Monthly Archives: October 2012

October 25, 2012 · 7:33 pm

Will There Be Enough Water for the 21st Century?

Dr. Jay Famiglietti and Commander Ben at the Environmental Science Institute at UT Austin

Today, I had a great time interviewing Dr. Jay Famiglietti. I talked with him about the potential water problems that we might face in the future. We also talked about the different ways that we can conserve water. I’ll be posting these fascinating and insightful videos soon.

I’m looking forward to Dr. Famiglietti’s talk, “Last Call at the Oasis: Will There be Enough Water for the 21st Century?“, tomorrow, Friday, October 26, 2012, at 7:00 pm CT.

Mr. Famiglietti is a Earth System Science Professor with the University of California – Irvine. His presentation is part of the great Hot Science – Cool Talks series. It’ll be in the UT Austin Student Activity Center where Dr. Andrew Howell’s talk was earlier this year.

Invasive Hunter Academy and the Giant Reed

Be sure to get there early, because I’ll bringing my Invasive Hunter Academy to the prelecture fun starting at 5:45 pm. Not only will you have a great time learning about invasive species and creating an action diorama, but you’ll also learn about the Giant Reed’s (Arundo donax) threat to our water supply, especially along the Rio Grande.

If you notice something different about me tomorrow, I broke my hand fighting the Giant Reed (again!). It was trying to stop me from presenting at Hot Science – Cool Talks, but it’ll take more than a few moves from an invasive plant (and one of the world’s top 100 worst invasive species) from stopping me.

(Well, actually, I broke it during a recent Taekwondo sparring match. Ouch! But I still have a good hand if Arundo gives me any trouble! 🙂 )

Hope to see you tomorrow. It’s going to be a boatload of fun!

Your friend,
Ben

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Filed under Arundo donax, Dr. Jay Famiglietti, Environmental, Environmental Science Institute, ESI, Giant Reed, Hot Science - Cool Talks, Invasive Hunter Academy, Invasive Plants, Invasive Species, Last Call at the Oasis, Rio Grande, Tae Kwon Do, Taekwondo, University of Texas, UT Austin, water, water conservation, water supply

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October 9, 2012 · 6:40 am

Rick Riordan Talks About Mark of Athena and His New Norse Demigod Series

Rick Riordan brought his new book, Mark of Athena, to BookPeople in Austin, Texas, on October 8, 2012. Join me at this special event and watch clips of his presentation where he talks about Percy Jackson, the Heroes of Olympus series, and the new Norse demigod series that he’s working on.

I can’t wait to listen to the audio version! Check out my other posts about Percy Jackson and dyslexia:

Update: The first volume of Rick Riordan’s Magnus Chase’s Norse adventures, The Sword of Summer is coming in October 2015.

Your friend,
Ben

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Filed under BookPeople, Heroes of Olympus, Norse, Norse demigods, Percy Jackson, Rick Riordan, Son of Neptune, The Lost Hero, The Mark of Athena

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October 7, 2012 · 7:11 pm

Invasive Species Can’t Hide During SXSW Eco

Commander Ben and Ms. Jessica Strickland ready to hunt invasive species during SXSW Eco

I had a great adventure on Thursday when I joined Ms. Jessica Strickland, Invasive Species Program Manager at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, to help map the location of invasive plants along Waller Creek.

The special SXSW Eco “Green Army” event began at the Congress Avenue Kayaks building located at the end of Trinity Street in downtown Austin. The building is on Lady Bird Lake (Town Lake) and Waller Creek. All the participants for the event gathered here before we headed out on our adventures. Mr. Justin Murrill, Global Sustainability Manager for AMD and coordinator of the event, welcomed us all and explained the importance of volunteer efforts like this to help keep Austin beautiful.

Commander Ben and Mr. Justin Murrill, Global Sustainability Manager for AMD at SXSW Eco Green Army Event

Some people were going to clean up the trash in the creek, others were going to make seed balls (which were going to be donated to Bastrop State Park to help replant their area after last years wildfires), and others—including me—were going to identify invasive species for future removal or containment projects.

Ms. Strickland and I found many invasive plants along Waller Creek including:

Pictures from the SXSW Eco Invasive Species Mapping

Photographing invasive plants against a white background makes them easier to identify later.

A photographer from the Austin American-Statesman snaps a picture of our tactical reports.

Invasive English Ivy begins to suffocate a tree along Waller Creek.

King Ranch Bluestem (KR Bluestem) at our feet. Unfortunately, you can find them all over Texas, especially on roadsides.

A close up of KR Bluestem. Alas. Their seeds spread easily.

Can you spot the Elephant Ear on Waller Creek?

You can run Elephant Ear, but you can’t hide!

