Journey Back in Time II

(Continued from the preceding post)

Writing and publishing has been so much a part of my life in conservation biology and has so much to do with developing a transdisciplinary perspective about things, I thought I might list a dozen or so publications from over the decades that had a particular interest for me. I’ve leaned more heavily here on natural history writing than scientific journal publications.

Baugh, T.M. 1972. The muskrat - Nature’s mini-engineer. High Country News 4(24):10.

Baugh, T.M. 1973. The lonely land. Nevada Outdoors 7(3):l0-12.

Baugh, T. Michael. 1975. Land at river’s end. Pacific Search 9(9):44-45.

Baugh, T. 1978. Beyond the seventh dune. Pacific Discovery 31(3):16-21.

The Naturalist series published by Freshwater and Marine Aquarium Magazine were well received and represented very good natural history.

Baugh, T. 1981. Southern comfort: A naturalist on the Gulf Coast, Part I. Freshwater and Marine Aquarium Magazine 4(11):40-43, 69. (The entire five-part series.)

Baugh, T.M. 1985. The edge of the sea, Part I: Rocky shores. Freshwater and Marine Aquarium Magazine 8(9):68-72. (The entire eight-part series.)

In the 1980’s I published fairly frequently in the scientific literature and the following manuscripts made some contribution to the information on the conservation biology of threatened and endangered species.

Baugh, T.M. and James E. Deacon. 1983. Daily and yearly movement of the Devil’s Hole pupfish Cyprinodon diabolis Wales in Devil’s Hole, Nevada. Great Basin Naturalist 43(4):592-596.
(https://ojs.lib.byu.edu/ojs/index.php/wnan/article/viewArticle/2188)

Baugh, T.M., J.A. Valade, and B. Zootsma. 1988. Manatee use of Spartina alterniflora in Cumberland Sound. J. Marine Mammal Science 5(10):26-27.
(http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1748-7692.1989.tb00217.x/abstract)

Magazines stop the presses, insitutes close their doors, and things get lost in the shuffle.  With that in mind, I want to briefly slide into the most recent past decades and the present so that these things don't get lost.

During my fellowship with the Green Institute, I began to publish online at the Institute’s web site.  Online publication was a new departure for me feeling as I did that if it wasn’t on paper, it wasn’t published.  Some of the Green Institute material is archived and some has been offered in this blog in an abbreviated version.  Several not offered on the blog are noted as follows:

Baugh, Tom. 2006. A politics of plague. The Green Institute.
(http://greeninstitute.deanmyerson.org/node/59)

Baugh, T. 2007. Ecocaust and ecological wisdom. The Green Institute.
(http://greeninstitute.deanmyerson.org/subpages/baugh_ecocaust.asp)

More recently, among many other things, I have been working on the restoration of a Southern Appalachian Mountain Bog. The manuscripts noted here reflect my continuingly active field and research orientation.

Baugh, T. R.E. Evans, C.J. Steward, and S. Artabane. 2011. Restoration of a Southern Appalachian Mountain Bog: Phase I. Reed Canary Grass Removal. Ecological Restoration 29(1&2): 13-14.
(http://muse.jhu.edu/login?auth=0&type=summary&url=/journals/ecological_restoration/v029/29.1.baugh.html)

Baugh, T. and R.E. Evans. 2011. Restoration of a Southern Appalachian Mountain Bog:Phase II-Hydrology. Natural Areas Journal 31(1):88-91.
(http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.3375/043.031.0110?journalCode=naar)

Returning to the decade beginning in 1971 and into the mid-1980's, in no way can the above fully represent my work during this period, But it does skim the surface of what was an enjoyable and challenging time…filled with high professional productivity and adventures throughout the American West, Southwest, Rocky Mountains, the Gulf Coast, and out into the Caribbean. 

The Journey

With my artist wife Penny Baugh, I live at Hidden Springs, our home in the mountains of Western North Carolina. We share our neighborhood with bear, bobcat, foxes and coyotes, and a number of species of fascinating bats, birds, and bugs and tolerant human neighbors.

At Hidden Springs we work with dedication to lessen our impact on Earth, each year reducing our draw on the grid and the water supply, replacing exotic plants with species native to our region, and converting vegetable 'waste' into compost and mulch.

I am an Ecologist with 40-plus years experience in various aspects of conservation biology.  My professional work is built on a fascination with life on Earth, the places we find life, and our human interactions with other life. I have hovered above the oceanic abyss, explored flooded caves, wandered deep into interior and coastal wetlands, and climbed high along the ridges of the newest and oldest mountains in North America.  My reports, papers, and lectures have taken me from class rooms to meeting rooms to lecture halls and, very often find their way into magazines and journals. 

My work has not been limited to the physical world but has also delved deeply into aspects of the social sciences and the humanities.  Over the years I have moved away from strict adherence to the 'ologies,' choosing instead to explore interdisciplinary possibilities such as conservation biology, and always moving toward a transdisciplinary perspective.    

                    TIME TRAVEL

I have read that travel into the future is impossible,

but I know that this must be wrong,

for each day, I visit a dozen possible futures.

I taste each one of them as if they were the real stuff of now,

they are the real stuff of now that may happen tomorrow,

I live fully today in anxious and eager anticipation of those possible tomorrows.