Tuesday, March 8, 2011

AskNature of Biomimicry Inst. seeks Digital Design Strategist

While at TED, this came in.  What a great job for someone with these skills! 

Subject - Casting Seeds: News from AskNature
Take AskNature to the Next Level
Do you think you are a Digital Design Strategist? If so, we'd like you to apply for that position to take AskNature to the next level of development. The ideal candidate will be incredibly Web savvy, with a keen sense of how people use technology in all facets of their lives. He or she will have demonstrated web project management skills, experience working with online educational content, great interpersonal skills, and an aptitude for building digital partnerships. The position will either be at the Group’s headquarters in Missoula, MT, or San Francisco (negotiable).

Reporting to the Executive Director at The Biomimicry Institute, the Digital Design Strategist will lead and grow an agile team of content providers, graphic designers, and IT specialists; collaborate with additional staff to ensure AskNature continues to meet audience needs; develop strategies and partnerships to ensure the continued growth of AskNature's content; and assist with seeking funding for the project.

For a complete job description and instructions for applying, please send an email to jobs+asknature@biomimicrygroup.com. To learn more about the Biomimicry Group, see http://www.biomimicry.net. The deadline for submissions is March 31, 2011.


Nature Tweeted Long Before We Did
In collaboration with BeeDance, HOLOS Collaborative, and E4S, AskNature will live tweet the South by Southwest (SxSW) panel discussion “It’s Nature's Way: Innovative Tech Design Through Biomimicry” on Saturday, March 12 at 11 am CST.

Join the discussion now!

Posted via email from TED Fellows

Sunday, February 20, 2011

MondoWindow--when you want to know what's below

Below is an email from a brilliant friend, Gregory Dicum.  I hope he goes to TED some day. He'd give an amazing talk! truly a grand polymath slicing and dicing economics, travel, art, writing, coffee,... He was one of my references for becoming a Fellow in 2009, so I'm thrilled to share his latest venture:

Hi There;

I suppose you're wondering why you haven't heard much from me lately--and why when you do, it's in a form letter. Let me explain...

Five years ago, when my Window Seat books were published, I got together with my friend Tyler Sterkel to try and figure out how we could make an interactive version of the books for airline passengers to enjoy in their seatbacks. 

We found out that to get anything flying like that would cost buckets of money and would be seriously limited by existing technologies, so we shelved the idea and moved on.

Until last year, when we revisited the concept in light of the ongoing rollout of wifi on board airliners. All of a sudden, we had a way directly to the passenger, without relying on the airline gatekeepers and legacy systems.

We started to research things in earnest in the summer, and by the fall we had formed a company. Now, we are on the verge of unveiling the beta of MondoWindow.

MondoWindow works
 like this: You get on a plane, you take out your laptop, tablet, or smartphone, you log in to the onboard wifi, and you go to mondowindow.com. There you find a map that tells you where you are as you fly, and what’s going on below. It’s layered with points of interest, audio, video, games, and social media. 

It is the first of its kind, ever, and it is going to be amazing: we have an incredible team of designers, developers, and writers working all out to launch our beta for South by Southwest in March (sxsw). 

This is full-on startupland madness, and if you want many, many more details, just ask! (Like, as an example, if you'd like to receive information on how you can get in on pre-money investment.) 

And in the meantime, here are four things you can do right now:

4) tweet/update that you are excited about @MondoWindow and have just signed up for the #sxsw beta

Can't wait for you to try MondoWindow on a flight this spring!!

Posted via email from TED Fellows

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

LOVE show

For some, Valentine's day means something.  And for others, it means something else. Still others, it means nothing.  Having reason to celebrate is what life is all about, and however you do or don't feel about Valentine's Day and its ever morphing continuum of hearts and romance, rebellion and disdain, Valentine's Day is coming up!

