Subjects I've written extensively about:

Environmental issues
“Go out and buy 10 bags of fertilizer. Apply two bags to your lawn and garden, and then take eight bags and dump them into your local stream. That's pretty much what we are doing to the global ecosystem.”–from “Thinking Downstream,” Blue Planet Quarterly, winter 2005.

The oceans
“Think of a coral reef as a community. Think of the corals themselves as a small but pivotal part of a vibrant, living ecosystem made up of a vast variety of fishes, plants, sea turtles, and other sea life—visible and microscopic. Like rainforests on land, coral reefs are biological gems, harboring a spectacular diversity of life and color.”—from Coral Reefs Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow, an exhibit at Coral World Ocean Park, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.

Baseball
“With two down, our opponent sends in a pinch runner for their catcher, who is on second, so he can get his gear on. It's common practice in this league, since getting the catcher's gear on a nine-year-old is like putting overalls on a wild pony.”—from “The Ump Blew the Call but Delivered a Lesson,” The Washington Post, June 2002.

Economic development, poverty, microcredit
“To truly help the poor, both at home and abroad, we must help them to raise their own incomes. This is the basis for any long-term solution to poverty.”—from a speech written for Hillary Clinton, celebrating the tenth anniversary of the Foundation for International Community Assistance (FINCA).

Books and Literature
“And We Sold the Rain makes clear that the greatest barrier between North America and the isthmus is neither geography nor language. Instead, the perpetuation of cultural stereotypes is a much more serious problem; it operates as an undercurrent, influencing the issues of politics, war, and human relations in ways that are sometimes obvious, sometimes subtle.”—from a review of Rosario Santos' And We Sold the Rain: Contemporary Fiction from Central America, in The Journal (Ohio State University).

Education
“Young children are scientists by nature; they possess a driving curiosity about the physical world. Educators at the University of the Pacific have found a way to channel children's natural curiosity into science learning through a play-based science curriculum for children aged three to seven.”—from “Fostering Scientific Literacy in Early Childhood Education,” Merck Innovation Awards in Science Teaching.

Gardening
“The early-spring growth of the pungent skunk cabbage is so rapid that the heat from its respiration can melt snow; the bog-inhabiting insectivores, such as the Venus flytrap and pitcher plants, compensate for the nutrient-poor soil of their habitat by luring, trapping, and digesting insects.”—from Wildflowers, The Time-Life Gardener's Guide.