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Through a bit of creative accounting, David VanLuven has been a Conservancy employee for almost 14 years. While his responsibilities and interests have always varied, today he serves as the Director of the Hudson River Estuary Landscape for the Eastern New York Chapter. Witty, smart, and sharp as a tack, we were curious to find out more about what makes David tick. Below are his answers to our questions.
1. How did you become interested in environmental science? What inspired you?
I had an epiphany during my sophomore spring at Middlebury College. One afternoon I was miserably wading through Aristotle's Politics and realized that I was at the point in my life where I could do anything I wanted. The next morning I was in the Northern Studies department talking my way into the program, and consequently discovered ecology and did my undergraduate thesis research 130-miles north of the Arctic Circle.
2. What is a normal day for you at the Conservancy? Happily, I don't have a normal day. Some days I'm in the office writing grant proposals, others I'm at my desk developing strategies for how to move the Hudson River Estuary initiative forward. Some days I'm in the State House advocating to legislators or at meetings working with our many partners. The best days are when I'm out in the field, such as tagging along with the state's Hudson River Fisheries Unit and netting huge striped bass or searching for even bigger Atlantic sturgeon.
3. What's on your desk right now? How many emails are in your inbox?
I'm going to answer the first question figuratively rather than literally (though my desk is extremely tidy). I've got a funding-request sheet I wrote for $2M to allow the Hudson River National Estuarine Research Reserve to finish mapping the Hudson's riverbed; a grant proposal we prepared to bring together biologists, social scientists, economists, and municipal leaders to develop strategies for adapting to climate change in the Hudson Valley; a pile of articles about oysters in the Hudson; a trail guide so I can plan hikes for members this spring and fall; and information sheets to give Hudson Valley legislators when discussing the Hudson River Estuary Program, a state program that enables fantastic conservation work in the valley.
I try to keep my email inbox relatively clear because I lose things otherwise; right now it's too full at 98 emails.
4. What's the best thing about your job, or your best experience? The worst?
Best: I love the freedom I have to run with ideas. The action agenda we've developed for adapting to the consequences of climate change in the Hudson Valley is a radically different direction from what others are doing. Yet in the next few years, I believe it will be a template others will be using across the country. We have to think about the impacts of climate change on the environment and on people at the same time, not separately. The Conservancy really fosters thinking outside the box, which makes working here great fun.
Worst: I've spent a lot of time over the last 14 years advocating for rare species conservation. Despite general perceptions, these rarities receive little to no legal protection. The result is that I have seen the destruction of a lot wonderful things -- not out of deliberate malice, just general disregard. I've had to develop thick skin about these losses to keep from getting too demoralized.
5. What do you think is the greatest challenge facing the Conservancy in the next 10 years? Why?
I think the Conservancy must to find ways to protect the diversity of life in the context of the people living with and around it. People are an integral part of every landscape, whether in the tropical rainforests of Indonesia or the temperate waters of the Hudson Valley. Yet every place, every community, is different, so the strategies that we pursue need to be tailored to each locality. As an organization, I believe the Conservancy is ideally structured for just this sort of work. We have people working on the ground all over the world, which gives us insights into what will and won't work in specific places. We also communicate throughout the organization. Some of the most valuable insights I've gotten into conservation efforts in the Northeastern US have come through conversations with colleagues working on similar problems in completely different circumstances abroad.
6. What do you think is the single most important thing a person can do, as an individual, to make a difference in the fight against climate change?
People can do so many things that I can't pick just one. Perhaps the first thing is to realize that individuals can make a difference -- that every single action accumulates and is important just like every vote is important in elections. Then people can take whatever steps they can to reduce carbon emissions: buy green electricity, install compact fluorescent lights, drive a little less, buy energy-efficient appliances. A step up from this is to speak out and get involved in local planning. Municipal planning typically does not adequately consider natural resource conservation, whether in the context of climate change or not. Attending meetings and asking questions can help political leaders see how important conservation is to their constituents, and in turn can foster positive change.
7. How do you spend your free time? What are the best books you've read in the past year? My wife and I have three young girls (5 yo Katie and 2 yo Emma and Juliette), so most of my time outside of work is spent chasing kids. When I can, I like to work on our house. I recently converted a sun porch to a 4-season room and am now finishing the basement. It's fun playing with wood and figuring out how to wire a room.
My time for reading is limited as well, but I'm a huge fan of Arturo Perez Reverte and really enjoyed the The Seville Communion. I also devoured Arabian Sands by Wilfred Thesiger and A Secret Pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina by Sir Richard Francis Burton. These were two of Britain's greatest explorers -- Burton in the mid-1800s and Thesiger a century later -- and they provided fascinating views of both the landscape and cultures of the Arabian peninsula.
8. Who was your favorite musical artist when you were 18? How about now?
I was really into punk when I was 18 (GBH, Dead Kennedys, Black Flag, etc.), which is ironic because I was a nice boy getting good grades in a well-off ski resort town. Now, who I listen to depends on what I'm doing. I like Green Day when I'm driving (American Idiot is brilliant), Philip Glass (particularly Koyaanisqatsi) when I'm tired, Pink Martini when we're getting dinner ready, and Rossini's Barber of Seville or Mozart's Magic Flute on sunny Sunday mornings.
9 How do you get your news? What websites or blogs do you check everyday?
I get most of my news from NPR and periodic forays into the NY Times. With the swirl of small children at home and the rush of work, I don't have much time to read. I don't follow any bloggers or websites regularly, except during college football season when I read anything about Michigan (my mother raised me to be a rabid fan).
10 Which stereotype about environmentalists most fits you?
I don't fit most stereotypes about environmentalists, and regularly tease and get teased my colleagues who do. For example, I don't like to eat twigs and seeds, I don't wear Birkenstocks with wool socks, and I love watching football. So which stereotypes most fit? Maybe that I have a beard and do this work because I believe in it and love going outside and am still regularly amazed by how weird and wonderful life is.
See more Conservation Spotlights>>
Nature picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): Photo © The Nature Conservancy (David VanLuven); Photo © The Nature Conservancy (David VanLuven and his daughter, Katie).
