Searching for tadpoles in Arroyo Viejo Creek at the Oakland Zoo.

It Day #2 of Nature Play, a new Oakland Zoo ZooCamp program that I have been assigned to teach. I know all about “Nature Deficit Disorder” and “No Child Left Inside”. I have read “Last Child in the Woods” and even blogged about the issues, but now I find myself out in nature with 12 curious and excited children, and I have no idea what will happen.

Nature Play was created in response to childrens’ desire to experience true nature – to look up at trees, observe tadpoles and connect with wildlife in their own backyard. The idea behind Nature Play is to offer the campers supervised and loosely facilitated exploration outdoors that is self directed.

Parents were so game to give these simple pleasures to their children, this program sold out.

Now, here we are. Our afternoon agenda is creek time and fort building. It is a beautiful afternoon at Arroyo Viejo Creek, a small tributary that runs through the zoo grounds. Though there are tigers, lions and elephants close by, this is where the campers are most excited to be. I have given minimal direction: look, listen, smell and feel, and record something in your nature journal. They have nets, jars, binoculars and wildlife guides, and one hour.

Immediately the group swarms to their favorite spot that they discovered yesterday. It is near one of the outdoor classrooms and features a giant, ground-leaning willow tree to crawl under, two logs that rest across the creek to climb over and water loaded with tadpoles and water gliders. I watch and listen myself.

“There are 1000 water striders here! They are riding on top of each other.” “No, that is a shadow”. “I am crossing the log by scootching” “I will help you”. “I found a secret trail!” “I am putting this leaf in my journal”. “I can write with a rock.” “I heard a frog!” I am a frog!” “The sun makes me silly and happy.” “I see tadpoles!” “Let’s call this place Willow Cove.” “I don’t want to go home.”

A few things amazed me about this hour. One, they were never bored. They went on and on with their play and exploration in this small area with gusto the entire time. They were imaginative, inventive and stimulated. Two, they learned. They learned that frogs are quiet when they are noisy. They learned that they could balance better holding their arms out. They did not need my fascinating animal facts to gain knowledge. Three, they truly and intuitively cared about the habitat. They picked up a couple of pieces of garbage, told each other not to handle amphibians and put rocks back where they found them without being told. Four, and most interestingly, they got along fantastically. Earlier in the day there were a few squabbles over this or that, but out here, they helped each other, supported each other and shared the nets like pros. They seemed to be at peace.

A little later at Fort Building, the group divided into two as they followed two natural leaders and their fort visions. As we debriefed about the two forts, they came to the conclusion (themselves) that tomorrow they should build one fort with all the materials, then sit in it and tell stories about animals.

I saw it all with my own eyes. This nature stuff works. Now this explorer is going to sleep. I am exhausted!

What is it about new beginnings that gets people all stirred up? We're not sure, but we’re definitely feeling the excitement as we launched our shiny, new 2009-2010 QUEST Science Education Institute on Saturday, May 30 at the Oakland Zoo.

For those of you who just tuned in, the QUEST Science Education Institute is KQED Education Network's year-long professional development program for Bay Area school districts. The QUEST Institute was created to provide an accessible, hands-on approach to understanding new media and technology and how it can be used in classroom teaching. Over the course of the year-long Institute, we work with teams of science educators and educational technologists from school districts to provide training and resources on using QUEST multimedia to enhance science education. The Institute is part of our commitment to enhancing 21st century skills in the science classroom and enables us to work directly with Bay Area school districts to support learning plans and align our resources with district technology integration goals.

Of course, none of these lofty goals could be achieved without a corresponding amount of enthusiasm and commitment from the Institute participants. This year's participating teams come from the Acalanes UHSD, Antioch USD, San Ramon Valley USD, Mt. Diablo USD, and Fairfield-Suisun USD. Over the course of the next year, they will be attending workshops on technology tools and resources such as Google Maps, podcasts, and Flickr. The teams will also have the opportunity to design a media and technology implementation plan that works for their district and receive ongoing support with implementing their plans.

