Tripod Columns: Cutting-Edge Careers

<body bgcolor="#FFFFCC" link="#FF0000" vlink="#990000"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td valign="TOP" align="CENTER" width="178">  <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="170"> <tr> <td align="LEFT" valign="TOP" width="100%"> <a href="../../../../www_subdomain/adm/imagemap/logo-map.html"><img src="../../../../img/nav/www_subdomain/logo.gif" alt="Tripod Map" border="0" height="58" width="170" ismap></a></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="LEFT" valign="TOP" width="100%"> <a href="../../../../www_subdomain/adm/imagemap/universal-map.html"><img src="../../../../img/nav/www_subdomain/universal.gif" alt="Member Services Map" width="170" height="45" border="0" ismap></a></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="LEFT" valign="TOP" width="100%"> <a href="../../../../www_subdomain/adm/imagemap/zones-map.html"><img src="../../../../img/nav/www_subdomain/zones.gif" alt="Zone Map" width="170" height="69" border="0" ismap></a></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="LEFT" valign="TOP" width="100%"> <a href="../../../../www_subdomain/adm/imagemap/pods-map.html"><img src="../../../../img/nav/www_subdomain/pods.gif" alt="Pod Map" width="170" height="18" border="0" ismap></a></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="CENTER" valign="TOP" width="170" bgcolor="#999966"> <form name="pod_list"> <select name="pod_name" onchange="self.top.podRedirect(this.options[this.selectedIndex].value);"> <option value="">What's Your Interest?</option> <option value="Activism">Activism</option> <option value="Animation%20Central">Animation & Cartoons</option> <option value="Crafty">Arts & Crafts</option> <option value="Beer%20Lovers">Beer</option> <option value="BookTalk">Books/Reading</option> <option value="Carburetor%20Junction">Cars</option> <option value="TechBits">Computers</option> <option value="Mac%20Computing">Computers (Macintosh)</option> <option value="PC%20User">Computers (PC)</option> <option value="Cooking%20Capers">Cooking</option> <option value="Education">Education</option> <option value="Mod">Fashion & Style</option> <option value="Freebies">Freebies</option> <option value="Gamesta'">Games</option> <option value="Genealogy">Genealogy</option> <option value="Holiday">Holidays</option> <option value="Alternative%20Health">Holistic Medicine</option> <option value="Funny%20Bone">Humor</option> <option value="Film%20Buffs">Movies</option> <option value="Alt.Music">Music (Alternative)</option> <option value="Musicology">Music (General)</option> <option value="Critters">Pets</option> <option value="Photography">Photography</option> <option value="Christian%20Fellowship">Religion (Christianity)</option> <option value="Stone%20Circle">Religion (Earth)</option> <option value="Romantic">Romance</option> <option value="Natural%20Science">Science (Natural)</option> <option value="Science%20Fiction">Science Fiction</option> <option value="Smallbiz">Small Business</option> <option value="Spirituality">Spirituality</option> <option value="Extreme%20Sports">Sports (Extreme)</option> <option value="Sports%20Fans">Sports (General)</option> <option value="Sweet%20Tooth">Sweet Confections</option> <option value="TV%20Lounge">Television</option> <option value="Second-Hand">Thrift</option> <option value="Travel">Travel</option> <option value="PageSlave">Web Design</option> <option value="X-Squared">Women's Issues</option> <option value="Writers'%20Block">Writing</option> <option value="Zine">Zines</option> </select> </form> </td> </tr> </table>  </td> <td valign="TOP"><base target="_top"> <form name="navbar"> <table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" align="RIGHT"> <tr> <td valign="MIDDLE" align="MIDDLE"> <a href="../../../../www_subdomain/work_money.html" target="_top"></a></td> <td valign="MIDDLE" align="MIDDLE"> <a href="../../../../www_subdomain/work_money/index-html/anchor_toc.html" target="_top"></a></td> <td valign="TOP" align="RIGHT"> <select name="pod_name" onchange="self.top.podRedirect(this.options[this.selectedIndex].value)"> <option value="">Related Pods</option> <option value="Freebies">Freebies</option> <option value="MacComputing">Mac Computing</option> <option value="PC%20User">PC User</option> <option value="Second-Hand">Second-Hand</option> <option value="Smallbiz">SmallBiz</option> <option value="Travel">Travel</option> </select></td> </tr> </table> </form> <br clear="ALL"> <p>  <p> <p> <p> <table cellpadding="2"> <tr><td valign="TOP" width="185"> <p> <p> <p> <p> <p><img src="../../../../work/columns/edge/img/www_subdomain/edge.gif" alt="cutting edge careers" width="185" height="215" border="0"> <p> <p> <font size="+1"> <b> <font size="+2">J</font>UNGLE <font size="+2">S</font>CIENCE </b><p> <b>profiles