Webinar: Why are we Gaia Blind?

Antonio Donato Nobre researches the “ingenious systems” of the Amazon. His work illustrates the beautiful complexity of this region, as well as its fragility against a backdrop of climate change.

Antonio Donato Nobre sees nature as a well-orchestrated symphony. A visiting scientist at Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE) and a senior researcher at the National Institute of Amazonian Research (INPA), he studies the soil, hydrology and biochemistry of the Amazon, to learn more about the complex, interlocking systems of this geographical marvel. He seeks to understand the interactions between the forest and the atmosphere, and how “the sweat of the forest” runs in a stream overhead that carries moisture to other parts of South America and the world, playing a large role in climate stability. His study “El Futuro Climático de la Amazonía” synthesizes research on how human beings are affecting the delicate balance of this region, and the huge risk we run if we lose it.

Stephan Harding was born in Venezuela in 1953, and came to England at the age of six. Since childhood Stephan has had a deep fascination with the natural world, and his scientific cast of mind lead him to do a degree in Zoology at the University of Durham and then a doctorate on the behavioural ecology of the muntjac deer at Oxford University.

After completing his first degree he returned to Venezuela where he was a field assistant for the Smithsonian Institute, studying mammalian diversity in the rainforest and in the lowland plains. Stephan was appointed Visiting Professor in Wildlife Management at the National University in Costa Rica, where he lived for two years before becoming a founder member of Schumacher College in 1990.

The College’s first teacher was James Lovelock, with whom Stephan has maintained a long-lasting friendship and scientific collaboration that lead to their joint appointment as founding chair holders of the Arne Naess Chair in Global Justice and the Environment at the University of Oslo. At Schumacher College Stephan has taught alongside many of the world’s leading ecological thinkers and activists, including Arne Naess, Fritjof Capra, Vandana Shiva, David Abram, James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis.

Stephan is author of Animate Earth: Science, Intuition and Gaia. Green Books, and editor of Grow Small, Think Beautiful. Floris Books. He is also the writer and presenter of the documentary film Animate Earth, produced by Angel TV.