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Book Review: ‘Lone Eagle’ by J.A. Herman

by Rita J. Egan - June 26, 2017

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By Rita J. Egan

Long Island has long been home to many important events in the field of aerospace, particularly during World War II, leading to its iconic nickname as the “cradle of aviation.”

In an effort to help keep the island’s aviation history alive for the next generation, Port Jefferson Station resident John Herman has written a historical fiction book, “Lone Eagle.”

Children will be delighted to join 12-year-old Clementine, the protagonist of “Lone Eagle,” on her adventures during the golden age of aviation. An added bonus for those who live on Long Island is the main character’s hometown of Garden City, a short distance from Curtiss and Roosevelt fields, in a time before the latter became a shopping mall.

While Herman grew up in a different era, just like Clementine, he lived in Garden City as a child and was in close proximity of Mitchel Air Force Base and fascinated with aviation.

The book, which is Herman’s first published work, takes place in 1927 and follows Clementine during her visits to local airfields at a point in time when flying an airplane across the Atlantic Ocean nonstop was just a dream.

The tomboy, whose nickname is Lone Eagle, is determined to be a part of the race to fly across the ocean in her own way by trying to give each pilot a good luck charm, and her quest takes her on an adventure where she meets many interesting characters. The book is historically accurate, which is demonstrated many times, not only with the author’s documentation of historical events such as Charles Lindbergh’s awe-inspiring solo nonstop transatlantic flight in the Spirit of St. Louis from Roosevelt Field to Paris in 1927, but also as Clementine and others keep up with the latest news by reading newspapers, listening to the radio in the parlor and making calls from telephones located in hallways.

One of the drawings in the book depicting ‘The Spirit of St. Louis’

Throughout the book, Herman’s pencil drawings depicting airfields, airplanes, as well as other scenes, are a charming addition. At the end of the story, the author lists the Atlantic flight time line to enhance readers learning experience.

In the introduction, Bob Mott, museum director of the Bayport Aerodrome Society, writes “many young people on Long Island today grow up with little knowledge of the aviation history that took place here back during what has become known as the golden age of flight . . . [This is] a must read for any young person who is interested in aviation.”

Recently the author took time out to answer a few questions about his latest venture.

How did you become interested in aviation?

As a youngster, I built models of airplanes and read aviation history. In high school, I built radio-controlled models and then started flight training at Zahn’s Airport [in North Amityville].

What is your day job?

I work for Creative Models and Prototypes, in Hicksville. They are a spin off of the old Grumman model shop. We make prototypes of inventions and models of all types (test, display, volumetric, etc.).

Did you always want to be an author and illustrator of children’s books?

I can’t say I started out wanting to be an author, but when I began reading children’s books to my own children, it began to take on an appeal. I have always been an avid reader. When you combine that with an interest in drawing, eventually an illustrated manuscript was bound to happen.

What was your favorite book as a child?

As a kid I read the Tom Swift series among others. The Redwall series was a favorite to read with my son, and of course, both of my children enjoyed being read Harry Potter.

Did you base the character Clementine on a child in your life?

Clementine is not based on anyone in particular, although I probably would have been right beside her if I had been 12 years old in 1927. I know we would have shared an interest in all things aviation.

Are there any experiences that Clementine went through in the book that you identify with from your own childhood?

Like Clementine I was always fascinated with aviation. I spent hours exploring the abandoned Mitchel Field Air Force Base. If Roosevelt Field had still been an airfield rather than a shopping mall, I’m sure I would have spent a lot more time there.

How would you sum up the book for someone who hasn’t read it?

“Lone Eagle” is a close-up look from a child’s perspective of what was — at that time — the world’s most challenging technological achievement. Clementine wants to be involved, and in her own unique way, she is.

For what age group is this book best suited?

“Lone Eagle” is a beginning chapter book for readers from 8 to 11.

What is your process when creating a book?

This is a tough one. I usually get the inspiration to write from a specific event or occurrence that triggers an idea for a story. Once the story starts to take shape, it gives me a feeling for the style of illustration that I think will work best.

What advice would you give someone who is interested in writing a children’s book?

I think that, at least for me, the easiest and best subjects for creating a children’s book come from personal experiences, things that I am familiar and comfortable with.

Any upcoming book signings?