If you are in Portland,  come by and see what random concepts, carefully conceived crafting, and enigmatic mysteries have been displayed for a couple short weeks of LOVE at Gallery Homeland.
Over 300 artists joined in.  Opening night this Friday, the 12th, from 7PM-midnight.  Come in your eggshell (not the tired old pumpkin shell; Cinderella has that one anyway)..
http://portlandloveshow.com/events/opening-party/

  

there will be a potluck (just found out) with food made by the participating artists, music, a food drive....please tell your friends in Portland.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentine%27s_Day
http://www.answers.com/topic/cinderella

Posted via email from TED Fellows

Monday, January 31, 2011

Contemporary Art as Coral Refuge


Living Sea Sculpture: Contemporary Art as Coral Refuge


In October, I began talking with Jason deCaires Taylor of the Museo Subaquático de Arte (MUSA) in Mexico about including Biorock® sculptures in the underwater museum.  Early January, I received happy news! Aah, I sighed a grand thank you.  He and the others on the museum and marine park committee have approved some of my designs to join his in the ocean this year.  Currently, Jason's cast cement pieces are the only works evolving there.  His "Silent Evolution" was installed in conjunction with the UN Climate Change conference in Cancun this December.   Yesterday I began preparing small steel pieces for our first Biorock® experiments at Seahorse Aquarium here in Portland...
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/958753974/living-sea-sculpture-contemporary-art-as-coral-ref
please pass it along!
http://kck.st/f3JVaO

So far, a few filmmakers have offered to help with documentation.  Just got off the phone with KnitPurl, a  downtown yarn store in Portland.  They will soon be taking photos of our Biorock® coral restoration simulation brightening their shop windows through mid-March. The installation is complete with the movie "Reef Reborn" looping, the Gossamer Community Crocheted Reef, steel sculptures, a sample of Biorock...I'll post KnitPurl's newletter when it comes out later this week! 

Which brings me to more international Biorock® news:
Karang Lestari (coral nursery) in Pemuteran, Bali, is going to get their green energy this spring!  Rani and Celia found the funding. Congratulations and celebrations!
I hope Rani will post about it here.  
for more about that coral nursery: www.biorockbali.webs.com   

Back to Portland:  Tomorrow I hope we switch the power and begin the coral cultivation. Fun to be in room filled with tropical coral, interesting people, and bright lights to warm my chilblains (I love that word!)

Posted via email from TED Fellows

Monday, December 6, 2010

Wild and Scenic Film Festival

Some good news for a small film: "On the Trail with Miss Snail Pail"
Greg Young of Golden Bear Casting contacted me a few years ago in response to a news article. He asked if I was open to him following me around with a camera. Sure, it'll be fun and who knows what will come from it.
It has been selected for the 9th Annual Wild and Scenic Film Festival in Nevada City, California.
http://www.wildandscenicfilmfestival.org/films/

Looks like I'll be able to attend:) Have missed the other film festivals where it screened. Found lots of snails in SF this past week; perhaps three different varieties. I was at TEDxAlcatraz=congratulations and thanks to David Gurman, Greg Miller, Eric Berlow, and all the others who orchestrated a great experience! The talks, music, food, and of course connections with people, were inspiring.
Happy glistening trails~

Posted via email from TED Fellows

Friday, November 26, 2010

Gili Trawangan Workshop

I hear it was an amazingly successful workshop in Gili Trawangan, Indonesia last week.  80 people attended and they made 16 new structures. 

there are some great short videos about the work of The Global Coral Reef Alliance and Biorock at this link.
http://www.biorock-workshop.org/

Also, the documentary "Reef Reborn" is now available at http://www.longtailnet.com/1354

and a photographic and written brochure can be seen at
http://www.globalcoral.org/Biorock%20booklet%20online%20version%201.4.pdf

Posted via email from Biorock Around the Globe

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Food Fight in NY

Dear Friends of FOOD FIGHT,
This message will be short as I am traveling and in the middle of a great new partnership with a group in New York who are helping to bring the message of the film into schools in NYC. Along those lines, we are screening tonight at Teacher's College at Columbia University at Milbank Chapel (525 W 120th St) at 6pm. I will be there to lead a discussion panel afterwards as well as talk about the FOODFIGHT school initiative. We need to get the word out on this important event, so, if you are in the NYC area, please come and let your food-loving friends know about the screening as well.

Best,
Chris Taylor
Director
FOOD FIGHT

Posted via email from TED Fellows