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Cassirin · 06-14-2017, 01:25 AM

Giving Back What We Take: Harvesting Renewable Wand Trees
In a large, high-ceilinged greenhouse-style room abutting the garden, Alexander Greingoth will be presenting his research regarding sustainable wand trees. For centuries, there has been debate over whether or not the harvesting of trees to make magic wands has had a detrimental impact on society. As Muggles continue to make advancements in their technology to better preserve the planet, it is vital that we follow suit. Come and learn all about the future of wandmaking and how we are working around the world to be more responsible global citizens.

ooc: Remember, this is not a lesson like in the school RPG. Due to the nature and format of these presentations, please try to limit yourself to one main reaction post in response to the presentation/speech showing your character listening/participating/reflecting as you see fit. You may post a second time after the speaker character responds to your questions, or to interact with the speaker at the end of the presentation.

Lissy Longbottom · 06-26-2017, 05:22 PM

Alex Greingoth was nervous. Actually, nervous was an understatement. He hardly ever talked to people - and here he was, about to give a speech to people at THE Ministry of Magic. Gulp. He tried to remember what it was like giving presentations in school...but he hardly ever did that, either. What would his step-father do? He had been MINISTER after all. He probably never got scared in crowds. If only it hadn't been...oh, fifteen years since he last talked to him, he would have gotten some pointers.

Taking a few deep breaths and reminding himself that he had all of his notes right here, this would be nice and easy...he took the podium. He smiled out to the crowd and cleared his throat. Alright, here we go...

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentleman. Thank you so much for taking the time to attend my panel on my research regarding the harvesting of wood for wands. My name is Alexander Greingoth. After graduating Hogwarts, I worked in Belgium for many years, using runes to determine which trees would provide the strongest wood for wand making. After a brief stint at the Ministry of Magic in the Environmental Protection Agency, I moved to America. I have been working with Beauvais Wands as a wandmaker. It was during my time in the Ministry that I began to take interest in the environment, and I began to wonder what exactly our contribution to climate change, as a magical community, was," he explained. His hands had stopped shaking now, and this was getting easier. He just hoped he could hold the audience's attention. "It turns out that the harvesting of trees for wand making purposes actually has a detrimental affect on the environment around it. As the magical community continues to grow, with muggleborn witches and wizards being accepted to magical schools around the globe every year, our harvesting has increased by nearly 60% over the past three decades. Deforestation in Germany in particular is becoming a real problem. The Black Forest yields the most trees to wandmakers by far, with almost 30% of all wands worldwide coming from those trees, and even muggles are taking note of the number of the deforestation that has occurred, particularly in Bavaria, over the past few years."

"As you can imagine, the affects on the globe from deforestation are a problem that ALL humans, magical and muggle alike, should be concerned about. After moving to America, I began to tinker with saplings, experimenting with genomes and trying to find ways to make them grow faster. When a tree is harvested for wands, the entire tree is not unrooted - the roots remain in place, allowing the tree to regrow. However, as is the case with many types of trees, they take years, often DECADES, to fully regrow. Not only can that tree not be used for wand making for several years, but it is also affecting the environment - oxygen is not being filtered as effectively through photosynthesis, animals cannot use the tree for shelter, and it cannot produce seeds to repopulate the area around it," he pointed to his posters at this point, highlighting his speaking points with his wand as he went. Now he had to move on to his research, which was nerve-wracking to say the least. This was his baby for the past few years - and he wasn't sure how people would react to it. Or if they'd even think it was a good idea. Deep breath. You got this, Greingoth...

"Using pine tree samplings, I began to magically modify the seeds before planting, using various spells that I believed would have a positive affect o the growth of the tree," he explained, pointing to some of the photos he had taken of his many MANY attempts at his experiment. "I tried various charms and potions, but the most surprising result came when I used an over the counter supplement called Magi-Me-More. Many of you might be familiar with this supplement...it promises magical restoration in older wizards, but has largely been debunked as nothing more than a bit of a memory enhancer at best. I was determined to try anything that could possibly make the plants stronger, however, and figured it was a shot in the dark. Turns out, I was completely wrong," he told them with a small smirk. "After injecting the seeds with a diluted liquid version of the same supplement found in these capsules, growth rate increased by almost 40%, and I was having full grown trees in my backyard a little over a year after planting them. I was afraid they could possibly wither or fade if the affects of the supplement wore off, but no measurable decrease in mass or magical power was ever recorded in my findings," he explained. He couldn't stop smiling now. He was PROUD. He'd actually DONE something really useful, and he hoped other people felt the same way about this research that he did...

