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[heatherwhitestrategies]

The first six months of 2020 feel like a decade.

Given the global pandemic of Covid-19, we recognize that we are biologically connected. As temperatures above the Arctic Circle hit a record of 100 degrees Fahrenheit and the effects of climate change accelerate, it’s harder to ignore that we are ecologically linked. The tremendous impacts of the necessary stay-at-home orders show us that our economic livelihoods are intertwined. The Black Lives Matter movement and the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahman Aubrey and so many others demonstrate that we must confront and dismantle systemic racism.

Given the collective pain that is now exposed and also unites us, how can we use this shared experience for positive change? It’s time for self-reflection, for hope, and ultimately, for action.

Hope came to me recently from an unlikely place — a conversation earlier this month about protecting the oceans from plastic pollution.

More @medium.   #environmentaljustice #plasticpollution #oceanhealth

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Science rocks! 

May the Four Forces Be With You!

May the force be with you? Much to learn you still have, padawan. In our universe it would be more appropriate to say, “May the four forces be with you.”

There are four fundamental forces that bind our universe and its building blocks together. Two of them are easy to spot — gravity keeps your feet on the ground while electromagnetism keeps your devices running. The other two are a little harder to see directly in everyday life, but without them, our universe would look a lot different!

Let’s explore these forces in a little more detail.

Gravity: Bringing the universe together

If you jump up, gravity brings you back down to Earth. It also keeps the solar system together … and our galaxy, and our local group of galaxies and our supercluster of galaxies.

Gravity pulls everything together. Everything, from the bright centers of the universe to the planets farthest from them. In fact, you (yes, you!) even exert a gravitational force on a galaxy far, far away. A tiny gravitational force, but a force nonetheless.

Credit: NASA and the Advanced Visualization Laboratory at the National Center for Supercomputing and B. O'Shea, M. Norman

Despite its well-known reputation, gravity is actually the weakest of the four forces. Its strength increases with the mass of the two objects involved. And its range is infinite, but the strength drops off as the square of the distance. If you and a friend measured your gravitational tug on each other and then doubled the distance between you, your new gravitational attraction would just be a quarter of what it was. So, you have to be really close together, or really big, or both, to exert a lot of gravity.

Even so, because its range is infinite, gravity is responsible for the formation of the largest structures in our universe! Planetary systems, galaxies and clusters of galaxies all formed because gravity brought them together.

Gravity truly surrounds us and binds us together.

Electromagnetism: Lighting the way

You know that shock you get on a dry day after shuffling across the carpet? The electricity that powers your television? The light that illuminates your room on a dark night? Those are all the work of electromagnetism. As the name implies, electromagnetism is the force that includes both electricity and magnetism.

Electromagnetism keeps electrons orbiting the nucleus at the center of atoms and allows chemical compounds to form (you know, the stuff that makes up us and everything around us). Electromagnetic waves are also known as light. Once started, an electromagnetic wave will travel at the speed of light until it interacts with something (like your eye) — so it will be there to light up the dark places.

Like gravity, electromagnetism works at infinite distances. And, also like gravity, the electromagnetic force between two objects falls as the square of their distance. However, unlike gravity, electromagnetism doesn’t just attract. Whether it attracts or repels depends on the electric charge of the objects involved. Two negative charges or two positive charges repel each other; one of each, and they attract each other. Plus. Minus. A balance.

This is what happens with common household magnets. If you hold them with the same “poles” together, they resist each other. On the other hand, if you hold a magnet with opposite poles together — snap! — they’ll attract each other.

Electromagnetism might just explain the relationship between a certain scruffy-looking nerf-herder and a princess.

Strong Force: Building the building blocks

Credit: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

The strong force is where things get really small. So small, that you can’t see it at work directly. But don’t let your eyes deceive you. Despite acting only on short distances, the strong force holds together the building blocks of the atoms, which are, in turn, the building blocks of everything we see around us.

Like gravity, the strong force always attracts, but that’s really where their similarities end. As the name implies, the force is strong with the strong force. It is the strongest of the four forces. It brings together protons and neutrons to form the nucleus of atoms — it has to be stronger than electromagnetism to do it, since all those protons are positively charged. But not only that, the strong force holds together the quarks — even tinier particles — to form those very protons and neutrons.

However, the strong force only works on very, very, very small distances. How small? About the scale of a medium-sized atom’s nucleus. For those of you who like the numbers, that’s about 10-15 meters, or 0.000000000000001 meters. That’s about a hundred billion times smaller than the width of a human hair! Whew.

Its tiny scale is why you don’t directly see the strong force in your day-to-day life. Judge a force by its physical size, do you? 

