WildVenture is a small volunteer organization for conservation, research, and community support projects. Many conservation and community projects are currently helped by WildVenture's volunteers, promotion and funding. Each expedition works with local experts in their field and have qualified personnel on site.
History
WildVenture was founded in 2009 by three Imperial College London biology graduates. They are an extensively travelled team. They have experienced different cultures and the damaging effect of habitat destruction in almost every country. They established WildVenture as a means to create a free work force for these causes and to create the possibility of reinvesting funds back into projects. With little funds to invest in the creation of the company the graduates relied on their individual skills and contacts to build the venture.
The Projects
Orphan Lamb Care
The first project to be set up in 2009 was the 'Orphan Lamb Care Expedition'. This expedition took place in North Cornwall. It aims to give volunteers experience in animal handling, medicating and first hand knowledge of the difficulties faced by local farmers during the lambing period. It acts as a lamb bank, taking orphan lambs from locals farms, caring for them until they are able to feed themselves and then giving them back to the farm. This project helps negate the significant financial losses made by farmers during the season.
The project is carried out in Bude in North Cornwall and is closely affiliated with Cerenety Eco Campsite. This campsite offers holiday accommodation that has a low carbon footprint . They provide facilities run on renewable energy such as solar and wind power. WildVenture says that it would like to accommodate volunteers comfortably whilst limiting negative impact on the local environment.
Forest Mammal Research
In 2010 the 'Forest Mammal Research Expedition' was set up. Primarily, this expedition aims to carry out research on the dormouse along with other mammal species of the Chilterns. The research involves the tagging, weighing and habitat observation of the introduced Glis species, which is threatening our native wildlife and causes damage to woodland trees. The project also studies the native and protected Hazel Dormouse, whose population has been declining in the UK over the past century, in order to find out the best ways of conserving this species . Volunteers also observe other mammals found within the forests to provide information on the habitat and environment in which the Hazel Dormouse can thrive.
This project takes place in the Chilterns in the UK, where there is a good size population of the introduced pest species and the protected, native species. An article co-written by one of the WildVenture founders Sarah Brooks, explains the preferred habitat of our native dormouse species .
Teaching English in Mongolia
In 2011, WildVenture set up its first overseas expedition. Having become aware of the increasing infrastructure and companies established in Mongolia and the number of jobs given to foreign workers due to the lack of English speaking locals, WildVenture set up an English Speaking project in Khovd (Western Mongolia). The project takes native English speakers to Mongolia to teach in the university of Hovd, where student can learn for free. The volunteer organisation also arranges the shipment of English language and excersise books over to Mongolia. The university are currently planning to establish a year round English course with the help of WildVenture volunteers.
The project is based in Khovd and works with a local Mongolian tour operator that also has a charity branch . This company aims to bring more tourism to a country in need of jobs and foreign finance, it therefore fully supports the aim of teaching English to the town's people.
Turtle Conservation in Sri Lanka
WildVenture is currently setting up a new project in Sri Lanka, aimed to help conserve some of the most endangered turtle species in the world. The Olive Ridley and Leatherback turtle both nest on the beaches of Sri Lanka.
See Also
Tourism in Mongolia
History
WildVenture was founded in 2009 by three Imperial College London biology graduates. They are an extensively travelled team. They have experienced different cultures and the damaging effect of habitat destruction in almost every country. They established WildVenture as a means to create a free work force for these causes and to create the possibility of reinvesting funds back into projects. With little funds to invest in the creation of the company the graduates relied on their individual skills and contacts to build the venture.
The Projects
Orphan Lamb Care
The first project to be set up in 2009 was the 'Orphan Lamb Care Expedition'. This expedition took place in North Cornwall. It aims to give volunteers experience in animal handling, medicating and first hand knowledge of the difficulties faced by local farmers during the lambing period. It acts as a lamb bank, taking orphan lambs from locals farms, caring for them until they are able to feed themselves and then giving them back to the farm. This project helps negate the significant financial losses made by farmers during the season.
