In this episode, Sristi Kamal, our Northwest Representative in Oregon, provides testimony in support of House Bill 2548, which proposes a study to fund building crossings and safe passage structures

In this episode, Sristi Kamal, our Northwest Representative in Oregon, provides testimony in support of House Bill 2548, which proposes a study to fund building crossings and safe passage structures for wildlife on Oregon highways. Video Transcript: Hi! My name is Sristi Kamal, and I'm the Senior Representative for Defenders of Wildlife in Oregon. Advocating for better wildlife policies does not stop even when we are working remotely. So today I will testify at the House Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources at the Oregon State Legislature. Chair Witt: Next - I'd like to call please upon Sristi Kamal, Dr. Kamal from Defenders of Wildlife. Sristi are you out there? Sristi: Yes I am. Thank you. Chair Witt: Welcome to our committee. Sristi: Thank you so much Chair Witt. Today I'm here to testify in support of House Bill 2548. The economic impact of wildlife collisions is the most obvious impact because the loss is undeniable, whether it is loss of life of the animal, property damage, harm and injury to humans, the mental trauma, and the cost of repairing and fixing it all. Washington, our neighboring state, estimated that on a 12.5 mile stretch of highway in their state wildlife collision costs 2.5 million dollars or $6,500 per collision annually and it's not going to be vastly different in Oregon. The other impact - though more challenging to economically quantify - is a loss of the individual animal and the ripple effect it causes on the population of a species and their ecosystem. Direct relationship between the health of a population of a species and its ability to move, to find new food sources, find mates, and find their way to keep their genetic gene pool healthy, All this is to say - that such a study is imperative to finding solutions that will prevent economic and ecological losses at such a scale. We believe such a study will show that the benefits from building passages and crossings and other structures will far outweigh the initial investment cost. Thank you for this opportunity. Chair Witt: Thank you so much for all of your contributions to - to conservation. Sristi: Thank you so much Rep. Witt. Chair Witt: You're very welcome. Sristi: Now, habitat connectivity is a big issue in wildlife conservation as wildlife need to have the ability to move, and expand in order to find better food sources, new homes and mates in order to keep their genetic pool diverse. So I'm advocating in support of this policy and I hope you remain engaged in the Oregon Legislative session and advocate for better wildlife policies as well.

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Join us for a virtual discussion with the three co-authors of Framers, which focuses on the essential tool that can enable humanity to find its way through the challenges of pandemics, populism, AI,

Join us for a virtual discussion with the three co-authors of Framers, which focuses on the essential tool that can enable humanity to find its way through the challenges of pandemics, populism, AI, ISIS, wealth inequity, climate change, and other worldwide problems that threaten our current civilizations. To frame is to make a mental model that enables us to see patterns, predict how things will unfold, and make sense of new situations. Frames guide the decisions we make and the results we obtain. Science has long focused on traits like memory and reasoning, but has often ignored framing. But with computers becoming better and better at those cognitive tasks, framing stands out as a critical function—and one only humans can do. Illustrating their case with compelling examples and the latest research, Cukier, Mayer-Schönberger and de Véricourt examine: why advice to “think outside the box” is useless; why the Wright brothers, with no formal physics training, were the first to fly; what enabled the 1976 Israeli hostage rescue at Entebbe to succeed; and how the MeToo twitter hashtag reframed the perception of sexual assault. They also show why framing Covid-19 as equivalent to a seasonal flu failed, and how modeling it on SARS succeeded in New Zealand. Framers shows how framing is not just a way to improve how we make decisions in an era of algorithms, but is also an ever more crucial tool in a time of societal upheaval and machine prosperity. Speaker photos by Peter van Heesen. SPEAKERS Kenneth Cukier Journalist, The Economist; Host, "Babbage" Tech Podcast; Co-Author, Framers Viktor Mayer-Schönberger Professor, Internet Governance and Regulation, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford; Member, Digital Council, Tech Advisors to German Government; Co-Author, Framers Francis de Véricourt Professor, Management Science, and Director, Center for Decisions, Models and Data, ESMT Berlin; Co-Author, Framers In Conversation with George Hammond Author, Conversations With Socrates 💯SUBSCRIBE for more VIDEOS: https://www.youtube.com/user/commonwealthclub 📆 UPCOMING EVENTS: https://www.commonwealthclub.org/events 🎉 BECOME a MEMBER: https://www.commonwealthclub.org/membership 💰 DONATE NOW: https://support.commonwealthclub.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=298 📺➕📻 Watch & Listen https://www.commonwealthclub.org/watch-listen CWC Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thecommonwealthclub/ CWC Instagram https://www.instagram.com/cwclub/ CWC Twitter https://twitter.com/cwclub The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum 📣, bringing together its 20,000 members for more than 400 annual events on topics ranging across politics, culture, society and the economy. Founded in 1903 in San Francisco California 🌉, The Commonwealth Club has played host to a diverse and distinctive array of speakers, from Teddy Roosevelt in 1911 to Hillary Clinton in 2010. Along the way, Martin Luther King, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton have all given landmark speeches at the Club.

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Melinda Gates champions contraception as a critical international health issue. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is dedicated to ensuring everyone has the opportunity to lead healthy, productive lives.

This page features videos, including content from the TEDx program, highlighting the Foundation's work in global health, global development, and U.S. education.

For more, visit the Foundation's YouTube channel for Global Health Stories.

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Bryan Walsh discusses Yellowstone's supervolcano, a rare but significant threat to humanity. Such eruptions could eject immense material, blocking sunlight and risking global starvation. Fortunately, steps can be taken to prepare for this looming danger.

Walsh, editor of Vox's Future Perfect and author of "End Times," explores policies and technologies for a better future. This video, originally by Freethink, is presented by Big Think, a leading source of expert-driven educational content.

Subscribe to Big Think on YouTube for more insights. Read the video transcript here, and explore related stories like the Tonga eruption.

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