and photos by Steve Mencher</b> </font> <br> <p> <p>Published January 30, 1997<br><p> </td> <td valign="TOP"><font size="+1"> <font size="+2">F</font>or three young scientists I visited earlier this year in Costa Rica, "saving the rain forest" is an outdated concept. They are just starting out in their work lives, and their careers are being formed by new ideas and ideals. They see their job as taking the measurements and constructing the experiments to put the best possible development strategies into action. In other words, they value and respect all the flora and fauna of the rain forest, as well as the peoples who have lived there for thousands of years. <p> <font size="+2">I</font> met them all at the La Selva Biological Station, a branch of the Organization for Tropical Studies. OTS is a center for scientific research on tropical rain forests, an international consortium of universities, government agencies, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) which provides a place for these fledgling researchers to stretch their wings. Under the guidance of senior scientists (principal investigators), these young graduate students and post-graduates practice their newly learned craft and develop their scientific skills. <p> <font size="+2">I</font>n the course of my stay at OTS, I encountered a young scientist from India who wondered whether she would ever be able to return home to make a contribution to her country's mammoth development problems; a Dutch researcher whose experiments could profoundly affect Central American agricultural practices; and a scientist who took time off from her World Bank-funded project on diversity to learn how to make the jungle come alive in water colors. </font> <p> <font size="+2">I</font>t's expensive to live at OTS. Nobody's getting paid very much. And the work is non-stop. When flood waters raged through the property at the beginning of the year, thousands of dollars worth of equipment were threatened, and carefully planned experiments were in danger of being washed away. Resiliency, improvisation, and courage are just a few of the lessons doled out by the rain forest on the Sarapiqui River. <p> <font size="+2">S</font>ome of these researchers will spend their careers in the tropics. Others will return to teach at universities, and send their own students to continue these projects. But none of them will ever forget life along the Sarapiqui River in the Atlantic lowlands of Costa Rica. </td></tr> </table> <center><table><tr width="100%"> <td colspan="3"> <center><b>Click on the pictures below to meet the scientists.</b></center> <br> <p> </td> </tr> <tr width="100%"> <td cellspacing="0" cellborder="5"><a href="/"><br><br>Jennifer Powers</a></td><td><a href="/"><br><br>Ed Veldkamp</a></td><td><a href="/"><br><br>Ankila Hiremath</a> </td> </tr> </table></center> <table> <tr><td> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="TOP" width="180"> <img src="../../../../img/www_subdomain/trans.gif" align="BOTTOM" width="180" height="1" border="0"></td> <td> <hr> Steve Mencher is a former producer for National Public Radio, and a charter member of the Acme Content Providers of Washington, D.C.<p> <font size="-1">© 1997 Steve Mencher, all rights reserved.</font> <p> <p> <center> <p> <p> </td> </tr> </table> <form method="POST" action="../../../../www_subdomain/bin/search/pursuit.html"> <table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" align="RIGHT"> <tr> <td valign="MIDDLE" align="MIDDLE"> <a href="../../../../www_subdomain/work_money.html" target="_top"></a></td> <td valign="MIDDLE" align="MIDDLE"> <a href="../../../../www_subdomain/work_money/index-html/anchor_toc.html" target="_top"></a></td> <td valign="TOP" align="RIGHT"> <select name="pod_name" onchange="self.top.podRedirect(this.options[this.selectedIndex].value)"> <option value="">Related Pods</option> <option value="Freebies">Freebies</option> <option value="MacComputing">Mac Computing</option> <option value="Second-Hand">Second-Hand</option> <option value="Smallbiz">SmallBiz</option> <option value="Travel">Travel</option> </select></td> </tr> </table> <br clear="ALL"><br> <table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" align="RIGHT"> <tr> <td valign="MIDDLE" align="RIGHT"> <nobr><img src="../../../../img/www_subdomain/lycos_power.gif" border="0" alt="Lycos Powered" height="15" width="91"> <select name="cat"> <option value="tripod_www" selected>Search the Tripod Web Site <option value="tripod">Search Tripod Member Pages <option value="lycos">Search the Web</select></nobr></td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="MIDDLE" align="RIGHT"> <nobr><input type="text" size="20" name="query"> <input type="submit" value="Search"></nobr></td> </tr> </table> </form> <br clear="ALL"> </td> </tr> </table> </body>