Thrity '3t' Vakil, Biography
3t, born of Zoroastrian parents in Kenya, East Africa, has been an avid explorer of the natural world and her travels have taken her all over Europe, India, Nepal, east and north Africa, and USA. Her painting and digital work have documented her travels. 3t is the pronunciation of 'Thrity', her name.
Since 2000, 3t lives in the Puerto Rican rainforest where she is Director of Tropic Ventures Rainforest Enrichment Project in Patillas, Puerto Rico. Her main area of interest is trees and the research and development of sustainable forest management and timber production in secondary forests of Puerto Rico. She is involved in tree planting, identification, selection for harvest, logging, sawing operations and the marketing and selling of sustainably-grown and harvested valuable hardwood.
On-going research work includes liberation and thinning studies. Management of other on-going projects include ethnobotany of the area, the establishment of an educational trail through the rainforest, vine identification and uses, frog and lizard studies, and agroforestry. 3t has led many adult and teenage groups in the field, and has worked with 51 International Earthwatch volunteer research teams in the rainforest since 2001, and has been a Principal Investigator since 2006.
She has been an Associate of The Institute of Ecotechnics since the early nineties, and has hands-on experience in various fields of research, ecology, business, arts, theater and management. She spent nearly three years as a diver researching coral reefs in the Red Sea & Indian Ocean on the Research Vessel Heraclitus, and for four years co-managed a 500 tree organic fruit orchard, in the high desert, at Synergia Ranch, Santa Fe, New Mexico.
In addition, 3t enjoys an extensive background in theater; design, performance and scenic art. 3t is an accomplished painter, web & graphic designer, documentarian & photographer, with a keen interest in green architecture and design.
3T has shown various artworks works since 2000 at the October Gallery, London, UK, in several well-known Transvangard shows. She is currently exhibiting her “Eye On The Rainforest” Series in various venues in Puerto Rico, highlighting her work and learning in the rainforest.
Address: Las Casas de la Selva, HC 63, Buzon 3879, Patillas, Puerto Rico, 00723
Email: 3t@eyeontherainforest.org
Tel: 787 329 7761
Thrity '3T' Vakil : CV, Date of Birth: 13th September 1965
To Present
2008 - Fellow, World Academy of Art and Science
2007 - Director, Institute of Ecotechnics, (U.S.A. Not-for-profit, U.K. Educational Charity)
2007 - President, Tropic Ventures Education & Research Foundation, Patillas, Puerto Rico.
2007 - Co-Principal Investigator with Earthwatch expeditions at Tropic Ventures, Patillas, Puerto Rico.
2006 - Director, Tropic Ventures Rainforest Enrichment & Sustainable Forestry Project, Patillas Puerto Rico.
Life work - Painter and digital artist. Web: The Artwork of 3T Vakil
1999 - 2005
Tropic Ventures Rainforest Enrichment Project, Puerto Rico: Manager and active crew member of planning, selective felling, & hauling operations, sawing of wood, drying wood, marketing, selling lumber and high-end valuable hardwood products. Project website designer, newsletter editor, and photographic documentor. Responsible for homestead, logistics, safety, team management, youth-group task co-ordinator, management and leadership. Field assistant and Field Team leader in research areas with Earthwatch Institute volunteers, including: tree identification, tree surveys, tree planting, biodiversity studies, and frog studies. Synergia Ranch, Santa Fe, New Mexico: Co-manager of Organic Fruit Farm. Design & implementation of drip irrigation system for 500 fruit trees and all aspects of tree care (including pruning, thinning fruit, application of organic treatments for pest control, disease and blight research, composting, harvesting, marketing & selling of fruit). Website design. Synergetic Press Publishing Company, Santa Fe, NM: Research Artist, web design & marketing. Institute of Ecotechnics, Global Ecotechnics: Web-design, Archive manager. LIFE: Painter, drawer, and digital artist.
1997 - 1999 : 3T spent several months traveling, painting & exploring in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania & Zanzibar, East Africa. She lived for short periods, in San Francisco, California, & Ashland, Oregon, and Bellevue, Washington, working as a visual artist.
