Nature Now Partners
The students of Nature Now International thank our multi-disciplinary international team of collaborators, partners and advisors who have donated their time, creativity, and resources towards our projects. Most importantly, their leadership and passion have helped to inspire our generation to take action on a grassroots level to help conserve our biodiversity and environment.
Every contribution fueled our passion and commitment to creating NNI — from discounts for our banners and business cards to loaning us museum exhibits and an observation hive of 9,000 stinging bees for research and outreach! Thank you to the wildlife reserves who allowed us to work hard in the field and prove that young people can contribute to conservation.
We are especially grateful to all the professors, veterinarians, and wildlife experts who helped us to prepare for our projects by teaching us the ecology, biology, and social science underlying each initiative. Over the years, they have opened up their doors to their laboratories and university offices, and they spoke to us over Skype from different continents. They worked with us to initiate a professional development workshop in Costa Rica for wildlife rehabilitation.
We will be forever grateful for all the great discussion and wisdom they have imparted to us as we have tried to grasp the complexities of conservation work and sustainable development. We have learned the importance of scientific research in the development of evidence-based interventions and policies for the protection of the environment, a concept to which we will remain loyal, especially in our shifting political climate.
Partners and Collaborators
Research
Citizen Science: Rainforest Biodiversity
Eric R. Olsen, PhD Northland College
Guido Saborio, MS - Biologist and independent researcher, Costa Rica
Additional Research Mentors
Anjan Ray, PhD – Director -CSIR, Indian Institute of Petroleum, Energy and Environment, specific interest in biofuels and climate change mitigation
Jorge Cortes Nunez, Phd - Center of Marine Sciences and Limnology - University of Costa Rica
Fieldwork: Biological Monitoring, Costa Rica
Firestone Center for Restoration Ecology, Dominical, Costa Rica
Osa Conservation Biological Station, Piro, Costa Rica
Rio Oro Base Camp - COPROTE, Rio Oro, Costa Rica
La Cotinga Biological Station, La Palma, Costa Rica
Latin American Sea Turtles, Playa Blanca, Costa Rica
Reserva Playa Tortuga, Uvita, CR
Corcovado Foundation, Drake Bay Costa Rica
Wildlife Rescue & Sanctuary
Alturas Rescue Center, Dominical, Costa Rica
Lapas Rio Lodge, Puerto Jimenez, Costa Rica
Kids Saving The Rainforest, Costa Rica
Community Education and Outreach
Monterey Bay Aquarium, California
Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium, Florida
Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, New York
Georgia Sea Turtle Center, Jekyll Island, Georgia
Kids Saving The Rainforest, Costa Rica
Seal Centre Pieterburen, The Netherlands
Toucan Rescue Ranch, Costa Rica
Reserva Playa Tortuga, Ojochal, Costa Rica
Center of Investigations of Tropical Bees - National University of Costa Rica
Mote Marine Lab, Summerland Key, Florida
San Diego Zoo, San Diego, California
West Valley Collection and Recycling, California
Christopher Elementary School, San Jose, California
Saratoga High School, Saratoga California
Petroglyph Ceramic Lounge Los Gatos, California
O’Brien Family, Los Gatos, California: Bee Keepers
Earlier Mentors
Thank You to our earlier Mentors and Partners from around the world who dedicated time to helping us to advance our mission to learn about and create youth opportunities in environmental science, veterinary medicine and community-based conservation .
Rodolfo Dirzso, PhD, Professor Stanford University Wood’s Institute: INOGO
Advisor in outreach in San Jose, California Hispanic community to engage middle school girls in STEM field trips and initiatives. Advisor in NNI sponsorship of INOGO youth in NNI field programs.
Terry Norton, Director, Veterinarian, Georgia Sea Turtle Center Conducted workshop for wildlife medicine in Costa Rica and continues to support NNI outreach with distance learning GSTC program.
Noha Abou Madi, Section Chief of Zoological Medicine, Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine Advisor in project to initiate and implement five day workshop for professional development in Costa Rica on health and rehabilitation of wildlife
Gerado Chaves, University of Costa Rica Advisor in Project on the Arribada (massive arrival) of Sea turtles in Ostional, Costa Rica where harvesting of sea turtles eggs are legal as part of a community-based-conservation effort.
Melissa Jimenez Kardeney, MS, Biologist, Reserva Playa Tortuga Partner in virtual outreach on education of sea turtle biology and life cycle
In Memory of Professor Leon Blaustein
Leon Blaustein, PhD, University of Haifa
Full Professor in the Department of Evolutionary and Environmental Biology, University of Haifa. Head of the Community Ecology Laboratory, a Fellow of the Institute of Evolution, the Director of the Kadas Green Roofs Ecology Research Center and the Editor-in-Chief of the Israel Journal of Ecology and Evolution
Thank you to one of our earliest Mentors, who was willing to Skype with us while we were young and living in Costa Rica (before the world went virtual) with whom we asked
“Why is biodiversity Important?” We never met Professor Blaustein in person but will always remember his dedication to us and youth environmentalism.