Environment

Great Parks of Hamilton County recently received a generous grant to assist with the reforestation of Sharon Woods, but as Kimberly Whitton from Great Parks tells our Robyn Carey-Allgeyer, this is a volunteer-driven effort that is now in need of volunteers.

  Temperatures in the 90's one week, then it gets unseasonably cool, then we go days without a drop of rain followed by heavy downpours, and then there are the molds, insects, deer, moles and other critters to contend with. Many people consider gardening and yard work relaxing and enjoyable, but maintaining gardens and landscapes around here takes time, effort and experience.

  Dr. Alan Rabinowitz is one of the world’s leading big cat experts, and has been called ‘The Indiana Jones of Wildlife Conservation’ by TIME Magazine. He has traveled the world on behalf of wildlife conservation and is responsible for the world's first jaguar sanctuary, the Cockscomb Basin Jaguar Preserve in the mountains of Belize. The Cincinnati Zoo’s Thane Maynard had a chance to talk with Alan Rabinowitz about his work, and A Boy and a Jaguar, his picture book that tells the real-life story of his own childhood.

The next speaker in the Cincinnati Zoo Barrows Lecture Series is Dr. Terese Hart. Dr. Hart is the director of a Lukuru Foundation project that is working to create a new national park in the Democratic Republic of Congo. On Wednesday, May 28 at 7:00 PM, she will present, “The Challenges of Protecting Wildlife in the Congo.” Dr. Hart spoke with the Zoo’s Thane Maynard about her work.

  Many consider Earth Day 1970 the birth of the modern environmental movement. Since then, each year on April 22, millions of people all over the world take some action in support of a greener, cleaner, more sustainable environment.

Bill Konstant serves as Program Officer for the International Rhino Foundation, traveling the world to build collaborative programs that help bring an end to poaching. As part of the Cincinnati Zoo Barrows Lecture series, Mr. Konstant will present “The World’s Rarest Rhinos” Wednesday evening April 23, providing a look at the last three decades of wildlife conservation, as well as a glimpse into what the future looks like for the world's five rhino species. Earlier, the Zoo’s Thane Maynard had a chance to talk with Bill Konstant about the world’s rhino population.

University of Wisconsin Professor of Anthropology Dr. Karen Strier is the opening speaker for this year’s Barrows Conservation Lecture Series. in her April 9 presentation, “Primate Conservation in the 21st Century: Insights from the Muriqui Monkeys of Brazil,” Dr. Strier will trace the behavioral, ecological, and demographic changes over her 30-year study of a growing population of one of the world’s most critically endangered primates. She spoke with the Cincinnati Zoo’s Thane Maynard about her findings, and what they mean for our rapidly changing world.

  It has been a long, long winter, and many of us can’t wait to get out and get our yards and gardens in shape. Campbell County Horticultural Extension Agent David Koester and Peter Huttinger, neighborhood garden coordinator with the Civic Garden Center of Greater Cincinnati, share tips and advice on what to do now to give your yard and garden a solid start for the growing season.

Over the last half a billion years, there have been five mass extinctions,  when the diversity of life on earth suddenly and dramatically contracted. Scientists around the world are currently monitoring a predicted sixth extinction, which this time around, will be  caused by us. In her book, The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History, author Elizabeth Kolbert describes traveling the world to document the mass extinction of species that seems to be unfolding before our eyes. She recently talked with Cincinnati Zoo’s Thane Maynard about her book, and what she’s discovered.

Tuesday morning will mark the first time companies discharging into the Ohio River Basin can buy interstate water quality credits to help farmers upstream control their pollution.

The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) is facilitating the trading. It says water quality trading is an "innovative market-based approach to achieving water quality goals for nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen."

Here's the thinking

  Where would we be without the honeybee? Our tea wouldn’t taste as sweet, sure, but honeybees also account for 80% of all insect pollination, so we’d have a lot  fewer fruits and vegetables to eat. Liz Tilton owner of TwoHoneys Bee Company, South Western Ohio Beekeepers Association (SWOBA) President Ray Babcock, and Beekeeper Sandra Murphy join us to explore the world of Honeybees.

  Our region is home to a wide range of interesting birds, and a migratory route for many others. And winter is the perfect time to view and enjoy them, either out in the woods or in your own backyard. But can you tell a Tufted Titmouse from a Black Junco or White-breasted Nuthatch?

Taking Root