Up to the age of thirty, or beyond it, poetry of many kinds gave me great pleasure, and even as a schoolboy I took intense delight in Shakespeare ... I have also said that formerly pictures gave me considerable, and music very great delight. But now for many years I cannot endure to read a line of poetry ... I have also lost almost any taste for pictures or music .... My mind seems to have become a kind of machine for grinding general laws out of large collections of fact, but why this should have caused the atrophy of that part of the brain alone on which the higher tastes depend, I cannot conceive ... The loss of these tastes is a loss of happiness, and may possibly be injurious to the intellect, and more probably to the moral character, by enfeebling the emotional part of our nature."

~ Charles Darwin  

Collecting in a streamside marsh on the Serranía de Huanchaca ("The Lost World")

Nur Ritter
Restoration Ecologist
The Nature Conservancy
22 Bridge Street (4th Floor)
Concord, New Hampshire, USA
(603) 224-5853 Ext. 29
nur@botanize.com

Education
Ph.D. 2000
Natural Resources Interdisciplinary Ph.D. Program
University of New Hampshire
Biodiversity and Phytogeography of Bolivia's Wetland Flora
Advisor: Dr. Thomas Lee

B.S. 1992
Botany and Plant Biology
University of New Hampshire


¡Bienvenidos!

Recently, I've returned to the northeast (New Hampshire). Prior to that, I spent six years working with the CSU, Stanislaus Endangered Species Recovery Program and living in Fresno, CA (aka, the Garden Spot of California).

Before moving to California, I spent seven years investigating macrophyte biodiversity in Bolivia's wetlands. During that period, my wife and I had the great good fortune to live in Bolivia, in the city of Cochabamba. In addition to the NEOAQUATICA database, I've placed a checklist of species associated specifically with Bolivian wetlands on the Bolivian Research Page. I've also recently (Feb. 8, 2006) posted an electronic copy of my dissertation online.

If anyone would like to see images of any of the species that are listed, send me a note, and I'll see if I have any slides that I could post. Additionally, some photos of fieldwork in Bolivia can be seen here. Although I'm really no longer working in the Tropics, I'm happy to communicate with anyone who is working in the New World Tropics, or is interested in this work. You can take a look at my list of publications, to see if there may be something of interest.

Also, if you happen to be the person who emailed me in early 2008 (or so) regarding literature pertaining to the flora of the Gran Pantanal: Sorry, your message arrived when I was transitioning to a new computer, and I lost the message and have no way of contacting you. If you want, e-mail me again, and I'll respond right away. Thanks.


Return to NEOAQUATICA Go To Martha's Website

Other Links

The Hunger Site: You can make a free donation of food simply by visiting this site.

The Ecology Fund: By visiting this site, and clicking on the appropriate buttons, you can make a free donation of land in seven different conservation projects. Click on the icon to go to the site and find out more information about these projects.

PROMETA: a Bolivian N.G.O. dedicated to sustainable development, and to the sustainable management of natural resources. They maintain and manage a number of reserves in southern Bolivia, and have a very active group of volunteers. This link will take you to a description (in Spanish) of their activities.

Birds of Bolivia: Follow this link to Sjoerd Mayer's "Bird Sounds of Bolivia / Sonidos de Aves de Bolivia" CD-ROM. Listen to some sample sounds from the CD-ROM, read site descriptions, trip reports etc. from Bolivia, or look at some mystery photographs from Bolivia.

Andes to Amazon: Andes to Amazon is a non-profit organization that lead educational travel programs in Bolivia for high-school and university students. Participants: live with a Bolivian family for four weeks, attend a four week course of intensive Spanish language instruction, along with a course on Bolivian/South American history and culture, participate in various community service projects in the city of Cochabamba, and travel extensively throughout Bolivia. Travel includes a trek in the Andes and a river trip in the Amazon Basin.

Two friends (Paul Treadwell and Anna Aliaga) and I, started Andes to Amazon back in 1994. Admittedly, Paul and Anna played a much greater role than I did in the creation of the program. Currently, Andes to Amazon is not an active program, but I've left the website on line, for those who might have an interest in the information, and in case any of our former students are looking to get in touch.


File Created June, 1997

Last modified: May 17, 2008