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The Race: Why We Collect Specimens!
Summer has been extremely busy. Our irrepressible bryologist, Jim Shevock, comes into my lab almost weekly with new moss discoveries from GG VI. He says a new paper on Fissidens (the largest moss...
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The Race: Island Biologists in Training
Jens Vindum, Senior Collections Manager, Department of Herpetology. (phot D. Lin-GG I) I need to add and addendum to last month’s blog, “Why We collect Specimens.” Our Senior Collections Manager, Jens...
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The Race: Flatworms, a New Doctor and an Island Education Video
One of our most consistent and knowledgeable colleagues on the island of São Tomé has been Ricardo Lima, up until recently a graduate student at the University of Lancaster. Ricardo Lima crossing the...
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The Race: Peregrinations of a Pinniped (Our Islands get Seal of Approval)
I have recently learned from my island friend Madalena Patacho of Bom Bom Island that a Cape fur seal (Arctocephalus pusillus) was seen and photographed on a beach at the north end of Príncipe Island...
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The Race: Endemicity and the Gulf of Guinea VII Expedition (I. The Scientists)
Readers may recall that last March, prior to GG VI, I gave several lectures in Portugal on Gulf of Guinea island biodiversity. The last was an international colloquium on São Tomé and Príncipe held at...
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The Race: Two More New Species for São Tomé and Príncipe
Just as I was preparing to write more on the up-coming GG VII, I received some great news. Long-time readers will recall that Gulf of Guinea III (B) in 2008 was a marine expedition that included a...
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The Race: “Raising Awareness”- Gulf of Guinea Expedition VII (II. The Educators)
Our first contingent of six participants is leaving for São Tomé and Príncipe in about a week, with three additional joining us a week or two later. As preparations continue, I want to reiterate the...
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The Race: GG VII – - First Week: Snakes, Workshops and Spiders
Our first week is now complete. The botanists and Andrew our photographer went to Príncipe early so I will include their progress in a later blog. One thing I will add though is a picture Andrew...
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The Race: GG VII—We Reunite and Part Again
After two hectic weeks of education activities on São Tomé, Rayna Bell (Cornell University) arrived and the four of us joined the botanists, Tom Daniel, Jim Shevock, Miko Nadel, Tamas Szuts (our spider...
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The Race: Principe Island–A New World Biosphere Reserve!!
During GG VII, just completed, a rather remarkable thing happened which readers should know about. I will write a wrap-up of Gulf of Guinea VII next month, but in the meantime I want to talk about...
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The Race: GG VII Potpourri and the World’s Largest Reptile
Much has happened since my last post from the islands a couple of months ago which accounts for the tardiness of this one. However, Rayna Bell, our Cornell PhD candidate did manage to post two videos...
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The Race: Another New Species and Contributions from our Citizen Scientists
Colleagues in London, Drs. Simaikis and Edgecombe of the Natural History Museum, have just published a paper on centipedes that includes some very old specimens from São Tomé and Príncipe collected as...
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The Race: The Amphibians of Sao Tome and Principe, and the Expeditionion
The Biodiversity Education team has been hard at work on our product for GG VIII, of April, 2014. The 2000 students we have been visiting since the 3rd grade are now in the 5th grade and will be...
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THE RACE: GULF OF GUINEA VIII NEARS COMPLETION
Our eighth expedition has been a very different one; except for GG V this has been our only all-education mission. Readers will recall that our biodiversity awareness program began in 2010 when we...
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The Race: The Blog Returns with a Science Update
“The Race” has been silent for a while; a sabbatical accompanied by computer glitches at both sites (Wildlifedirect.org; calacademy.org) led to it, but this was not meant to signal a pause in our...
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The Race: More New Species, More New Science
After a reconnaissance by me in 2000, our island expeditions began with the very first in 2001; there were 12 scientists and their students on GG I, and some of us remained in the islands for over two...
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The RACE: SIZE MATTERS!
It is a fundamental tenet of the science of island biogeography that more different species of plants and animals will be found on larger islands than on smaller ones. When we say “larger” in this...
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THE RACE: GG IX – RETURN TO THE BIG ISLAND
The seven members of GG IX all met up in the Lisbon airport on September 18 and arrived the next day in São Tomé. Two new collegues on this expedition are from Portugal. Dr. Luis Mendes, a butterfly...
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THE RACE: Homage to “The Prince”
The island of Príncipe is ancient… at 31 million years of age it is twice as old as São Tomé, yet biologically the two islands are unquestionably related. Along with documenting and describing...
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THE RACE: GG X –“I Came for the Waters”
No apologies for the Casablanca reference! Members of Gulf of Guinea X, our third marine expedition, have recently returned from scuba-sampling the inshore waters of Príncipe. The expedition was led by...
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