What precipitated such a dramatic career change?
I was on sabbatical leave from teaching at UC Irvine in 1991. I chose Wilson Botanical Gardens, close to here, to do my research and every day my spirits sank as I watched trucks roar down the mountain hauling massive rainforest logs. You see, I had done research in Costa Rica since 1989, but I had avoided what I was seeing all around me–an increasing population and decreasing arable land. All of a sudden I was asking myself: Does it really matter whether hummingbirds defend their territory or not? I had never taken on something that really mattered, maybe because of a fear of failure. If I failed with the hummingbirds, it didn’t really matter for the long term well-being of humans. But the trees and soil matter. When did you first see your future farm? That same year I was in a bus en-route to a Pacific Ocean beach, and I was taking photos out of the bus window of degraded pasture to use as exhibits in my classes at UC. Suddenly I saw a perfect example: a hillside rutted with cattle
