Educational Experience:
I graduated from Harvard in 1978 with a bachelors degree in biology. Sometime in the early 80's I finished a masters degree at from Lewis and Clark. I taught science to 7th and 8th graders at Redland School for 10 years before coming to Ogden and have been teaching computer skills for the last decade here. Much of my best educational learning experience has come through actually teaching... learning from kids too.

Travel Experiences:
I have traveled widely through the Northwest, camping and backpacking, and lead trips for the Sierra Club to the desert of southeast Oregon every summer. I usually spend a couple of weeks on Steens Mountain (photos above) or some other remote desert local, most recently pulling old fence out of wilderness areas. Several years ago I went to Belize to take a course on rain forest and coral reef ecology. It was fabulous. Before teaching, sometime in the last century, I spent 7 months traveling through New Zealand, Australia, and Fiji and I yearn to go back someday soon. Someplace not too far away I intend to visit is to backpack along Vancouver Island’s West Coast Trail. Someplace exotic I dream of visiting is the desert Skeleton Coast in Namibia.

Interesting Web Sites:
Well, it is not my all time favorite, but you should visit Ogden's site sometime and give me some feedback.
borden.beck@orecity.k12.or.us

If you are interested in an amazing adventure, check out Congo Trek - National Geographic's site about Michael Fay's 2000 mile walk + biological survey -Megatransect- through the Central African rain forest. I heard him give a lecture a few years ago, an amazing story. Since then he has flown back and forth across the whole continent in a small plane documenting how humans have impacted the land in what is called the Megaflyover.

If you want to do something concrete to help animals in Africa, specifically chimpanzees, check out IDA Africa’s website, perhaps “adopt” a chimp.  It is an organization funding a chimp rescue effort in Cameroon.

If you are interested in some thought provoking reading, try the Orion Society Magazine online.

Good Books I Have Read:
Song of the Dodo by David Quaman - see his introduction to the Megatransect journey above
The Ants by E.O. Wilson, (for .pdf article on ants) or listen to an audio interview
A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn to read exerts
Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver link to her website
Red by Terry Tempest Williams link to website about her work
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho link to his website
In the Shadow of Man by Jane Goodall link to the Jane Goodall Institute Good Music I have listened to recently:
Kate Rusby - British / Celtic folk music from a woman with a great voice
Alpha Blondy - African Reggae with a political message
Oliver Mtukudzi - Music from Zimbabwe - nicknamed Tuku
Dave Carter and Tracey Grammer - folksy music with great lyrics
Pat Buckley - A local Portland musician aka Reverend Wizbang Interesting Movies you’ve perhaps never seen:
Where Green Ants Dream, Walkabout, Rabbit Proof Fence, The Last Wave - all with an Aboriginal theme
Until the End of the World, The Quiet Earth, Whale Rider, Utu, Burke and Wills - also filmed down under Hobbies + Interests:
For the last few years I have been playing in marimba bands, currently one called Wood Vibrations and I am also learning to play mbira (an ancient instrument used by the Shona people of Zimbabwe). If you are curious about this instrument and its poly-rhythmic music, check out Mbira. During the summer you might find me playing my guitar on the porch or reading (snoozing) in a hammock. I like to make stained glass windows late at night. I still occasionally fly fish though I am careful to let everyone go, and my garden remains an ongoing challenge to maintain. I try to grow lots of basil to make pesto with. I love Thai food and my favorite restaurant (because it’s nearby and vegetarian) is called Veggie Thai. My favorite escapes in the summer are to the Oregon Country Fair and Zimfest, and camping along the Deschutes and headwaters of the Roaring River.http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0010/feature1/index.htmlhttp://www.harvard-magazine.com/on-line/030390.htmlhttp://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/01/3/l_013_05.htmlhttp://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Zinn/PeoplesHistory_Zinn.htmlhttp://www.kingsolver.com/home/index.asphttp://www.coyoteclan.com/http://www.paulocoelho.com.br/engl/http://www.janegoodall.org/http://www.woodvibrations.com/http://www.mbira.org/http://www.oregoncountryfair.org/http://www.zimfest.org/shapeimage_1_link_0shapeimage_1_link_1shapeimage_1_link_2shapeimage_1_link_3shapeimage_1_link_4shapeimage_1_link_5shapeimage_1_link_6shapeimage_1_link_7shapeimage_1_link_8shapeimage_1_link_9shapeimage_1_link_10shapeimage_1_link_11

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