Welcome to Jennie of the Jungle!

Owls. They're cute, they're smart, and they're in-style. Ahem, uh...your tailfeathers are showing... So you think YOU like owls? Trust me, there will always somebody who likes owls more... "Hoo" says you get wiser with age? But why are people so fond of these wise old birds? It can't possibly be because of their diets, as owls are raptors, and are responsible for ridding the world of all things cute and fuzzy. From kangaroo rats, to jerboas, to little baby bunnies. How could anyone eat the likes of me? I'm the cutest parts of all the animals put into one tiny package! But, but, there'll be no more EASTER! We imagine, as we watch them rip off tiny fuzzy bunny heads and swallow them whole, that there's got to be something more to these ferocious creatures. Well, for one, owls are just plain cool. One of the largest owl species, the Great Grey Owl, has a wingspan of up to 5 feet. Yet they sneak right upon their prey (most ...

I recently attended a talk about the Future of Bird Conservation with University of Utah ornithologist Cagan Sekercioglu. In this talk he outlined the threats of our current lifestyle to bird populations, as well as the necessary steps that need to be put into place to reverse these threats. Cagan (pronounced "Shawn")is a conservation ecologist, ornithologist, tropical biologist, and nature photographer. He has conducted ornithological fieldwork in Alaska, Angola, Colorado, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Turkey and Uganda to investigate the ecological factors behind the extinction-proneness of certain groups of birds. Read the rest of his bio and about his current projects here . Cagan began his talk by stressing that biology only goes so far in saving the world's endangered birds. More interest needs to be paid to the field of Environmental Law, as this is where and how the important decisions are made about the environment. Environmental lawyers have social and media training, w...

One of my longtime wildlife heroes, Jeff Corwin, decided to stop in Utah on his "Tales from the Field" tour. And, of course, I was there. Jeff is a conservationist who, much like me, became interested in his work after being introduced to the rainforest of Belize during the summer of 1984. My own craziness began after a trip to the Costa Rican jungle in the summer of 2000. I grew up watching Nature programs on PBS (because we didn't have cable or many other forms of entertainment) and crying when the hyenas killed the cheetah babies. But i didn't realize I could actually do something about wildlife until I was in college and took a rainforest ecology and conservation class. Shortly after the class, I applied for a grant to take a rainforest ecology field class in Costa Rica through the Organization for Tropical Studies at Duke University. I was awarded the scholarship and as soon as I stepped foot in that jungle, I felt I was home. Jeff continued his interest in...

So the Urban Art Show I put on to benefit the Southwest Wildlife Foundation was a success. So far we've brought in over $500 for SWF in art sales and donations. Here are some photos that highlight the show. Art will be hanging in the UAA Main Street Gallery in downtown Salt Lake City until March 11, 2012. Thank you to everyone who helped me make this event a success. I couldn't have done it without you, honestly! Photos courtesy of myself, Lena Nance, Kelsey Beacco, Alexey Krapivin, Jeremy Pearson and Kristian Christiansen.

I ran across this website, SustainableTrip.org , quite a few months ago and was impressed with it. I get monthly email updates from them that make me want to jump out of my office chair and hop on the next plane to South America. Their photos bring back fond memories of jungle cabins and tropical adventures; of rain so hard it rendered umbrellas useless, and of heat so sweltering it rendered sleep useless. This may not sound appetizing to you, but if you've ever been to the tropics and fell in love with it like I did, you know exactly what I'm talking about. SustainableTrip.org is a website that features destinations or businesses in Latin America and the Caribbean that are making outstanding efforts to conserve natural resources and improve livelihoods in their local community. Whether its a hacienda 9,600 feet above sea level in Ecuador, a bed and breakfast lodge smack in the middle of Amazonia, or a tourism company that leads jungle expeditions, these businesses are certifie...