Monday, June 18, 2012

Mao Mix


Mao mao mao! Photo from Petridish.org.

Just a quick note today. I was recently contacted by someone who works for PetriDish.org, an organization I wasn't previously aware of, but apparently should have been.

PetriDish is a lot like Kickstarter, but instead of funding a band recording a new album or some other really awful shit, PetriDish is actually a platform for funding legit scientific research projects. A wide variety of projects are featured on the site, but many are based in biology, ecology, animal behavior and conservation. That means you can directly contribute funds to any project you want, and in case you are not familiar with how field research is funded...the vast majority of projects need all the help they can get! And much like an NPR pledge drive, the more you donate the more you can actually "get back" from a project.

One good project on the site is the reproductive monitoring effort on the Mao, a large endangered honeycreeper endemic to the American Samoan Islands that is under siege by nonnative rats and other exotic species. All data being collected will be used to reintroduce them to the main island of American Samoa, where they have been extirpated. Learn all about the project here, and if you are in the position to donate a few bucks, there is a Mao out there that would appreciate it very much.

4 comments:

  1. This is cool. If I set up something on PetriDish regarding my Mono WIFL work and send you some info and pics would you mind posting here at some point?

    -McCreedy

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    1. Yes....I'll make it into a fantastic, emotional, eloquent essay if you hire me as a crew leader.

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  2. Whoa, excellent site. Congratulations, internet... you've just redeemed yourself for Lolcats and Rick Rolling

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    1. Thanks for passing the message on about our project on the Mao. We are also doing research on the Manumea(a species about to be up graded to critically endangered and endemic to Samoa). All equipment we are raising funds for the Mao by crowd funding on petridish are also going to be used on the Manumea so we can save both species. Check out www.samoanbirds.com for more infomation!

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