This year's participants begin the Institute with a keen awareness of the pervasiveness of technology and the need to connect with students in new and surprising ways. As learners change the way they receive information, they must learn to communicate what they have learned more effectively in order to succeed. As QUEST Series Producer, Amy Miller, a guest speaker at the launch event described it, "We find ourselves confronted with scientific and technological changes every day, and, as media professionals, we struggle to make sense of it and present it to our audience in relevant ways. Science teachers, therefore, have a pivotal role to play in nurturing future scientists who understand the importance of communicating with audiences both within and outside their field – a skill that is just as important in the scientific profession as in any other."

Animals generally receive diets that are rich and varied.

Few images will stay as indelibly with me as the sight of a 500 pound grizzly bear devouring a horse bone while standing waist high in water. I should add to that the sight of a geriatric koala slurping his eucalyptus meal. In the aquatic realm, there's something ineffably captivating about watching an anemone's candy-pink arms wrap around its lunch of grain-sized krill.

Witnessing the feeding scenes firsthand, I marveled at the bewilderingly diverse array of mammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds and insects that are fed every day at zoos and aquariums worldwide. Fortunately, to facilitate the feedings and developments of diets, today there are tools like Zootrition, a software program developed by the St. Louis Zoo that allows for the nutritional evaluation and comparison of various diets. Then there's ZuPreem, a manufacturer of ready-made meals for exotic animals. A perusal of their web site reveals such tasty items as "Primate O's" (naturally preserved with vitamins C and E), canned monitor food (boasting nutrient levels comparable to "a mouse in a can"), bags of dry omnivore diet for the hungry bear or boar.

The upshot of this is that animals at facilities accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums generally receive diets that are rich and varied, frequently monitored for the effect they have on the animals to whom they’re served. Not surprisingly, many animals at zoos and aquariums live longer in captivity than they would in the wild, not only because of the high level of care they get in captivity but also because they are safe from predation in the wild.

Jacquelyn Jencek, Chief of Veterinary Services at the San Francisco Zoo, shared with me an amazing story of how they greatly expanded the longevity of koalas with an intervention that has been emulated at other zoos throughout the nation. Most koalas in the wild don’t live past thirteen years of age, when their teeth have been ground down from years of eating coarse eucalyptus leaves and they no longer have enough dental surface to break down the leaves and extract their nutrients. Thus, even if they attempt to eat the leaves, they can still die of malnutrition. So the SF Zoo decided to help the koalas by breaking down dried eucalyptus leaves with a coffee grinder and mixing the powder with water and supplements, turning it into a solution that could be fed by vial to geriatric koalas at the zoo. The zoo first tried administering the eucalyptus solution to Clarry, who lived to be nearly 20 years old, and is now giving it to Clarry's son, Leo, and a few other koalas whose longevity attests to its success. According to Dr. Jencek, "they love the taste of it", and it's clearly good for them.

The story affirms for me the bond of trust that exists between the animals and the zoo and aquarium personnel who take care of them, and how there’s nothing cookie-cutter about feeding the animals and creating their diets.

Watch the Animal Chefs television story online.

Dr. Lucy Spellman explains the plan for gorilla check-ups

Forgive me for being Gorilla-Crazy and writing yet another blog about these creatures, but anyone who has completed a gorilla trek understands the obsession and concern. One issue: We make them sick.

As gorillas share 97.7% of our genes, it is easy for pathogens to pass from us to them. These days, humans spend a lot of time in close proximity to the 740 remaining Mountain Gorillas. As the gorilla tourism industry continues to grow and thrive, researchers, trackers, tourists, guides, porters (and even poachers) crawl closer and closer. Though the industry promotes conservation and brings income to communities, it also brings illness to gorillas. The animals have little resistance to diseases we may carry (including scabies, polio, influenza, measles, and pneumonia), and when one gorilla picks up something, it can spread to an entire troupe, potentially leading to death.

The Mountain Gorilla Vet Project (MGVP) aims to alleviate these symptoms of the human invasion. The vets and researchers cover most of the home of the Mountain Gorillas — the Virunga Mountains, in Uganda, Rwanda and the Congo — with a headquarters in Ruhengeri, Rwanda. Our traveling group was fortunate enough to visit the headquarters and learn directly from Dr. Lucy Spellman. There is a lot to learn about the process of gorilla healing!

