Showing titles in Environmentalists & Naturalists

Cândido Rondon is by any measure the greatest tropical explorer in history. Between 1890 and 1930, he navigated scores of previously unmapped rivers, traversed untrodden mountain ranges, and hacked his way through jungles so inhospitable that even native peoples had avoided them—and led Theodore Roosevelt and his son, Kermit, on their celebrated "River of Doubt" journey in 1913-14. Originally published in Brazil, Into the Amazon is the first comprehensive biography of the Indigenous Brazilian explorer, scientist, stateseman, and conservationist.

Atop a hill in the rainforest of Belize, next to the ruins of a fallen civilization, a butterfly farm raises the brilliant blue morpho. What starts out as the worst vacation ever turns into a quest to learn more about the first-of-its-kind farm when journalist Diana Marcum inadvertently discovers this wildlife sanctuary, which is supported by an international live-butterfly trade.

What if the animals we rescue are also rescuing us? In Whispers from the Wild, Susan B. Eirich, Ph.D. - founder of the Earthfire Institute - invites listeners into a sanctuary where wolves, bears and other native wildlife live out their lives in safety along the Yellowstone to Yukon Wildlife Corridor. For more than two decades, Susan has lived alongside these animals, witnessing not only their survival, but their relationships - with one another and with the humans who care for them. In these extraordinary true stories, she shares moments of play, trust, grief and transformation.

Bestsellerautor Olivier Guez verwebt die Lebensgeschichte von Gertrude Bell mit den Ereignissen im Nahen Osten nach dem Ersten Weltkrieg. Archäologin, Abenteurerin, Agentin des Britischen Empire: Gertrude Bell war mit Lawrence von Arabien seelenverwandt, eine enge Vertraute von Winston Churchill und die einzige Frau unter den mächtigen Männern Mesopotamiens. Sie liebte den Orient und wollte diese Region um jeden Preis befrieden. Bell war die missverstandene Tochter einer reichen viktorianischen Familie.

Eighteen years ago, Stanford MBA Michele Raffin pulled off the road to help an injured dove, a momentary impulse that ignited in her a fervent commitment to saving vulnerable bird species. Today, her suburban home plays host to Pandemonium Aviaries, one of the largest avian rescue sanctuaries and endangered breeding facilities in the country, with a maze of 54 individual aviaries that house over 40 species, 14 of which are listed as threatened with extinction.

Explore the depths of human thought, emotion, and consciousness in The Art of the Mind, a groundbreaking journey into the mysteries of the human psyche. Samuel J. Rodriguez Jr. invites listeners into an expansive conversation that bridges scientific exploration, spiritual traditions, and philosophical inquiry to uncover the profound interconnectedness of humanity. Through chapters that traverse the realms of neuroscience, psychology, and ancient wisdom, the book challenges listeners to question whether their thoughts and beliefs are truly their own or reflections of a shared human experience.

In a tradition that runs from John Muir to Bear Grylls, Searles finds a fellowship with nature and a deeper meaning in the world of bears. Do bears understand things we don't? Are they dialed in to some greater natural force? Unlike us, bears waste little time on unreasonable fears. Bears are fully in the moment. They have an inner peace that seems to offset their power and strength. That may explain why no other animal on the planet is as revered as the bear.

Ignited by a lightning strike in a remote forest, the Currowan fire was one of the most terrifying episodes of Australia's Black Summer. It burnt for 74 days, consuming nearly 5,000 square kilometres of land, destroying well over 500 homes and leaving many people shattered. In the aftermath, there were questions. Why were resources so few that many faced the flames alone? Why was there back-burning on a day of extreme fire danger? Why weren’t they better prepared?

It’s believed by many that crows are a symbol of bad luck and death, but by others, crows are the symbol of life, magic, and mysteries. They also symbolize intelligence, flexibility, and destiny. Grandma often told me superstitious stories and myths. Most of her perceived omens remained unexplainable myths, but she always insisted that if we didn’t pay attention, who knows what would’ve happened.

