Thane Maynard, director of the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, provides first-hand connections to the world of ecology and conservation by speaking with experts all around the world.
The Cincinnati Zoo is so much more than animals. Not only is it a leading botanical garden, but there are offsite programs to help protect and reclaim the environment. TheirEcOhio sustainability program works around the Zoo in Avondale, but also at the Bowyer Farm in Warren County, where a recently completed wetland reclamation project has returned 24 acres to its natural habitat. Brian Jorg led this initiative and he’s Thane Maynard’s guest on today’s Field Notes.
It’s probably not a surprise to hear that there are too many cats roaming the streets of Cincinnati. Feral, abandoned, lost…these cats are often not spayed or neutered, and that leads to more and more litters of homeless kittens. But as Thane Maynard learns, there is an organization working to address this problem. He welcomes in Devon Smith, Spay & Neuter Clinic Director for Ohio Alleycat Resource, who talks about the three ways her organization is trying to reduce the stray cat population.
Thane Maynard is on the phone with Pratik Patel, founder of Safari Legacy and of theAfrican Wildlife Trust in Tanzania. The AWT is working diligently to fight the epidemic of poaching of the majestic African elephants. Their efforts include not only the poachers themselves, but the businesses and individuals who reward poachers by purchasing the ivory they illegally gain by killing the elephants.
In a tremendous coup for a smaller, private university, Dr. Jill Russell and the College of Mount St. Joseph have been awarded a $500,000 National Science Foundation grant to study the ever-changing cycle of bird migration. Dr. Russell is on the phone with Thane Maynard to discuss how they secured this prestigious grant and what exactly they are studying and the methodology they are using.
On the eve of the Westminster Dog Show, everyone believes their dog is smart and you may think yours is the smartest ever. Either way, there is no denying the research that dogs do have an innate intelligence. One man has centered his professional life on researching the intelligence of dogs, and he joins Thane Maynard on the phone. Brian Hare is a professor of Evolutionary Anthropology at Duke University, where he founded the Duke Canine Cognition Center. He’s on the phone to discuss his latest book, The Genius of Dogs: How Dogs Are Smarter than You Think.
