Inside Camp 41 in the rainforest near Manaus, Brazil with Dr. Thomas Lovejoy

What happens when an environmental journalist tags along on a trip to Camp 41 with the “godfather of biodiversity” himself?  She shares with us a story set in this iconic camp: a handful of tin-roofed, open-sided structures deep within the world’s largest tropical wilderness and home base for hundreds of ecologists conducting research over the past 39 years.

Amanda Paulson, staff writer for The Christian Science Monitor, joined Thomas Lovejoy, professor of environmental science and policy at George Mason University, at Camp 41 for a week, and shares with us a riveting report of her time in the Amazon rainforest. She writes on the abundance of species found there:

“In the area around Camp 41, one 2.5-acre area of rainforest might have 250 core species of birds and 320 different kinds of trees. Nearly every bird, insect, and amphibian has developed unique features and habits that help each play a specialized role in the system.”

Ultimately, her story raises one of the biggest concerns: at what point the Amazon, or parts of the Amazon, might reach a “tipping point,” past which the lush ecosystem – which generates about half of its own rainfall – ceases to exist.

Read the full cover story from The Christian Science Monitor on 9/24/2018:  https://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2018/0924/Camp-Amazon-Inside-the-lungs-of-the-Earth