Natural Habitats: Stories of finding where we belong
The Story Collider
Story Collider, Inc.
4.4 • 824 Ratings
🗓️ 3 March 2017
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Part 1: Born and raised in Brooklyn, naturalist Helen Cheng leaves the comfort of the city to venture out into the field.
Part 2: Ecologist Thom Young-Bayer makes the tough decision to leave science after his life changes course. Helen Cheng is once a city-dweller turned solitude-seeking naturalist.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, Helen’s journey took her from the big city to the coasts of the New England, studying horseshoe crabs and receiving her M.S. in Zoology from the University of New Hampshire. Interested in how management plays a role in research, she worked at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as a Sea Grant Knauss Fellow. As an interdisciplinary marine biologist, Helen works on a variety of projects involving research, education and outreach, and science communication. Whenever she gets a free moment, Helen enjoys eating new and delicious foods around the city, hiking in the mountains, swimming in the ocean, and singing and playing acoustic guitar.
Thom Young-Bayer’s affinity for the outdoors developed into a brief career as an ecologist, during which he worked as a tropical forest guide, studied coral reef fish and kelp forests, and traveled to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Since then, he has managed two organic farms, worked on a commercial fishing vessel, sailed across the Pacific using celestial navigation, and worked as the First Mate of a Maine windjammer. He maintains his tenuous grip on sanity with open water swimming, ultra-marathon running, and classical piano. He lives with his wife, Skylar, and their two dogs in Maine.
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Transcript
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| 0:56.2 | slash bandwidth. A science story. Is NYU scientist the... I felt... I felt... I was so |
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| 1:18.5 | Hi everyone, I'm Ben Lilly, and welcome to the Story Collider, where we bring you true |
| 1:22.3 | personal stories about science. |
| 1:24.6 | This week, we're bringing you two stories about natural habitats, a citygirl's first |
| 1:28.9 | experience in the field, and an ecologist who falls into a science career to show he's different |
| 1:33.0 | from his twin brother. Our first story this week is from Helen Chang. It was recorded in |
| 1:38.3 | September 2016 at Union Hall in Brooklyn. The theme was home. I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, |
| 1:49.6 | right here. My backyard was Manhattan. Yeah. I learned how to be proficient in speedwalking, |
| 1:58.6 | jaywalking, and navigating through the complex maze of the MTA subway system. |
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