"I created two batches of wands out of these pine trees, which all performed just as well as wands created with wood not infused with the serum. After being harvested, the trees also grew again at a rapid rate and I was able to re-harvest them a mere 11 months later," he explained. "Now, this serum is not perfect by any means. It took me quite a few tries to find the correct ratio of Magi-Me-More that was required to produce the desired results. Too little, and they would not grow fast enough. Too much, and they would grow too large - I learned that the hard way after the branches of one of my pine trees grew so large overnight, I woke up to a broken window in my kitchen," he chuckled. Hehe. Joke. But it HAD actually happened. A family of squirrels had wandered in too, but that was beside the point. "Also, only about half of the trees that I grew produced pinecones that had traces of the supplement in them as well. All other pinecones tested were average, although still strong enough to create wand worth trees in the future. Regardless, the results are promising. I will continue to try and perfect this serum so that someday, the trees will continue to grow for years to come, and produce saplings that will not only provide more wood for wandmaking, but will also nurture the environment and promote the natural expansion of forests and wildlife, particularly in areas were deforestation has taken a heavy toll on the land."

"I also hope to someday experiment with saplings that will have greater oxygen output. As you know, CO2 emissions from muggle machinery is out of control.
Magical or not, there is only so much that natural trees can do in terms of filtering out the CO2 and producing oxygen for the globe. If I can find a way to make the photosynthesis process faster, I hope to someday create trees that also work more efficiently to clean the air," he added.

"While we may not have a whole lot in common with muggles, we can all agree on one thing - we share this planet, and we should have an equal part in taking care of it. I hope my research inspires you to take the extra step to help give back to our planet, and hopefully someday, we will not only continue to grow our world and produce quality wands, but we will be doing some good for those who may not even know our world exists as well. Thank you. Any questions?" he asked, letting out a sigh and smiling. THERE, he had done it!

Now hopefully there would be some questions...some interest...some...anything...

Bazinga · 07-03-2017, 09:36 PM

He had to say he had been enjoying the conference. With so many speakers that he wanted to see Warner McCarthy had to make a list. The top priority, of course, was his nephew Ethan, but there were other's as well like this tree one he had read about. So Warner made his way over and found his seat. Seeing as the speaker was about to get started he turned his attention and listened. Could this harm the trees though, that was his main question. He wasn't much of a herbologist, he left that to his nephew but he did like to think about his own home and areas around it.
Plus the environment was important.

Now Warner had to disagree with the man saying they didn't have much in common, he felt they did have many things in common, but they did have to live on the same planet. Once the man was finished Warner did have a few questions, "Would you like to slip these seed into areas muggles are, maybe into the places they buy trees. To help them as well as us or is this just for our use only? Also, do you think we need to be coming up with a solution on how to help them stop the use of these disastrous machines or again leave that to them and we worry about us?"

Just some curious thoughts he figured he'd asked since it seemed no one else had any questions.

Lissy Longbottom · 07-08-2017, 01:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bazinga

He had to say he had been enjoying the conference. With so many speakers that he wanted to see Warner McCarthy had to make a list. The top priority, of course, was his nephew Ethan, but there were other's as well like this tree one he had read about. So Warner made his way over and found his seat. Seeing as the speaker was about to get started he turned his attention and listened. Could this harm the trees though, that was his main question. He wasn't much of a herbologist, he left that to his nephew but he did like to think about his own home and areas around it.
Plus the environment was important.

Now Warner had to disagree with the man saying they didn't have much in common, he felt they did have many things in common, but they did have to live on the same planet. Once the man was finished Warner did have a few questions, "Would you like to slip these seed into areas muggles are, maybe into the places they buy trees. To help them as well as us or is this just for our use only? Also, do you think we need to be coming up with a solution on how to help them stop the use of these disastrous machines or again leave that to them and we worry about us?"

Just some curious thoughts he figured he'd asked since it seemed no one else had any questions.

The color drained from Alex's face. OHMIGOSH A QUESTION. He had hoped that he would be able to sneak past this, drop a question and then just be DONE with it, but nope. He was apparently not off the hook. He took a deep breath and smiled at the man. It WAS a good question, after all.

"It's entirely possible these trees could be eventually be intermingled with normal, unaltered trees. In fact, I'd say at some point it would be nearly impossible to NOT do so. The primary benefit for muggles, of course, is the added oxygen output and increase in carbon dioxide filtration. Everyone, magical or not, benefits from that," he explained. "The reason I say they will most likely HAVE to be integrated into muggle society is because that is primarily where we get the trees in the first place - there aren't any groves of trees specifically for wand harvesting. There is an agreement in place, in fact, between each country's magical government and their muggle counterpart, to prevent deforestation," he explained. It was quite fascinating, really.

"For example, where I live now, in America, many areas along the west coast are protected. Any national parks, as designated by the United States, are strictly off limits for tree harvesting. I couldn't just go strolling in to Yellowstone National Park and start hacking away in the name of making wands. So, to prevent deforestation, these trees would have to be grown in the natural environment alongside naturally genetically sound trees, and could even be used as a tool to help combat deforestation in the future, due to their relatively short turn around time with regrowth," he answered. He hoped that sufficed the man.

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