Bonobos

You’re familiar with the ecological consequences of Phragmites, right?

Me neither.

Good thing there are guys like Ted Turluck out there, working on a problem that so few people are aware of:

Phragmites invades coastal wetlands and displaces the native flora upon which the native fauna feed and use as habitat…. Remember the “Leave the gun, take the cannoli” scene in the Godfather? That tall grass in the background is Phragmites. That should give you an idea of how thick it gets. Ducks, geese, shorebirds, and other migratory waterfowl need the wetlands this grass degrades on their annual migration route. Plus, wetlands provide habitat for a large number of herpetofauna, amphibians, and plant species. Any information about Phragmites will aid land managers in its control and prevention, maintaining the biodiversity and quality of habitat.

As an undergraduate, I decided to study biology/environmental science because I thought that doing social work, counseling, etc. would be very good for society, but first we need a healthy planet to live on. What good is it to be free of one’s former drug habit if one then has to drink polluted water and breathe polluted air? A healthy environment is the foundation to a healthy society. Since graduation I’ve worked with endangered/threatened species at the biological technician level. I’ve worked with the Ash Meadows Amargosa Pupfish in Southern Nevada and the Mottled Duck on the Upper Texas Coast…. I will have a bigger impact on conservation once I earn my Ph.D. and am able to conduct my own research. I’d like to work with The Nature Conservancy or some other NGO with an environmental orientation.

I’m a smart guy. I could have gone into business and lived in a house in the suburbs with my skinny blonde wife and our two Chihuahuas, one short-haired, the other long. I could be making $100,000 a year now. But when I’m laying on my deathbed, I’ll be happy I devoted my life to improving the world. And maybe I’ll be wearing some really awesome pants…. Pants from big department stores are always too long or don’t make my butt look like a butt. That’s why I’m interested in your pants. And your company seems eco-friendly, the kind of company I try to patronize as much as possible.

Probably goes without saying, but we hope Ted uses his new Band of Brothers discount to score himself some congos. Good for trekking out into the urban jungle or the actual freaking wilderness. And if we ever decide to make hip-waders (we use a lot of unique fabrics; laminated neoprene may just be a logical next step), I can’t imagine we’d christen them anything other than the Turlucks!