Homestay

Just finished up a two-week homestay with the wonderful Bob and Christine Mahaffey and their two daughters, and for the first time, I feel as if I have experienced Australian culture, much of it involving good food, thought-provoking conversation, and more reality shows than you can shake a stick at. Seriously, they’ve got one for everything: losing weight, marriage, cooking, beach rescues, and even airport customs. That last one’s not a joke, look it up! There is an air of optimism here that isn’t often found in America. Maybe it’s the climate (warm year-round) or the natural beauty (does it get any better than rainforest covered mountains sloping directly to the ocean?). Or maybe it’s just been sunny for the last week and I got lucky. Whatever the case, I must say, I’m enjoying it immensely, and I count myself extremely blessed to call this continent home for the next couple of months.

The most important thing I’ve learned so far is unfortunately also the most depressing. There may have been a kernel of truth in that classic western cliché, “this town ain’t big enough for the two of us.” (for the record, I always thought that saying was ridiculous. Taking it literally, it makes no sense. I mean, really, they’re both standing right there…) To state the problem most simply, there are not enough natural resources on the planet to sustain the number of people (with their corresponding energy demands) that are projected to be alive 50 years from now. Some ecologists argue that earth can’t even support the current population sustainably. Compounding the issue is the commonly held practice of land clearing for the purpose of urban development and agriculture. Frankly, no other conservation issue (climate change, ozone layer depletion, pollution, etc.) matters if we continue our current rate of population growth and land destruction.

Natural ecosystems provide the conditions necessary for our food supply. All of it. Everything we eat was at one time alive. Scientific research has repeatedly shown that urban and agricultural habitats are far inferior to natural ones at the task of maintaining the vast variety of life-forms that provide vital ecological functions. This variety, called “biodiversity” by biologists, is necessary for environmental recovery in the case of natural disasters such as plagues, hurricanes, and volcanic eruptions. It is important to note new strategies are softening the impact of agriculture and urbanization, but again, it won’t help long-term if the whole population/land consumption thing doesn’t get figured out.

 There are some simple things we can do as individuals and as a community (that’s you Hope College) to help. One, get the word out! Here’s a video that explains sustainability quickly and effectively: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5NiTN0chj0&feature=related. Two, start considering adoption now, especially if you are planning on having more than two kids. Three, get involved. Oppose misinformation. Be informed. Somehow, the environment has become a political issue, rather than a humanitarian one, so lots of money is spent to confuse people into voting for one party or another. Care for the earth, future generations, and life in general by paying attention to where your information is coming from. Do they have a political agenda? Is their argument based on scientific evidence or on common sense? Next post, I’ll explain why the former is more dependable.

There are a lot of catchphrases out there demanding change. Call it “creation care”, “conservation ecology”, “common sense”, or whatever you want. Pick one and go with it, because if Western culture remains as it does now, lots of people will suffer dearly in the relatively near future. Long-term change will require a change in focus away from economic “progress” and toward well-planned sustainability. This means more investment in alternative energy, ecology, and education, especially for impoverished women, as birth rate decline is highly correlated with educational advances. Admittedly, none of these are my area of expertise, but I can try to convince people, especially Christians since I know so many J, to pay attention to what scientists have been saying for the last 50 years. As the old Alcoholics Anonymous adage says so profoundly: “The first step is admitting that you have a problem.”

For the record, this post is about a week late. I ran out of time before I had to pack for my camping trip, during which I had no Internet access. In any case, thanks for reading and I’ll have more details and pictures up soon, I promise!

Orientation

Orientation week is over, and I must say, it doesn't feel like school has started yet. One quick day of safety procedures, and we were off on an assortment of rainforest hikes, cultural immersions and aboriginal tourist attractions. It's still sort of a jumbled mess in my head, but I'll try to summarize some of what I learned: Australia is cool. I've seen wild tree kangaroos, forest dragons (green lizards), large spiders, all kinds of birds, nad even a platypus! In a habitat reservation, we also saw live koalas, wallabies, pythons, and a cassowary (a large flightless, seed-eating bird). All of these creatures are adept at surviving in Australia's varied climate and unpredictable weather patterns. I won't go into detail here, just know that these things wouldn't still be alive if not for their pouches, weird hopping motions, absurdly large foreheads, and all the other features that make them unique to the world.

Sadly, a lot of these animals are being threatened by human activity. With modern advances in medicine, agriculture, and technology, populations are booming and productivity is soaring, at least temporarily. The problem is, as in most European-inspired societies, is that it isn't sustainable. Human beings and the plants and animals they have brought with them are crowding out the natives, which despite their resilience, have historically had a lot more space to work with. It's quite trendy to say we should help the environment, but how? We can't just stop everything and plant a few trees, because too many human beings would starve to death. Clearly, economic concerns need to be integrated with environmental concerns. This IS possible, and the research I do at the end of this semester should yield some practical ideas.

Even if we could just drop everything and leave, it would take a lot more than planting a few trees to reverse the damage that has already been caused. Where do we even start? That's where biology comes in. Like them or not, the prevailing theories in ecology and evolutionary biology are powerful predictive tools. They work. If they didn't, scientists wouldn't keep them around. Already, many applications of modern science have shown to be helpful in the development of long-term solutions to the environmental problems plaguing this planet, which, contrary to common opinion among Christians, is what a lot of them are after. I'm conviced that most of the animosity between scientists and Christians is caused by misunderstanding each others' motives. More on that in a later post.

Alright, enough science for now! To summarize, I've had an absolute blast with SIT's "hands-on" approach to learning, and I;ve made some great friends along the way. Stay tuned for more next week. (pictures should be up within the next few days as well)