Great.com Interviews PRI About Paleobiology and the Key to Improving Conservation
Great.com Interviews PRI About Paleobiology and the Key to Improving Conservation
Karim Bukhadurov from Great.com interviewed PRI as part of their 'Great.com Talks With...' podcast. This series is an antidote to negative news stories that aims to shed light on organizations and experts whose work is making a positive impact on the world.
Paleontology is the study of fossils to find clues about the history of life on Earth. Maya Rodgers discussed the important roles paleobiology and cross-discipline research can play in tackling some of the world’s most pressing environmental problems.
What Is Paleobiology?
Paleobiology is a cross between earth science (things like rocks that physically constitute Earth) and life science (living things like plants and animals). It combines biological field work with paleontology to piece together the complex jigsaw of life and death through the ages.
Maya explained that studying paleobiology helps us understand large questions like evolution, sustainability, conservation and biology. We can hopefully use the past to inform our future. By looking at data from things like sediment cores, ice cores, tree rings and fossils, we get an otherwise unobtainable long term perspective on modern conservation and restoration issues. Hopefully, this can help us prevent species extinction, restore habitats and sustain the benefits people get from various ecosystems.
Listen to the whole interview to find out about the Museum of the Earth, a PRI venue that has a new permanent exhibit on climate change. You can learn about our programs here. We also welcome donations.
Great.com is an innovative charity project working to solve the climate crisis. They believe that climate change is the most pressing issue facing mankind today and ending it will take swift action and creative problem solving. Great.com’s founder, Erik Bergman, has a background in online casino marketing and started Great.com with the goal to move money from the online casino industry to climate research.