Tag Archives: Jessica Strickland

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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September 16, 2012 · 6:26 pm

Hunt Invasive Species at SXSW Eco

Be part of the fight against invasive species as part of the SXSW Eco conference!

On October 4, Ms. Jessica Strickland, Invasive Species Program Manager at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, and an elite team from the Wildflower Center will show volunteers how to identify and map invasive plant species along Waller Creek in Austin, Texas.

I’ll be part of this volunteer army too. Middle schoolers and teens are welcome, so if you can make it, join me, and I’ll lead a squad of kids to hunt down and map out these invasive species as part of the Wildflower Center teams.

Learn more about being a citizen scientist and invasive species with Ms. Strickland:

Oh no. I hope we don’t run into my nemesis, The Giant Reed!

If so, we’ll be ready!

Your friend,
Ben

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

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July 2, 2012 · 9:12 pm

Jessica Strickland talks at the Invasive Species Workshop for Citizen Scientists

Ms. Jessica Strickland talks about her background with invasive species during the Invasive Species Workshop for Citizen Scientists in June 2012.  Ms. Strickland is the Invasive Species Program Manager at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin, Texas.

Before she joined the Wildflower Center in February 2012, she worked with American Rivers on watershed protection, fish habitat, and water conservation.

She studied the invasive species Armored Catfish (Loricariidae) during snorkeling surveys.  Watch the video to find out which invasive plant species she finds the most threatening to our Texas waterways.

This video is part of my “Invasive Species: Secrets Revealed” series of interviews with scientists that I first started at the 2011 Texas Invasive Plant and Pest Conference.

Learn how to become a citizen scientist

Your friend,
Ben

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Filed under American Rivers, Armored Catfish, Citizen Scientist, Giant Reed, Giant Salvinia, Hydrilla, Invaders of Texas, Invaders of Texas Citizen Science Program, Invasive Species, Invasive Species Workshop, Invasive Species: Secrets Revealed, Jessica Strickland, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Wildflower center

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June 1, 2012 · 7:46 pm

Record Sightings of Invasives and Attend the Next Invasive Species Eradication Workshop

Reported locations of the Giant Reed (Arundo donax) around Lady Bird Lake in Austin, Texas.

You too can join the fight against invasive species by attending the next Invasive Species Eradication workshop. This workshop helps you become a more active citizen scientist by teaching you about invasive species and how to report them.

I recorded my first invasive species, my nemesis the Giant Reed (Arundo donax), early last year with my GPS, pencil and paper, and digital camera, and I reported my information on the Texas Invasives website for other scientists to understand how invasive species were spreading.

Many other citizen scientists across Texas have reported their invasive sightings too. For example, View a map of the reported Giant Reed locations in Texas.

We won’t always need pencil and paper. The May 2012 iWire newsletter talks about a new Invaders of Texas mobile app to report invasive species. The Invaders of Texas program received an empowerment grant from the Motorola Foundation to develop a mobile application for Android devices.

Attend the next invasive species workshop in Austin

These invasive species workshops are held around the state throughout the year, and the next workshop in Austin will be on Saturday, June 16th, at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

I look forward to attending this upcoming workshop to learn about the latest techniques for identifying and reporting invasives and meeting other citizen scientists. I want to learn more about how to use an iPhone to easily report invasives when I see them. The workshop will also cover the new Eradication Calculator, which will help to organize and coordinate removal efforts.

Learn more about this invasive species workshop and others around Texas at Texas Invasives workshops or contact Ms. Jessica Strickland, the Wildflower Center’s invasive species manager.

Your friend,
Ben

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Filed under Android, Eradication Calculator, Giant Reed, Invaders of Texas, Invaders of Texas Citizen Science Program, Invasive Species, iPhone, Jessica Strickland, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Motorola Foundation

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