Environmental Social Networks

To the degree that we come to understand other organisms, we will place a greater value on them, and on ourselves.

Organisms at specific times and places are the core of the life sciences—nature’s encyclopedia. Everything else in terms of biology’s content and application flows from that hub, and without that information, animals and plants will continue to vanish—society worse off. On one hand, there are millions of species and for the vast majority of them we lack any archive. If we had even twenty observations per species, the management and use of that information would have been inconceivable only a decade ago. On the other hand, we desperately need to reconnect humanity with nature, not only for the sake of the natural world but because in doing so, we ourselves gain perspective, creativity, and peace of mind. Social networks and information technology are poised to join those two hands in a global partnership for the environment and society. Over the past decade, social networks have emerged on the Internet and elsewhere, providing unprecedented public utilities. Founded in 2004, the social media network Facebook now has over 90 million active users, is the 4th most trafficked website worldwide, and over 24 million photos are uploaded to the website daily. Partnerships between the private and public sector focused on leveraging social networks is a powerful strategy to facilitate positive behavioral changes toward the environment.

We are working with various private and public partners to develop the first social network for the environment, which will simultaneously reconnect citizens with their environment and aggregate biodiversity data for improved management.

For more information visit http://www.natureworm.com

Partners: Cornell Center for a Sustainable Future, Spitfire Strategies,  Studio Aspect Design