"The Swede"
My
great interest in nature and biology really first started when I
began my BS in science and marine biology at James Cook University,
Australia. Located in the tropical regions of Australia, I got a
chance to participate in many voluntary projects working in everything
from gliders in eucalyptus forests to starfish on the tropical coral
reefs.
In 1999 I started working as a marine biologist guide on the reefs
off Airlie Beach on Australia's east coast. The following year I
continued working as a combined marine biologist and Divemaster,
organizing and supervising dive and adventure tours on the Great
Barrier Reef. After returning to Sweden, I started working as a
guide at Sweden’s National Science Center, teaching visitors
about science in areas such as the oceans and rainforests. I also
begoun working on an ecotoxicological project through Gothenburg
University, investigating the toxic effects of a group of polycyclic-aromatic
hydrocarbons (PAHs) to natural assemblies of marine micro algal
communities. My study was a part of a larger international project
(called BEAM) funded by the European Union set out to study the
toxic effects of a large number of chemical pollutants on the marine
environment. In these days, the health of the oceans are unfortunately
often jeopardized by human impacts such as oil spill, use of toxic
boat paints and pollution runoff from land. Since chemicals generally
never occur individually but often in complex mixtures, it was important
to investigate possible mixture effects and if such effects can
in anyway be predicted in environmental risk assessments. For
my masters project I studied the regeneration ability of echinoderm
appandages and neural system.
My passion for the great outdoors and adventure drives me to always
move on to new challenges. Teaching science to both schoold kids
as well as adults and inspire them to get out and get active is
to me one of the biggest kicks in life. I currently teach evening
classes in marine science to adults as well as general biology in
middle school. Teaching scuba and taking people on tours in the
ocean also takes up a lot of my time.
I believe that in one way or another, we have all been touched
by the beauty of nature.
Whether
we live in a region of the world dependent on fisheries as a major
source of food, majestic lions roam an african savannah, lush tropical
rain forests on TV or we just enjoy heading down to the beach for
a swim or surf, we can all appreciate the natural wonders. Unfortunately
, these environments and many of their inhabitants, just like many
other natural regions of the world, are under serious threat, potentially
leading to extinction. Often this threat is just a result of lack
of knowledge. On the news we hear more and more frequently that
an animal species is close to extinction or an area of the world
is threatened. Still, our lives move on like we had nothing to do
with it. It is so easy in these situations to live by the rule that
“If it doesn't affect me directly, it doesn’t affect
me at all.” It is not difficult to make that little difference
that could do so much.
What I hope we can achieve by making these movies is to open the
eyes of at least a part of the public, and let them see how much
there is out there to see, explore and experience. I hope we can
show how everyone can go and Explore Biodiversity themselves and
at the same time care for the environment.
Sincerely,
Jonas Stenstrom
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