What I am doing

A bit of background on what I'll be doing in Brazil (at least what I think I'll be doing). Through TIE, I've been paired up with Iracambi, a research center and non-profit organization in Brazil's Atlantic Forest (Mata Atlântica). Their mission is to work with the community to make the conservation of the forest more attractive than its destruction.

When I tell people where I'm going they often ask, "Is that in the Amazon?" and this seems to be part of the problem the Atlantic Forest has. The Amazon Rainforest gets publicity. I remember studying it in school and learning about biodiversity and about it being the lungs of the earth. There are several movies that take place there (who could forget Sean Connery in Medicine Man). We all know that the Amazon is being destroyed due to deforestation - about 20% of it has been destroyed so far. But the Atlantic Forest is much more seriously threatened. 93% of the Atlantic Forest has already disappeared. And what remains are just patches of forest - not the large swathe of lush forest it used to be.

Iracambi is working to preserve the fragmented forest that remains, reforest where they can and educate the local and global community about sustainability and conservation. Part of their education initiative is to bring foreign student to their research center. In their hands-on, immersive programs students not only receive an education about the Atlantic Forest, they become advocates for it bringing information about its plight and about conservation in general home with them. And here's where I come in. My role will be to figure out how to properly communicate and fund Iracambi's science programs.

From my desk in my office in Manhattan, this seems like a pretty big ask. But I'm hoping that once I get myself to Brazil, find my way to Iracambi, see the Atlantic Forest for myself, listen to the students, staff and locals, I'll be able to help in some way.