What's up with Adam
This is the page where you go to learn about me. Apologies for narcissia.
Current residence: Berkeley, California.
Current occupation: Postdoctoral Scholar, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at UC Berkeley.
Why I am here: I came back to graduate school because I am concerned about the loss of species and the effect this will have on human well-being. Extinction is "natural," but humans have elevated extinction rates 1000 times above normal rates, commensurate with past mass extinctions. Next to some types of radioactive wastes, extinction is effectively the longest-lived environmental impact we can effect: regardless of the size of an extinction event, it requires at least 10 million years for recovery. My research focuses on how we can better predict extinctions (or better protect species) given their spatial distributions and how we can better design policy to protect biodiversity.
Ecologists are increasingly detailing the linkage between species diversity and ecosystem function and services. A diverse ecosystem, for example, can store more carbon (reducing global warming) and nitrogen (reducing water pollution). Do we lose these services as we lose species?
Environmentalists are often adept pessimists. So how do I maintain hope? I practice mental sanctity several ways.
First, I am actively doing something about the issue, not watching in pathos.
Second, I practice hope every day, taking joy in little and big things, like watching a kid playing with her tie-dye umbrella, or the leaves of a plant poking out of the metal signpost where none should normally grow.
Third, I grow a supportive community around me. I rely especially on Trees for Life, an amazing movement and community that inspired me to come back to graduate school.
Fourth, when I am in a funk I do things to reframe the world. For example, a few weeks ago a friend and I bought some flowers and handed them out to passers-by. It actually took more courage than I thought it would, but it really changed the world for me. I have a friend who calls this the "rhythm," or the "insane things you do to keep yourself sane." Books like The Man Who Planted Trees and Love, Medicine, and Miracles are useful for doing this kind of reframing on a daily basis.
Finally, I play doctor. You don't want a doctor who freaks out when she enters the operating room because of the horrific state you're in. All the same, you don't want a doctor who doesn't care about you. So being in the juxtaposition between being unaffected and full empathy allows me to be a doctor.
How do you grow hope?
Winter 2009: Europe
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| My sister and me |
Big Ben, London |
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| Leuven City Hall, Belgium |
Chateau Amboise, France |
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| MiRan does the Louvre |
Seine River, Paris |
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| Mont-Sant-Michel, France |
Mont-Sant-Michel, France |
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| Chateau Chambord, France |
Me |
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| Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris |
Sacre Coeur, Paris |
Summer 2008: Viet Nam
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| Imperial Capital Hue |
Incense |
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| Huong Giang (Perfume) River |
Saigon Traffic |
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| Kids |
Preperations for Mrs Le's 49th-Day Memorial |
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| Bridge |
Floating Farms of Nha Trang |
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| Tomb of Nguyen Emporer Khai Dinh |
Market at Muon Ho |
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| Chinese Temple for Thien Hau |
Mother Temple of Cao Dai |
 I can move every muscle in my face (click for video).
Berkeley Walk 2007
Below are some images of my current home, Berkeley, CA, taken by Arctic Anna, as she, Danielle, and I took a long walk to my professor's house a few weeks ago. Most of the images are from people's yard gardens, but a few are from the Berkeley Rose Garden. You can click on the images to see larger versions.
Winter 2004-2005: Images of Africa
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| Nigeria: Girls at Bilatum |
Nigeria: Marama Mountain |
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| DR Congo: Transportation |
Nigeria: AIDS Poster |
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| DR Congo: National Art Museum |
DR Congo: Boy |
Summer of 2004: Images of China
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| Temple eaves |
Qingdao Communist Party School |
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| Marx and Hegel |
Laoshan Temple |
Roommates: House of ERG (Energy and Resources Group)
Adam, Malini, Eli, FERG (Frog of ERG), Amber
Summer of 2003: Images of the Rocky Mountains:
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| My cabin |
Maroon Bells Wilderness |
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| Lupine |
Great Sand Dunes National Monument |
Special Announcement – After viewing this page, my mom said, "Very nice, but you look weird in all your pictures." So, to satisfy the mater familias, I submit this image, but you'll have to click to get it. I'm not claiming I don't look weird... just that I can have a picture taken and not make a face.
2002-2003: Babysitting the nieces in the Rocky Mountains:
  
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