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UA News: New Series Features UA Grad's Work Saving Sea Turtles
Posted on Jul 12th, 2013UA alumnus Wallace J. Nichols, known internationally for his work saving sea turtles, is featured in an episode of the Weather.com's new series, BRINK.
The series launched July 8, and the episode featuring Nichols spotlights the work he has done as a conservationist and activist to help save sea turtles from extinction.
"It's about love," Nichols, a California Academy of Sciences research associate, said in promotional materials released by Weather.com, a website of The Weather Channel. "I love these animals. I love working with them."
Produced in partnership with Peabody Award and Emmy Award-winning "60 Minutes" producer Shawn Efran, BRINK follows six eco-heroes from the jungles of South America to the wilds of South Africa. Each of the six individuals featured on BRINK are fighting to protect animals from poachers, hunters and human interference.
"The effect that humans are having on our planet is a vital issue to The Weather Channel," said Neil Katz, the Weather.com editor-in-chief. "We hope these films make a positive impact and cement Weather.com as a home for this kind of entertainment."
The six individuals featured are:
- Nichols, who is turning turtle poachers into turtle protectors one by one in Baja, Mexico
- Alan Rabinowitz, who is racing against his own cancer diagnosis to save South American jaguars
- Jill Robinson, who, along with a team of doctors, are rescuing moon bears in China from horrific conditions
- Rebecca Aldworth, who is documenting the brutal slaughter of more than 100,000 seals
- Jaques Flamand, who has found an unusual way to rescue and protect rhinos from rampant poaching
- Ric O'Barry, who is fighting to stop dolphins from being slaughtered for meat and captured for show, explaining how they can suffer from depression – and even commit suicide
All BRINK episodes are viewable online through the end of July.
In 1999, Nichols founded Grupo Tortuguero, a nonprofit organization that works with fishermen and their families in northwestern Mexico to conserve sea turtles. In 2003 he earned a doctorate in wildlife ecology and evolutionary biology from what is now the UA School of Natural Resources and the Environment.
Nichols, along with his friends and collaborators, also launched Billion Baby Turtles, a project raising funds to place 1 billion young turtles into the ocean. The team's goal this year is to raise $50,000 to save 50,000 turtle hatchlings.
Photos courtesy of The Weather Company
Contact: Maureen Marshall, communications director for Weather.com, at 212-856-5277 and maureen.marshall@weather.com.
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