The first step is identifying the disease, which is no easy task. Staff must climb the mountain and find gorilla saliva samples. Back at the lab, they aim to not only ID the disease, but find out where it originated. It might be bacteria in the forest from humans, or mites from a farmer's fields. Once they've made a diagnosis, the vets are then allowed to carefully treat the gorillas in the park. But prevention is the best medicine.

Strict park rules on visitation help. Tourists may only stay an hour and must keep a distance from the gorillas. Tourists are also asked to be clean and healthy when trekking, a small price to pay for an encounter of a lifetime!

The other preventative tactic is to care for the physical well-being of all stakeholders. The MGVP practices the One Health approach, an innovative campaign with the goal of good health for everyone: gorillas, humans and the ecosystem. Community clinics and education help build the foundations of this campaign, and it seems to be working, one person, tree and gorilla at a time.

I still recommend a visit with this majestic forest royalty. Just take your vitamin C before you go!

Sea anemone and clownfish, ants and the acacia tree; in the natural world, there are many symbiotic relationships, those in which two species benefit from each other. Humans, it seems, are rarely part of such a partnership, so it was all the sweeter to believe I had discovered one.

I knew that my fall journey to Uganda and Rwanda would include a grand finale of hiking into the Virungas Mountains and encountering the rare (only 700 left) Mountain Gorilla. I knew it was going to be incredible to see such endangered and magnificent creatures close up. I knew the hike through mud and thistles would be challenging. I knew what to wear. I thought I knew it all, but was quite unprepared for what I witnessed.

Entering the Virungas Park headquarters after a hectic boarder crossing and rain threatening to dampen our experience, our group of 20 felt incredible relief to arrive in the care of our guides, who greeted us with smiles and hot coffee.

As the men spoke of Group 22, the gorillas we were to visit, it was clear this was more than a job to them and that these gorillas were not simply their livelihood. One of the guides had known a particular gorilla for over 10 years. They worried about their well being, about the poaching and human born disease (www.mgvp.org) that threatened them, and about how they were doing within their group. They were their family.

After a rather magical three hour journey through bamboo and mud, we met up with the trackers and left everything besides ourselves and our cameras in a pile.

"Let us meet our cousins," the guides said.

We climbed over a ridge… and there they were.

Now for the part I was unprepared for: the gorillas were willing to let us into their bamboo forest homes, willing to let us to gaze at their long-eyelashed females and infants with tiny human-like feet, willing to hear us giggle at the antics of their juveniles and quietly gasp at the sheer size and gentle power of their silverback. It was astounding what they allowed, and it seemed their allowance was part of a contract agreed upon long ago, to be part of a mutually beneficial partnership.

Upon first seeing the silverback, the guides gave a greeting: a long grunting huff-growl which seemed to say, "Hello. It is us. You know us and trust us. We are here for our one-hour allotted visit with 8 friends. They mean you no harm. You are the boss." The silverback made a small grunt at them that seemed to say, "Fine. Just be cool." Each time any gorilla in the group got too close to us, the grunting huff-growl was given to the silverback. They were communicating.

As we began our blissed-out descent, one more grunt from the silverback seemed to say, "Thank you for protecting us and our habitat. Now your time is up. We will see you tomorrow, if that is what it takes. Good Day, Sirs."

A symbiotic relationship? Let's just say yes.

The Oakland Zoo and the Western Pond Turtle Head Start Program

Comparing a Head Started turtle to one that hibernated in the wild.Alright, I am going to say the "C" word: these little guys are cute! As an environmental professional, I know this is a word I am not supposed to use, but it is impossible not to.

Barely bigger than a quarter, the baby Western Pond Turtles were drawing a cooing crowd of Oakland Zoo staff in their new, but temporary, home in the back room of the Bug House. Here, our animal management staff will happily feed and care for them until they grow big enough to fend for themselves back in their home in Lake County.

Nicholas Geist of Sonoma State University began a study of these natives when he feared that global warming would affect their future. As the sex of baby turtles is determined by temperature, he was curious if future high temperatures would cause only one future sex. In his exploration of the issue, he found these turtles to have some other serious current environmental challenges.