I don’t have any signings scheduled right now, but “Lone Eagle” is available through Amazon.

For more information about the book and the author, visit the Lone Eagle Facebook page.

Legally Speaking: Determining who pays estate taxes

by Linda Toga, P.C. - June 26, 2017

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By Linda Toga, Esq.

THE FACTS: After my mother’s death, my father met a woman, Mary, who was his partner for many years. They lived in my father’s house, which has a value in excess of $3 million. In his will my father left the house to Mary. He also named Mary as the beneficiary of his life insurance policy, which has a death benefit in excess of $2 million. He left his residuary estate to me and my sister. However, the will states that any estate taxes that may be owed are to come out of his residuary estate. My concern is that paying the estate taxes will likely deplete the residuary estate, leaving my sister and me with nothing.

THE QUESTION: Is there some way we can compel Mary to pay the estate tax from the funds she is receiving? It does not seem fair that we may be paying the taxes on the assets which she will be enjoying.

THE ANSWER: Since your father clearly intended for you and your sister to be beneficiaries of his estate, it appears that he may not have understood which of his assets would be considered in calculating his estate’s tax liability.

If, for example, your father and Mary were married at the time of his death, the value of the assets passing to Mary would be excluded from the value of the estate used to calculate the estate tax liability. That is because there is an unlimited marital deduction that applies when determining whether or not federal or New York state estate tax is due.

It is possible that your father believed the exclusion would apply based upon the fact that he and Mary were living together as husband and wife. Unfortunately for you and your sister, the taxing authorities do not see it that way.

Another possibility is that your father assumed that the death benefit from his life insurance policy would not be included in his gross estate for estate tax purposes. That is a common misconception that often leads to an unexpected tax liability.

Estate taxes are calculated based upon the value of all the assets owned or controlled by an individual at the time of death. Since your father could have changed the beneficiary listed on his life insurance policy up until the time of his death, he had “control” over the $2 million death benefit. For that reason, the value of the death benefit is included in his estate for purposes of calculating the estate tax owed.

It is noteworthy that some people actually buy life insurance so that the death benefit can be used to cover the estate taxes that may be assessed against their estates. By doing so, the decedent provides his beneficiaries with liquid assets that can be used to pay any estate taxes that are assessed against the estate. This, in turn, eliminates the possibility that the beneficiaries may need to sell estate assets just to pay the estate tax.

Even if your father was aware of how the estate tax would be calculated, he may not have realized that his will dictated that all of the taxes be paid from his residuary estate. If that fact had been explained to your father, he may have chosen to apportion the estate tax liability between all of the beneficiaries of his estate.

By apportioning the taxes that were due, Mary would be responsible for the taxes attributed to the value of the house, for example. That would have certainly decreased the amount of taxes being paid from the residuary estate earmarked for you and your sister.

In light of the fact that your father’s will does not provide for the apportionment of the estate, the full tax liability will be paid from the residuary estate unless Mary is willing to pay some or all of the estate tax assessed against your father’s estate. If she is not willing, there is nothing the executor of the estate can do but pay the taxes in accordance with the provisions of the will.

The amount of the estate tax due from your father’s estate will depend on when your father died since the exclusion amount on both the federal and New York state estate tax has been increasing annually for a number of years.

Since April, 2017, the exclusion amount for both federal and New York state estate tax exceeds $5.2 million. Even without apportionment, there is a chance that no estate tax will be due unless the value of your father’s estate exceeds the current exclusion amounts. If it does not, the full amount of the residuary estate will pass to you and your sister without any tax liability.

Linda M. Toga, Esq. provides legal services in the areas of estate planning, probate, estate administration, litigation, wills, trusts, small business services and real estate from her East Setauket office.

Medical Compass: Summer’s here and that means Lyme disease is too

by David Dunaief - June 26, 2017

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Early treatment is crucial

By David Dunaief, M.D.

Ah, summer is upon us. Unfortunately, this means that tick season is getting into full swing. Projections for this year’s tick population are ominous, because of seemingly unrelated issues like an increase in last year’s acorn population, which feeds mice that are carriers, and a relatively mild winter (1).

Thus, it is good timing to talk about Borrelia burgdorferi, better known as the bacteria that causes Lyme disease. This bacteria is from the spirochete class and is typically found in the deer tick, also known as the blacklegged tick.

