Vol. 7 Presenter: Melanie Kirby
Presenting
Profit for Prophets
Summary
Natural Resources have long been erroneously assumed to be limitless and therefore exploitable. Yet, they serve as the backdrop of our landscapes, the backbone of our planet’s ecosystem services, and the beloved of biodiversity. Without these resources, we will perish. And without transforming our greed for them, they shall vanish. From the microbes that live in the water and soil, to the various life forms that bond with them, our species’ ability to survive and thrive depends on natural resources. To better understand these resources, we must travel to the source of life, water and starlight. Our planet’s assets, in truth, are priceless. Yet, how is it that we are able to market them, and at the expense of their dependents? What is the human perception that allows and emboldens some of us to dare pilfer from these natural resources?
As one who works predominantly with fuzzy and buzzy insects, I bear witness to these prophetesses’ preamble...and gamble. They must stay the course, rain or shine, wind or fire, as their livelihood and legacy is eviscerated, confiscated, and ultimately desecrated. Can we put a price on the ones who nurture our existence? What profit constitutes their sacrifice? The interspecies connection is what gives rise to our commonwealth. In a sense, we are all wealthy beyond our wildest dreams. Yet, we don’t even recognize the true value and sanctity endowed upon us as caretakers of creation with the power to nurture or torture, to conserve or destroy biodiversity and ecosystem services which provide us with sustenance, home and, hearth.
As our ancestors profess, “We disrespect our natural environment at great cost to all with risk of extinction.” Let us reflect on our real world treasury and redistribute our definition of wealth for all our planet’s biota can profit.
Bio
Melanie Margarita Kirby is a Nectar Nomad following the bloom and shepherding her bees across the land of enchantment. She established Zia Queenbees in 2005 in northern NM which shares and collects locally-adapted bee ecotypes to help regenerate and preserve pollinator habitat, promote local food production and support land-based heritage. Melanie is a native New Mexican who has had the blessed opportunities to learn from and work with bees and their keepers from sea to shining sea and across the globe first starting as a United States Peace Corps Volunteer stationed in South America. She is inspired to help amplify the voices of farmers and beekeepers to bring awareness to intensifying environmental, social, and economic challenges. Melanie focuses on an agroecological and consilience approach integrating culture, food systems, storytelling, and art-sci collaborations. She is finishing a graduate degree in entomology and is a 2019-2020 Fulbright-National Geographic Fellow.