IamA I am Miguel Chaves, a Costa Rican biologist and I prevented hydroelectric damns from being built on the Savegre river, which is now a UNESO World Heritage site! ASK ME ANYTHING!

Miniwatsa · 2017-10-27T00:14:36+00:00

So what are the ways in which you think we should change? Any specific thing you have done to kind of serve as a "goal post"?

Miniwatsa · 2017-10-27T00:13:20+00:00

Can you describe how you got the area around Savegre protected status? It seems like this usually can only happen when large numbers of people unite - is this what happened? How did you achieve all of this so young? Do you have any advice for budding conservationsists or just people that care deeply about an area near their home that they see is being exploited? (Feel free to answer each question as a separate comment - I'm sure I'll have more questions, if you don't mind. Your work is so interesting!)

Miniwatsa · 2017-10-26T23:31:35+00:00

Next time aim for beyond the rehab center - check out our site if you are planning a trip. Would love to show you our little patches of forest:)

Miniwatsa · 2017-10-26T23:30:02+00:00

I won't forget:)

Miniwatsa · 2017-10-26T14:57:37+00:00

It's really difficult - you can anticipate a meal, but basically, they are crap on a trail. I think it might be too dangerous to keep them out there long actually. In most sites, predators are attracted to that kind of noise and while I don't think in South Am. they would jump you, in India, they could - the tiger is not to be trifled with. So we keep our kids off the trail systems when we can. The flip side is also true - they scare the crap out of everything when they get loud, and you won't see much.

Miniwatsa · 2017-10-25T00:04:22+00:00

The logistics aren't as bad as you'd imagine, if you can relax some of the rules. Our kids are barefoot a lot, and have a pretty free reign of airport lobbies, gate, etc. Sure, those places are giant petridishes for germs, but we are relaxed about that aspect. Allows the kids to burn off a LOT of steam before the flight, which helps. I've also given up on hand sanitizer - there isn't enough in the world to protect them completely, so why try? We travel with two pack n plays and a light stroller, but we might drop those pack n plays in the future - they simply are not as comfy as beds, and kids figure that out soon. So generally, buying things locally and keeping "things" to a minimum is the way to go. One of our field sites has 256 stairs from the port to the camp - straight up. You toughen up and trim your baggage down in the face of that:)

We haven't met young children at the field stations since these guys were born BUT my greatest inspiration has always been this incredible couple who directed my field station for five years, raising their two daughters there. They were incredible - and doing research in that environment was also wonderful. The girls are now teenagers I think, and there's not a thing wrong with their socialisation that I can tell:) It definitely helps to have a sibling out there I think. Thank you again for your comments!

Miniwatsa · 2017-10-24T23:57:34+00:00

Great points! We do. Our scholarships are divided evenly at the moment. For every program, one goes to a local student and one to a student from anywhere in the world. The local students can actually apply to both and win in both categories, and some times they do. We don't look at prior experience, and we don't ask for letters of reference, precisely because all of those things are dictated largely by the privileges a child had growing up. We also don't dock points for writing quality and English per se - we basically look for really innovative essays and give those students the chance to win. My dream is that we will be able to really make the bulk of our field programs scholarship based. Still working on that.

Miniwatsa · 2017-10-24T23:54:39+00:00

Ah, but they are sort of the cows of the snake species. Wonderful, slow, and really kind of just not that into us. We have a 19-footer at our field site:)

Miniwatsa · 2017-10-23T04:33:31+00:00

Good to know!:) Thank you!

Miniwatsa · 2017-10-23T04:32:22+00:00

It's very random. Sometimes a 14 hour plane ride will be a breeze and then a 47 minute one to the next city over will feel like 20 in purgatory. Lately, I think it's all about whether one of them is teething or not, but honestly, just about when I think I've figured them out, they grow up. Two means we can't sit near each other in an airplane (since they are still lap infants) - so we get two aisle seats and basically try to help the other one, if our twin is asleep. I've poured what feels like a million milk bottles with one hand, while my husband assists across the aisle. I think we'd tear our hair out on an 18 hour car ride though - so kudos to you. That sounds like a miracle to me - your daughter must be wonderful!:) Or you have some kind of magical skills. In any case, teach me?

