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.
