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Kelsey James-Kavanaugh, a prospective graduate student in wildlife conservation who lives in Oakland, aims to return to sub-Saharan Africa to continue working with lions, a project she had begun as an undergraduate. But before realizing her dream, she had to weigh her options for preparing to take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), a standardized test that measures verbal and quantitative reasoning, analytical writing, and critical thinking skills for graduate school admission. Instead of choosing one of the traditional test prep…
California is very, very dry these days. And with fire season around the corner, some property owners in the East Bay are turning to an unusual fire prevention technique: goats. Thousands of rented goats roam the hills about Berkeley and Oakland, working through the days and nights to prevent the spread of wildfires. Rachel Hiles has their story; click the audio player below to listen.
There’s something furry connecting the distant island of Madagascar, off the eastern coast of Africa, with Oakland in the East Bay: lemurs. These charismatic primates are the focus of conservation efforts at Centre ValBio, a state-of-the-art lemur research station in Madagascar’s Ranomafana National Park. The Oakland Zoo has partnered with the center to join their efforts. On Thursday, zoological manager Margaret Rousser and lead keeper Elizabeth Abram presented “Action for Lemurs,” one of the talks in the zoo’s Conservation Speaker Series. An…
On May 2, the Oakland Cottage Industry Show (OCIS) is hosting the first of their twice-annual shows where artists who work with wood, iron, paint and jewelry will come together at Park Boulevard Presbyterian Church in Oakland. The phrase “cottage industry” usually refers to a small-scale business carried on at home by a family or an individual using their own equipment and materials to produce a marketable product. This year at the OCIS, the show will have number of artisans…
A solar micro grid, now being shipped in pieces, will arrive in Uganda early June. Once assembled on site, it is designed to carry enough energy to power around 20 businesses and homes on Kitobo, a fishing island. “Most of the locals’ electricity is delivered to the wealthy,” said Jalel Sager, a PhD candidate studying in the Energy & Resources Group, an interdisciplinary graduate program at UC Berkeley. “We are going to replace the expensive and noisy diesel generators with…
The New Parish in Downtown Oakland is packed. About 300 attendees wave their hands and clap as five purple stage lights illuminate the silhouette of a guy wearing a plaid suit, a red vest, a tie and shiny black shoes. The band—drums, piano, bass and guitar—starts playing a blues tune with a catchy guitar riff. Finally, the front man grabs the microphone with conviction and sings in a gritty voice: I’m packing up and leaving tomorrow I need a new…
No matter how busy or stressful the day, a cup of tea is an invitation to slow down, says Reem Rahim, chief brand officer and co-founder of Numi Organic Tea, a privately-owned, triple bottom-line company based in Oakland. As a benefit corporation, or “B Corp.,” Numi pursues not just profit, but a trio of goals: economic, social and environmental benefits. Numi plans to donate 1 percent of its net profits to water access projects in 2015. The goal is to…
In 1980, refugees from Laos gathered in the living room of a modest three-bedroom Richmond apartment. Their daunting goal was to help their growing community find jobs and housing in America after fleeing the destruction wrought by the Vietnam War. On Wednesday last week, Lao Family Community Development, Inc. celebrated its 35th anniversary at Maple Hall in the San Pablo Civic Center. Each year, the non-profit organization helps 15,000 people from more than 30 countries become self-sufficient. From its humble…
Many of us wanted to be an astronaut as a kid, but this dream comes true for only a few. It would be a journey into the unknown filled with unforgettable experiences. But there is a hook: If you want to be one of the first explorers to reach Mars, you have to leave everyone behind—forever. The Dutch foundation Mars One received more than 200,000 applications for exactly this, a one-way trip to Mars. The global application elimination process started in 2013…