Inspiring Young People in Our Lives

How do we inspire the Young People in Our Lives?

I've been reflecting a lot on this as we come towards the end of our time on the Viking World Cruise. 

Our lives have been filled with so many awesome experiences, stories and photos! 
What are the messages we want to convey to our friends and family?

My wife Jan reminds me that we owe our young ones the favor of transmitting hope for the future rather than despair over the state of the world... especially the natural world.

I believe kids love fascinating facts and stories about animals because they can easily engender a sense of awe and wonder about the natural world. When I was a youngster I couldn't get enough of the stories of nature and travel by authors like Gerald Durrell, Mark Twain, Loren Eiseley, and Edward Abbey.

I'm in the process of gathering some of the most fascinating facts I can discover about animals and collecting them in a book under the pen name of B. B. Brilliant.  You can download a completely free preview here.

Here's my goal for writing these Brilliant books:

I write books designed to “Spark Imagination and Brighten Minds” under the pen name B.B. Brilliant, I believe strongly in the transformative power of storytelling to inspire young readers to explore the boundless realms of creativity and knowledge.

By crafting enchanting books filled with fun facts, adventure, and valuable life lessons, B.B. Brilliant aims to ignite the spark of imagination within each child, encouraging them to dream big, think creatively, and embrace their unique brilliance. Through his books, B.B. Brilliant seeks to provide a gateway to a world where young minds can delve into the wonders of imagination, learn important values, and ultimately emerge with a brighter outlook on life and an insatiable thirst for discovery and nature.

I believe books by B. B. Brilliant have a bright future!  My hope is that they will inspire many young people for decades to come!

History of Life on Our Planet over 4.5 Billion Years

How Do You Represent Billions of Years of Life on Our Planet?

4.5 Billion Years of Earth History as a Football Field

As a biologist one of the key concepts I like to convey to audiences is what we call Deep Time.  We can talk about 300,000 million years, for example, but what does this number really mean?  How can we get our heads around such vast periods of time?

This is super important because it is key to understanding the power of evolution through natural selection over the eons.  Tiny changes over millions of years add up as species adapt to changing climates, geographic isolation, new predators, loss of food resources, etc.

One of the best depictions of Deep Time that I've run across is the metaphor of a football field to represent the full 4.5 Billion Years of Earth history.  In my presentations, I use an excellent video that I've discovered.

You can see this 4 minute video on my website.

All the best from the Indian Ocean, one day from Port Louis on the island of Mauritius.

George

Animals.fyi

 

We just joined the Viking World Cruise in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. 

We will be on board the Viking Sky for the cruise around Africa and disembarking in Lisbon.  

My lectures will introduce guests to some of the unique ecosystems and wildlife of SE Asia, Mauritius, and continental Africa. Here's a sampling of my lecture topics:

"Dodos to Lemurs: Contrasting Creatures of Mauritius & Madagascar" Explore the evolutionary marvels of Mauritius and Madagascar, where isolation in the same sea has sculpted wildly distinct wildlife wonders from dodos to lemurs." 

 

“African Wildlife Up Close & Personal.” Experience the rich ecosystems of the Okavango Delta and Kruger National Park through a photo safari. 

 

"Apex Predators of Africa" Discover the fascinating role of the largest carnivores in Africa… and their valuable ecological roles in “top-down” structuring of the ecosystem. Without Lions, would their prey survive? 

 

“Southern Coast of Africa—Where the Sea Saved Humanity.” Gain insight into how modern humans survived on this coast more than 100,000 years ago. 

 

“In the Realm of the Great White Shark.” Explore the fascinating lives of these top marine predators and the ecosystems they help create. 

 

“Namib & Kalahari Deserts—Ecosystems & Adaptations.” Find out how wildlife—elephants, lions, oryx and more—and the first affluent human culture evolved. 

"Sun, Wind, and Water: Africa's Green Energy Safari" Embark on a thrilling safari through Africa's renewable landscape, where the power of sun, wind, and water is driving an energy revolution. 

 

"Some of the Most Fascinating Creatures from Our Travels!" Embark on an exciting journey with our real-life wildlife adventures. Discover fascinating facts about egg-laying mammals, the world's most perilous birds, massive sea-going reptiles, and much more. 

“The Remarkable Story of How We Cracked Open Planet Earth.” Learn how one remarkable woman mapped the seafloor, helping to reveal surprising scientific secrets about Earth’s dynamic crust. 

"Canary Islands: Remarkable Ecosystems and Adaptations" Dive into the natural tapestry of the Canary Islands, where volcanic origins have given rise to ecosystems and cultures as unique and dynamic as the islands themselves.

You can follow along on our journey! Visit AnimalsFYI.com and follow the links.

Happy Travels!  Go Wild!

George

World Explorations Speaker