The project is carried out in Bude in North Cornwall and is closely affiliated with Cerenety Eco Campsite. This campsite offers holiday accommodation that has a low carbon footprint . They provide facilities run on renewable energy such as solar and wind power. WildVenture says that it would like to accommodate volunteers comfortably whilst limiting negative impact on the local environment.
Forest Mammal Research
In 2010 the 'Forest Mammal Research Expedition' was set up. Primarily, this expedition aims to carry out research on the dormouse along with other mammal species of the Chilterns. The research involves the tagging, weighing and habitat observation of the introduced Glis species, which is threatening our native wildlife and causes damage to woodland trees. The project also studies the native and protected Hazel Dormouse, whose population has been declining in the UK over the past century, in order to find out the best ways of conserving this species . Volunteers also observe other mammals found within the forests to provide information on the habitat and environment in which the Hazel Dormouse can thrive.
This project takes place in the Chilterns in the UK, where there is a good size population of the introduced pest species and the protected, native species. An article co-written by one of the WildVenture founders Sarah Brooks, explains the preferred habitat of our native dormouse species .
Teaching English in Mongolia
In 2011, WildVenture set up its first overseas expedition. Having become aware of the increasing infrastructure and companies established in Mongolia and the number of jobs given to foreign workers due to the lack of English speaking locals, WildVenture set up an English Speaking project in Khovd (Western Mongolia). The project takes native English speakers to Mongolia to teach in the university of Hovd, where student can learn for free. The volunteer organisation also arranges the shipment of English language and excersise books over to Mongolia. The university are currently planning to establish a year round English course with the help of WildVenture volunteers.
The project is based in Khovd and works with a local Mongolian tour operator that also has a charity branch . This company aims to bring more tourism to a country in need of jobs and foreign finance, it therefore fully supports the aim of teaching English to the town's people.
Turtle Conservation in Sri Lanka
WildVenture is currently setting up a new project in Sri Lanka, aimed to help conserve some of the most endangered turtle species in the world. The Olive Ridley and Leatherback turtle both nest on the beaches of Sri Lanka.
See Also
Tourism in Mongolia
Guy Burlage (born in Norfolk, Virginia) is an American singer songwriter and guitarist, based in Virginia Beach, Virginia. His music is a blend of country rock, folk rock, and the "Virginia sound" made popular by Bruce Hornsby starting in the mid-1980s. Burlage's album Just Like Gold was released by Waylon Records in 1991. Burlage also records and performs in Vermont. His sometimes teams with fellow Virginian Victor Paul in the Burlage-Paul Band; they released the EP The Door in 2010.
Earlier, in 1978, he produced and played guitar and steel guitar on the Waylon Records-issued self-titled debut album of the Seabird Band from the Tidewater region of Virginia. The album was well received by national radio, and was a "Hot Pick" by Billboard magazine. which received positive notices from The Washington Post among others.
Earlier, in 1978, he produced and played guitar and steel guitar on the Waylon Records-issued self-titled debut album of the Seabird Band from the Tidewater region of Virginia. The album was well received by national radio, and was a "Hot Pick" by Billboard magazine. which received positive notices from The Washington Post among others.
Thalia Grace is a fictional character in Rick Riordan's Camp Half-Blood book series. She debuts in the ending of The Sea of Monsters, the second book of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. She makes a brief appearance in The Lost Hero, the first book of the The Heroes of Olympus series, sequel to the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series. She is the demigod daughter of Zeus.
The Sea of Monsters
Thalia appears in Percy's dreams throughout the book. At the end of The Sea of Monsters, she is brought back to life by the Golden Fleece which Clarisse places on her pine tree. Zeus gives her a spear which shoots electricity and turns into a small mace canister that fits in her pocket, and Athena gives her a bracelet that turns into Aegis, a shield with the Medusa's head carved into it. Thalia is now potentially the child of the prophecy, and Kronos soon takes advantage of the fact.