What do deer ticks look like? They are small and can be as tiny as a pencil tip or the size of a period at the end of a sentence. The CDC.gov site is a great resource for tick images and other information related to Lyme disease.

What if you have been bitten by a tick? The first thing you should do is remove it with forceps, tweezers or protected fingers (paper) as close to the skin as possible and pull slow and steady straight up. Do not crush or squeeze the tick, for doing so may spread infectious disease (2). In the study, petroleum jelly, fingernail polish, a hot kitchen match and 70 percent isopropyl alcohol all failed to properly remove a tick. The National Institutes of Health recommend not removing a tick with oil (3).

The deer tick on the right is about half the size of a dog tick,
as seen on the left.

When a tick is removed within 36 to 48 hours, the risk of infection is quite low, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (4). However, a patient can be given a prophylactic dose of the antibiotic doxycycline, one dose of 200 mg, if the erythema migrans, or bulls-eye rash — a red outer ring and red spot in the center — has not occurred, and it is within 72 hours of tick removal (5). Those who took doxycycline had significantly lower risk of developing the bulls-eye rash and thus Lyme disease; however, treatment with doxycycline did have higher incidence of nausea and vomiting than placebo.

What are the signs and symptoms of Lyme disease? There are three stages of Lyme disease: early stage, where the bacteria are localized; early disseminated disease, where the bacteria have spread throughout the body; and late-stage disseminated disease. Symptoms for early localized stage and early disseminated disease include the bulls-eye rash, which occurs in about 80 percent of patients, with or without systemic symptoms of fatigue (54 percent), muscle pain and joint pain (44 percent), headache (42 percent), neck stiffness (35 percent), swollen glands (23 percent) and fever (16 percent) (6).

Early disseminated disease may cause neurological symptoms such as meningitis, cranial neuropathy (Bell’s palsy) and motor or sensory radiculoneuropathy (nerve roots of spinal cord). Late disseminated disease can cause Lyme arthritis (inflammation in the joints), heart problems, facial paralysis, impaired memory, numbness, pain and decreased concentration (3).

How do we prevent this disease? According to the CDC, we should wear protective clothing, spray ourselves with insect repellent that includes at least 20 percent DEET and treat our yards (4). Always check your skin and hair for ticks after walking through a woody or tall grassy area. Many of us on Long Island have ticks in the yard, so remember to check your pets; even if treated, they can carry ticks into the house. My Golden Retriever, Buddy, whom I loved dearly, died of Lyme complications.

Diagnosis of Lyme disease

Many times Lyme disease can be diagnosed within the clinical setting. When it comes to serologic or blood tests, the CDC recommends an ELISA test followed by a confirmatory Western blot test (4). However, testing immediately after being bitten by a tick is not useful, since the test will tend to be negative, regardless of infection or not (7). It takes about one to two weeks for IgM antibodies to appear and two to six weeks for IgG antibodies (8). These antibodies sometimes remain elevated even after successful treatment with antibiotics.

The cardiac impact

What are some of the complications of Lyme disease? Lyme carditis is a rare complication affecting 1.1 percent of those with disseminated disease, but it can result in sudden cardiac death due to second- or third-degree atrioventricular (AV) node conduction (electrical) block. Among the 1.1 percent who had Lyme carditis, there were five sudden deaths (9). If there are symptoms of chest pain, palpitations, light-headedness, shortness of breath or fainting, then clinicians should suspect Lyme carditis.

Does chronic Lyme disease exist?

There has been a debate about whether there is something called “chronic Lyme” disease. The research, unfortunately, has not shown consistent results that indicate that it exists. In the most recent report, chronic Lyme is refuted (10). In the analysis, the authors comment that the definition of chronic Lyme disease is obfuscated and that extended durations of antibiotics do not prevent or alleviate post-Lyme syndromes, according to several prospective trials. The authors do admit that there are prolonged neurologic symptoms in a subset population that may be debilitating even after the treatment of Lyme disease. These authors also suggest that there may be post-Lyme disease syndromes with joint pain, muscle pain, neck and back pain, fatigue and cognitive impairment.

A previous analysis suggested that chronic Lyme may indeed exist and that post-Lyme disease syndrome is a nebulous term (11). The authors point to several randomized controlled trials (RCT) to help validate their point (12). They believe that the bacteria may be able to evade shorter courses of antibiotics.

