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Some of my storytelling

The Monteverde News •

A wild culture… (just like her bread!)

Monteverde has a new member of the community. With her, she brought a deep love and knowledge of bread, and a passion for food and the communal opportunity its creation brings.

Soraia Costa comes from Figueira da Foz, a small coastal town in central Portugal. Since childhood, she’s lived all over the world working a variety of trades, preferring to participate in community-centered environments where she can use her hands and create.

“As soon as I graduated I left the country to explore the wo
Noticias Monteverde •

Old things gain second life: A community's approach to circular economy

Up a small hill in Cerro Plano, shaded by tall trees, sit three buildings: El Banco Costa Rica, an abandoned bar and La Tilichera in the right back corner. A sign blinks abierto, or open, in little red dots in the front window, and there’s a welcoming feeling that spreads from the warm smiles of the women who run the shop. The store is filled with an assortment of daily life belongings — jeans, shirts, tiny human shoes, books — all cast-out items awaiting a new home. For the last two years, a gr
Vox Magazine •

Explore the science behind local landmarks from Devil's Icebox to the Pinnacles

Follow Devil’s Icebox Boardwalk over the 125-foot natural tunnels then descend a steep staircase into a dark, cool space that will send chills up your spine. Listen to the water running through the cave; when it evaporates, the heat leaves the limestone* and creates the cold ecosystem worthy of its name.

Devil’s Icebox is a well-known Columbia feature, but from the Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area to Capen Park, there are many more hidden gems positioned around town — all with historic origin sto

Regulating a balance between protection and growth

It’s a sensitive balance between growth and defense when it comes to plants.

While a built-in, passive immune system helps them survive attackers, this response halts the growth and development of the plant, something that fascinates Ben Spears in the lab of Walter Gassmann at Bond LSC.

“In our lab, we try to pick apart the different signaling pathways governing these processes of growth and maintaining an immune response; we think of them as distinct processes, but, in reality, they are all i

Around the shore a million stood

The complex title of the new painting in Bond LSC represents the nuance of its meaning.

It appears to simply showcase a spectrum of beautiful colors, but there is much more than meets the eye to the painting above the plant wall by Monsanto Auditorium in Bond Life Sciences Center. Its creative expression is the work of local artist Kerry Hirth and has a particularly unique provenance.

Dean Bergstrom approached Hirth one day when she was in the administrative offices hanging some of her paintin
The Indian Express •

For mohalla clinics in Delhi, healthcare more than just about medicines

“Ki haal twada, lakh lakh badhaiyan twannu (How are you? Many congratulations),” said Dr Alka Chaudhary to a 62-year-old patient, who had a granddaughter recently. Like her, each person who visits the first-ever mohalla clinic, in Delhi’s Peeragarhi village, is greeted with a smile.

Dr Chaudhary has been working at the clinic since its inception in 2015. “We are community persons, not just doctors. We are involved in people’s lives and bettering the community,” she said.

Started when the gover
The Indian Express •

In markets along the Yamuna, plastic ban remains on paper while river bears brunt

Waste Plastic spread next to River Yamuna near Sonia Vihar in New Delhi (Express Photo by Praveen Khanna)

Two years ago, the National Green Tribunal banned single-use plastic bags less than 50 microns. A year ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged to phase out single-use plastics by 2022. And yet, a walk through two localities on the banks of the Yamuna — the markets in Sonia Vihar and the fruit and vegetable market in Okhla — shows the challenge the capital is up against.

According to reco
Vox Magazine •

A peek inside the barrier-breaking Saturday Morning Science series

Laughter, footsteps and the smell of pastries linger in the air as locals disregard sleeping in on a Saturday morning to talk shop. They aren't here for a business meeting or networking event. They've come in the name of science. Every Saturday, Bond Life Sciences Center hosts speakers to helm Saturday Morning Science, a one-hour talk where they can expound on any area of expertise — atmospheric science, cognitive neuroscience, human biology, even artificial intelligence. These open-to-everyone