Nominate a Genius
Tropical forester Lisa Curran and Oceanographer/Deep Sea Explorer Edith Widder were among the 2006 MacArthur Fellows -- the only ones in the current class whose expertise falls under the category of Environment and Conservation. None were chosen in the Energy field. My point is not to criticize the MacArthur Foundation in any way, but just to ask folks in environmental circles who they would like to see receive the so-called "genius grant."
Nominations? Anyone?
For reference, you can find a complete list of recipients, by category, here.
Nominations? Anyone?
For reference, you can find a complete list of recipients, by category, here.
12 Comments:
Jared Diamond
M.G. Benedict
I've plugged his name here before, but I'd like to see Lonnie Thompson, the glaciologist who has been drilling and collecting ice core samples from the world's highest mountains, get this kind of recognition.
C'mon folks. Let's have more nominations. And please be so kind as to add a sentence or two about who they are. Who, for example, is M.G. Benedict, Zeuwsus? Forgive my ignorance.
Anonymous, you were right on target. Turns out Jared Diamond did win one in 1985. ... Filed under the category of Cultural Anthropology.
Putting aside the fact that the fellowship is restricted to US citizens or residents, I nominate the Colombian visionary, Paolo Lugari, subject of the book Gaviotas, about the village by the same name that he founded in the country's savannah-like llanos.
Surely, someone else out there has some ideas. Don't make me look like a dork, posting to my own blog....
I'm sure there will be some debate about my suggestion, but I've just gotta suggest Al Gore in the energy category. With "An Inconvenient Truth" he gave mainstream America an entertaining and understandable primer on global warming. Sure, not everyone who needed to see the movie went to see it, but I believe it has effected change. People are holding conversations about how they can have less of an impact, and the movie can take some credit for that. I'm not saying Gore is smarter than anyone else about global warming and energy; I'm saying he's a genius for getting the mainstream to talk about it and, we hope, do something about it!
Wonder if any of the former Goldman Prize winners would be eligible. There are some amazing people in that group of honorees. Or maybe MacArthur wouldn't choose them because Goldman already did. But still...
Gore, definitely traingirl, although he doesn't need the money. How about writers like Michael Pollan (Botany of Desire, Omnivore's Dilemma) and Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation), both of whom have really helped raise awareness of where our food comes from?
Maybe archaeologist Brian Fagan who has been writing books about climate and society for years (The Long Summer; The Little Ice Age; Floods; Famines and Empires)?
I second the Gore nomination. He is changing more minds on the subject of global warming than anyone else, and while it's true he doesn't need the money, he could dump it all into his carbon-freeze initiative.
in the interest of tooting my own horn, I noticed this item from the clinton global initiatives:
"The Clinton conference began Wednesday with a slew of world figures, among them first lady Laura Bush, who announced a partnership aimed at bringing clean drinking water to communities in sub-Saharan Africa.
The program, called Play Pumps, will install specially designed playground equipment that will use the force generated by children using the equipment to pump clean water from beneath the ground.
'Play pumps are fueled by an endless energy source: children at play,' Bush said."
Now, who invented the play pump? Why, Paolo Lugari, of course, the Colombian engineer I nominated above.
Theres this guy I know who is gonna go on to great things. He may only be a freshman but Frank Moore of Rochelle Illinois is one of those people you meet and listen to and know that hes gonna be great. He should be nominated.
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