Michael (volunteer) and Suzanne with Biofera's cobb oven With a variety of nicknames which include: Suzanne-The-Man (1980s), Mojada (1990s), Rat-Lady (2001 by her slum landlord), Bat-Lady (our nickname for her because of her highly advertised bat cave), and Bandida (2010s), Suzanne is without a doubt one of the most curious characters that we've had the privilege to encounter. A passionate, enthusiastic, dedicated, intelligent (and certainly a bit eccentric) environmental and social activist, Suzanne is chock-full of a wide range of stories and experiences that, in the week we spent with her, opened our eyes to a whole new world of possibilities. She's also the first person we've met who can, through the juggling of multiple tangents, successfully tell three or four stories all at once.
Suzanne, whom we discovered at a volunteer-supported mountain retreat in northern Nicaragua, is a former Marine, cancer survivor, and peace communications innovator now engaged in an independent forest preservation and clean water initiative on 20-acres of property she purchased near Jinotega, Nicaragua. She bought the land in 2000 (without actually seeing it first), after finding that the price was right, it contained a water source, had good, fertile soil and was near a highway. Her project, which she's named "La Biosfera Reserve & Retreat", is an awesome spot where we spent a week as volunteers in October 2013. "Biosfera" (Spanish for biosphere), Suzanne says, "refers to the layer of the earth above the lithosphere, or the rock layer under the dirt and clay, through the space we breathe including gurgling brooks and mighty trees, up to around 10 km into the atmosphere. It is the place of our most intense human-nature interaction, and most rewarding scientific discovery. Now, many reserves have added it to their name - the Big Lungs - The Amazon Biosphere, Reserva de la Biosfera Bosawas, etc… It seems a little silly to call this tiny place simply La Biosfera as if it were the Be-All and End-All of forest protection," she says, pausing, "La Biosferita, maybe," and laughs.
Suzanne, whom we discovered at a volunteer-supported mountain retreat in northern Nicaragua, is a former Marine, cancer survivor, and peace communications innovator now engaged in an independent forest preservation and clean water initiative on 20-acres of property she purchased near Jinotega, Nicaragua. She bought the land in 2000 (without actually seeing it first), after finding that the price was right, it contained a water source, had good, fertile soil and was near a highway. Her project, which she's named "La Biosfera Reserve & Retreat", is an awesome spot where we spent a week as volunteers in October 2013. "Biosfera" (Spanish for biosphere), Suzanne says, "refers to the layer of the earth above the lithosphere, or the rock layer under the dirt and clay, through the space we breathe including gurgling brooks and mighty trees, up to around 10 km into the atmosphere. It is the place of our most intense human-nature interaction, and most rewarding scientific discovery. Now, many reserves have added it to their name - the Big Lungs - The Amazon Biosphere, Reserva de la Biosfera Bosawas, etc… It seems a little silly to call this tiny place simply La Biosfera as if it were the Be-All and End-All of forest protection," she says, pausing, "La Biosferita, maybe," and laughs.
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