National Donate Life Month on April, 2024: it's "National Donate Life Month"!!! who do YOU plan to impregnate?!?!?

April, 2024 is National Donate Life Month 2024. Give a Monthly Donation Help the American Cancer Society Save More than 400 Lives a Day.

I'll give you a hint, it rhymes with Grim Reaper.

National Geographic jobs?

Organizations like National Geographic have some paid staff, mostly for editing and publishing the magazines they produce. If you notice, most of the articles are written by people who are NOT employees of the magazine but are journalists, photographers and researchers who are either associated with institutions such as government agencies, foundations and universities or are independent "contractors" who sell their stories to publications. National Geographic sponsors the expeditions and investigations of some of these individuals through grants. Their very small core of staff photographers and field people are only those who are among the very best in the world in their chosen craft.

If that sort of thing interests you, you should be pursuing a degree, probably at least a Master's or PhD eventually in one of the sciences that attracts you OR studying journalism or photojournalism. There are a number of college programs now that specialize in wilderness documentary film-making which would be a good place to start. If you live in a city with any kind of museum, especially natural history, get involved as a volunteer. You would need to be very experienced and somewhat of an expert in your field to work with or for National Geo.

If you want a taste of life as a field researcher, check out

With this organization you pay to be part of the research staff on real scientific expeditions in the US and around the world, in everything from tracking dolphins and studying rain forest plants to excavating archaeology sites. You live in a field camp, sometimes in dorms but more often in tents, for two weeks usually. You have to be at least 16 and they do have some scholarships available. Even if you or your parents pay for it, most of the cost is tax deductible because you are "donating" your time and money to support non-profit research. It would be an excellent way to gain experience and see how you like that sort of work. It can be challenging, sometimes uncomfortable and tiring, but it can also be the most fun and rewarding "vacation" you can possibly have and would enhance your resume in working towards an education and experience in scientific research and reporting.

If you are interested in Antarctica, there are 100s of jobs there every Fall that last about 4 months. Raytheon Polar Services has a contract with the National Science Foundation to support the researchers working there with everything from maintainence on snowmobiles to food service workers in the station cafeteria. Check out their employment website.

They have job fairs around the country (check the schedule at the site) and this is around the time of year they are recruiting for the summer polar season of October to February (which is winter up here in the US). Depending on what you do, the pay isn't huge but they pay your transportation down there and you get free room and board. And how cool would that be to tell your friends you worked in Antarctica (even if all you did was clean bathrooms or make sandwiches)? It would still be an excellent introduction to living and working in a remote area and you could eventually work your way up to more interesting positions in later years since they prefer to re-hire.

Please help! my dad had a liver transplant almost 2 years ago and has been doing great!?

Congratulations for the life-saving gift your family has received because someone said YES to organ donation! (April is National Donate Life Month, by the way. Let everyone know...encourage others to register!)

First of all, I'm assuming from your question that you mean this is more a SURFACE problem (skin, scar) than an INTERNAL problem (digestive, such as heartburn or GERD).

Long after their surgical incisions have healed, some liver transplant recipients may experience unusual sensations around the scar area, including numbness or heightened skin sensitivity to some fabrics, soaps, laundry detergents, touch, etc. (My husband had a liver transplant 11 years ago and still experiences "weird" scar feelings.)

It's interesting that your dad only has this feeling laying down and that it's alleviated with the simple application of a wet towel, but rather than speculate about what's going on (we'll leave that to the transplant hepatologist), if your Dad is concerned about a serious, underlying problem or the burning is persistent & unbearable, he should call the hospital where he received his transplant and ask the hospital operator to connect him with the hepatologist on-call.

If he's not concerned about urgency, your dad should contact his transplant nurse coordinator by e-mail or phone message, with a detailed, but to-the-point description of the symptom, when it occurs, what makes it feel better, and how long it's been going on.

Keep in mind that the liver transplant team is dealing with both critical end-stage patients and post-surgical complications and may take a day or two to respond to lower priority (non-life-threatening) calls.

In any event, we recommend following up with and pursuing answers directly from the liver team, rather than a local doctor. When it comes to taking care of your dad's precious "gift of life", better safe than sorry!

P.S. I hope you'll post the outcome, i.e. what the doctor says about the cause of and remedy for this problem. Thank you...and may your dad's new liver give him many more years of "quality of life". =)