Saving sharks, a parade of pups, and a medical milestone

(Image credit: Courtesy of The Walt Disney Company)

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1. Shark enthusiast hopes her conservation efforts make waves
2. A parade of pups showed up for dog lover's 100th birthday
3. There could soon be a new tuberculosis vaccine — the 1st since 1921
4. San Diego neighbors turn their yards into flower fields for an urban farm
5. Deforestation is slowing down in the Amazon

published 13 July 2023

1. Shark enthusiast hopes her conservation efforts make waves

She's always been fascinated by sharks, and now, Candace Fields is doing everything she can to save them. Fields is a PhD student at Florida International University, and her goal is to use genetics and tracking to develop a recovery plan for the oceanic whitetip shark, a critically endangered species. "Sharks have a negative reputation, and I've always been intrigued by this and wanted to get closer to them to learn more about their behavior," Fields told The Week. "I want to change perspectives." Fields is also a contributor to National Geographic's SharkFest; she will be featured in the upcoming program "Bull Shark vs. Hammerhead." Her mission on and off screen is to share how sharks have seen serious population declines due to overfishing, habitat loss, and climate change. She believes the tides are turning, and "generally speaking, there's now much more public support for conservation and trying to help populations recover and maintain stability and avoid extinction."

It was the perfect 100th birthday for a lifelong dog devotee. Robert Moore hit the milestone on June 14, and his daughter, Alison Moore, wanted to do something big. She decided it needed to involve dogs, because he just "love, love, loves" them, she told The Washington Post. Using social media, Alison invited his neighbors in San Jose, California, to stop by his house with their pups. She planned on having Robert sit outside so he could pet the pooches as they walked by, and expected about 30 participants. The Moore family was stunned when more than 200 dogs, of all breeds and ages, arrived, with many of their owners also bringing flowers, cards, and cupcakes. Allison enjoyed every moment watching Robert greet the dogs and give them treats. "Strangers did this for my dad," she said. "It was just so sweet. My dear dad deserves it."

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Researchers are moving forward with phase 3 trials of a potential tuberculosis vaccine, which experts say would be a game changer. The M72/AS01E vaccine was developed by GlaxoSmithKline, and in phase 2b trials conducted in 2018, showed it was 50% effective. The company did not do any further trials, citing the market, and in 2020 the license was passed to the Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute. The nonprofit was an investor in the vaccine, and is now pledging more than $400 million for the final trials. Every year, TB kills 1.6 million people around the world, and if M72/AS01E is approved for use, it will be the first new TB vaccine created since 1921. "The development of an affordable, accessible vaccine for adults and adolescents would be game changing in turning the tide against TB," Julia Gillard, chair of the global charitable foundation Wellcome, told The Guardian.

Rachel Nafis transformed her street into a floral wonderland. Nafis lives in the City Heights section of San Diego, and eight of her neighbors have allowed the urban farmer to turn their yards into gardens. She takes care of everything from planting to watering, and the flowers she cuts are sold through her small business, Psalter Farm Flowers. Nafis launched the farm in 2019 for two reasons: to make responsibly-grown flowers available in San Diego and add charm to an area in need of a boost. "She's taught us that all neighborhoods can be beautiful," Sophia Thompson, who volunteered her yard for the farm, told the Los Angeles Times. What's in bloom changes with the seasons, and Nafis conserves water with drip systems and timers (she also subsidizes her neighbors' water bills). Nafis is grateful for this "creative shared-land model," and said she experiences "euphoria" while tending to the gardens.

There is hope in the Amazon. Last week, the Brazilian government announced that the deforestation rate dropped roughly 34% in the first six months of 2023, compared to the same time period in 2022. "The effort to reverse the deforestation growth curve was successful," João Paulo Capobianco, secretary of deforestation control, said Friday. More resources are being allocated to fighting illegal deforestation by people taking over land and razing it, and fines issued by the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources rose by 116% in the first six months of this year. Although officials are optimistic about these numbers, deforestation is still a problem in the Amazon, and more will need to be done to completely end it.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.