The Titan's Curse
Thalia and Percy quarrel occasionally at camp because their similar personalities tend to clash. Percy is called "Seaweed Brain" by Thalia, which he does not like because it is Annabeth's pet name for him; in retaliation, he calls her "Pinecone Face". Before the quest, Nico di Angelo makes Percy promise to keep his sister safe during the quest. Thalia goes on the quest to find Artemis, find the dangerous Ophiotaurus Artemis was seeking and rescue Annabeth, with Percy, Zoë Nightshade, Bianca di Angelo, and Grover. Thalia, Percy, Zoe Nightshade, Bianca, and Grover come upon the Junkyard of the Gods and told not to take anything from the junkyard, but just as the group is about to leave, a metal giant rises because Bianca took a figurine for Nico. Bianca goes inside of the metal giant, which is a defective automaton of the giant Talos, and controls it to dance like a chicken, causing the giant to fall over and Bianca to die. Together, they face the Titan General, Atlas's army, and make it to Mount Tamalpais. Already weakened by dragon poison, while facing her father, Atlas, Zoe perishes from a final blow from him. There, Thalia fights her old friend Luke, and they discover that Kronos used Thalia to twist destiny into her hands, since she would be turning sixteen on the day following the Winter Solstice. She escaped this deadly path and turned to her half-sister, Artemis, who made her a Hunter, which would stop her from being sixteen, because whoever becomes a Hunter becomes immortal, unless they shall die in battle or break the oath by falling in love.
The Battle of the Labyrinth
Thalia is absent from Camp Half-Blood this summer due to her adventures with Artemis and the Hunters, but she is mentioned once in the book.
The Last Olympian
Thalia and the Hunters of Artemis show up when Percy is looking for someone to defend the Lincoln Tunnel against the Titans. Thalia helps Percy and the other demigods defend Manhattan. She accompanies Percy, Annabeth and Grover to Olympus where they defeated Kronos. However, she did not see their victory and Luke's death as she got trapped under a statue of Hera while saving Annabeth, whom Hera wanted dead. At the end of the story, Thalia is still alive, and is granted help in getting more Hunters, because a lot of them died during the final battle. However, it is not known whether she learnt of Luke's death.
The Lost Hero
In The Lost Hero, Thalia reunites with Jason, her full brother through Zeus (Jupiter in Jason's case) and their mother. She admits that she ran away from home after Jason disappeared when he was two, and her mother told her he was dead. She helps Jason, Piper and Leo on their quest.
Description
Thalia has shoulder length spiky black hair, electric blue eyes, and freckles across her nose. She is described as being "extremely pretty" by fellow campers and Apollo, (in The Titan's Curse, when he says "Man, I hate it when pretty girls get turned into trees,") and is "beautiful", according to Artemis. She wears punk styled clothes, and she has a magic bracelet that turns into Aegis, a modified version of Athena's shield. When Thalia became a Hunter, she wears a silver tiara showing she is the first lietenant of Artemis. Since she became a Hunter, Thalia will always look like a fifteen-year-old while she is almost immortal.
In the Lost Hero, Jason Grace, her brother, looks at an old picture of Thalia saying her skin tone looks more Mediterranean while his is more Roman (They both have the same mother, but Zeus is Thalia's father and Jupiter is Jason's father. According to Jason, their appearances are nothing alike except the colour of their electric blue eyes.
Powers and abilities
* Thalia has ADHD like other half-bloods, which increases her awareness in combat, to the point of being able to anticipate the enemy simply by observing where he/she tenses.
* As with all other half-bloods, Thalia is dyslexic because her brain has been "hard-wired" for Ancient Greek.
* Thalia becomes the 1st lieutenant of Artemis's hunters in the end of The Titan's Curse, and as a result, is immortal unless she dies in battle or breaks her oath to Artemis, which is to foreswear romantic love forever.
* Thalia can 'manipulate the Mist", which means she can make things as she wants them to appear to the eyes of a mortal (taught to her by Chiron).
* Thalia is a highly talented fighter, as Luke, the best swordsman in 300 years at Camp Half Blood, was always beaten by her.
*Thalia, as the daughter of Zeus, is more powerful than most demigods and on a par in strength with her cousins Percy and Nico and her brother Jason because they are also children of the Big Three.
