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Detailed Calendar Page February 5, 2009 - Jim Dorsey Photo Expedition Through Southern Mexico and Guatemala Jim Dorsey ( # 1081) recently returned from a photo expedition through southern Mexico and Guatemala. Most people think the Mayan civilization collapsed centuries ago, but it is thriving in the jungles of Mexico and Central America. Tonight he will take you up a crocodile filled river to explore a remote site rarely seen by outsiders, introduce a bounty of wildlife, explore colonial cities and villages, and show an ancient Mayan ceremony performed by the jungle dwellers at Tikal. He also spread Ralph White's ashes at the pyramids of Chichen Itza and Tikal. This is a look at a culture that is basically unchanged in 700 years. Website: www.jamesdorsey.com
February 12, 2009 - Robert Williscroft High Adventure in the Bering Sea ice pack
Dr. Williscroft will be telling the story of his activities in and near the Bering Sea ice pack over a three year period in the mid-1970s. He was a scientist and commissioned officer with the NOAA Corps, serving mostly on the NOAA Ship Surveyor (S-132) – now decommissioned (as is every other ship Dr. Williscroft served on during his long at-sea career). During this period, he participated in the Outer Continental Shelf Environmental Assessment Program (OCSEAP – pronounced ŏk-sĕp). OCSEAP was designed to establish a biological baseline for the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions. To some extent, these activities are still ongoing in a limited fashion even today, thirty years later.
This presentation will give the attendee a personal perspective of a major government sponsored program that has been instrumental in guiding follow-on researchers, and helping to set government policies regarding the Arctic and sub-Arctic. The presentation will include a full set of color slides covering most of the activity. Website: www.argee.net
February 19, 2009 - LADIES' NIGHT - Brother Guy Consolmagno Adventures of a Vatican Astronomer Brother Guy Consolmagno is the official Vatican Astronomer. For more information about Brother Guy Consolmagno, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Consolmagno Dr Consolmagno's CV will take more time to read out than we have at meetings, so it is furnished for your convenience here - Curriculum Vitae homepage.mac.com/brother_guy/.Public/Vita%2008.pdf
The Adventurers Club of Los Angeles acknowledges and thanks Rosaly Lopes for her assistance in contacting Br. Guy Consolmagno to speak at our club. February 26, 2009 - Patrick Coston - Balls out Mountain Biking Patrick Coston's philosophy is that life should be an adventure even if that includes some risk and pain. Patrick took risks in business, risks in love, risks in travel and as a result, has a plenty of stories to tell as well as a few scars. Patrick took a risk on love and flew to Malaysia to marry his online girlfriend. He raced Bicycle Motorcross from age 14 to 24 then raced Mountain Bikes from age 24 to 27. Some of his best adventures happened while riding a bicycle. He went for broke on a dot com startup and went broke after 3 years of failure but he feels it was a great learning experience. He worked at Microsoft for nearly 5 years and learned the hard way that there needs to be a balance between work and having a life. He looks forward to many more adventures with his new wife. Recently they drove from New Jersey to California where Patrick got a job at Disney as a web developer. Steve Bein met Patrick when Pat sold his mountain bike, Rocinante, on eBay. Patrick described how he broke then upgraded everything on the bike but the red frame. Steve liked the red frame and the fact that the bike was now nearly indestructible.
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Among other things, Dr. Williscroft flew by helicopter deep into the ice pack to explore the under surface of the
pristine ice cover by blasting a hole in the ice, and diving through the hole.
He participated in “hunting” selected individuals of certain species – bird and mammal – so that the participating
biologists could to a detailed stomach and parasite analysis of each species in order to establish its position in the food chain,
and to learn as much as possible about each species. Others were captured, measures, tagged, and released, to give future
investigators geographic and lifeline histories.
