The Zoological Lighting Institute: Board Member Invitation

Every now and again, it is good to take a step back and acknowledge when you've achieved something special. 'ZLI' is a small nonprofit with a big task but even bigger future. I am very proud of what the Board and I created, and with good reason. ZLI pursues a crucial mission that advances science through the arts, with benefits to communities, the impoverished, animals and the ecosystems they participate in. This is an article to invite others to apply to our Board of Directors, contribute within our Circle of Donors and to support us by investing in one of our services, films or community events. If our work sounds valuable, please contact me directly. We would be happy to include you as champions for the cause.

Six years ago, we set ourselves to the daunting task of changing the mindset of people in organizations much greater than ours. We raised the importance of wildlife conservation in architecture as an architectural problem. No less ambitious, ZLI emphasized the importance of natural light and its cycles for all life on earth and specifically to public health, safety and welfare. And we sought to do this in the right way whether it was popular or no, by supporting diverse participation in science through the arts for animal welfare and wildlife conservation.

'PhotoDiversity' is our fundamental principle and concept, spanning meanings of biodiversity and cultural and social diversity alike. ZLI insists on respect for others and ourselves, espousing a thoroughly scientific passion for inquiry and its ability to inform good decisions. Science means respecting truth enough to give the benefit of a good argument, and not to accept the convenient dismissal of important truths (such as biodiversity-loss or the differences between physical light and wrong-headed metrics with unrelated purposes to photobiology). We put ourselves in a very difficult place in two ways.

We ask that aquariums and zoos measure light properly, radiance and irradiance, for the welfare of the animals they care about so much. They never did so before, and despite a plethora of benefits that would obtain from measuring light most facilities remain reluctant to do so. ZLI seeks to change that.

Second, we ask that communities, developers and their architects take biodiversity-loss into account when pursuing developments. Without wildlife there is no life, we said. Although the financial benefits stemming from concern for a healthy and diverse wildlife population far outpace ecologically devastated regions, destructive short term strategies to extract relatively paltry sums and bad habits still predominate. Artificial lighting in particular, and its devastating spread since the advent of LEDs, represents an ecological problem that science forces us to confront. To protect animals and ecosystems, it is vital to protect their habitats, night and day.

There may still be a long way to go before light is taken as seriously in these settings as water, sound or nutrition, but we will get there. And I am proud of what we have achieved. After six years, ZLI is still here. More than that, on 20 June 2018 we will host a session on the social justice aspects of wildlife conservation through better architecture at the AIA'18 Conference in New York. For those of you unaware of this event, it is the largest annual gathering of architects in the world. It is the first time that such a session will be presented, linking social justice demands such as poverty alleviation to the sensitivity for wildlife conservation to architectural design. The first half of our mission, is beginning to take root.

Our primary purpose is to distribute scholarships, because science must lead the way. Our second purpose is to support this science through the diversity of the arts, embracing cultural and social diversity to offer the strength in numbers that respect affords. And we pursue these two intertwined purposes for animal welfare and wildlife conservation. A community expresses its strength by championing those with little or no voice, and it stays strong by positioning itself within a vibrant and healthy environment.

Join us by applying for a Board post, joining our Circle of Donors and by engaging one of our many programs. We welcome aquariums, zoos and science museums to become ZLI Members and begin monitoring light quality today.

We would be proud to stand along side you in pursuit of our mission.

ZLI Mission Statement:

The Zoological Lighting Institute supports science through the arts to advance animal welfare and wildlife conservation, focusing upon light and the relationships of animals to it. 

ZLI Summary:

The Zoological Lighting Institute supports scientific research through the arts, to advance animal welfare and wildlife conservation. It provides funds for photobiology & sensory-ecology research, seeking to advance science, alleviate poverty through biodiversity conservation, improve community bonds and protect natural and cultural heritage. 

Natural light is a crucial part of every animal’s world, and in many ways this importance is intuitively understood. For many reasons, understanding of the science of light lags behind this intuition. There is a need for greater understanding of photobiology and its application for community health, safety and welfare. The Zoological Lighting Institute exists to foster such understanding, and to ensure that people working for environmental protection and in animal care have the resources they need to make good decisions about light and lighting. ZLI pursues its work through the arts, because even the scientific study of light entails perception by individuals and communities. 

As such, the subject demands diversity, engagement and thoughtful criticism. ZLI partners with PhotoDiversity Films to raise awareness, while offering Consultations, Community Events, Adventure Travel, Publications and a Scientific Instruments Shop. Supporting any one of these activities aids our mission directly. Donations and support for The Zoological Lighting Institute are tax-deductible as it is as a 501 (c)3 organization.

James Karl Fischer PhD

Executive Director, The Zoological Lighting Institute

www.zoolighting.org