Ultimately, it comes down to the IDSA (Infectious Diseases Society of America) arguing against chronic Lyme but in favor of post-Lyme disease syndromes, while the ILADS (International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society) believes chronic Lyme exists.

Regardless, the lingering effects of Lyme can be debilitating. This may be as a result of systemic inflammation (13). Systemic inflammation and its symptoms can be improved significantly with dietary and other lifestyle modifications.

But to throw one more wrench in the mix, the CDC recommends that physicians look beyond Lyme for other possible diagnoses before diagnosing someone with chronic Lyme disease (14).

So what have we learned? Prevention is key to helping stem Lyme disease. If this is not possible, treating prophylactically when pulling off a tick is an important step. Contact your physician as soon as you notice a tick. If you have a bulls-eye rash and it is early, then treatment for two to three weeks needs to be started right away. If it is prolonged and disseminated, then treatment should be for approximately three to four weeks with antibiotics. If it has affected the central nervous system, then IV antibiotics could be needed. Post-Lyme syndrome vs. chronic Lyme disease needs to be discussed with your physician. Symptoms attributed to chronic Lyme could have another cause.

References: (1) npr.org online March 6, 2017. (2) Pediatrics. 1985;75(6):997. (3) nlm.nih.gov. (4) cdc.gov. (5) N Engl J Med. 2001;345(2):79. (6) N Engl J Med. 2003;348(24):2472. (7) Clin Infect Dis. 2008;47(2):188. (8) uptodate.com. (9) MMWR. 2014;63(43):982-983. (10) Expert Rev Anti Infect Ther. 2011;9(7):787-797. (11) Future Microbiol. 2008;3(6):621-624. (12) Neurology 70,992-1003 (2008). (13) J Infect Dis. 2009;199(9:1379-1388). (14) JAMA Intern Med. online Nov. 3, 2014.

Dr. Dunaief is a speaker, author and local lifestyle medicine physician focusing on the integration of medicine, nutrition, fitness and stress management. For further information, visit www.medicalcompassmd.com or consult your personal physician.

Long Island Gardening: Working with clay soil

by Ellen Barcel - June 26, 2017

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scarlet runner beans — The scarlet runner bean plant, which grows well in clay soil, produces red flowers that are ornamental as well as edible.

By Ellen Barcel

Long Island is primarily a large sandbar — something that gardeners have had to deal with by adding topsoil, compost, etc. But, what if you are one of the minority who has some clay soil? There are basically two things you need to do. One is to amend the soil for optimum plant grown. The other is to select plants that do well in heavy clay soil.

Amending clay soil

Many people assume that the best way to improve clay soil is to add sand to it. Wrong! Think about what bricks are made of — yes, clay and sand. The best way to amend clay soil is to add organic matter, like lots of compost, to it. Compost helps aerate clay soil and encourages it to drain. You can also add aged manure or straw.

Along this same line, when you mulch, use organic material since it will break down into compost. A gardening friend of mine also mentioned that clay soil is very heavy and can be very difficult to dig into. Because you need strength, you may need help.

Test the soil pH and see if it is compatible with the plants you wish to grow in that area. If it’s too acidic, then add lime. Remember that once you start changing the pH (either making it more or less acidic), it is something you must do on an annual basis.

Old-fashioned Hydrangea macrophylla will be blue in acidic soil and more purple or pink as the soil becomes more alkaline. People who buy these older pink hydrangeas and don’t add lime to their soil periodically will wind up with blue hydrangeas in a few years as the plants react to the more acidic soil.

Selecting plants

When selecting plants for clay soil, remember that you must also take into account the usual considerations: How much sunlight does the area receive? Does the area flood periodically? Does the area not drain well at all? Does the area receive a lot of salt spray? Are the plants in the area exposed to air pollution as can be found along busy roadways?

Rule of thumb — if, when you are researching plants, the source notes that those particular plants like well-drained soil, they probably will not do well in clay soil. Another observation when selecting plants: If you want plants that don’t do well in clay soil, consider planting them in containers that you fill with a good-quality potting soil.

The following are plants to consider for clay soil:

• Shrubs: weigela, forsythia (blooms in early spring), flowering quince (slow growing, blooms in spring), roses (sun loving), hydrangeas (partial shade, water loving so do well if the location is slow to drain).