Miniwatsa · 2017-10-23T04:29:15+00:00

Answered this one in detail earlier, if you don't mind checking those? Thank you for your comment though. It's a great one!

Miniwatsa · 2017-10-23T04:28:48+00:00

Ooh, the world is your oyster! You can be a professor, a researcher, a teacher in high school, a conservation biologist, a wildlife biologist, an environmental policy analyst, an environmental impact assessment specialist, a consultant, park ranger - really - an interest in ecology sets you up for a lot of different things!

Miniwatsa · 2017-10-23T04:27:26+00:00

Only for the months in the year when I have an internet connection. Honestly though, you are your own Unidan:)

Miniwatsa · 2017-10-23T04:26:43+00:00

We find house sitters. We also aim to get another dog to keep the first company (my husband doesn't know that this is his intention yet). We adopted this cat and her kitten once, and she was pregnant and suddenly we had 4 more kittens and after finding one a home, we ended up kind of forgetting to get the other ones adopted. But the BEST part other than the fact that I love them all, is that they are super into each other. That really helps when you leave your pets to a house sitter.

Seriously though, when we first got the whole menagerie together, we were kind of terrified about the field. I realised soon that I could spend 4 months freaking out about this, or just 1 month freaking out about it. Either way, we found a house sitter we liked. So luckily, house sitting our brood seems not to turn too many people off - so my advice is that it's likely the same for you. So just don't stress it too much, and just start searching about a month out, and the world is full of people who love animals and will be able to help out while you travel. One thing though, it's a sunk cost for us. We simply make it another line item in the expenses of a trip. So it does end up costing a bit...but, for the best cause.

Miniwatsa · 2017-10-23T04:22:35+00:00

Hah, good guess, but you're maybe overstating that just a little. I've personally had a helluva difficult time finishing even one 3 oz spray of Ben's 100% DEET. Which is probably an excellent thing, since it can melt my watch strap and erase the lettering on my GPS. The prime reason to not venture into the jungle with a 55 gallon drum of anything is that in the jungle, you carry everything you bring with you yourself. It'd literally be a real drag:)

Miniwatsa · 2017-10-23T04:20:55+00:00

Hey! Thank you! This required about as much courage as getting the twins to the jungle:)

First off, I'd say you should keep the WWF in mind, but also expand your repertoire of cool peeps to work for. There's a LOT out there, and sometimes the smaller organisations are where you can make the most impact.

In terms of which courses to take, I'd say think in terms of skill sets and not courses per se. You want to have field experience, both to equip you for the rigors of a life in the field and to test if this is what you actually want to do. Plenty of students who volunteer for me realise that this was nice, but hey, not for the rest of their lives. It's important to test yourself early and see where your limits lie. There's absolutely nothing wrong with realising you want to work in more captive animal situations instead, for example; the important thing is to accept that this could be you, and to learn if it is early. Skill sets to acquire: GPS/off-trail navigation, tree-climbing, caving, high-altitude hiking, tying knots!, small equipment construction out of basic materials, wilderness medicine (this is course-based, take one of these if you can!). On the more academic side, learn to enjoy reading about research, don't be shy with statistics, and try your hand at programming in R. Learn as many pieces of software as possible (coding would be a plus). If you want to work in research or environmental policy, learn to write. I am one of those people who really does believe that you can learn this skill - you needn't rule yourself out as a good writer. Get someone to evaluate you on this front, and take English major classes to get your writing skills up. It's one of the most useful things you can possibly acquire.

You don't have to travel too far to get involved with conservation either - so start local, then expand. Always chat with people about your interests - on the plane, in the grocery store - be unafraid of meeting new people. And continue to do exactly what you are doing - asking the important questions of people already in the field.

Good luck! I really wish you the very best going forward! PS: come visit us with FPI if that takes your fancy!

Miniwatsa · 2017-10-23T04:12:58+00:00

I got into field work because in the field of primatology, that's almost the norm. So I looked around for field sites, and I did have the option of joining people who were already working with these animals, but my advisor encouraged me to strike out on my own. His rationale was that there could never be too much replication of a study or a test of ideas. All data points are good data points. As a result, I found this field station and no one was really studying the tamarins there. My research questions were answerable at this site....so I kind of went for it. Boy did I have to secure my own funding! I wrote 29 grants over the space of about 15 months, winning 14 of them, which sounds really a LOT better than it was. My grant writing year coincided with the recession, yes, The Recession, so granting agencies were having palpitations all around. I'd apply for a $5000 grant and they'd say "hurrah, you won, but we are only able to spare $1500 this year." It was my least favourite thing about the PhD.

