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Vote Andaman Discoveries for the BBC World Challenge!

Hi CNR Students and Alums,

I started a non-profit in Thailand back in 2005, and it has gone on to do great things. Recently, we were chosen as a finalist for the BBC World Challenge. If you can, please take 30 seconds to vote for us at their website, so we can keep up the good work! The website is The BBC World Challenge.

Our connection to the villages comes from rebuilding our lives together, and our projects focus on the big picture, empowering people to define their own future. This means that, along with responsible tourism, we also support scholarships for 120 kids, reforestation, a community development network, and a lot more. Pardon the spiel if you've already heard it, but it's the real deal.

Winning the World Challenge would mean a lot: the award will underwrite our projects, and the publicity will help us spread our message, which is always a challenge with a miniscule PR budget :) If you are excited by all this, feel free to post this message on your facebook account, blog, or email lists.

With thousands of nominations annually, the World Challenge recognizes innovative business projects that increase investment into the local community and take a responsible approach to the environment in which they are operating. We were chosen by a jury of high-level executives from Shell, BBC World, the World Bank, IUCN, and Newsweek.

So, if you could be so kind as to follow the link and vote for us, it would be of great service to our projects and the people they serve.

Bodhi Garrett
Director, Andaman Discoveries
Coordinator, IUCN North Andaman Network
Founder, North Andaman Tsunami Relief

Link to Andaman Discoveries on the BBC World Challenge


Press Release (PDF)

Bodhi Garrett
posted October 14, 2009 8:27 AM

Environmental Law via CRS

After graduation (CRS, '99), I worked for Governor Davis for a year doing environmental legislation and land use work. Realizing that I enjoyed working with environmental issues at the state government level but that I was too far from my own native state, I returned to New York for law school at Pace Law School. Pace has one of the best environmental law programs in the country, and it was a great fit for me. Surprisingly, I was the first Cal grad to come through the school.

I've been with the New York State Attorney General's office for four years now, in the Environmental Protection Bureau. My job pulls on my science background, as I work with hazardous waste remediation issues, and also the policy background which was part of my curriculum in CRS. If anyone out there is considering a career in environmental law, I'd be happy to chat about it!

Janice Dean
posted June 13, 2009 8:33 PM

Does Reusable = Green? What do you think?

There is a lot of marketing going on that spins products that are reusable as being green by virtue of the reusability. I'm wondering, how anyone feels about whether products where simply being reusable (or recyclable or natural) qualifies the product to pass the "that makes it green" test.

In case you need an example or three:

These are just the beginning. I'm wondering, what is your perspective on this murky area? None of these products are necessarily any different today than 10 or 20 years ago, yet all can or are being marketed as green or eco-friendly. Is that OK with you?

If any of these marketing positions overstep your line, who plays the role of the green-police to call the marketers on it?

It's a survey, so post your opinion in a comment at my blog, Tom Larsen, or send me an email. I'll read them all.

Tom Larsen
posted April 11, 2009 10:06 PM

Properly Managed Forests Emit Fewer Greenhouse Gases

This is a record year for wildfires in California with over a million acres burned. It would be timely to publish information on the estimated amounts of "greenhouse gases" that have resulted from these fires.

The data on emissions from fires needs to be put into perspective with overall emissions from other sources including automobiles and electric power generation.

Discussion is needed on how our timberlands could be better managed to minimize fire damage. Properly managed forests take in more carbon dioxide than mature and over mature forests that are just carbon sinks where trees die or burn and release the stored carbon to the atmosphere, rather than being harvested and utilized for forest products. Restrictions need be removed on salvage logging following fires.

Who else can better do this than UCB researchers?

This sort of information needs to be made available to the general media and is long overdue!

Bob Heyden
posted September 8, 2008 1:34 PM