• Veggies: shallow rooted such as lettuce, snap beans, broccoli, cabbage and scarlet runner beans (Phaseolus coccineus), which are raised primarily for their abundance of red flowers.

• Annuals and herbaceous perennials: asters, black-eyed Susans, daylilies, cannas (tender bulls, plant in spring), coreopsis (deer resistant), purple coneflowers (deer resistant), perennial geraniums (deer resistant), bee balm, a.k.a monarda (attractive to butterflies), irises (plant in fall), hostas (shade loving, come in a wide variety of sizes from tiny for rock gardens to enormous and colors from green to yellow and blue leaves), ferns (ideal for shade gardens).

• Grasses: Miscanthus — ornamental grasses such as fountain grass, silver grass, pampas grass, etc. Ornamental grasses do best in a sunny location.

• Trees: eastern pin oak (oaks do very well on Long Island with its acidic soil), ginkgo (“fossil” tree, known to be pollution resistant, plant male trees unless you want the fruit).

Ellen Barcel is a freelance writer and master gardener. To reach Cornell Cooperative Extension and its Master Gardener program, call 631-727-7850.

Photo of the Week

by TBR Staff - June 26, 2017

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HOO ARE YOU? Noah A. Colamussi of Rocky Point spotted this eastern screech owl just hanging out in a tree in his backyard last week after a rain shower. Despite their name, screech owls do not screech, instead communicating through whinnies and soft trills. Night hunters, their diet consists mostly of large insects and small rodents.

Send your Photo of the Week to [email protected].

A Walk Through History

by Heidi Sutton - June 26, 2017

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Rocky Point Historical SocietyJune 3 2017 3 — Members of the Rocky Point Historical Society with Culper Spy Abraham Woodhull (historian Beverly C. Tyler ) at the Setauket Presbyterian Cemetery. Photo by Carol Calabro

On Saturday, June 3, Setauket historian Beverly C. Tyler led members and friends of the Rocky Point Historical Society on a journey back in time to the days of the Culper Spy Ring. The story has been made famous with the television series “Turn.”

The tour began at the headquarters of the Three Village Historical Society where Tyler, wearing 18th-century clothing, took on the personality and true story of Abraham Woodhull, and continued on to the site of the birthplace and farm of Woodhull, to the burial grounds at St. George’s Manor Cemetery and the Setauket Presbyterian Cemetery.

Born in Setauket, Abraham Woodhull (1750 –1826) was a leading member of the Culper Spy Ring in New York City and Setauket during the American Revolution using the alias Samuel Culper, Sr., a play on Culpeper County, Virginia. The ring provided Washington with valuable information on the British Army headquartered in and operating out of New York, from October 1778 until the end of the American Revolutionary War. After the United States gained independence, Woodhull served as the first judge in Suffolk County. Other local residents who took part in the spy ring were Austin Roe, Caleb Brewster and Anna Smith Strong.

For more information on the Three Village Historical Society’s upcoming historical walking tours, call 631-751-3730 or visit www.tvhs.org.

Huntington blue devils graduate

by Victoria Espinoza - June 26, 2017

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Brookhaven Town web servers hacked by pro-ISIS group

by Alex Petroski - June 26, 2017

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Group created Facebook link using Brookhaven server with anti-Trump message

Screen shot 2017-06-26 at 1.06.38 PM — An ISIS-inspired Facebook page posted a link to an anti-American propaganda page created using Brookhaven Town servers Sunday. Image from Facebook

A pro-ISIS group successfully hacked the Brookhaven Town web servers for at least three hours Sunday, June 25.

Brookhaven was one of 76 municipalities affected by the hack, according to Deputy Supervisor Daniel Panico (R-Manorville). The anti-American group created a page with hateful propaganda against the USA and the President of the United States.

Panico and Supervisor Ed Romaine (R) addressed the incident during a press conference at Town Hall June 26. The group, called Team System DZ created a link using the Brookhaven Town servers to a static, “look-alike” webpage at the address www.https://www.brookhavenny.gov/index.html, and posted it on their Facebook page with the message “Government sites continue to be fondled,” in Arabic, according to Google Translate. The standard brookhavenny.gov website was not impacted and the propaganda page was not visible anywhere on the site, though “out of an abundance of caution,” the town server has been quarantined and the town webpage was taken down.

At the time of this posting the town website remains down, though Romaine said he expected it to be restored within 24 hours of the press conference. The propaganda page has been taken down and currently lists an error message.

“You will be held accountable Trump, you and all your people for every drop of blood flowing in Muslim countries,” the message read in part.

Panico said he was alerted about the issue after a town employee notified the town’s information technology department about the breach after reading a New York Post story posted at about 1:30 p.m. with information about the Facebook post by the group.

Panico was asked if it was concerning the town was alerted thanks to media reports rather than its own security defenses.

“It was a Sunday, and I don’t know anyone in our IT department that checks ISIS-related Facebook pages,” he said. “We’re pretty thorough here at the town, but I don’t know that our IT department combs the pages of those people who hate America.”

Romaine said officials from a Suffolk County cybercrimes unit were speaking with the town’s IT director while the press conference was going on, and the FBI and Homeland Security would assist in investigating the breach. Romaine added U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) offered full assistance of federal investigative personnel to get to the bottom of the incident, and he had also been in contact with U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer’s (D) office Monday.

Brookhaven Councilman Daniel Panico and Supervisor Ed Romaine address a hack of town servers during a press conference June 26. Photo by Alex Petroski

“It’s disconcerting and we don’t write it off as a prank,” Romaine said during the press conference. “We take threats like this, cyber threats, seriously.”

Panico said no information was extracted from the website or servers, and possible actions to prevent future breaches are part of the investigation. He also said it is unclear how long the servers were infiltrated by the hackers. Panico disputed claims the message was posted on the town website’s homepage. Romaine said this was the first time the town had suffered a breach like this.

“None of our records that we know of were breached,” Panico said, adding that the town’s financial information is stored on the cloud offsite on different servers.

Zeldin addressed the hack in an emailed statement through spokeswoman Jennifer DiSiena.

“I will continue to do anything in my power to improve cyber security and protect against other threats facing our nation at home and abroad,” he said.

Marisa Kaufman, a spokeswoman from Schumer’s office, said in an email they have been in contact with Brookhaven about the issue and are looking into the matter. Schumer sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly urging him to launch an immediate investigation into the incident.

“The possibility that these breaches were done by an ISIS or terror-affiliated organization is especially troublesome; citizens deserve to feel like their everyday critical infrastructure, especial their local government’s website are safe and usable,” the letter said.

This version was updated June 26 to include comments from Schumer and the message on the page.

Kings Park High School students graduate in style

by Victoria Espinoza - June 26, 2017

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Kings Park High School students celebrated during their graduation ceremony Thursday, June 22. Family members, friends and community members lined the new turf field to cheer on the graduates.

Laurel Hollow team partners with Stony Brook University in Madagascar

by Daniel Dunaief - June 23, 2017

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belocalleakeysbinvillage — SBU graduate student and grand niece of world renowned anthropologist Richard Leakey, Acacia Leakey, draws a sketch of huts in the village of Ambodiaviavy, Madagascar as the children look on. Photo from Mickie Nagel

By Daniel Dunaief

Mickie Nagel recently returned from the island nation of Madagascar, and she’s filled with ideas, inspiration, observations and opportunities. One of the three founders of a new nongovernmental organization called BeLocal, the Laurel Hollow resident spent several weeks with Stony Brook University graduate students Leila Esmailzada and Acacia Leakey taking videos and gathering information about life in Madagascar.

The goal of the new organization is to share this footage and insight with undergraduate engineers at SBU, who might come up with innovations that could enhance the quality of life for the Malagasy people.

In one village, a man showed her a three-inch lump on his shoulder, which he got by dragging a long stick with bunches of bananas that weigh over 100 pounds along a clay footpath out of the forest. People also carry rice that weighs over 150 pounds on their heads, while many others haul buckets of water from rivers and streams to their homes while walking barefoot.

In addition to transportation, Nagel also found that villagers around Centre ValBio, a Stony Brook research station, had basic food and water needs. Over 17 years ago, another group had installed four water pumps in a village to provide access to water. Only one pump now works.

SBU graduate student Leila Esmailzada helps villagers in Ambodiaviavy, Madagascar, clean rice. The job is usually delegated to the children who pound the rice for 30 minutes. Photo by Mickie Nagel

As for food, some villagers in Madagascar spend hours preparing rice, including beating off the husks and drying the rice. They store this hard-earned food in huts that are often infiltrated with rats, who consume their rice and leave their feces, which spreads disease.

Traveling with Esmailzada and Leakey, Nagel not only helped document life in these villages but also searched for information about available resources to drive engineering innovations, while Leakey gathered information about an invasive species of guava.

“Ideally, if any projects require wood, then they should incorporate guava sticks into their design, as opposed to planks from forest trees,” explained Leakey in an email sent from Madagascar. The graduate student, who recently earned her bachelor’s degree at Stony Brook, will be recording the average thickness of the stems, the average length of a straight piece and the load capacity of the branches. Leakey plans to return from the African continent in the beginning of August.

Leakey also visited metalworkers to explore the local capacity. The raw materials come from scrap metal dealers, who often get them from old car parts.

Nagel started BeLocal with her husband Jeff Nagel and a classmate of his from their days as undergraduates at Carnegie Mellon University, Eric Bergerson. Indeed, BeLocal fulfills a long-standing goal of Jeff Nagel’s. Before freshman year in college, Nagel told Bergerson that he wanted to do something that had a positive impact on the world.

While the founders have contributed through their work, their jobs and their families, they found that partnering with Stony Brook University and Distinguished Professor Patricia Wright in Madagascar presented a chance to have a meaningful impact on life on the island nation.

Nagel, whose background is in marketing, visited Madagascar over two years ago, where she traveled for over a hundred hours on a bus through the country. “You just see people living below the poverty line and you see how that plays out in normal day-to-day activities,” she said. “You see a young mom carrying a child on her back and one on her front, with heavy produce on her head and you just think, ‘Wow, there has to be an easier way for some of this.’”

Mickie Nagel, far right, on an earlier trip to Central ValBio with her daughters Gabrielle, far left, and Lauren, center. when they first visited Centre ValBio. Photo by Heidi Hutner

When Nagel returned from her initial trip to Madagascar with her daughters Gabrielle, 18, and Lauren, 17, she and her husband thought people around the world would likely want to help but that not everyone could afford to travel that far.

Nagel recalls Bergerson, who is the director of research at the social data intelligence company Tickertags, telling her that they “don’t have to travel there. You can videotape the daily challenges and crowd source” innovations.

That’s exactly what Leakey and Esmailzada did for the last few weeks. Leakey said she is looking forward to working with senior design students as they go through their projects at Stony Brook and is eager to see how they understand the situation “through the footage and pictures we collect.”

The BeLocal approach isn’t limited to Madagascar, the BeLocal founders suggested. Indeed, given the distance to an island famous for its lemurs, animated movies and an Imax film that features primates with personality, BeLocal could have started in a Central American country like Belize.

Mickie Nagel, however, urged them to start at a location where they would immediately have the trust of local residents. That, she suggested, came from the over quarter of a century of work from Wright, an award-winning scientist who has not only helped preserve Ranomafana [National Park in Madagascar] but has also helped bring health care and education to the villages around the CVB research station. Wright and the Malagasy people have a “mutual respect for each other,” Nagel said.

“People have been exceptionally warm and welcoming,” Leakey said. Getting people accustomed to the presence of cameras hasn’t been straightforward, as people sometimes stop what they are doing, but the guides have helped make the villagers more comfortable.

Jeff Nagel, who works at a private equity firm in New York City, explained that Madagascar is the first step for BeLocal. This effort “can be expanded to other countries or other areas,” Nagel said. “It doesn’t have to be engineers and universities,” but can be instituted by creative people everywhere.

At this point, BeLocal is not looking for any additional funding but might consider expanding the effort at this time next year. Nagel said this fall, they will look for professional engineers to advise on projects. “We would like people who are interested in participating or just keeping up with developments to come and register on our website, www.BeLocalgrp.com,” she suggested.

The site, which the group is upgrading, is up and running. Bergerson explained that they have a “lot of infrastructure to build on” to create the crowd sourcing platform.

Jeff Nagel suggested that this effort is designed to use technology constructively. “Technology’s job, first and foremost, is to help humanity,” he said. “This is a chance to use it in a way that matters to people.”

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