A Brief Biography
Though having crossed the Atlantic twice, once on a freighter and later on a tanker, the oceans held little interest for me as a young man except as a painful reminder of the displacement, physical as well as emotional, that wars create. Because of the direct impact that WWII had on my life the oceans were to me a vast body of water separating me from the home and the people of my birth.
Even as a zoology student I developed little interest in the Oceans. It was not until 1969 that an unanticipated and very direct experience altered that opinion and set into motion a journey now coming full circle.
By this time I had a MS degree in Medical Microbiology, but no ambition to be trapped in a research laboratory. Teaching had not even entered my mind.
During a road trip through Bodega Bay I noticed a sign indicating the UC Bodega Marine Lab. Upon returning home I called and asked if there were any research positions open for a marine microbiologist. There were none but there was a position open for a collector. I was fortunate to get the job and for the next two years emulated the life of Jacques Costeau as best I could. Most of it fantasy of course.
The experience required an intimate relationship between myself and the ocean. Not necessarily a competent one nor indeed spiritual one, just a new respect and familiarity. I left that position for a number of reasons, none of which make sense today but... oh well!
It was not until 20 years later that I would again be drawn to the sea. This time with an opportunity to direct a good part of how the experience would evolve and what its focus might be.
In 1992 I was offered the position of Executive Director of Pelagikos, a marine research NGO with an 84 ft. sailing schooner (Dariabar) and dynamic ideas about how to use this vessel to better understand the oceans and its creatures. I acted as Director for six years, and had the good fortune to sail on Dariabar a number of times.
During the summers of 1995 and 1996, we made three voyages to the Channel Islands with students from Mendocino College to document Blue and Humpback Whale sightings. (Plans are to conduct similar expeditions this summer. Anyone interested can contact me.
During the winter of 97-98 I sailed as a proud, albeit inexperienced crewman (not director or teacher), on Dariabar across the Pacific to Hawai'i where we stayed for a number of months as the research vessel for Cornell University's Humpback studies.
From these experiences I developed a fondness for the sea and its creatures; particularly warm, clear seas and the creatures within them. I am now closing in on retirement after almost 30 years of teaching at Mendocino College. I started here in 1973 as the college's first biology/chemistry instructor but life changes redirected my energies and I could only teach part time after 1975.
I am also closing in on my 60th year of life. A great time for change.
My wife and I have found a delightful little village in southern Baja where we have purchased some land. Last Christmas we found a 1962 Airstream trailer, fixed it up and hauled it down there where it now sits awaiting our next visit.
Something else has happened which ties things together in a way fantasized but not really expected. I would like to continue doing marine research, and I would like to do it in the Sea of Cortez where our land is. Maybe start a little lab associated with the local high school.
I want to do reef work. Basically surveying, according to GCRMN (Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network) methodology, the six reefs found in the area. Reefs worldwide are in danger. The ones in the Sea of Cortez are not protected and are being badly damaged through both human and natural causes.
What has happened is that on a recent visit to La Paz I was granted access to CIB (Centro de Investigaciones de Biologicas del Noroeste, S.C.) and an interview with one of its directors. After expressing my fantasies in my usual demure manner, it became evident that the fantasy need not remain so.
They were enthusiastic about my reef/lab idea and interested in the possibility of working together. The interest was heightened when I mentioned Dariabar and its research capabilities. Upon returning home I contacted the Captain and found to my delight that he saw a strong possibility of having the vessel in Cortez waters during the winter season.
This is of course the time I would like most to be there, and when the reef work would be most productive and enjoyable. It is necessary to survey the reefs twice a year for three years to get a "baseline" of conditions. This would entail a stay of 4-6 months in Baja for me and lots of dive and kayak time. In between surveys, there is some important whale work to be done also.
If I am graced by the gods, I may be on the verge of an exciting new chapter in my life and an opportunity to use what talents I have to affect environmental policy. I will also have more stories to tell.
Follow-Up
Five years have now passed since I wrote the above. Much has changed, not the least of which is my marital status. Once again I am divorced and have spent the last 4 years adjusting, very comfortably I must say, to my new situation.The reef work has been slow due to two factors: one, a need for a dive partner and two, because I found in 2004 that there is a significant Humpback breeding and calving area directly off my beach and I chose to engage in photo ID work again. I have been collaborating with Dr. Jorge Urban at the Univ. of La Paz as part of the SPLASH* project involving the entire North Pacific.
I have also been collaborating with Richard Sears of Mingan Island Cetacean Study in the photo identification of Blue Whales.
I am returning to El Cardonal in Jan. 2008 to continue my studies. What began as a mere pastime has become the dominant passion in my life. I expect to have the data necessary after two more seasons to perhaps persuade the authorities to declare the area a whale sanctuary.
URMAS KALDVEER, PhD
URMAS KALDVEER, PhD
El Cardonal, BCS, Mexico
(ukaldveer@gmail.com)
Education:
B.A. Zoology, San Jose State College, 2/65
M.S. Medical Microbiology, Univ. of Arizona, 2/69
Ph.D. Higher Education & Social Change, Western Institute for Social Research, Berkeley, 12/93
Hold Community College Teaching Credentials in Natural Sciences, Physical sciences, Natural Resources and History
Professional Experience:
To present
Collaborador in The Programa de Investigacion de Mamiferos Marinos with the Univ. of LaPaz, Baja California Sur. Dr. Jorge Urban, Director
Research Colleague with The Mingan Island Cetacean Study, Quebec, Canada, Richard Sears, director
Professor of Natural Sciences, Mendocino Community College (1973-2009)
Independent Researcher (Whales, Coral Reefs, Native Americans of Northern California)
Education Consultant (mentor)
Founder & Coordinator, Janus Program (elders continuing education)
Executive Director, Mendocino Institute of Science & History
Retired Board of Directors, Cloud Forest Institute, Ecuador
Advisory Board , Cetacean Studies Institute, Australia
Eight year ethno-historical research (three LJ & Mary C. Skaggs Foundation grants)
Previous
Crewman, sailing schooner Dariabar, SF to Hawai'i passage, 1997-98
Laboratory station for Cornell University and The ATOC experiment
Administrative Director, Lake County Elderhostel Program
Founder & Main teacher, New School of Ukiah
Consultant & teacher, DQ Univ., Native American College
Journeyman carpenter, California Yurts
Specialty teacher & chairman of the board, Mendocino County Waldorf School
Chief diver & boat Handler, UC Bodega Marine Lab. , 1970-72
Pacific Coast Div. Dir., Permaloy Mktg. Co.
Additional experience
Substitute teacher, Ukiah Unified School District
P.G. & E. Lineman, 1960-64, 1969
Practicant Microbiologist, Bjare Ind., Sweden, 1965
Laborer, Berchtesgaden, Germany, 1965
Publications:
A Single Fathers Survival Guide to the Kitchen
Cultures in Collision: an Ethnohistory of the Huchnom
Personal:
Birth date: November 29, 1941
Birthplace: Tallinn, Estonia single, two children: 40 & 43
Listed in Whose Who of American Teachers
