actually mushrooms seem pretty charismatic to me

on Tuesday last week, Dr. Michael Salvo gave a talk sponsored by our Purdue chapter of the Rhetoric Society of America. it was about place and animals and all the interactions among human and non-human that make the world what it is, what it will be.

a high (very high) percentage of Dr. Salvo's slides were photographs of puffins. and that is why this ornithologist's photograph instantly reminded me of the talk.

To study the ultraviolet properties of the puffins bill, we have had to design something to protect their eyes from the light.

These are our prototype auk 'sunglasses', designed at @designdotgold. #ornithology pic.twitter.com/LMCvdl3sv3

— Jamie (@JamieDunning) March 29, 2018

the whole idea of designing sunglasses for a puffin so you can study it without damaging its pudgy little puffin body also fits with some of the talk's themes of conservation and properly caring about the non-human. worrying about a puffin's eyesight is a nice thing to do. considerate. ethical.

and practical, too. you don't want the puffins you are studying to get damaged or die. that would mess up your studying, I imagine.

but some might say that a few blinded, damaged puffins sacrificed in the name of science is probably worth it for what we could learn that might change the world. who knows. but as long as it isn't so much work to design sunglasses for your puffin research participants, it seems more worth it to do that.


related:

George Lakoff's FrameLab podcast makes an argument for calling them human survival issues, rather than environmental issues.

I want to read this book about mushrooms. mushrooms are beautiful.