Weak Force: Keeping us in sunshine

If you thought it was hard to see the strong force, the weak force works on even smaller scales — 1,000 times smaller. But it, too, is extremely important for life as we know it. In fact, the weak force plays a key role in keeping our Sun shining.

But what does the weak force do? Well … that requires getting a little into the weeds of particle physics. Here goes nothing! We mentioned quarks earlier — these are tiny particles that, among other things, make up protons and neutrons. There are six types of quarks, but the two that make up protons and neutrons are called up and down quarks. The weak force changes one quark type into another. This causes neutrons to decay into protons (or the other way around) while releasing electrons and ghostly particles called neutrinos.

So for example, the weak force can turn a down quark in a neutron into an up quark, which will turn that neutron into a proton. If that neutron is in an atom’s nucleus, the electric charge of the nucleus changes. That tiny change turns the atom into a different element! Such reactions are happening all the time in our Sun, giving it the energy to shine.

The weak force might just help to keep you in the (sun)light.

All four of these forces run strong in the universe. They flow between all things and keep our universe in balance. Without them, we’d be doomed. But these forces will be with you. Always.

You can learn more about gravity from NASA’s Space Place and follow NASAUniverse on Twitter or Facebook to learn about some of the cool cosmic objects we study with light.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com

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Trying to find joy during #QuarantineLife. I had to let go of a lot, including thinking I had anything in common with my childhood hero, Laura Ingalls Wilder. 

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ICYMI: How the Lessons from the #Covid19 Response Can Help Us Create a Better World. We can Reset to Green.  #climatechange #actonclimate #sustainability

[heatherwhitestrategies]

After a few weeks of quarantine life, I realized that I have nothing in common with my childhood hero. #quarantinelife #covid19 #composting #wellness  #socialdistancing #environment #greenliving #conservation 

[heatherwhitestrategies]

Reset to Green. Lessons from the Covid 19 response can help us tackle climate change. Once we have dealt with this crisis, we can work together to create a more a greener, more equitable world. 

#conservation #environment #reset2green #climatechange #actonclimate

[heatherwhitestrategies]

“All you have is what you are and what you give.” -Ursula K. LeGuin.

This quote from writer Ursula K. Le Guin inspires me. It's not my usual background photography from the Greater Yellowstone. This time the image is from Jamaica. My latest adventure underscored what a beautiful, diverse planet we inhabit. I came back to Montana with a renewed sense of purpose and wonder for the world.

Le Guin reminds us that from our love to our time and attention, we are what we give. The nonprofit sector centers around giving and social change. The enormous challenges we face as a society will take all of our collective passion, creativity, time, and resources. Whether it's board service, volunteering, or making charitable contributions, there are many ways to support the causes you care about. Learn. Connect. Give. I'm honored to support the nonprofit sector and excited about what we have and will can accomplish. Together we can make a huge difference and create a healthier, greener world.

#philanthropy #conservation #nonprofitleadership

[heatherwhitestrategies]

Heather White, conservation policy and green living expert, adds that mindful journaling can be another tool for connecting to nature from behind closed doors. "Even if you can only open up your window or stand on your balcony, get some fresh air. Look up. Watch the clouds move, feel the rain, or listen for birds and insects. Spend five minutes observing what nature you can see. Write down what you notice. Be present," she says. #gratitude #connecttonature #conservation #environmentalism #wildlifeconservation #purpose #meditation #natureheals

[heatherwhitestrategies]

As we get ready to celebrate #EarthDay, a reminder that our national parks are such a place of wonder and healing. We need public lands. 

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I wrote this in the “before” times, but #covid19 has made it clear that our #nationalparks should be part of our public health strategy once we are free to roam again. nature heals.

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This Earth Day be sure to watch The Story of Plastic on the Discovery Channel. 

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“Our goal is not just an environment of clean air and water and scenic beauty. The objective is an environment of decency, quality and mutual respect for all other human beings and all other living creatures.” - Gaylord Nelson, Earth Day Founder 

[heatherwhitestrategies]

Exactly. #qotd #getoutside #conservation #environment #savethplanet #wellness

[heatherwhitestrategies]

Earth Day turns 50. We honor Gaylord Nelson, who inspired Earth Day. This quote reminds us that mutual respect for all living things is essential to tackle the big environmental issues of our time. 

[heatherwhitestrategies]

Great resource from Eat Real on How to Wear a Mask like a pro. Especially relevant given the recent CDC guidance for the public. Learn more about Eat Real’s work to distribute protective gear to school food service providers who are serving crisis meals. 

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How to address the disruptions to nonprofits and charitable giving during the Covid19 crisis. 

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Great series from The Compass Coalition. Excellent example of story telling to show how philanthropy supports conservation.