Article Publications
National Geographic: Test drilling for oil and gas begins in Namibia’s Okavango region
This month, ReconAfrica’s multimillion-dollar drilling rig pierced a riverbed in elephant habitat some 160 miles from the wildlife-rich Okavango Delta. BY JEFFREY BARBEE AND LAUREL NEME PUBLISHED JANUARY 28, 2021 – National Geographic WALVIS BAY, NAMIBIAThe search for oil and gas in the watershed of the world-famous, wildlife-rich Okavango Delta moved one step closer to reality when a…
Read MoreBackyard “BATIVISTS”
BCI Intern Sophia Seufert inspires young bat lovers with video series By Laurel Neme, Published in BATS Magazine “Anyone can be a backyard ‘bativist’,” says Sophia Seufert, BCI intern and Brandeis University junior. Seufert spent her summer creating a series of videos for BCI to help young people connect with bats and create “bativists”—that…
Read MoreAdvocates for Elephants – Kids on Different Continents are Working to Protect Pachyderms
by Laurel Neme, published in MUSE magazine Read this story as a pdf – Advocates for Elephants – Kids on Different Continents are Working to Protect Pachyderms
Read MoreAnnals of a Warming Planet: Our Best Chance to Slow Global Warming Comes in the Next Nine Years
By Bill McKibben January 7, 2021, THE NEW YORKER The events of the past few days are shocking in their novelty—the glory of seeing the !rst Black Democrat ever elected to the Senate from the South, the shame of seeing a President incite a mob to storm the Capitol. Who knows what drama will come next, except…
Read MoreCold? No Problem. How 6 Animals Winterize Themselves
By Laurel Neme, illustrations by Serge Seidlitz Published in the New York Times Kids Magazine, December 27, 2020 Read this story as a pdf – Cold? No Problem – How 6 Animals Winterize Themselves
Read MoreNational Geographic: Oil Drilling, Possible Fracking Planned for Okavango Region—Elephants’ Last Stronghold
Hundreds of oil wells could come to cover a huge expanse in Namibia and Botswana, in what has been called possibly the “largest oil play of the decade. BY JEFFREY BARBEE AND LAUREL NEME PUBLISHED OCTOBER 28, 2020 – National Geographic JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – Conservationists and community leaders in the spectacular Okavango wilderness region of Namibia and Botswana…
Read MoreNational Geographic: This ‘Rhino Court’ Had 100 Percent Poacher Convictions. Why Was it Closed?
Some conservationists and activists in South Africa are concerned that criminal syndicates are making it even more difficult to protect rhinos from poachers. By Laurel Neme PUBLISHED AUGUST 18, 2020 This ‘Rhino Court’ Had 100 Percent Poacher Convictions. Why Was it Closed? “GO NOW! THE spoor is fresh!” Sandra Snelling, an operations manager for South African…
Read MoreBats Magazine: Boosting Bats by Restoring Mexico’s Agaves
Boosting Bats by Restoring Mexico’s Agaves By Kristen Pope and Laurel Neme The endangered Mexican long-nosed bat (Leptonycteris nivalis) hovered beside the 20-foot-tall stalk of an agave and probed the deep flowers with its long snout. Lapping at the nectar, flakes of pollen blanketed its muzzle, ready to drop into the next flower. With light-colored…
Read MoreMongabay.com: Taylor and Tate: Canine-human teams rescue Australia’s fire-ravaged koalas
Ryan Tate and his English springer spaniel Taylor take a break from searching. Photo courtesy of Ryan Tate. Taylor and Tate: Canine-human teams rescue Australia’s fire-ravaged koalas BY LAUREL NEME ON 28 MAY 2020 Specially-trained koala detection dogs joined rescue teams during and after the catastrophic Australian bushfires to help find the injured marsupials quickly and increase…
Read MoreMongabay.com: What does it take to discover a new great ape species?
An adult Tapanuli orangutan, by Andrew Walmsley. What does it take to discover a new great ape species? Geneticists, morphologists and behavioral scientists reveal the inside story of how their research led to the description of the Tapanuli orangutan. BY LAUREL NEME ON 19 FEBRUARY 2019 Mongabay Series: Great Apes, Southeast Asian infrastructure In a paper published November 2017,…
Read MoreMongabay.com: New Species of orangutan threatened from moment of its discovery
A juvenile Tapanuli orangutan, photo by Andrew Walmsley. New Species of orangutan threatened from moment of its discovery While scientists worked to confirm Tapanuli orangutans were a distinct species, pressure was mounting on the apes’ habitat. BY LAUREL NEME ON 20 FEBRUARY 2019 Mongabay Series: Great Apes, Southeast Asian infrastructure In a November 2017 article, an international team of…
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