Super villian team up: Elephant Ear next to Heavenly Bamboo

Here I am mapping Johnson Grass. Humm. For amount, where can I circle “beaucoup”?

I sense a disturbance in the ecosystem. Is the Giant Reed trying to sneak up on me again?

We had a nice audience of turtles during our great day of mapping!

All in all it was a great day!

Your friend,
Ben

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Filed under AMD, Austin, Austin American Statesman, Bastrop State Park, Chinese Privet, Elephant Ear, English Ivy, Giant Reed, Green Army, Heavenly Bamboo, Invasive Plants, Invasive Species, Jessica Strickland, Johnson Grass, Justin Murrill, King Ranch Bluestem, KR Bluestem, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Lady Bird Lake, Ligustrum, SXSW, SXSW Eco, Texas Invasives, Tree of Heaven, Waller Creek, Wildflower Center

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October 4, 2012 · 6:48 am

My First Day at SXSW Eco with Foodies and Filmmakers

Commander Ben at SXSW Eco 2012

After checking in at SXSW Eco at the fantastic UT Austin AT&T Conference Center, I headed over to Rm. 103 to attend a talk titled Fighting Food Insecurity with Urban Agriculture in Austin…and guess who I got to meet? Ms. Addie Broyles, a food writer for the Austin American-Statesman!

Food in Austin

Ms. Addie Broyles and Commander Ben at SXSW Eco

It was neat to get to meet her because I have heard my Mom (the foodie in the family 🙂 ) talk a lot about her. Even though my blog isn’t about food, Ms. Broyles said she was looking forward to checking it out because she too has a budding filmmaker at home…her five year old son! 🙂

Clean energy

Ms. Griffin Gardner and Commander Ben at SXSW Eco

Next I walked over to Rm 204 to attend the Filmmakers Clean Energy Confab. I took my seat in the second row and that’s when someone in the front row turned around and said, “I know you, you’re famous!” It was Ms. Griffin Gardner, UT Austin Media Coordinator, who remembered taking a picture of me at the UT Austin Environmental Science Institute (ESI) Hot Science – Cool Talks event. I’m not sure if I’m really famous, but Ms. Gardner made my day!

Making great films for good

Mr. Steve Vogelpohl and Commander Ben at SXSW Eco

Next, as I headed out to lunch, I ran into Mr. Stephen Vogelpohl who recognized me from the Lights. Camera. Help. Focus on Good Film Festival. Mr. Vogelpohl is with Social Good TV. We talked about future projects we’re both working on, and he encouraged me to continue making great films for good.

Green army on the march

Today is the big day! As I mentioned in my earlier posts, I’ll join Ms. Jessica Strickland, Invasive Species Program Manager at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center; Dr. Damon Waitt, Director Native Plant Information Network; and an elite team from the Wildflower Center and the Green Army to map invasive species as part of the conference events.

Let’s find the Giant Reed (Arundo donax), Elephant Ear (Colocasia esculenta), and all the invasive plants that may be along Waller Creek in Austin, Texas!

I hope to see you there!

Your friend,
Ben

P.S. Tomorrow’s the last day to vote! Please vote for my SXSWedu presentation, “What Invasive Species Taught Me About Dyslexia”. I’ll talk about my great experiences with the Wildflower Center and Learning Ally too. Thanks!

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Filed under Addie Broyles, AT&T Conference Center, Austin, Austin American Statesman, Clean energy, Clean energy, Damon Waitt, Elephant Ear, Environmental, Environmental Science Institute, ESI, Focus on Good, Giant Reed, Green Army, Griffin Gardner, Hot Science - Cool Talks, Jessica Strickland, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Lights Camera Help Annual Nonprofit Film Festival, Lights. Camera. Help., PanelPicker, Social Good TV, Steve Vogelpohl, SXSW, SXSW Eco, SXSWedu, University of Texas, Urban Agriculture, UT Austin, Waller Creek, What Invasive Species Taught Me About Dyslexia, Wildflower Center

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October 3, 2012 · 6:40 am

My Adventure as an Invasive Hunter at SXSW Eco Begins

I’m looking forward to being part of the SXSW Eco conference today!

I’ll be tweeting on my InvasiveHunter Twitter account and creating blog posts about the conference this week.

Tomorrow, I’ll join Ms. Jessica Strickland, Invasive Species Program Manager at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center; Dr. Damon Waitt, Director Native Plant Information Network; and an elite team from the Wildflower Center and the Green Army to map invasive species as part of the conference events.

Many thanks to SXSW Eco for inviting me and providing me with a complimentary pass to this conference!

Your friend,
Ben

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Filed under Citizen Scientist, Damon Waitt, Green Army, Invaders of Texas, Invasive Species, Jessica Strickland, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, SXSW Eco, Wildflower Center

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