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<H1 id=article-title class=entry-title>Making the World a BEE-ter Place</H1>
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<P class="author vcard" sizset="25" sizcache="111">By <A class="fn url"
href="http://latino.foxnews.com/archive/author/nancy-averett/index.html"
rel=author>Nancy Averett</A></P>
<P class="published updated dtstamp">Published May 23, 2012<SPAN
class=value-title title=2010-05-1T11:02Z></SPAN></P>
<P class="source-org vcard"><SPAN class="org fn">Fox News
Latino</SPAN></P></DIV>
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<DIV class="summary caption source-only"><SPAN class=source>Clinton Brandhagen
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<P>Gabriela Chavarria grew up among the concrete and pollution of Mexico City so
most of her experiences with nature came from vacations and holidays spent on
her father’s hobby farm in nearby Zacatecas.</P>
<P>Still, at a young age, Chavarria developed a fascination for bees that would
eventually lead her to a career as a celebrated biologist working on a range of
environmental issues, from invasive species to climate change.</P>
<P>“I always loved bees,” says Chavarria, who works as the science advisor to
the director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “When I was a little girl my
teachers would stamp my papers with the ‘hardworker’ bee symbol and I loved
that. Later, when I was 15, I got my first bee hives and when I went to the
Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, I did my theses on African honey
bees.”</P>
<P>Chavarria’s smarts eventually landed her at Harvard University, where she
earned her PhD in biology and then went on to a series of high-profile
appointments. She has served as the director of the National Resources Defense
Council’s Science Center and also on former President Bill Clinton’s Invasive
Species Advisory Committee.</P>
<P>Chavvaria said she’s not surprised by national polls that show Latinos in the
United States have a high degree of awareness and concern about environmental
issues.</P>
<P>“A lot of Latinos live in areas that are close to industry and highly
polluted,” she said. “They care because they are suffering from the direct
impact of the pollution. Their kids are getting sick. They have asthma or they
get poisoned from bad water.”</P>
<P>Despite their concerns over the environment, few U.S. Latinos are actively
involved in the environmental movement. Chaviarra says that’s because
organizations have not done a good job of figuring out how to reach out to
Latinos.</P>
<P>She said the NRDC is one nonprofit that has made an effort by translating all
of its materials into Spanish.</P>
<P>“It’s great information,” she said. “But even then, how many Latinos have
access to the Internet? Most Latinos work two jobs and they don’t have extra
money to give to nonprofits.”</P>
<P>Chavvaria grew up the oldest of five in a traditional Catholic family. Her
father was an architect, her mother a stay-at-home mom. At first her parents
didn’t know what to make of her fascination with insects.</P>
<P>“I used to take pins out of [my mom’s] sewing basket to pin the insects and
make collections,” she says. “My mother’s response was, ‘That’s so gross. You’re
a lady. You don’t do those kinds of things.’”</P>
<P>Though her parents were surprised when she told them after college that
instead of looking for a husband, she was leaving for graduate school, they were
also impressed when she told them she’d won a fellowship to Harvard. “I broke
the mold and went against their expectations,” she says.</P>
<P>Although Chavarria has spent her entire adult life living in the United
States, she has not forgotten her native Mexico. She has helped form several
coalitions, bringing together U.S. and Mexican scientists on conservation
issues. One is the North American Pollinator Protection Campaign, which works to
protect the health of resident and migratory pollinator species in North
America.</P>
<P>Pollinators, especially bees, occupy a big space in Chavarria’s heart – even
though she’s been stung numerous times.</P>
<P>“I have some photos where I look like I’ve been in a boxing match I was stung
so many times,” she says.</P>
<P>Still, she works hard to protect bees. She tells audience members who come to
one of her annual “bee talks” that after every third bite of food they should
thank a pollinator for making it possible.</P>
<P>“We really take bees for granted,” she says. “But we’re highly dependent upon
them for our food.” Chavarria herself keeps her black-and-yellow friends top of
mind by wearing on the shoulder of her business suits a gold “honeybee” pin.</P>
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<P>Nancy Averett is a freelance writer based in Ohio.</P>
<P> </P></I></DIV></DIV></DIV><BR><BR>Read more: <A style="COLOR: #003399"
href="http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/lifestyle/2012/05/23/making-world-bee-ter-place/#ixzz1vtq44ZwH">http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/lifestyle/2012/05/23/making-world-bee-ter-place/#ixzz1vtq44ZwH</A></DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>