Noah’s Ark as Conservation? An Ecological Reading of Genesis 6–9

In a world where loss of biodiversity is a major challenge, this article explores a dialogue between modern conservation theory and an ancient biblical text. Through the construction of an ecological hermeneutics based on conservation biology and conservation anthropology, and with references to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the article analyses the story of Noah’s ark in Genesis 6–9 as a conservation project. Two questions are in focus. First, how does a conservation perspective contribute to the reading of the biblical text? Second, is the biblical story of Noah’s ark a good paradigm for conservation efforts today? The answer to the first question highlights aspects of the text that often do not receive sufficient attention. The second answer shows some of the complexities of applying this biblical story as an inspiration for modern conservation projects.

Rites of Initiation in the Early Irish Church: The Evidence of the High Crosses

Rites of Initiation in early medieval Ireland have been studied only with reference to contemporary texts; recourse to other sources, most notably the substantial corpus of extant high crosses, has not been made. Here it will be demonstrated that the iconography and programmatic arrangement of the depictions of Noah’s Ark, the Baptism of Christ, and the Three Hebrews in the Fiery Furnace can significantly advance theological and liturgical understanding of the early medieval rites of baptism and ordination in this region, indicating the central role of these biblical events and their associated literatures in these contexts. It will be further suggested that this relationship between text, image, and ritual points to the role of the high crosses in facilitating the liturgical rites of the early medieval Irish Church.

Four key challenges in the era of big data: Ecology must move beyond Noah's ark

Long-term, individual-level records are of great importance in biological sciences. By understanding how individuals contribute to their populations during representative temporal scales, we can answer pressing questions in ecology, evolution, and conservation biology. These questions include identifying which, how, and where species’ populations will go extinct or become invasive. Calls for the collection, curation, and release of these kinds of ecological data have contributed to the open data revolution in ecology. Birds, particularly, have been the focus of much citizen science and international research for decades, resulting in a number of uniquely longterm studies. However, accessing some of these individual-based, long-term datasets can be challenging. Culina et al. (2021) introduce an online repository of individual level, long-term bird records with ancillary data (e.g. genetics). Similar efforts have also been undertaken for mammals, fish, and even more recently for corals and insects. By releasing these ecological data open-access, the research community is starting to fill “Noah’s ecological ark”. However, important challenges still lay ahead to address the most pressing research questions. Here, I briefly overview the open access landscape of long-term animal ecological studies, provide suggestions for how to most efficiently expedite our knowledge of long-term animal population dynamics, and highlight four key challenges in the use (and misuse) of these large volumes of animal ecological data.