Andrew Mack immersed himself in a vast expanse of roadless, old growth rainforest of Papua New Guinea in 1987. He and his co-investigator Debra Wright, built a research station by hand and lived there for years. Their mission was to study the secretive and perhaps most dinosaur-like creature still roaming the planet: the cassowary. The ensuing adventures of this unorthodox biologistOCostudying seeds found in cassowary droppings (pekpek), learning to live among the indigenous PawaiOCOia, traversing jungles, fighting pests and loneliness, struggling against unscrupulous oil speculators, and moreOCoare woven into a compelling tale that spans two decades.a Mack shares the insights he garnered about rainforest ecology while studying something as seemingly mundane as cassowary pekpek. He ultimately gained profound insight into why conservation is failing in places like Papua New Guinea and struggled to create a more viable strategy for conserving some of EarthOCOs last wild rainforests."

Offers an inspirational and compassionate approach to understanding the problems of life, and argues that we should continue to believe in God's fairness.

Far from the grown-up she thought she would be, Tweet Sering, 30 plus and tormented by a raging discontent with stale notions of how one must live, strips herself of the trappings of adulthood-her job, her savings, her insurance, and even her credit card-and resolves to begin growing up again.In this memoir that is by turns sharply funny, intelligent, outspoken, but also pained and bewildered, Tweet shows her readers how being astray can turn into being astig (tough). Her essays remind us of long, late night chats with our favorite friend, so that the substance of the go for broke account of her journey is not muddled by easy sentiment, but shines with a desire to cheer us on into our own journeys of being a tough girl. An Astigirl.

About the Book Rhea and Other Ratites looks at and compares the social structures, breeding, and management of these fascinating creatures both in captivity and in the wild. About the Author Donald Bruning, Ph.D. grew up on a dairy farm in Colorado, where he developed a love for animals. In college and graduate school, his interest in zoology grew rapidly and after his first course in ornithology, he knew it was what he wanted to do. After completing his master’s degree and starting his PhD, Bruning was offered a golden opportunity to intern for the New York Zoological Society at the Bronx Zoo in New York. There, his first challenge was to develop ways to incubate eggs of the endangered Darwin’s rhea and rear the chicks, a feat previously unheard of. In the first year, they had 28 eggs, hatched 26, and raised 25. This instantly made Bruning the authority on rhea. He was then able to study these birds in the wild in Argentina. His interest in these birds has continued to the present day. He worked with many zoos and other organizations over the next 35 years before retiring but continues to give talks and lectures on birds and conservation. After his first year at the zoo, a young graphic designer, Barbara, started working there as well. Less than two years later, they were married. Together they have three daughters and five granddaughters. Bruning’s hobbies since retiring include fishing, hiking, and exploration of the mountains in Colorado and Utah.

This book describes the myriad components of the Hindu Kush-Himalaya (HKH) region. The contributors elaborate on challenges, failures, and successes in efforts to conserve the HKH, its indigenous plants and animals, and the watershed that runs from the very roof of the planet via world-rivers to marine estuaries, supporting a human population of some two billion people. Readers will learn how the landforms, animal species and humans of this globally fascinating region are connected, and understand why runoff from snow and ice in the world’s tallest mountains is vital to inhabitants far downstream. The book comprises forty-five chapters organized in five parts. The first section, Landscapes, introduces the mountainous watersheds of the HKH, its weather systems, forests, and the 18 major rivers whose headwaters are here. The second part explores concepts, cultures, and religions, including ethnobiology and indigenous regimes, two thousand years of religious tradition, and the history of scientific and research expeditions. Part Three discusses policy, wildlife conservation management, habitat and biodiversity data, as well as the interaction of animals and humans. The fourth part examines the consequences of development and globalization, from hydrodams, to roads and railroads, to poaching and illegal wildlife trade. This section includes studies of animal species including river dolphins, woodpeckers and hornbills, langurs, snow leopards and more. The concluding section offers perspectives and templates for conservation, sustainability and stability in the HKH, including citizen-science projects and a future challenged by climate change, growing human population, and global conservation decay. A large assemblage of field and landscape photos, combined with eye-witness accounts, presents a 50-year local and wider perspective on the HKH. Also included are advanced digital topics: data sharing, open access, metadata, web portal databases, geographic information systems (GIS) software and machine learning, and data mining concepts all relevant to a modern scientific understanding and sustainable management of the Hindu Kush-Himalaya region. This work is written for scholars, landscape ecologists, naturalists and researchers alike, and it can be especially well-suited for those readers who want to learn in a more holistic fashion about the latest conservation issues.

A novel that “considers the agency . . . women exert over their bodies and charts the emotional underpinnings of physical changes . . . with humor and empathy” (The New Yorker). On a sweltering summer day, Makiko travels from Osaka to Tokyo, where her sister Natsu lives. She is in the company of her daughter, Midoriko, who has lately grown silent, finding herself unable to voice the vague yet overwhelming pressures associated with adolescence. Over the course of their few days together in the capital, Midoriko’s silence will prove a catalyst for each woman to confront her fears and family secrets. On yet another summer’s day eight years later, Natsu, during a journey back to her native city, confronts her anxieties about growing old alone and childless. Bestselling author Mieko Kawakami mixes stylistic inventiveness and riveting emotional depth to tell a story of contemporary womanhood in Japan. “Took my breath away.” —Haruki Murakami, #1 New York Times–bestselling author The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle “Kawakami lobbed a literary grenade into the fusty, male-dominated world of Japanese fiction with Breast and Eggs.” —The Economist “A sharply observed and heartbreaking portrait of what it means to be a woman.” —TIME “Raw, funny, mundane, heartbreaking.” —The Atlantic “A bracing, feminist exploration of daily life in Japan.” —Entertainment Weekly “Timely feminist themes; strange, surreal prose; and wonderful characters will transcend cultural barriers and enchant readers.” —The New York Observer “Bracing and evocative, tender yet unflinching.” —Publishers Weekly “Kawakami writes with unsettling precision about the body—its discomforts, its appetites, its smells and secretions. And she is especially good at capturing its longings.” —The New York Times Book Review