beetle: An order of insects known as Coleoptera, containing at least 350,000 different species. Adults tend to have hard and/or horn-like “forewings” which covers the wings used for flight.
biodiversity: (short for biological diversity) The number and variety of species found within a localized geographic region.
biologist: A scientist involved in the study of living things.
birds: Warm-blooded animals with wings that first showed up during the time of the dinosaurs. Birds are jacketed in feathers and produce young from the eggs they deposit in some sort of nest. Most birds fly, but throughout history there have been the occasional species that don’t.
bog: A type of wetland that forms peat from the accumulation of dead plant material — often mosses.
carrion: The dead and rotting remains of an animal.
climate change: Long-term, significant change in the climate of Earth. It can happen naturally or in response to human activities, including the burning of fossil fuels and clearing of forests.
commercial: An adjective for something that is ready for sale or already being sold. Commercial goods are those caught or produced for others, and not solely for personal consumption.
conservation: The act of preserving or protecting something. The focus of this work can range from art objects to endangered species and other aspects of the natural environment.
conservation biologist: A scientist who investigates ways to help preserve ecosystems and especially species that are in danger of extinction.
development: (in geography) The conversion of land from its natural state into another so that it can be used for housing, agriculture, or resource development. (in engineering) The growth or change of something from an idea to a prototype.
dire: An adjective that means grave, or hard to survive.
ecologist: A scientist who works in a branch of biology that deals with the relations of organisms to one another and to their physical surroundings.
ecosystem: A group of interacting living organisms — including microorganisms, plants and animals — and their physical environment within a particular climate. Examples include tropical reefs, rainforests, alpine meadows and polar tundra. The term can also be applied to elements that make up some an artificial environment, such as a company, classroom or the internet.
emergency room: Also known as the ER. It’s that part of the hospital where doctors initially attend to the immediate medical needs of accident victims and others who need critical care.
endangered: An adjective used to describe species at risk of going extinct.
environment: The sum of all of the things that exist around some organism or the process and the condition those things create. Environment may refer to the weather and ecosystem in which some animal lives, or, perhaps, the temperature and humidity (or even the placement of things in the vicinity of an item of interest).
extinction: (adj. extinct) The permanent loss of a species, family or larger group of organisms.
factor: Something that plays a role in a particular condition or event; a contributor.
field: A term to describe a real-world environment in which some research is conducted, such as at sea, in a forest, on a mountaintop or on a city street. It is the opposite of an artificial setting, such as a research laboratory. d), gravity (by a gravitational field), mass (by a Higgs field) or electricity (by an electrical field).
habitat: The area or natural environment in which an animal or plant normally lives, such as a desert, coral reef or freshwater lake. A habitat can be home to thousands of different species.
humpback: A species of baleen whale (Megaptera novaeangliae), perhaps best known for its novel “songs” that travel great distances underwater. Huge animals, they can grow up to more than 15 meters (or around 50 feet) long and weigh more than 35 metric tons.
insect: A type of arthropod that as an adult will have six segmented legs and three body parts: a head, thorax and abdomen. There are hundreds of thousands of insects, which include bees, beetles, flies and moths.
marine: Having to do with the ocean world or environment.
median: (in mathematics) The value or quantity that lies at the midpoint of a group of numbers that had been listed in order from lowest to highest.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: (or NOAA) A science agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Initially established in 1807 under another name (The Survey of the Coast), this agency focuses on understanding and preserving ocean resources, including fisheries, protecting marine mammals (from seals to whales), studying the seafloor and probing the upper atmosphere.
organism: Any living thing, from elephants and plants to bacteria and other types of single-celled life.
Pacific: The largest of the world’s five oceans. It separates Asia and Australia to the west from North and South America to the east.
parallel: An adjective that describes two things that are side by side and have the same distance between their parts. In the word “all,” the final two letters are parallel lines. Or two things, events or processes that have much in common if compared side by side.
population: (in biology) A group of individuals (belonging to the same species) that lives in a given area.
predator: (adjective: predatory) A creature that preys on other animals for most or all of its food.
range: The full extent or distribution of something. For instance, a plant or animal’s range is the area over which it naturally exists. (in math or for measurements) The extent to which values can vary (such as the highest to lowest temperatures). Also, the distance within which something can be reached or perceived.
risk: The chance or mathematical likelihood that some bad thing might happen. For instance, exposure to radiation poses a risk of cancer. Or the hazard — or peril — itself. (For instance: Among cancer risks that the people faced were radiation and drinking water tainted with arsenic.)
scavenger: A creature that feeds on dead or dying organic matter in its environment. Scavengers include vultures, raccoons, dung beetles and some types of flies.
seaweed: Large algae growing in the sea or on rocks below the high-water mark.
shrew: A mouse-sized, insect-eating mammal. Related to moles, it’s chiefly active at night. Shrews have a long, pointed snout and tiny eyes. Despite looking somewhat mouse-like, a shrew is not a rodent (which a mouse is).
species: A group of similar organisms capable of producing offspring that can survive and reproduce.
stress: (in biology) A factor — such as unusual temperatures, movements, moisture or pollution — that affects the health of a species or ecosystem. (in psychology) A mental, physical, emotional or behavioral reaction to an event or circumstance (stressor) that disturbs a person or animal’s usual state of being or places increased demands on a person or animal; psychological stress can be either positive or negative.
threatened: (in conservation biology) A designation given to species that are at high risk of going extinct. These species are not as imperiled however, as those considered “endangered.”