To begin with, development near turtle habitat intrudes upon food availability and nesting sites for females, as they lay their eggs away from the water on the land nearby. American Bullfrogs, a non-native, predate upon the hatchlings, and Red Eared Slider Turtles, also a non-native, compete for basking space and food. These turtles are commonly sold at pet stores without proper instructions and subsequently released by owners thinking they are doing the right thing. They grow twice the size and are more assertive than the Western Pond Turtles, and pretty much take over.

In a partnership with Sonoma County Fish and Wildlife Commission and Sonoma State University, the Head Start program sends Oakland Zoo staff and Sonoma State University students into the wild to collect eggs which are incubated at the university. Once hatched, they are transferred to the zoo to be raised for the first year under optimal conditions. By creating the best possible environment for the turtles, they grow 3-4 times faster than they would in the wild, where they would normally hibernate. At the end of the first year, the juvenile turtles will then be released back into their original lake, having grown too large to be eaten by those pesky bull frogs and the big mouth bass, and able to compete with those bully Red Eared Sliders. They will be bigger, smarter and…head started. Sigh…we will be so proud.

OK, they might look a bit like a great potential pet, but as dog-like as they are, you really don't want one of these at home. They're spotted hyenas - and they're native to sub-Saharan Africa. And I guarantee you that they're tougher and stronger than they look. (They're also more closely related to cats than to dogs, but that's another story.)

Anyway, on the day we set out to film at the Oakland Zoo, I had at least a inkling of what to expect. In the 1990s, an old friend of mine had worked with spotted hyenas at the Berkeley Field Station for the Study of Behavior, Ecology and Reproduction. At the time the facility had more than 30 hyenas, and they were studying their behaviors (vocalizations, family structures, etc.). When I first saw the animals it was clear that they're pretty much one big muscle. Mostly jaw. My friend informed me that the mothers usually have two cubs, but that only one generally survives. Basically one cub kills or starves the other. I found that hard to believe – I mean they're just little babies aren't they? Then she showed me a newborn that had been rejected by its mother (basically beaten out in the competition by it's litter-mate). It was so cute and tiny. I asked if I could hold it. She said, "depends if you want your finger bitten off or not." OK, maybe she was exaggerating (or maybe not) but after watching the tiny cub crawl around on a blanket, it was clear: The thing could already growl and screech like a small adult. And it already had serious teeth, a strong jaw and a major attitude.

So I pretty much knew that these hyenas at the Oakland zoo were going to be more tiger than dog. Still, you have to see them up close to really get their power. And there are really few, if any, animals like them. Their ability to digest bone, their matriarchal structure, the idea that the female has a "phallus." I really recommend you check them out. And please, no matter how cute they look, I'd avoid petting them!

Watch the "Cool Critters: Hyenas" TV Story online, as well as find additional links and resources.

Paul Katzeff in 1972, co-founder
of Thanksgiving Coffee Company.

Good morning! Any coffee lovers out there? I'm not confessing any addiction, but I do admit that I enjoy my morning cup. It gives me great pleasure that my cup comes from Thanksgiving Coffee Company, Oakland Zoo's caffeine supplier. Yes, this stimulates me in many ways!

Not only is the coffee delicious, but their like-minded mission makes them a great match for Oakland Zoo.

Established by Joan and Paul Katzeff in 1972, Thanksgiving Coffee was born in the Mendacino Hotel and was sold in the hotel café. Even then, the company focused on giving to the community and caring for the environment. Since then, the company has grown to become a specialty coffee industry leader, in both roasting practices and community activism.

The coffee is mostly organic and much of it is Fair Trade certified. They buy their beans from small farms in mountain regions and work to help farmers form cooperatives. The cooperatives provide stability and support, enabling groups to negotiate fair prices for their crops, send their children to school, and enrich their communities. These shifts allow growers to blossom into proud coffee artisans. Thanksgiving Coffee Company has received many awards for their sustainable practices. They were the first to create shade-grown coffee, the first to become carbon-neutral and they continue to explore ways an organization can save people and the planet! For obvious reasons, I love their:

Rwanda Gorilla Fund Coffee

A rich medium-strong roast coffee from Rwanda with citrus high notes over deep chocolate undertones.