* Thalia can channel powerful amounts of electrical energy into another's body on contact. She has been known to burn off a person's eyebrows.
* Things that belong to her father's domain can do as she asks, such as statues of the angels in The Titan's Curse, which were gifts to her father. They, on her request, flew her and her friends to San Francisco.
* Thalia is a natural leader, putting her at odds with the similarly talented and powerful Percy.
* Thalia can also manipulate electricity and lightning. She fries a Laistrygonian Giant with a single lightning bolt during The Last Olympian.
* Thalia has dominion over air and the sky. Since she has acrophobia (fear of heights) she has yet to test them.
* Thalia can manipulate the weather.
Weapons
* A copy of Aegis that expands from a metal bracelet that she wears on her wrist, which many of the campers and monsters cower in front of due to the moulded head of Medusa on the shield.
* A collapsible spear that expands from a Mace canister.
* A Hunter's bow.
* Two Hunting Knives
Film
Thalia, nor her tree, were seen nor mentioned in the first film, although Grover does mention her in a deleted scene. She has not been cast yet for a second film.
The Sea of Monsters
Thalia appears in Percy's dreams throughout the book. At the end of The Sea of Monsters, she is brought back to life by the Golden Fleece which Clarisse places on her pine tree. Zeus gives her a spear which shoots electricity and turns into a small mace canister that fits in her pocket, and Athena gives her a bracelet that turns into Aegis, a shield with the Medusa's head carved into it. Thalia is now potentially the child of the prophecy, and Kronos soon takes advantage of the fact.
The Titan's Curse
Thalia and Percy quarrel occasionally at camp because their similar personalities tend to clash. Percy is called "Seaweed Brain" by Thalia, which he does not like because it is Annabeth's pet name for him; in retaliation, he calls her "Pinecone Face". Before the quest, Nico di Angelo makes Percy promise to keep his sister safe during the quest. Thalia goes on the quest to find Artemis, find the dangerous Ophiotaurus Artemis was seeking and rescue Annabeth, with Percy, Zoë Nightshade, Bianca di Angelo, and Grover. Thalia, Percy, Zoe Nightshade, Bianca, and Grover come upon the Junkyard of the Gods and told not to take anything from the junkyard, but just as the group is about to leave, a metal giant rises because Bianca took a figurine for Nico. Bianca goes inside of the metal giant, which is a defective automaton of the giant Talos, and controls it to dance like a chicken, causing the giant to fall over and Bianca to die. Together, they face the Titan General, Atlas's army, and make it to Mount Tamalpais. Already weakened by dragon poison, while facing her father, Atlas, Zoe perishes from a final blow from him. There, Thalia fights her old friend Luke, and they discover that Kronos used Thalia to twist destiny into her hands, since she would be turning sixteen on the day following the Winter Solstice. She escaped this deadly path and turned to her half-sister, Artemis, who made her a Hunter, which would stop her from being sixteen, because whoever becomes a Hunter becomes immortal, unless they shall die in battle or break the oath by falling in love.
The Battle of the Labyrinth
Thalia is absent from Camp Half-Blood this summer due to her adventures with Artemis and the Hunters, but she is mentioned once in the book.
The Last Olympian
Thalia and the Hunters of Artemis show up when Percy is looking for someone to defend the Lincoln Tunnel against the Titans. Thalia helps Percy and the other demigods defend Manhattan. She accompanies Percy, Annabeth and Grover to Olympus where they defeated Kronos. However, she did not see their victory and Luke's death as she got trapped under a statue of Hera while saving Annabeth, whom Hera wanted dead. At the end of the story, Thalia is still alive, and is granted help in getting more Hunters, because a lot of them died during the final battle. However, it is not known whether she learnt of Luke's death.
The Lost Hero
In The Lost Hero, Thalia reunites with Jason, her full brother through Zeus (Jupiter in Jason's case) and their mother. She admits that she ran away from home after Jason disappeared when he was two, and her mother told her he was dead. She helps Jason, Piper and Leo on their quest.
