About

Your host for “Today in Conservation” is Larry A. Nielsen.  I am an author, educator and conservationist who believes that the world is a better place today than yesterday and that tomorrow will be even better.

To prove the enormous progress we’ve made–along with some notable setbacks–I’ve amassed a chronology of conservation.  During my 40 years as a university professor, I’ve gathered together the history of people, places and events in conservation and I present them here as a daily calendar.

My hope is that teachers will use the entries as interest items for classes; that students will use them as the first step in researching an assigned project; that speakers will use them to stimulate their audiences; and that all of us will use them for a daily dose of conservation knowledge.  However, you wish to use these entries, please do–and please tell your friends about them.

I’m always looking for new entries, especially one that will diversify the content of the calendar.  We need to talk more and write more about all the people and events that have influenced conservation, not just the big names (who are almost invariably dead white men!).  So, if you have ideas for people, places, events or anything else that you think should be covered, pleased send me an email at [email protected].

Most calendar entries are serious, but, alas, on some days nothing particularly important has happened.  So, for those days, the definition of conservation is stretched a bit.  Remember, if we aren’t having a little fun, we’re not doing it right!

And for a little more fun, read my mystery novels, “Dead Man on Campus” and “The Center Piece,” available from on-line booksellers everywhere.

Learn more about Larry Nielsen

This Month in Conservation

December 1
William Temple Hornaday Born (1937)
December 2
International Whaling Commission Created (1946)
December 3
Ellen Swallow Richards, Pioneering Environmental Chemist, Born (1842)
December 4
Eastern Steller Sea Lion De-listed (2013)
December 5
World Soil Day
December 6
Eliot Porter Born (1901)
December 7
Beijing Issues First Red Alert for Air Pollution (2015)
December 8
American Bird Banding Association Formed (1909)
December 9
Wupatki National Monument Created (1924)
December 10
Olivier Messiaen Born (1908)
December 11
International Mountain Day
December 12
Paris Climate Agreement Adopted (2015)
December 13
Baiji Porpoise Declared Extinct (2006)
December 14
World Monkey Day
December 15
Chico Mendes Born (1944)
December 16
Carol Browner, 8th EPA Administrator, Born (1955)
December 17
Alexander Agassiz, Pioneering Oceanographer, Born (1835)
December 18
First Commercial Nuclear Energy Produced (1957)
December 19
Richard Leakey, Kenyan Conservationist, Born (1944)
December 20
Earliest Date for Winter Solstice
December 20
“It’s A Wonderful Life” Released (1946)
December 21
Trevor Kincaid Born (1872)
December 21
Dr. Robert Bullard, Father of Environmental Justice, Born (1946)
December 22
Ruth Yeoh, Malaysian Environmentalist, Born (1982)
December 22
Lady Bird Johnson, Environmental First Lady, Born (1912)
December 23
Times Beach, Missouri, Declared Uninhabitable
December 24
The Christmas Tree
December 25
European Rabbits Introduced to Australia (1859)
December 26
UN Convention to Combat Desertification Began (1996)
December 27
Second Voyage of the Beagle Began (1831)
December 28
Endangered Species Act Enacted (1973)
December 29
Convention on Biological Diversity Began (1993)
December 30
Six Geese A-Laying
December 31
John Denver, Singer-Songwriter and Conservationist, Born (1943)
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