March 7, 2009

Nalini Nadkarni Speaks for the Trees

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It’s not like people aren’t way into trees; some embrace them, others even live in them. But arguably, neither the huggers nor the Dumpster Muffins of the world do as much for the trees as Evergreen State College ecologist Nalini Nadkarni, who has made a career of defending them. On today’s TEDTalk, Nadkarni tells you stuff you probably didn’t know about the tree canopy (there’s a whole ecosystem up there) and explains why it deserves our attention. The president of the International Canopy Network, a nonprofit she founded in 1994, she’s enlisted dancers, rappers, prisoners, and churchgoers to help her spread the tree gospel. Here’s a sampling of her projects (H/T TED):

  • ICAN
    Nalini is president of the International Canopy Network, a non-profit
    built in 1994 to support interaction between all people with a vested
    interest in the state of the canopy. Clearly, scientists aren’t alone
    in the desire to preserve our environment and this project connects
    them with educators, activists and more.
  • Biome
    After spending time exploring the treetops at Nalini’s invitation in
    Costa Rica, choreographers for the innovative modern dance group
    Capacitor created a live show and video performance about their
    experience. Nalini was credited as Scientific Advisor.
  • Treetop Barbie
    Showing little girls that they can be scientists and canopy researchers
    too, Nalini and her graduate students collect secondhand Barbie dolls
    and outfit them for a day in the field before distributing them to
    eager young minds.
  • The Moss Project
    At the Cedar Creek Corrections Facility in Little Rock, Washington,
    Nalini has employed a team of prisoners turned botanists to grow mosses
    that would otherwise be harvested from the wild for the horticultural
    trade. The project has also been great for the inmates, teaching them
    skills that can earn money after their release.
  • Canopy Walkway
    At the Evergreen State College, Nalini has been exploring the
    possibility of building a system of canopy-level forest walkways,
    giving students and the public the opportunity to see the ecosystem at
    work. There’s also hope that it will initiate and inspire fresh ideas
    about conservation.
  • Trees and Spirituality
    Nalini sees the spiritual value of trees as well as their practical
    value, and in this program she visits local churches and synagogues to
    speak about the relationship between trees and faith.
  • Canopy Rap
    Critics have been calling for hip-hop with a positive message for some
    time, and now courtesy of Nalini and rapper Duke Brady, we can all
    enjoy the freestyle rap “Kindle your own fire.” Click to listen.
  • Canopy Camoflauge
    This project aims to produce clothes that remind us of the beauty of
    the natural world, and Nalini worked with designers to produce
    prototypes that depict mosses and trees. They hope to market the
    concept to outdoor-oriented retailers, exposing us all to images that
    remind us of the fragile ecosystems we stand to lose.

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

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