Description
Thalia has shoulder length spiky black hair, electric blue eyes, and freckles across her nose. She is described as being "extremely pretty" by fellow campers and Apollo, (in The Titan's Curse, when he says "Man, I hate it when pretty girls get turned into trees,") and is "beautiful", according to Artemis. She wears punk styled clothes, and she has a magic bracelet that turns into Aegis, a modified version of Athena's shield. When Thalia became a Hunter, she wears a silver tiara showing she is the first lietenant of Artemis. Since she became a Hunter, Thalia will always look like a fifteen-year-old while she is almost immortal.
In the Lost Hero, Jason Grace, her brother, looks at an old picture of Thalia saying her skin tone looks more Mediterranean while his is more Roman (They both have the same mother, but Zeus is Thalia's father and Jupiter is Jason's father. According to Jason, their appearances are nothing alike except the colour of their electric blue eyes.
Powers and abilities
* Thalia has ADHD like other half-bloods, which increases her awareness in combat, to the point of being able to anticipate the enemy simply by observing where he/she tenses.
* As with all other half-bloods, Thalia is dyslexic because her brain has been "hard-wired" for Ancient Greek.
* Thalia becomes the 1st lieutenant of Artemis's hunters in the end of The Titan's Curse, and as a result, is immortal unless she dies in battle or breaks her oath to Artemis, which is to foreswear romantic love forever.
* Thalia can 'manipulate the Mist", which means she can make things as she wants them to appear to the eyes of a mortal (taught to her by Chiron).
* Thalia is a highly talented fighter, as Luke, the best swordsman in 300 years at Camp Half Blood, was always beaten by her.
*Thalia, as the daughter of Zeus, is more powerful than most demigods and on a par in strength with her cousins Percy and Nico and her brother Jason because they are also children of the Big Three.
* Thalia can channel powerful amounts of electrical energy into another's body on contact. She has been known to burn off a person's eyebrows.
* Things that belong to her father's domain can do as she asks, such as statues of the angels in The Titan's Curse, which were gifts to her father. They, on her request, flew her and her friends to San Francisco.
* Thalia is a natural leader, putting her at odds with the similarly talented and powerful Percy.
* Thalia can also manipulate electricity and lightning. She fries a Laistrygonian Giant with a single lightning bolt during The Last Olympian.
* Thalia has dominion over air and the sky. Since she has acrophobia (fear of heights) she has yet to test them.
* Thalia can manipulate the weather.
Weapons
* A copy of Aegis that expands from a metal bracelet that she wears on her wrist, which many of the campers and monsters cower in front of due to the moulded head of Medusa on the shield.
* A collapsible spear that expands from a Mace canister.
* A Hunter's bow.
* Two Hunting Knives
Film
Thalia, nor her tree, were seen nor mentioned in the first film, although Grover does mention her in a deleted scene. She has not been cast yet for a second film.
Courtney Jane Kendrick is a blogger and humorist who writes about her life and family on her blog, C Jane Enjoy It.
Seeking partial anonymity, she goes by the name of "C Jane" on her blog and calls her husband "Chup", her son "The Chief" and daughter "Ever Jane". She has a wide readership for her interesting and engaging writing style.
Kendrick's sister, Stephanie Nielson, known as "Nie Nie" by followers of her blog, is also a well-known blogger. After she and her husband Christian were injured in a small plane crash, Kendrick cared for three of the Nielson children, Claire, Jane and Ollie.
Kendrick is sponsoring downtown Provo's Rooftop Concert Series and has announced a goal of posting on her blog every day until December 25, 2010.
Seeking partial anonymity, she goes by the name of "C Jane" on her blog and calls her husband "Chup", her son "The Chief" and daughter "Ever Jane". She has a wide readership for her interesting and engaging writing style.
Kendrick's sister, Stephanie Nielson, known as "Nie Nie" by followers of her blog, is also a well-known blogger. After she and her husband Christian were injured in a small plane crash, Kendrick cared for three of the Nielson children, Claire, Jane and Ollie.
Kendrick is sponsoring downtown Provo's Rooftop Concert Series and has announced a goal of posting on her blog every day until December 25, 2010.