1994 - 1997 : Coral Reef Research, The Indian Ocean and South East Asia Expedition
Research Vessel Heraclitus
Ready, willing & able! |
As Assistant to the Expedition Chief, Christine Handte, 3t sailed across the Atlantic Ocean, The Mediterranean, The Red Sea, The Arabian Sea, and Indian Ocean on board the RV Heraclitus, built by the Institute of Ecotechnics.
The expedition, 14 years in total, studied coral reefs off the coasts of Egypt, Oman, the Maldives, the Seychelles, and Kenya. Responsibilities included becoming an able-bodied seaman with practical hands-on experience in all aspects of seamanship: navigation, rigging, sailing, diving, basic engineering, maintenance, cuisine, team management, data entry, report writing, instigating cultural exchanges, performances, slideshows and fundraisers in nearly all of the ports visited on the expedition.
The study of each coral reef comprised of four major diving and data gathering missions:
a) Vita reef data on at least 2,000 coral colonies on the reef, identified to genus.
b) Video/Photo transects on at least 5 x 20 meter 2-banded transect lines.
c) Mapping of the reef outline and ecological zones within using GPS satellite technology.
d) Identification and population counts for fishes and indicator invertebrate species.
e) Collection of coral cores for Earth Observatory, NY.
f) Turtle surveys.
g) Trash surveys on isolated islands in the Red Sea & Indian Ocean. |
1986-1994 :
- Apprentice Scenic Artist to Master Scenic Artist, Mary Coxon, England, Ireland, and Scotland.
- Scenic Artist – London, West End theater, National Tours, and Repertory theater, UK.
- Designer and Chief Scenic Artist for the Academy of Live & Recorded Arts, London, UK.
- Chief Scenic Artist for Apollo Leisure Theater Production Company, UK.
- Co-founder of ‘Dandy Fellows’ – production design for rave & corporate ambient events, UK.
- Two year travel in India and Nepal.
- Crew Member, ambient architect – Megatripolis, Heaven, London, UK.
- Member of The 'Zippy Pronoia Tour to US', a nine month road expedition across the US from New York to San Diego with 12 others, organizing ‘raves’ (performance and edutainment parties), interacting with cultural icons such as Allen Ginsburg, Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters, Ram Dass, Terence McKenna, Johnny Dolphin, John Perry Barlow, RU Sirius, Dee-Lite, and Goa Gil.
- Ambient Architect (designer of spaces, settings, drapes, backdrops, lights, projections and costumed performers) – alternative arts/rave/information/fringe scene, UK.
- House Manager- October Gallery, Bloomsbury, London, UK.
Educational Qualifications - 1980s:
BA (Hons) 3-Dimensional Theater Design – Nottingham, UK.
Art & Design Foundation Diploma – Wimbledon School of Art, London, UK.
3 A-levels – South Thames College, London, UK.
7 O-levels – Pelham High School, London, UK.
Computer program skills: Adobe Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Office, Quickbooks
Languages: Main- English; learning Spanish; some French, Gujarati, Hindi, & Swahili.
Websites, newsletters & design:
Tropic Ventures Rainforest Enrichment & Sustainable Forestry Project
The Institute of Ecotechnics
Global Ecotechnics
Biosphere 2
Certified: Wilderness First Aid, May 2011
Featured: The Exquisite Corpse, The Vaults of Erowid, Psychedelika – Kultur, Vision, und Kritik, The Straits Times- Stepping out of our Comfort Zones, The Straits Times: Give our trees a chance
Scientific Publications: NELSON M., SILVERSTONE S., REISS K. C., ROBERTSON M., VAKIL T., 2011. “Enriched secondary subtropical forest through line-planting for sustainable timber production in Puerto Rico.”
Bois et Forets des Tropiques, #309 (3): 51-61
NELSON M., SILVERSTONE S., REISS K. C., BURROWES P., JOGLAR R., ROBERTSON M., VAKIL T., 2010.
“The impact of Hardwood Line-Planting on Tree and Amphibian Diversity in a Secondary Subtropical Wet Forest of Southeast Puerto Rico.” Journal of Sustainable Forestry, 29(5): 503-516.
Updated January 2012
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