Beginning with his interactions with Dr Salim Ali, the legendary ornithologist - who was also his grand-uncle - wildlife biologist Rauf Ali takes the listener on a journey through India’s natural history and the beginning of ecological studies in India. Rauf was one of the first Indians to complete a PhD in wildlife biology - he researched the social behaviour of bonnet macaques in the forests of Mundanthurai region in Tamil Nadu. In the late 1980s, he was instrumental in setting up one of India’s first master's programmes in ecology.

Best known for his association with the Yosemite Valley and Sierra Nevada Mountains, John Muir also explored the southern states, Alaska, and the Mojave Desert. His studies generated volumes of poetic, evocative writings. As America expanded westward, Muir witnessed the plunder of the land and became a driving force in efforts to protect the natural world. He influenced four U.S. Presidents to sponsor legislation that protected forests and established or expanded America's national parks.

At stake in 1896 was the new idea that some landscapes should be collectively, permanently owned by a democratic government. Although many people today think of public lands as an American birthright, their very existence was then in doubt and dependent on a merger of the talents of these two men. Natural Rivals examines a time of environmental threat and political dysfunction not unlike our own and reveals the complex dynamic that gave birth to America’s rich public lands legacy. 

The Pitchfork Ranch is more than another dusty homestead tucked away in a corner of the Southwest. It is a place with a story to tell about the most pressing crisis to confront humankind. It is a place where one couple is working every day to right decades of wrongs. It is a place of inspiration and promise. It is an invitation to join the struggle for a better planet. Restoring the Pitchfork Ranch tells the story of a decades-long habitat restoration project in southwestern New Mexico. 

"One life I’ve lived was liminal—I was not what I had been, but I had yet to become what I will be.” In her memoir Crowded Tables and Bonus Tracks, Ashley McLain moves from an adopted child in 1970s Dallas to a pioneering environmental consultant who co-founded and sold a thriving company. At 53, she found the courage to search for her biological family, confronting questions of identity, belonging, and what it means to define “enough.

On the verge of a complete breakdown, Peter Hahn quit his globe-trotting corporate job and laid down roots in the French countryside—determined to make a go of winegrowing. Peter bought a run-down, four-hundred-year-old “pile of a house,” ten acres of woodland, and a neglected vineyard in...

In?Grizzly Confidential, author Kevin Grange—former paramedic and park ranger at Yellowstone and Grand Teton—comes face-to-face with North America’s most fearsome predator, Ursus Arctos. His quest takes him from his home in the Tetons to an eerie, mist-shrouded island of gigantic bruins...

Burned-out after years of doing development work around the world, William Powers spent a season in a 12-foot-by-12-foot cabin off the grid in North Carolina, as recounted in his award-winning memoir Twelve by Twelve. Could he live a similarly minimalist life in the heart of New York City? To find out, Powers and his wife jettisoned 80 percent of their stuff, left their 2,000-square-foot Queens townhouse, and moved into a 350-square-foot "micro-apartment" in Greenwich Village.  

Toufiq A. Siddiqi was born in Hyderabad, India, and studied mathematics at Trinity College, Cambridge University, England. He received his Ph. D. in Nuclear Physics from the Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universität, Frankfurt, Germany. In 1967 he and his wife Ulrike emigrated to the United States where he continued his research at Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana. During this time, he began to shift his focus from physics to environmental sciences, driven by the developing public environmental awareness at that time.

“Are you craving a better path to the good life than safety and comfort? Free Range Girl is the delightful story of Meghan Cox Gurdon’s countercultural off-the-grid childhood in rural Maine. This memoir is as inspirational as it is entertaining.” —Arthur C. Brooks, #1 New York Times...

Isle Royale in Michigan is one of the most remote and pristine of all the U.S. national parks, and it is the site of the world’s longest-running predator–prey study. Every summer, Jeffrey M. Holden leads groups of citizen scientists on week-long expeditions to search for dead moose. Those intrepid enough to join him backpacking off trail in Isle Royale’s rugged beauty face challenges from treacherous weather conditions, to wildlife, primitive backcountry camping, traveling through swamps and wetlands, and backpacks that grow heavier with bones every time a new dead moose is found.