Oromendur: An Unexpected Party

[Ann of Owlshire]

I was going to comment—before you got there yourself—that it sounds like you’re in a depressive funk. I mean, you were on the verge of life change (trying to find a job/start a new career) and then the world kind of... stalled. (Or at least it should have halted as everyone is hellbent on “re-opening” to the detriment of our continued survival but hey). The Mr and I can sympathize on that one, for sure. 

 

When we finally have our new place, you’re of course invited to stay with us as well. Space to comfortably keep guests was a factor in the house we chose XD That said... yes, I think you’ll feel better when you have figured out and are making tangible progress on a new direction for your life.

 

Is there a way your could combine your PhD education with your love of travel? Travel-writing is an oversaturated market, but you have a unique angle... or some educational hike tours or... I’m probably not treading any new territory here that you haven’t already thought of/had suggested to you already.

[Mudd]

On 7/23/2020 at 9:39 PM, oromendur said:

On 7/21/2020 at 8:20 PM, Mudd said:

Sometimes the success of a conservation project has more to do with understanding/changing public opinion/behavior than anything else.

 

Oh my goodness, yes. I would actually argue that any conservation efforts which aren't linked to a change in public opinion/behavior are doomed. The best science in the world can't fix bad stories, because they're mental constructs rather than physical things.

Totally. The tricky thing is that public acceptance exists on a spectrum, and there isn't necessarily total agreement on how far you have to get on the spectrum for conservation to be successful. My sense is most conservationists think "People don't poach or otherwise actively harm the population" is sufficient for most recovery programs. Folks working for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service or state agencies that are actively enforcing policies want something more like "People don't yell at us" (I think understandably, and of course I'm generalizing). I suppose ideally you'd want something like, "People are actively excited and proud the species is recovering in their area."

 

Regarding bad stories, I think about the Mexican Wolf Recovery Program where I interned for a bit. There are some pretty legit concerns that ranchers have, worrying about wolves depredating on their cattle, but there's also some pretty wild misinformation. There are wooded shelters wrapped in chicken fencing that were constructed at bus stops because people were worried about wolves eating their children (which, as you may know, is not a thing). My feeling is that it's easier to accept modern stories where wolves are dangerous to humans because we have generations of "bad stories" (if I'm using your term correctly) about wolves.