ship and the navigational strategy of the day was to avoid them. Moved by ocean current and…