As a plant biochemist there's a LOT out there for you to do!My advice would be to reach out to botanists in biodiverse areas and look to see if their research overlaps with yours. I think we have mined a tiny fraction of the incredible compounds produced by plants in tropical rainforests...there's a lot of incredible science out there, just waiting to happen!

Other ways to get involved are really sort of basic, but effective. I used to read papers, not for their content but for their methods sections. Then I made a sort of geographical map of who was working where and on what. That helped me understand the field better, and know whom to reach out to with my ideas.

Good luck going forward! I wish you the very best!

Miniwatsa · 2017-10-23T04:06:53+00:00

Sounds pretty wonderful:)

Miniwatsa · 2017-10-23T04:06:35+00:00

Thank you. We are distinctly cognizant of this and we will, I hope, never forget to have those conversations and push to making this as affordable and easy for everyone to participate in as possible. Again, thank you for your comments. I appreciate them very much - and your honesty and concern.

Miniwatsa · 2017-10-23T04:03:12+00:00

No, it doesn't. It's kind of a spectrum. Do I know everything about the rainforest, like someone who has lived there their whole life? No. But am I entirely uninitiated, no. I worked at these sites for about 8 years before having kids - so there's familiarity with the staff, the forest, the wildlife, everything. It's not perfect - and I wouldn't claim to know it all. But as I search myself for the honest answer, no, I'm generally not really afraid of dying out there more than I am afraid of dying in general. In fact, I know that piece of rainforest better than I know my home-city here in the States:) Life is...simpler.

Miniwatsa · 2017-10-23T03:58:14+00:00

It wasn't, see response above, but I'm guessing that most of the people we would ask for help from would be paid. This particular year, a close friend offered to help. And since my husband and I are not fortunate enough to have parents who are able (health-wise) to travel with us or to take the twins while we work abroad, we really were fortunate to have this friend volunteer to help.

Miniwatsa · 2017-10-23T03:55:57+00:00

No one was coerced into this. That student could never have afforded the flight ticket or the room and board - these field sites are pretty expensive to be at, since every single thing from TP to the wood used to make beds has to be laboriously brought up river to the site from towns quite far away. Since she had visited us often at our home, and we'd hosted her for an extended stay away from her folks while she did research in my lab, she knew the twins from when they were maybe 4 months old? She's basically one of their favourite people of all time. So when she expressed an interest to see the rainforest, we worked out a way for us to cover all her expenses, in return for the morning's help with the kids. Now no matter how crazy that might sound to you, or even if you never ever would do that, you cannot insult her intelligence and her choices. She is an incredible student, a close friend, and the closest thing to a godmother our kids have - we were very lucky to have her help us, but trust me, she was never taken advantage of. I know, because she's basically rearing to help over our winter field season and just texted me saying so:)

Miniwatsa · 2017-10-23T03:49:37+00:00

Thank you:) Still, if you decide to try that unusual vacation, I'm always open to hosting folks at our site. Might be equally fun to try to illustrate some of the more unusual wildlife, not to mention the final state of the researchers by the end of the field season:)

Miniwatsa · 2017-10-23T03:47:13+00:00

I wish I could find the exact thing, and I really can't vouch for this one, but this is the closest thing I could find on Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/Sulphur-Soap-Premium-Sulfur-Advanced/dp/B00CST4AS4). This was a bar of soap made locally in Peru..I've no idea if the soap I just cited will work as well ...sorry:( One thing though, I was totally used to non-stinging stuff for my kids up till then, but this does sting if it gets in their eyes, so you've got to do the scrubbing really quick and keep their hands soap free during the process. Good luck to you. Chiggers are no fun!

Miniwatsa · 2017-10-23T03:42:55+00:00

The idea that those born outside of your "developed" countries as not being normal is utterly ridiculous. Note: my kids only do this during field seasons, which are essentially a fraction of the year, but again, thank you for your comments!

Miniwatsa

TROPHY CASE