2,000 Hutu and Tutsi farmers produce the beans for this coffee, and the hard workand dedication to quality coffee is helping to heal the scars left by the 1994 genocide. The practice also builds an alternative to poaching and logging, two of the biggest threats to the endangered Mountain Gorillas.

Thanksgiving Coffee donates a portion of the profits from each package sold to the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International to preserve and protect mountain gorillas in Rwanda.

Ugandan Mirembe Kawomera Light Roast

Hints of vanilla, nutmeg and pecans

Mirembe Kawomera Coffee began with one man's dream. In 2003, JJ Keki, a Ugandan coffee farmer, walked door to door asking his Jewish, Christian, and Muslim neighbors to put aside old differences and come together. They named their coffee Mirembe Kawomera, which means, "Delicious Peace" in the Luganda language. The cooperative now has 750 members and sells directly to Thanksgiving Coffee Company, who supports them by buying the beans at high prices and by getting the word out about their inspiring project.

Songbird Coffee

The Nicaraguan version is fruity, nutty and chocolaty with hints of mango, plum and cranberry.

The American Birding Association (ABA) works with Thanksgiving Coffee to create beans grown in the shade of the trees, keeping vital habitat where it is.

Thanksgiving coffee grows shade-grown in Guatemala, Costa Rica and Nicaragua, keeping both customers and birds happy.

Come sip a cup at the Oakland Zoo's Island Café, while gazing at flamingos, anytime!

Imagine your dream college:

A green campus with a swan-filled lake to dream by and shady spots to sit and contemplate, classrooms with state of the art sound, dynamic classmates, organic and delicious food, shade-grown coffee, vibrant music and festive gatherings, small classes led by industry experts and large lectures led by industry heroes who create rapt, teary and inspired students. Now imagine that everything is focused on your favorite subject matter (and mine): nature and the environment. Wake up! It isn't a dream, Friends. It is Bioneers, a conference happening this October 17-19 at The Marin Civic Center.

Always ahead of the curve, Bioneers presents cutting edge and ingenious ideas and concepts in a field that is blasting off, even in the mainstream. It focuses on creative solutions to social and environmental challenges that honor natural systems and explore beyond what we all thought was possible.

Founded in 1990 by Kenny Ausubel, the Bioneers is not only live in San Rafael, but beamed to 18 communities across the country simultaneously, exposing a national community to the innovation and excitement of the event.

Over the past 8 years of being a Bioneer, I have learned that mushrooms might save the world and that Biomimicry was in action when a man who found a cocklebur stuck to his sock invented Velcro. I have witnessed Oakland Zoo youth in state of awe while attending Bioneers Youth Initiative programs, and have stood shaking in a clapping ovation, more thunderous and elated than any rock concert. I have delved deep into watersheds, woman's leadership and the wonders of the web of life. I have been schooled in green building, green food systems, green arts and green, global challenges that push humans to use their imaginations to their full capacity.

I am missing Bioneers this year (not complaining, I will be with Gorillas in Rwanda) and missing it inspired me to encourage others to attend in my place.

My favorite thing about attending Bioneers is that I leave with more than information. I leave the conference armed with a notebook full of my own ideas and the empowerment and confidence to see some of them through. And after spending three days with hundreds of super kind, wicked smart, amazingly dedicated Do-ers, I leave my dream campus with a degree in hope. Just go!

Can elephants feel seismic waves?

Scientists have known for years that elephants can communicate. By using low frequency vocals, called rumbles, elephants can 'talk' with eachother, sometimes communicating from very long distances.

But the new question being asked by some scientists is: can elephants feel those rumbles in the earth?

Biologist Dr. Caitlin O'Connell-Rodwell from the Oakland Zoo wants to find out. After studying elephant activity in Africa, she noticed that elephants would raise and lower their feet when interacting with one another. She realized that these elephants were using seismic waves felt through their feet to send messages.

O'Connell-Rodwell and her team have been creating mini-earthquakes for an elephant (named Donna) at the Oakland Zoo to monitor her responses to different seismic activities.

Check out this National Geographic video about the study on YouTube: