What a nun can teach a scientist about ecology | Victoria Gill

Visit to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized Talk recommendations and more. To save the achoque — an exotic (and adorable) salamander found in a lake in northern Mexico — scientists teamed up with an unexpected research partner: a group of nuns called the Sisters of the Immaculate Health. In this delightful talk, science journalist Victoria Gill shares the story of how this unusual collaboration saved the achoque from extinction — and demonstrates how local and indigenous people could hold the secret to saving our planet’s weird, wonderful and most threatened species. The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world’s leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design — plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You’re welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know. For more information on using TED for commercial purposes (e.g. employee learning, in a film or online course), submit a Media Request here: Follow TED on Twitter: Like TED on Facebook: Subscribe to our channel: