nature appreciation & interpretation @ccenvs3000w23 - Tumblr Blog

Disclaimer

This blog was created for ENVS*3000, University of Guelph.

The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of the University of Guelph.

The University of Guelph is not responsible for the accuracy of any of the information supplied by this blog.

Nature Interpretations Role in Environmental Sustainability

Nowadays, it is becoming harder and harder to maintain a positive outlook on the future of our species and the planet. Admittedly, I am fearful for what might become of our ecosystems and future generations of people in light of the huge environmental and social crises that we face in the modern day. However, my personal ethic as a nature interpreter is centred around a sense of hope that as a human collective, we can better support one another and our surrounding environment today and in the future.

I feel that human-caused environmental issues have been and continue to be fuelled by our psychological and physical disconnectedness and isolation from our natural environment. As an interpreter, I want to help individuals to re-establish and strengthen their relationship with nature, to facilitate a deeper understanding and appreciation for the interconnectedness of all life on earth and our dependence on the health of our surrounding ecosystems.

My background in the International Development and Human Geography discipline has also deepened my belief in the importance of recognising the intertwined nature of environmental and social justice issues; we cannot address one without the other. Thus nature interpretation, particularly in Western nations, must reinforce the importance of understanding that our actions here have environmental and social consequences upon not only our local, but global environment. As Beck et al., (2018) highlight, nature interpretation must grapple with critical issues in our past, present and future on multiple scales; this includes the continued legacies of colonialism that persist in our current attitudes and management of our natural environment. Since being on my year abroad here in Guelph, I have been lucky enough to be able to study and explore some indigenous values, perspectives and ways of relating to nature. It is essential that nature interpretation recognises the importance of indigenous knowledge and understanding of nature in Canada and worldwide (Merenlender et al., 2016). I feel that the tendency to view nature as a natural resource for our use and exploitation has been the catalyst driving our degradation of nature. In order to raise the next generation of environmental stewards, as interpreters, we need to encourage learners to develop connections with the natural world that surpass the economic value of nature that continues to prevail in the capitalist society in which we live.

With this in mind, I feel a sense of responsibility to facilitate the growth of individuals’ personal connections to nature. Through taking this course, I’ve had time to reflect on the uniqueness of each of our relationships with nature, particularly through reading everyone’s blog entries. To be able to do this, we must get to know our audiences, including their beliefs, interests and values, to make our interpretation as relevant as possible to them (Beck et al., 2018). Our interpretive space should be a comfortable and familiar environment for all; we must remove social, physical and psychological barriers to maximise the inclusivity of this experience (Gallavan, 2005). We all learn differently and as interpreters, we are responsible for ensuring our content is inclusive of this diversity (Beck et al., 2018). Part of this also includes engaging in self-reflection on our own privilege and utilising multicultural approaches within our activities (Gallavan, 2005). In the future, I would love to have the opportunity to engage in nature interpretation and environmental education initiatives across the world, particularly in South America. In this context, I believe it is particularly important for me to engage in such reflections.

As an interpreter, I also feel a sense of responsibility to enable younger generations to connect with nature. Over the next decade, more and more of us will be living in urban cities; in light of this, interpreters must provide opportunities for children to have direct contact and experiences with nature when growing up in these spaces. Throughout this course, I have come to realise just how lucky I have been to grow up surrounded by nature; a child’s exposure to the natural world at a young age can be hugely influential in shaping their relationship with nature later in life (Beck et al, 2018). As society becomes increasingly more and more technological and structured, opportunities for unstructured play in nature must be given to children (Beck et al., 2018). Young children can begin developing personal and emotive connections to nature by exploring their local ecosystems (Rodenburg and Martin, 2019). Even in more urban areas, interpreters must show that elements of the natural world are still present amongst this man-made infrastructure. As Rodenburg and Martin (2019) suggest, interpreters can adopt the strategy of encouraging children to explore microenvironments, like the world of insects, in these urban settings. If we can bring children to nature, we can spark a sense of curiosity among them, which can give way to a sense of appreciation and love for nature as they grow older. In turn, this will act as the foundation for inspiring them to extend the same sense of love and responsibility to nature beyond their local environment, to their global environment.

East Sussex, United Kingdom.

Hence, I do feel that I have a duty to help the next generation to both connect with nature and understand the threats our world is facing, but also to empower them to take the action we need to address these threats. However, that’s not to say that as interpreters, we don’t have a responsibility to help encourage all audiences to connect, appreciate and protect nature. If anything, we have a responsibility to current generations of humankind and other natural organisms to reconnect and inspire stewardship among everyone that’s around us. Global environmental issues like climate change and biodiversity loss require an immense global response from all sectors of society right now. Human populations within Canada and beyond, particularly communities in lower-income countries, are already experiencing severe impacts of such environmental issues like climate change. Going forward into my career, I feel that I must help to resolve the barriers to science communication and provide an interdisciplinary approach to interpretation that’s engrained within concepts of sustainability. We need to recognise the importance of exploring critical conversations concerning the social and environmental injustices and inequalities underlying our current treatment of the environment (Gallavan, 2005). Particularly in the West, I feel that we have a long way to go in terms of taking responsibility as a collective for our environmental impacts in other nations and I believe nature interpretation is an essential part of inspiring social and political change.

Overall, this course has given me some really valuable insights into what it means to be a nature interpreter and I will definitely be integrating what I have learnt and the self-reflections I have engaged with going forward. I am proud to have a passion for appreciating and protecting both the natural world and one another. I know that it will be a lifetime goal for me to facilitate the same sense of love and intent for action amongst the people around me in whatever way I can.

Alberta, Canada.

References:

Beck, L., Cable, T. T., & Knudson, D. M. (2018). Interpreting cultural and natural heritage : for a better world. Sagamore Venture.

Gallavan, N.P. (2005). Helping teachers unpack their “invisible knapsacks”. Multicultural Education, 13(1), 36.

Merenlender, A. M., Crall, A. W., Drill, S., Prysby, M., & Ballard, H. (2016). Evaluating Environmental Education, citizen science, and stewardship through naturalist programs. Conservation Biology, 30(6), 1255–1265. https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.12737

Rodenburg, J., and Martin, J. “Why Environmental Educators Shouldn't Give up Hope.” CLEARING, 2019 https://clearingmagazine.org/archives/14300.

ccenvs3000w23

Hey Mia,

Very captivating post this week, I was immediately drawn by your introduction! I resonate with what you said about how it's difficult to maintain a positive outlook on the future of our world, but how it's part of your personal ethic as an interpreter to have a sense of hope for the future of humanity and for our environment. Without admitting it outloud, I think that is why a lot of us are in this course in the first place—to figure out how to make a positive contribution to our future and to navigate ways in which we can do so.

I think you bring up a great point on how it is our role as interpreters to strengthen audiences’ relationship with nature and to have a deeper understanding of the importance of our ecosystems. Youngentob and Hostletler (2016), describe how environmental interpretation is meant to help individuals understand the natural world and to create a positive relationship with nature. This point that you make fits their definition incredibly and it's important to integrate this concept into our ethics as interpreters.

This responsibility you feel of enabling younger generations to connect with nature is very valid. After all, they are our future and in the digital age that we currently live in, it's difficult to take children out of this trance caused by technology. Rodenburg and Martin (2019) suggest that creating nature-rich communities, like the ones you mention, can encourage kids to feel a deep love for living systems and I believe that is a great place to start. Without these kinds of efforts, I worry that we will live in the world that we deeply fear. Making steps like these is what fulfills our ethics and morals as interpreters.

It was lovely reading your post this week and I wish you the best in your future endeavors!

Catherine :)

References

Rodenburg, J., and Martin, J. “Why Environmental Educators Shouldn't Give up Hope.” CLEARING, 2019 https://clearingmagazine.org/archives/14300.

Youngentob, K.N. and Hostetler, M.E. (2018) Environmental interpretation: How to communicate persuasively. Available at: https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/UW182 (Accessed: March 20, 2023).

tbenvs3000w23

My Future as a Nature Interpreter

I entered this class not knowing what to expect; “nature Interpretation” was a term I had never heard anywhere. If I’m being completely honest, I still did not really understand what nature interpretation was for the early portion of the course - I struggled to understand the concept. Here in Unit 10, I now know not only what nature interpretation is, but how I fit into it.

The first concept that resonated with me was that of an “invisible backpack” (Gallavan 2005). I have always known I live a privileged life, but as silly as it sounds, writing about it for this class made me realize how many things I take for granted. Looking solely at my experiences with nature, I’ve had the opportunities to go camping at least once a year, as well as live in a house with a backyard, have pets, trips to the zoo as a child, and so much more. All of these experiences have led me to where I am today - studying environmental sciences in University, which is YET ANOTHER PRIVILEGE! I won’t go into detail on what I need to unpack from my invisible backpack, as I did that in a previous post, but the reason I’m writing this is simply to acknowledge that my audiences in whatever setting may not have had the same opportunities I have had, which might make it harder to use my experiences as topics to relate on.

Here's a beautiful park my family and I walk to a few times a year. This particular morning there were a couple feathered-friends on the water :)

I strongly believe that nature is healing to everyone on earth, and even though I have met many people who ‘absolutely hate the outdoors’, nature appreciation can be as simple as enjoying the sunset, or loving rainy days. Reaching audiences of different age groups, from different places, with different interests creates the need to look further than one's own experiences when presenting information or knowledge of nature.

As I develop as a nature interpreter, I would say my personal ethic is similar to my mentality and beliefs going about my life day to day; trying to make more kind and respectful decisions, considering myself but also those around me. To touch briefly on the invisible backpack concept once more, after completing these blog posts, I now understand how I must change my voice to appeal to more audiences. I also know how there are many different mediums I can use to share stories and information about nature, and how some may appeal to some demographics more than others which is important to take into consideration (Beck 2018).

Growing up, I knew I wanted to pursue a career working with animals. This later developed into a passion for the environment as a whole, and I ended up deciding on environmental sciences as a university major rather than zoology, which had initially been all I ever wanted to do. At a young age, and up until today, I’ve never known what I wanted to do with this desire to work within nature.

My parents have mentioned that they think I would make a good teacher because I am a very patient and passionate person, which I never gave a second thought to be quite honest. But I do think it is a path I would enjoy - I love working with kids, and I get a lot of joy out of explaining the concepts I’ve learned about. When I’m studying concepts for tests I like to get someone who doesn’t know the material to quiz me; I’ll compress what I know into the most useful information and explain it to them to help them understand it, which really helps me for some reason. I grew up with a younger brother, and he would always be interested in whatever I was interested in, so he would ask me a million questions about animals and whatever else I was interested in at the time. The one big difference between us was what we excelled at; I was quite good at maths and science, whereas he struggled with them. When he struggled with a math unit, or science concept, I loved sitting down with him and working through it. We have a 5 year age gap, so it was honestly a nice refresher to go over these things again years later. I would find myself teaching the concepts the way I wanted to be taught them, until a couple years into helping him when I realized his learning style is different from mine. This was a good experience as it allowed me to understand different learning styles, which is yet another topic covered in this course!

While teaching does sound exciting, I am not sure it is what I would want to do for a career. I think it is a wonderful way to spread the love of nature (if that were the field I ended up teaching in). I do however feel the responsibility to use my passion for spreading knowledge within whatever field I enter after post-secondary. I believe that passion is important in any job; even as I worked minimum wage fast food jobs in high school, I would go about my day with a positive attitude, as I’ve always found that a positive attitude makes my entire day better, even if I’m faking it, it soon becomes genuine.

Following this course, I strive to be more aware of my audience in all aspects of life, which will allow me to be more inclusive. My final thoughts on this course are all positive. I have enjoyed creating all of my posts because they honestly feel like a break from my busy schedule sometimes - which I’m sure many of my peers can relate to. I would absolutely recommend this course to others, especially to those not in environmental sciences, as I feel like they can learn a lot from this experience as well. Thanks to anyone who read this post, this one was a lot of fun, and I'm honestly a little sad this is the last one as I've been enjoying writing these. Good luck with your future endeavours everyone! :)

Gallavan, N. P. (2005). Helping teachers unpack their “invisible knapsacks.” Multicultural Education (San Francisco, Calif.), 13(1), 36–36.

Beck, L., Cable, T. T., & Knudson, D. M. (2018c). Chapter 7: Serving Diverse Audience. Interpreting cultural and natural heritage : for a better world. (pp.105-123) Sagamore Venture.

ccenvs3000w23

Hi Thomas,

Insightful post this week! I love reading about your journey with nature interpretation, and I noticed that the two of us followed a similar path. I also was unaware of the term ‘nature interpretation’ or what that term meant in detail. I did happen to cross paths with a few nature interpreters myself across my life, and it was a joy to finally learn about the hard work and effort that goes into being an environmental interpreter this semester.

The concept of the “invisible backpack” that you bring up resonated with me as well (Gallavan, 2005; McIntosh, 1989). I think it's something that all interpreters should unpack themselves to understand where their privilege comes from or where it may lack, and that audience members can fall in any position on the privilege spectrum. Ultimately, this allows for environmental interpreters to have a better understanding of their audience members, making them able to engage and perform for their audiences to the best of their abilities. Taking into consideration different demographics was a major concept I personally learned from this course. Not only does this relate to understanding privilege and including diverse audiences, but this also relates to factoring in different learning styles and age groups in environmental interpretation presentations (Beck et al., 2018, pp. 110).

I think that it's great that you can identify your strengths especially in terms of your passion and patience. I feel it’s very difficult in this world to find someone who has a combination of both of these traits—making you very fit to be an environmental interpreter! However, whatever career path you choose, I wish you the best and hopefully you can bring these concepts you learned from this course into whatever career you land in :)

All the best,

Catherine

References

Beck, L., Cable, T. T., & Knudson, D. M. (2018c). Chapter 7: Serving Diverse Audience. Interpreting cultural and natural heritage : for a better world. (pp.105-123) Sagamore Venture.

Gallavan, N. P. (2005). Helping teachers unpack their “invisible knapsacks.” Multicultural Education (San Francisco, Calif.), 13(1), 36–36.

McIntosh, P. (1989). White privilege: Unpacking the invisible knapsack. Peace and Freedom, 10-12.

Unit 10: Nature Interpretation's Role in Environmental Sustainability

Who am I as an Interpreter?

Well, here we go everyone… my last post for the semester! What a bittersweet moment this is. As grateful as I am to be completing this semester, I thoroughly enjoyed the creativity involved in writing these blog posts so it will certainly be missed.

So let's dive in, shall we? Prior to participating in this course, I didn’t fully understand the amount of hard work and effective communication it takes to be an environmental interpreter. In all honesty, I barely knew what the term ‘nature interpreter’ fully meant in itself. Reflecting back on readings, I feel that many beliefs and responsibilities emerged from myself as an interpreter. I’ve been able to dissect the concept as a whole, understand how I fit into that role and figure out who I am as a nature interpreter.

So who am I as an interpreter and what do I believe in? When reflecting on my ethics as an interpreter, I believe they coincide with my personal ethics outside of interpreting. I value understanding, accepting and most importantly being kind to other individuals. I believe each of these concepts are key points and responsibilities of being an interpreter, and are necessary to be an effective one.

Image taken of myself (fall 2022) in the Arboretum at the University of Guelph.

The purpose of environmental interpretation is to help individuals understand the natural world and help people create a positive, lasting sustainable relationship with the environment (Youngentob & Hostetler, 2018). As an interpreter, I believe that this is our main responsibility and to effectively fulfill this, we are responsible for knowing and understanding our audiences. First and foremost, it's important to acknowledge that there are different learning styles that individuals have. Incorporating different teaching styles in presentations is important to address visual, auditory and tactile learners. As mentioned in past blog posts, this can be done through the use of visuals, captivating story-telling or hands-on activities in presentations. Having this variety in presentations has proven to be the most useful, meaningful and the most interesting for learners (Beck et al., 2018, pp. 110). It is also very important to know our audience's age range. By knowing who we’re talking to, we can figure out how to talk to them. Conveying messages in an engaging matter is a very important and valuable skill, and adults and children are engaged in different ways. These are all responsibilities I have as an interpreter, and to consider each of these factors when trying to convince and engage an audience of the importance of our natural world.

Figure of the main learning styles: visual, auditory and kinesthetic (tactile).

When I mention that it is in my ethics and moral code to accept other individuals, I mean this in terms of the spectrum of diversity. As an interpreter it is my job to help other humans create a lasting relationship with their environment, and this should include all humans regardless of race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, finances, religion, health or physical condition. A valuable lesson I learned in my interpretation journey is the role that privilege has in nature interpretation. As an interpreter it is important to unpack our invisible backpacks, as mentioned by Peggy McIntosh (1989). By doing so, we can acknowledge the privilege that we have and understand that audiences may not hold that same amount of privilege. On a similar note, it has been recognized that there is a large lack of attendance from minorities in nature interpretation parks and this is a result of economic, cultural, communication, knowledge and fear barriers (Beck et al., 2018, pp. 133). As an interpreter I believe it is my responsibility to acknowledge these barriers, and to practice inclusive interpretation. Inclusive interpretation involves advocating for the reduction of economic barriers, the inclusion of minority populations, reducing communication barriers and by supporting the inclusion of staff diversity (Beck et al., 2018, pp. 134-137). By accepting, including and celebrating cultural differences, not only is this morally just, but this can help me as an interpreter to serve everyone more effectively.

Drawing of diversity audience taken from Stevens Institute of Technology.

Finally, kindness is a huge part of my personal ethics, and is a quality of mine that I value most and I think it very important to bring this into the world of environmental interpretation. There are a lot of negative things actively happening in this world and many tourists and audiences look to nature interpretation programs to take them away from all of the chaos. Using kindness as a tool to grab audiences and talk to individuals can leave a lasting and positive impression on interpretation programs. By leaving this kind of impression, people will feel more motivated to have a positive and sustainable relationship with the environment, which reflects back on the definition and purpose of nature interpretation programs.

Image of me in August 2022 in Algonquin Park, Ontario, handling juvenile spotted and blue-spotted salamanders.

Moving forward from my personal ethics, I think a major responsibility I have as an environmental interpreter is to discuss the importance of history with my audience. Interpretation plays a significant role in maintaining the integrity of the past. By sharing historical tales and artifacts, we are able to remember these stories of the past. Now, why is it important to tell the tales of history? Well, as Turkel (2006) describes in their article, one motive for learning about the past is the desire to influence the present and the future (Turkel, 2006). By understanding stories of tragedy and hope from our past, we can use these teachings to make a more sustainable and inclusive future.

So how will I approach my role as an interpreter with the ethics and responsibilities I have discussed? I think it is important to remain positive, and give life to what I am speaking about. Beck et al. (2018) pp. 83 describes Mills’ ‘formula’ which involves appealing to the imagination, and giving life to facts. By doing so, audience engagement is guaranteed while also keeping myself motivated and passionate to continue guiding others. This will ultimately fulfill my duty as being an environmental interpreter and encourage future generations to feel passionate as well.

Thank you everyone for joining me on this nature interpretation journey! I leave off on this note, it is our duty as individuals that are passionate about environmental science to educate humanity on the importance of our earth and the history behind it to provide a more sustainable future.

Signing off, and wishing everyone the best in their studies and future careers! Don't forget to appreciate the little things in life :)

Image of BIOL*4410 (2022) Field Ecology Course participants admiring moose sighting.

References

Beck, L., Cable, T. T., Knudson, D. M. (2018). Interpreting Cultural and Natural Heritage for a Better World. Sagamore Venture.

McIntosh, P. (1989). White privilege: Unpacking the invisible knapsack. Peace and Freedom, 10-12.

Turkel, W.J. (2006) “Every place is an archive: Environmental history and the interpretation of physical evidence,” Rethinking History, 10(2), pp. 259–276. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/13642520600649507.

Youngentob, K.N. and Hostetler, M.E. (2018) Environmental interpretation: How to communicate persuasively. Available at: https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/UW182 (Accessed: March 20, 2023).

Images taken from:

One obstacle that many instructors—whether they’re in primary schooling, advanced graduate education, or training in the workplace— run into

skenvs3000w23

Amazing things in Nature!

Nature continues to amaze us daily, by constantly adapting to the changing world around us. One amazing thing I know about nature is bioluminescence, it’s one of the most eye-catching things I have seen myself. While vacationing, I had the privilege of seeing bioluminescence on the beach while in the Caribbean. The water lights up beautifully as you run your feet through it, and the mechanisms behind how the water lights up is even more interesting. The bioluminescence we see is essentially a chemical reaction produced by living organisms, and involves luciferin (the light), and luciferase (the catalyst) (Bedolfe, 2012). The luciferase combines luciferin with oxygen to oxidise it, which creates oxyluciferin, and photons. The light we see is the result of the chemical reaction usually occurring in the organism, but it does not always occur inside it (Bedolfe, 2012). When I ran my hands through the water and disrupted the waves, the organisms present, called dinoflagellates, produce light as a defense mechanism (Aguilera, 2015). Here is a picture below of bioluminscence in action at night!

Image Credits: Alvaro Bejarano

An interesting fact I learned while diving more into this topic is that it only takes 15 milliseconds for the dinoflagellates to respond to stimuli! (Aguilera, 2015). It is extremely fascinating to think that the pretty glow I observed in the water was actually a warning from the dinoflagellates. It is also known that high levels of algal bloom are actually harmful to humans, and exposure to these phytoplanktons can cause skin irritation, and cause negative effects on ecosystems (Powell, 2022). There are different colours of bioluminescence that we can see, personally, I have seen a mix of green and blue light being produced. Another event caused by bioluminescent organisms are red tides, which are rare but can be seen more often now due to climate change. Red tides are lasting longer due to temperature changes, water pollutants, as well as severe weather events (Powell, 2022). I have never seen a red tide, but this picture below shows how they can appear to us, and it looks a little similar to an oil spill!

Image Credits: M. Godfrey, 2006

Red tides are made of the same bioluminescent algal blooms that are responsible for the pretty green colours we see as well (Powell, 2022). It is important that we understand the importance of acknowledging events such as red tides, as these are natural warning signs from nature. Humans have a tendency to overlook a lot of unusual events in nature, which eventually can lead to disastrous climate change that is non-reversible. I enjoy seeing the beauty in nature, especially bioluminescence, and to conserve these organisms and keep our algae levels at health levels, it's important to take care of our oceans. Can you name other species that also use bioluminescence?

References

Aguilera, M. C. (2015, May 5). Research highlight: The force behind Nature's light. Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Retrieved from https://scripps.ucsd.edu/news/research-highlight-force-behind-natures-light#:~:text=Dinoflagellates%20employ%20bioluminescence%20as%20a,as%20a%20type%20of%20alarm

Bedolfe, S. (2012, December 26). Ocean stemulation: How does bioluminescence work? One World One Ocean. Retrieved from https://oneworldoneocean.com/blog/ocean-stemulation-bioluminescence-how-does-it-work/

Powell, J. (2022, February 10). Bioluminescence - beautiful or dangerous? Gair Rhydd. Retrieved from http://cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk/gairrhydd/bioluminescence-beautiful-or-dangerous/

ccenvs3000w23

Hey!

I really enjoyed reading your post this week. It’s interesting how in your post you talk about bioluminescence in dinoflagellates, in my post I talk about bioluminescence in fungus gnats, aka glowworms!

What is so fascinating to me about the concept of bioluminescence is that not only can different families evolve bioluminescence, but also different kingdoms—and this concept is so extraordinary to me. How is it that completely different species that haven’t been related to one another for MILLIONS of years can evolve similar systems to one another that produce similar light-forms and colours. It is such a rare phenomenon in itself, and the fact that thousands of species have evolved this is extraordinary.

It’s even more amazing to me that bioluminescence is not limited to marine organisms, but is present in terrestrial organisms as well. And that is where the fungus gnat comes in. Arachnocampa luminosa is a terrestrial species where its larval form emits a bioluminescence to attract prey species (Meyer-Rochow & Eguchi, 1984). It is amazing to me how such a process can emerge and have different functions for different species. It can aid in warning/evading predators (as it is in your dinoflagellates case), luring prey, or to communicate with others in their species (NOAA, 2010).

These rare changes in nature are what makes nature so amazing. The fact that these changes can emerge for different reasons in different species and yet have incredible similarities is such a surreal concept.

Thanks for sharing your post today, I really enjoyed it! :)

References

Meyer-Rochow, V. B., & Eguchi, E. (1984). Thoughts on the possible function and origin of bioluminescence in the new zealand glowwormarachnocampa luminosa(diptera: Keroplatidae), based on electrophysiological recordings of spectral responses from the eyes of male adults. New Zealand Entomologist, 8(1), 111–119. https://doi.org/10.1080/00779962.1984.9722483

NOAA. (2010, February 12). What is bioluminescence? NOAA's National Ocean Service. Retrieved March 17, 2023, from https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/biolum.html#:~:text=Bioluminescence%20is%20the%20production%20and,surface%20to%20the%20deep%20seafloor

Unit 09: Sense-Making of Nature Interpretation

The Most Amazing Thing I Know About Nature: Bioluminescence Across the World

Nature does not fail to amaze humans whether it is through the remarkable formation of termite mounds, the incredible power of natural waterfalls or the diversity that life itself has to offer. When I think of what fascinates me most about nature, I automatically think of the emergence of bioluminescence.

Bioluminescence is the production and emission of light displayed by living organisms (NOAA, 2010). The light emitted from bioluminescent organisms is produced through chemical reactions that occur inside the organism or are ejected by organisms (NOAA, 2010). Functionally, bioluminescence aids in warning/evading predators, luring prey, and for communicative purposes (NOAA, 2010). Typically when we think of bioluminescent organisms, we automatically think of fireflies, dinoflagellates or deep-sea creatures. My personal favourite form of bioluminescence is seen in Arachnocampa luminosa, a species of a bioluminescent fungus gnat—also known as a species of glowworm (Meyer-Rochow & Eguchi, 1984)!

A. Luminosa is endemic to New Zealand and is found in dark humid places such as caves or riverbanks (Meyer-Rochow & Eguchi,1984). When walking into an A.luminosa-filled cave, you may be thrown back a bit because it looks like the night sky is glowing right above you. I find it so fascinating how nature mimics nature through unintentional processes!

First picture is of the night sky and the second image displays glowworms (A. luminosa) of New Zealand in cave.

A. luminosa is a spectacular species itself as not only does it produce its own bioluminescence, but it can produce its own hollow tubular nests of mucus with long sticky threads of silk that hang from it, creating this crystal-like hanging structure (Meyer-Rochow & Eguchi, 1984). Hence its species name - Arachnocampa, referring to its spider-like lifestyle with its use of silk, and luminosa, referring to the bright blue-green light emitted from the Malpighian tubules of their larval form (Meyer-Rochow & Eguchi, 1984).

Image of A. luminosa silk lines used to capture prey of other small invertebrates.

The combination of bioluminescence with these silk ‘fishing lines’ is what aids this species in their sit-and-lure strategy of capturing their prey (von Byern et al., 2019). This is such a remarkable behaviour because it requires a lot of energy for this species to not only create their own light source, but to also construct silk nests strong enough to catch prey! Thus, their reward must be quite high to expend so much energy.

What is also so fascinating about these creatures is that bioluminscence emerged more than once in their family, Keroplatidae, from species geographically located on different ends of the world (Falaschi et al., 2019). For instance, the species Orfelia fultoni, is a bioluminescent fungus gnat species native to North America whereas A. luminosa is native to New Zealand (Falaschi et al., 2019). Additionally, even with the emergence of bioluminescence across this family, not all members use the same remarkable feeding strategies and have different anatomical structures that emit light (Viviani et al., 2002). Having such different systems of bioluminescence production suggests that this behaviour evolved convergently!

And that is what I find so incredible about nature—how two different and rare systems can evolve to produce an amazing resemblance to one another. This natural phenomenon is something that is definitely on my bucket-list to see. It seems like a surreal and whimsical experience. Before exiting this post, I encourage you guys to check out this video to feel as if you’re in New Zealand yourself on an exploration to observe this incredible creature.

What do you guys find so amazing about nature? What natural phenomenon is on your bucket list? I’d love to hear your responses!

References

Falaschi, R. L., Amaral, D. T., Santos, I., Domingos, A. H., Johnson, G. A., Martins, A. G., Viroomal, I. B., Pompéia, S. L., Mirza, J. D., Oliveira, A. G., Bechara, E. J., Viviani, V. R., & Stevani, C. V. (2019). Neoceroplatus betaryiensis nov. sp. (Diptera: Keroplatidae) is the first record of a bioluminescent fungus-gnat in South America. Scientific Reports, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-47753-w

Viviani, V. R., Hastings, J. W., & Wilson, T. (2002). Two bioluminescent Diptera: The North American orfelia fultoni and the Australian Arachnocampa Flava. similar niche, different bioluminescence systems. Photochemistry and Photobiology, 75(1), 22. https://doi.org/10.1562/0031-8655(2002)075<0022:tbdtna>2.0.co;2

von Byern, J., Chandler, P., Merritt, D., Adlassnig, W., Stringer, I., Meyer-Rochow, V. B., ... & Gorb, S. (2019). Biomechanical properties of fishing lines of the glowworm Arachnocampa luminosa (Diptera; Keroplatidae). Scientific Reports, 9(1), 3082.

Images taken from:

Immediately after sunset, Venus and Saturn can be seen, and Jupiter and Mars remain on the night sky for several hours.

Seek out the best places in New Zealand to marvel at sparkling glow worms.

Arachnocampa luminosa - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Arachnocampa luminosa (Skuse, 1891), commonly known as New Zealand glowworm

#Youtube

oswenvs3000w23-deactivated20240

Unit 7: Nature Interpretation through Music

Music is everywhere in nature. It is in the calls of the birds, in the sounds of running water, in the wind, and in every other sound you hear when you step into a natural space. Of course, the opposite is true as well; nature exists in music. Every once in a while, when listening to a song, I will notice the sound of birds, or of crickets, or some other natural element. Whether a song may be indirectly inspired by nature through its melody or lyrics, or directly inspired by nature through use of a recording as part of a song (i.e. songs with crashing wave sounds, for example), nature has a well-established place in music. It doesn't have to be music we created ourselves, either, as mentioned in our Unit (Hooykaas, 2023). The sharing of nature-inspired music between humans is a form of nature interpretation in itself. This means it is beneficial simply to listen to the musical interpretations of others. Music is also an integral aspect of culture. It provides a tool with which humans can connect to others within a community, and connect to the world around them. Culture, music, and nature are inevitably intertwined. In Inuit legends, the very first individuals to be throat singers were small birds called Tunirtuaruit (BBC, 2023). Inuit throat singing is a musical form that often involves the imitation of nature sounds, and it is a strong example of the close relationship between nature and music (BBC, 2023).

A song that immediately transports me to a natural landscape is “Mull of Kintyre” by Paul McCartney and Wings. This is a true campfire song, at least for my family. As part of our camping traditions, we would always gather by the fire at night and my dad would play songs on his guitar. This song was one of my favourites. It brings me memories of a childhood full of marshmallow roasting, forest adventures, and warming my hands by the fire. Something I feel is important to note is that the song itself speaks of nature. Here is a little snippet of the lyrics:

“Far have I traveled and much have I seen Dark distant mountains with valleys of green Past painted deserts, the sunset's on fire As he carries me home to the Mull of Kintyre”

(Paul McCartney and Wings, from Mull of Kintyre)

In my mind, these words paint a distinct image of traveling through the wilderness. They offer a sense of adventure in the natural world, along with a return to the safety of home in the beautiful natural area of Scotland. As I consider the lyrics, I can visualize the mountains, the green valleys, and the fiery sunsets. I’ve always had a special place in my heart for adventure stories, and that includes stories in songs, too. The concept of adventure is inevitably tied to nature; there is inherent adventure within our enjoyment and exploration of the natural world. This particular song allows me to interpret nature as a place to be explored, to travel, to leave and to return.

Hooykaas, A. (2023). Unit 7: Nature Interpretation through Music. Courselink. University of Guelph. https://courselink.uoguelph.ca/d2l/le/content/791355/viewContent/3306932/View

[BBC]. (2023). A revival of Indigenous throat singing. https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20210414-a-revival-of-indigenous-throat-singing

ccenvs3000w23

Hey!

I loved reading your post this week! I think you bring up a great point about how music is an integral aspect of our culture. Music is what binds cultures together but it also has the ability to integrate other cultures and humanity together. For instance, instrumental music that isn't bound to any specific languages can evoke emotions from a variety of different populations. Even music that uses certain languages can capture others’ attention and that is the beauty of music—you can feel the emotions and purpose of songs without having to understand it. Similarly, we can feel this way about songs in nature. For instance, when hearing rivers flow, the majority of us associate this sound with calmness and tranquility. Whereas, when asked to describe a thunderstorm, many of us would say it is intense and powerful. Each of these do not need a verbal description of the event to understand the feelings they are emitting.

I enjoyed reading about your experience with the song “Mull of Kintyre”. I was unfamiliar with this song prior to reading your post, but with your description I feel like I could transport to that moment even though I didn’t physically experience it. I never went camping when I was younger so I don’t have a similar experience as you, but one song that takes me back to a natural landscape is “Rose rosse” by Massimo Ranieri. I went to Sicily, Italy in the summer of 2015 and this song transports me back to that time. More specifically, I visited a small beautiful island that people were allowed to swim to called ‘Bella Isola’ in Taormina, Sicily. In this moment I remember how so many different people from all around the world gathered to see this beautiful island and I thought about how incredible nature is to have the ability to do that. This song reminds me of that time and I think of nothing but happy memories I experienced with my family in Italy and with nature.

Picture I took of ‘Bella Isola’, in Taormina, Sicily, Italy.

Thanks for sharing your experience, great post this week! :)

Catherine

Unit 07: Nature Interpretation Through Music

Songs of Nature and Songs in Nature

As I mentioned briefly in my ‘Interpreting Nature Through Art’s blog post, music has a beautiful way of connecting to audiences, and holds a great ability in sticking into listener’s minds and can evoke strong emotions (Beck et al., 2018). I’ve discussed how music has the ability to capture people's attention but I think people tend to overlook how often we are surrounded by music through nature, and how nature can be exhibited in music.

Music in nature is seen through a variety of different ways. When asked to think about music in nature, my mind automatically thinks of birds chirping, frog calls, or any calls from animals in general. I think we as humans often forget that any natural sounds we encounter outside is a reflection of nature producing its own music. Nature provides music to us through rain showers, deep breezes, thunderstorms or even waves crashing from a body of water. On this notion, this suggests that music in nature has existed long before the existence of human beings.

For instance, Gray et al. (2001) describes how the undersea songs of humpback whales are quite similar in structure to bird and human songs and composers. An interesting phenomenon includes how whales and humans have evolutionarily diverged 60 million years ago, and yet whale and human music have so much in common with one another (Gray et al., 2001). This further supports how music has existed long before humans and there are likely millions of species prior to our existence that were also able to demonstrate musical abilities.

Music in nature is what ultimately inspires nature in music. There are so many ways that nature is used or referenced to in music. This can be seen through poetic metaphors, bringing awareness to problems in nature, or using sounds of nature in songs themselves. For instance, in the song ‘Long Lost’ by Lord Huron the lyrics state,

“Leave me where the light pours down

Through the trees like rain

Let it wash over me like a flood

Let it ease my pain

Let it drown me”

Here we can see how the artist uses metaphors of nature to describe how to ease their pain through natural light from the sun. This is just one example of the many metaphors of nature that they use in many of their songs.

There are also examples of songs that try to spread awareness of problems humans caused in nature, and an example of this is the song ‘Plastic Beach’ by Gorillaz, which emphasizes plastic pollution in our oceans.

A song that uses sounds of nature in their songs is seen in the sailor ‘Sailor’ by DEEGAN, through their use of bird chirps and calls.

Each of these songs and examples demonstrate the influence nature has in music and how it can connect people with the environment by using sounds of the environment.

A special memory I have associated with nature and music involves when I went to the Vance Joy concert last June of 2022. Although I wasn't completely surrounded by a natural landscape, prior to the concert starting, the sun was setting while suddenly a beautiful double rainbow emerged in the skyline behind the venue. The audience was captivated by this one single moment in nature, and the crowd of us stared at it in amazement. I thought it was such a rare instance in time where such a large group of strangers could share this special moment with nature and connect it with the songs we were just about to listen to. Once Vance Joy came out to play his set, the first song he played was ‘Mess Is Mine’, and after playing this song he mentioned how he thought it was such a beautiful night for a double rainbow and was grateful for this rare moment and for all of us being there. This memory has been engraved in my head and now every time I see rainbows, I think of that song and that special moment I experienced.

Photo of double rainbow I took at the Vance Joy concert in June 2022.

After sharing my experience, I would love to hear some of yours! Do you have any similar moments in time and with nature that you associate with certain songs?

References

Beck, L., Cable, T. T., & Knudson, D. M. (2018). Interpreting cultural and natural heritage: For A Better World. SAGAMORE Publishing.

Gray, P. M., Krause, B., Atema, J., Payne, R., Krumhansl, C., & Baptista, L. (2001). The Music of Nature and the Nature of Music. Science, 291(5501), 52.

#Youtube

skenvs3000w23

Acknowledging Nature's Past

This quote has a lot of meaning behind it, and although complex, it can be dissected and interpreted in our own ways. Merit can be defined as being worthy or deserving, and merit in integrity specifically, can be interpreted as being honest while also providing a sense of transparency. Maintaining integrity as said in the first sentence means continuously presenting facts to your audience, while sharing your true opinion. As for the last sentence, I believe it means the past just never disappears, just like history and previous facts do not disappear. Even though the “train has passed”, just like an ideology may have passed, the history that lies behind different ideologies still exists regardless just like how that “railway station” stands firm in its position after the train has passed. With regards to nature interpretation, everyone is entitled to their opinions and insights, but it is important to keep in mind that their opinion stems from previous ideas. As said in the textbook, it is important to interpret in a way that accompanies your audience’s learning goals and style, and it is significant to address their opinions with “humility” (Beck et al., 2018). Similar to our backpacks as said in Unit 3, everyone has their own backpack that we must respect, as we all come from different backgrounds. Our individual “trains” will pass through many stations when it comes to interpretation, but we must keep in mind that each station has a past to acknowledge and understand. Diving into different aspects of your topic when interpreting is important, because it provides you more knowledge than you can imagine. For example, Pea Ridge, a national park that honours the US military, now also honours the 1000 Cherokee Indians that fighted for confederacy, as well as the Trail of Tears (C-SPAN, 2012). These stories would not be discovered if there was no further historical interpretation on these national parks, in fact, these stories would most likely be forgotten or not even acknowledged by the future generations (C-SPAN, 2012). The Cherokee Indians fought and allied with the Confederate forces which allowed them to win the battle.

I would recommend watching the video if you have not already, because it emphasizes the importance of accepting and educating on the past. This further shows us that the land and natural spaces we may be interpreting were not always present which is why it is highly important to appreciate the history of natural spaces. Additionally, when providing interpretation to a wide variety of audiences, finding different learning materials that allow them to successfully understand without difficulty makes you a more successful interpreter in my opinion.When interpreting with integrity, it is important to keep transparency and permit past events to shape your future interpretations. We cannot forget the past when interpreting, because it does not provide the full picture to our audience, and only offers the current picture.

Do you tend to think about the history of different places when you visit?

References

Beck, L., Cable, T. T., & Knudson, D. M. (2018). Interpreting cultural and natural heritage: for a better world. Sagamore Venture.

(Beck at al. 2018)

C-SPAN. (2012, May 2), National Park Service Chief Historian Robert Sutton on Historical Interpretation in Parks [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZ9DM-MoTXA&ab_channel=C-SPAN

Hooykaas, A. (2023). Unit 3: Risk Versus Reward in Interpretation. [Courselink Content]. University of Guelph. https://courselink.uoguelph.ca/d2l/le/content/791355/viewContent/3306929/View

ccenvs3000w23

Hey Simran,

I enjoyed reading your post this week and find it interesting how you compare our invisible backpacks to our own individual history. I didn’t have this perspective until after reading your post and I think it is a great connection. Each of our stations and backpacks hold valuable memories and important backgrounds of our own life history. It is important to have integrity with our own personal history so that we can bring meaning to our lives, and not only keep important memories to ourselves, but to share them with others.

“Do you tend to think about the history of different places when you visit?”

In all honesty, I haven't really before unless I was actively going out to a region known for its history. For instance, when I visited Italy in 2015, I was in a location surrounded by fascinating history I hadn't learned about before. It made everything more interesting and made me eager to learn as I was visiting world-famous monuments such as the Vatican or the Colosseum. I don’t particularly tend to reflect on the history of Ontario as a lot of it was taught through elementary school and highschool. I find that when you're younger, it’s more difficult to understand and appreciate history. After reading the material this week, I think it’s really important to maintain the integrity of the past and to build a better future for the next generation. I also feel that there should be more emphasis on history in nature interpretation and in school curriculum to keep reminding people that there is a past history with deep roots. Reflecting on these gives life meaning and lessons that need to be learned.

Thank you for sharing your post!!

Catherine :)

Unit 06: Nature Interpretation through History

Preserving Memories of the Past

“There is no peculiar merit in ancient things, but there is merit in integrity, and integrity entails the keeping together of the parts of any whole, and if these parts are scattered throughout time, then the maintenance of integrity entails a knowledge, a memory, of ancient things. …. To think, feel or act as though the past is done with, is equivalent to believing that a railway station through which our train has just passed, only existed for as long as our train was in it.” ~Edward Hyams

This quote by Edward Hyams describes how the past as an individual unit holds no quantified goodness. Instead, there is goodness in integrity, which means to uphold pieces of the past and to bring forth these memories and concepts to the future. By ignoring the memories of the past, it is as if they never existed.

Preserving memories of the past should hold high value as stories of the past can guide how lives are lived in the present. Both good and tragic memories of the past hold high importance and neither should be neglected—especially tragic memories. Tragic stories such as the struggle for equal rights for women, and civil rights movements for minorities, are important stories to tell as survivors are able to share their stories and become important figures in agents for change (Beck et a., 2018). For example, WWII Holocaust Museums and concentration camps around the world allow humanity to acknowledge the millions of victims lost, and help educate the world and prevent history from repeating itself. By preserving these experiences and memories, acts for change in social issues as described earlier are more likely to be conducted and acknowledged.

An important factor in keeping the integrity of the past is through interpretation. Interpretation allows for past stories and artifacts to be shared with humankind. Without interpretation, artifacts are simply old objects, historical sites are ordinary pieces of land and traditional celebrations and ceremonies are purely sources of entertainment (Beck et al., 2018). Interpretation brings life and meaning into the past, where people may have not been able to acknowledge otherwise. It also provides us with explanations on why certain practices and traditions are prevalent in the present. With this knowledge and integrity of the past, ultimately it makes life more meaningful.

My first experience with nature interpretation that focused on history includes Black Creek Pioneer Village, which is a history museum in Toronto, Ontario. Growing up in Vaughan, it was inevitable that my elementary school would make a trip to this site. This heritage museum contains 40 historic buildings, representing life in the 1860s (Smith, 2013). Some buildings in this attraction remain on their original sites, however many were brought over between the 1950s and 1980s to add to the preservation of the mid-19th-century rural and village life in Ontario (Smith, 2013). It was here where my class went through a walk-through of ‘a day in the life’ living in the 1800s. We were educated on mid-19th century artifacts, and were taken through the daily tasks and careers of a pioneer villager. With this experience, it gave me a better understanding of how individuals lived back then and how changes in technology greatly affected the world we live in today. With this experience, I recognized how important it is to educate children on the integrity of history and historical sites, which ultimately leads to a more educated generation and gives life purpose.

Image of building from Black Creek Pioneer Village

References

Beck, L., Cable, T. T., & Knudson, D. M. (2018). Interpreting cultural and natural heritage: For A Better World. SAGAMORE Publishing.

Smith, D. (2013, January 20). Toronto feature: Black Creek Pioneer Village. The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved February 13, 2023, from https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/toronto-feature-black-creek-pioneer-village#:~:text=Black%20Creek%20Pioneer%20Village%20contains,late%201950s%20and%20early%201980s.

Image taken from: https://blackcreek.ca/

abenvs3000w23

A Life of Ambiguity

When viewing this week's course material and seeing there was no prompt, I had an immediate feeling of uncertainty and stress. I started thinking about why I have this automatic fear when it comes to open-ended assignments, and many other situations in life that are ambigious. This made me wonder if any of my classmates feel the same way so I decided to write this weeks post on the ambiguity and uncertainty of many aspects of life.

Throughout my life, I have found myself to be indecisive. Even small choices about what I want to eat or what I want to do with my free time are difficult for me. The reason for this is my fear that with something so open-ended, I will make the "incorrect" choice. Due to my indecisiveness and lack of passion in the past, the ambiguity of life has been challenging at times. Like many of you, I am still finding myself. Although I have come to terms with not knowing myself entirely, I was not always this way.

From a young age. I felt pressure from my parents, friends, and teachers through elementary and high school to find myself, find what I'm passionate about, and determine “what I want to be when I grow up.” This pressure continued through my teen and early adult years, with much of the pressure coming from myself. I felt behind as it seemed that all my peers had a plan in life, and I did not. Many of my friends knew what they wanted in their futures. They had the program and university they wanted to attend planned out, had hobbies, and spent time doing things they found enjoyable. At the time, I had not found a sport or hobby that interested me. Due to this uncertainty and the many paths one can take after high school, I decided to do what most of my friends and older sister had done. As it is now clear, I am enrolled at the University of Guelph. I decided to get my Bachelor of Science degree, majoring in biological science. I chose this program because science and math were the only subjects I didn’t dislike in high school. I also discovered that this program is very open regarding selecting courses. This allowed me to be my indecisive self and explore several avenues until I discovered my interests. Throughout my first and second years at the university, I took many diverse courses, including criminal justice, food science, environmental science, botany, genetics, human kinetics, computer science, chemistry and many more. By doing so, I found my passions in botany and many fields of environmental science. I am so grateful I decided to jump into something I was unsure about, as finding these passions through my degree has shaped the person I am today.

Life is full of decision-making, which can be challenging at times, especially when you haven't discovered what you're passionate about. The best part about the ambiguity of life is that you always have other options. It doesn't matter how long it takes someone to find their passions and there's never a single choice in life you can't come back from.

How did you find your passions and hobbies?

As I said, in the past year, I discovered my passion for plants. As I have taken more botany courses and environmental sciences relating to plants, my indoor plant collection has grown. So much so that the room I originally used for my office has become a little indoor greenhouse. If you have been following my blog, you would know that I love photography. I took some photos to share today of my plant collection.

ccenvs3000w23

Hi Aaliyah,

First of all, your pictures are very lovely! Such beautiful imagery of your house plants, I can definitely sense your passion for botany through these photos.

I found your post this week very relatable. I myself struggle deeply with indecisiveness and I hear it from everyone that is close to me in my life. It’s very strange, even simple decisions such as deciding where to eat for dinner or whether I should take the elevator or stairs are difficult for me to make. I find that this is especially so when I am with my friends or family. This is rooted from my need to please people—I am afraid of hurting others feelings and want to make sure everyone in the room is happy.

It is very ironic that you’re in biological science, which forces you to make your own decisions on what courses you’d like to take. I am in a similar boat as you as I’m in the biodiversity major which is the most open program in the Integrative Biology department at Guelph. I think that choosing majors like the ones we chose is important for us to be able to break our indecisiveness, and to discover what we are most passionate about, like you mention.

I found my passions and hobbies through courses at Guelph as well. Specifically, BIOL*4410, ZOO*2700, ZOO*2090, ENVS*3090, ZOO*4940, ZOO*4950, IBIO*3100 and IBIO*4100 are courses that really made me appreciate the importance of biodiversity and how diverse life truly is. Below are images I’ve taken in these courses.

Looking forward to reading your future posts !

Catherine :)

Unit 05: Nature Interpretation Through Science

The Value of Citizen Science and Sharing through Nature Interpretation

When reflecting on the concept of environmental interpretation, the main purpose is to educate an audience on how valuable the natural world is, and to help people create a lasting and sustainable relationship with the environment (Youngentob & Hostetler, 2018). Another main objective is to educate the public on the importance of conservation and preservation. Although there is much discussion on these important topics, how do we get the general public to feel more engaged in helping the environment? We can always inspire individuals and emphasize the importance of not wasting water, recycling properly or telling people to pay attention to the companies that they are consuming from. These efforts, although can be helpful, may seem that an individual’s influence is minimal since there isn’t much hands-on experience or a direct impact on helping conserve biodiversity. These may seem like ‘secondary’ acts as they’re minor changes to everyday activities that people do. I feel that there should be more emphasis on projects that include non-scientists to help these issues we are so adamant on educating about. Broadening community participation in environmental science and stewardship is an important priority, and citizen science can provide this opportunity (Merenlender et al., 2016). Environmental educators can help emphasize the value of citizen science and engage audiences to further develop their relationships with nature.

Merenlender et al. (2016) defines citizen science as “engaging nonprofessionals in scientific research, is a critical component of Earth stewardship that strengthens community involvement and helps people develop a sense of and commitment to place.” Citizen science is an important component of science learning and environmental education that provides real opportunities to strengthen global monitoring—especially in terms of species (Merenlender et al., 2016). By participating in citizen science projects, the public can gain strong positive attitudes toward the environment which leads to pro-environmental behavior (Merenlender et al., 2016). Citizen science also provides opportunities for people that want to make an environmental change but don’t have any scientific background. With citizen science, the public can engage in research and management activities that affect natural and human communities (Merelender et al., 2016).

Image taken from Science Sparks website.

An example of such research is discussed in the ‘For the love of birds’ Ted Talk (TED, 2017). Wachira mentions how the reason citizen science is so valuable is because it is adaptive, and engaging to the public (TED, 2017). He describes the Kenya Bird Map project and how it maps over 1100 species over an online database where individuals in communities can submit data of birds that they’ve seen. This project involves the general public's participation where they document the location of birds to find out their habitat range. Scientists can then come up with a map of every single species and prioritize conservation efforts on certain species to find out which habitats are most affected. Here in this example it demonstrates how effective citizen science can be in capturing the public's attention, as well as aiding in scientific research. Individuals can feel like they made an effective contribution to science through hands-on activities like this one described!

Below I have linked other citizen science projects that may be of interest to some of you. What are your thoughts on citizen science? Do any of these projects/resources interest you?

Welcome to the home of powerful nature performance monitoring Learn more The most powerful nature insights on the market Lear

Citizen Science is when members of the public get involved with scientific research by designing experiments and collecting, sorting and ana

https://science.gc.ca/site/science/en/citizen-science-portal

https://ontarionature.org/programs/community-science/

References

TED. (2017, November 28). For the love of birds | Washington Wachira [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5w5BhwLzoqg

Youngentob, K.N. and Hostetler, M.E. (2018) Environmental interpretation: How to communicate persuasively. Available at: https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/UW182 (Accessed: February 8, 2023).

mkpenvs3000w23

Unit 4: Art Interpretation

There are a lot of different ways to interpret nature, but let’s focus on art. Just looking through my phone, I am able to look at pictures of sunsets/sunrises I have taken, and I am able to associate the pale tint of orange with a beautiful moment (Hooykaas 2023).

This is one of the many sunrise pictures I have taken. After appreciating the moment, I remember sharing this photograph to my social media so I could extend the appreciation to others (Hooykaas 2023). In a society that is connected to nature, the ability for people to interpret art in ways that allow them to express themselves, whether that be their thoughts or feelings is very important (Beck et al. 2018). We often hear the phrase “art is a way to express yourself”, this is where it is seen. Being used as a form of therapy or a way to showcase emotion, art is seen as a great way to express nature. The textbook also discusses Maslow’s concept of self-actualization (Beck et al. 2018). These are moments best described as the points in a person’s life that makes them the happiest. This concept can be captured in different types of arts. Using photographs as an example again, although a person may not be comfortable taking a picture of themselves smiling in front of an amazing view after a hike, they can take capture this momentous occasion by taking a picture of the view.

In a previous post, I discussed my opportunity to take a late-night hike in Algonquin Provincial Park. This hike consisted of multiple stations where there were designated people (characters full of enthusiasm and knowledge) at every stop. They used interesting topics and methods to help us stay engaged. This included stopping and showing a jar of fireflies, calls for specific fishes, howls to hear back from wolves and so much more. This is similar to the use of actors to portray important topics as discussed in the textbook (Beck at al. 2018). The whole group hike was a great way to express knowledge while also letting us know there are issues such as less wolves, or the milky way is not seen as clearly as you would have seen it a year ago.

“The gift of beauty “can be seen in different ways by different individuals. I personally see flowers, sunrises, and high peak views as gifts from nature and as it is something I am interested in, I can find these areas everywhere I go. Growing up art, drama and music were subjects I lacked in and realized as I grew up, that I took those classes for granted. As an adult, I have really grown to appreciate these outlets. Currently, I love photography, which allows me to look for those amazing sunsets or the gorgeous, rare flowers.

I would love to hear your personally experiences with how you have interpreted nature through art. What form of art have you used?

References

Beck, L., Cable, T. T., & Knudson, D. M. (2018). Interpreting cultural and natural heritage: for a better world. Sagamore Venture.

Hooykaas, A. (2023). Unit 4: Nature Interpretation through Art and Planning for “All” Scenarios [Courselink Content]. University of Guelph. https://courselink.uoguelph.ca/d2l/le/content/791355/viewContent/3306929/View.

ccenvs3000w23

Hey!

I absolutely love that sunrise picture! It is visually so stunning, and it made me realize how lucky we are as a society to be able to share special moments like this with each other through technology. By sharing pictures like these, it definitely encourages friends and family to want to be in touch with nature and be able to experience moments like this for themselves.

Your late-night hike in Algonquin Provincial Park sounds very exciting! I really like your comparison of a jar of fireflies and different animal calls to art. I never had this perspective before but it is so intriguing how all forms of wildlife and nature are art. The illumination of the fireflies can be interpreted as a form of visual arts, and different animal calls can be interpreted as songs of nature. Nature itself has a way of demonstrating ‘the gift of beauty’, but sometimes needs the aid of nature interpreters to bring this attention to the rest of society.

In my blog post I talk about how I interpret nature through two main forms of art, which are music and visual arts. I love listening to music and am an auditory learner so listening to songs that interpret nature evokes emotional responses from me when I listen to them. In my post I mention the song, ‘Big Yellow Taxi’ by Joni Mitchell, and another song I’d like to share is ‘Ends of the Earth’ by Lord Huron. Do you have any recommendations? I’d love to hear them!

Great post this week :)

#Youtube

Unit 04: Nature Interpretation through Art and Planning for 'All' Scenarios

Interpreting Nature Through Art

‘The Gift of Beauty’ in terms of nature interpretation is the ability for individuals to sense beauty in their natural surroundings, and to provide a spiritual uplifting and encourage resource preservation (Beck et al., 2018). Interpreting nature through art can draw out these types of responses in the public. Jay Griffiths (2013) describes how, “art elicits sympathy, conjures empathy and these emotions are requisites for a kind, kinned sense of society.” Each of these factors are necessary when aiming to change the public’s perspective on nature, and to have society create stronger relationships with nature.

The use of the arts in nature interpretation programs can entertain, educate, and make emotional connections with the audience (Beck et al., 2018). Art provides nature awareness which can bring out individuals' fascination and curiosity of the natural world (van Boeckel, 2015). Ultimately, it can enhance nature interpretation programs and advertise its importance to the public. The gift of beauty in nature can be experienced through a variety of art forms that includes theatre, visual arts, music and dance. These art forms have been used as tools of interpretation for decades as there is a natural connection between the arts and interpretation of our culture and landscape (Beck et al., 2018).

So how do I interpret this “gift of beauty” that nature has through art? I sense this gift through two main art forms, which are music and visual arts. As mentioned in the Unit 02’s blog post, there are different types of learners and I myself am an auditory learner. Thus, learning and listening through music is most likely to grab my attention and evoke strong emotions and opinions on subjects—especially that of nature. The use of music in nature interpretation programs is a strong source of eliciting this emotional response as music works in three special ways: words can stick into the minds of listeners, songs paint pictures in the imagination, and often songs evoke emotions in listeners making them memorable (Beck et al., 2018). A song that exemplifies all three of these traits is one that I have loved for a very long time is Joni Mitchell’s, ‘Big Yellow Taxi’. If you haven’t heard this song before I highly recommend you take a listen while focusing on the lyrics, it holds a very important message about the environment!

Similarly, representation of nature through visual arts is another useful tool in evoking emotional responses from individuals. Visual arts can be used in innovative ways to enhance park grounds and view artist’s realities of nature from different perspectives. The beauty of visual arts is that you can see interpretations of nature throughout centuries of time. There are bound to be differences but what is truly remarkable is how artists from different centuries can capture the same essence of a landscape. For instance, both of the paintings below capture a similar nature of The Marne river in France—that being its undeniable warmth.

Modern day oil painting ‘Les Reflections sur La Marne’ by E. René His that presents their perspective of The Marne river in France.

1888 painting of ‘Les Bords de la Marne’ by Paul Cézanne that displays his perspective of The Marne river in France.

After discussing art’s role in nature interpretation, how would you interpret/compare these two paintings? What art form speaks to you the most? Do you have any nature-themed song recommendations?

References:

Beck, L., Cable, T. T., Knudson, D. M. (2018). Interpreting Cultural and Natural Heritage for a Better World. Sagamore Venture.

Griffiths, J. (2013). The exile of the arts. Orion, 30(5), 10-11.

van Boeckel, J. (2015). At the heart of art and earth: an exploration of practices in arts-based environmental education. Environmental Education Research, 21(5), 801–802.

Images taken from:

#Youtube

skenvs3000w23

The Meaning of Privilege

The concept of environmental privilege may be understood by individuals in different ways. The general definition of privilege is having the ability to experience something that others may not be able to due to constraints in my opinion. In a natural context my definition would be the ability to access the environment and resources.

I myself, am a Canadian citizen, with access to clean water, a heated home, an education and the ability to share my knowledge with others. My family has helped me obtain a high level of education, and sometimes we are able to splurge and travel together, and I am grateful everyday. However, it makes me reflect on those who do not have the privileges.

Looking at indigenous communities as an example, they do not have access to the same things we do. This has been an issue for generations, a community like Curve Lake First Nation in Southern Canada is surrounded by bodies of freshwater, yet has no access to clean drinking water (Cecco, 2021). Although they were first generation Canadians, why do they not have the same privileges? I definitely think that privilege and rights are often confused, which is why something like clean drinking water is seen as a privilege when it should be seen as a human right. Oftentimes, in day to day life, the fact that we have water as a privilege is overlooked.

The differences between urban and rural lifestyles are extreme, and the privileges that we are entitled to depend on so many factors, like equality. This concept ties into unpacking your invisible backpack, and sharing the experiences you have in your “backpack”, that others may not have in theirs.

Personally, I think our lifestyle, as well as where we live dictates whether or not we have ample access to nature. For example, someone that lives near a large amount of green spaces and protected nature areas may be more inclined to explore. The privilege of living in areas where environmental spaces are easily available helps individuals build a connection with nature. Growing up, I lived in suburban areas, and the type of nature that I had the privilege of accessing was a local pond, or a conservation area. To compare, another person may be living in an apartment building in a very urbanized area which restricts their access to nature. Additionally, it's hard to seek out time for the things you love, due to hard work schedules, school schedules, financial restrictions and more. I have the privilege of being able to go get a meal from McDonalds when I am craving it, however someone else might not have this. I am always extremely grateful for the privileges I have had and continue to have, as my family always serves as a safety net for me too. Seeing privilege as the ability to attain these different luxuries in life is how I understand it the best.

My question is, do you think privileges can often be confused with general human rights?

References

Cecco, L. (2021, April 30). Dozens of Canada's First Nations lack drinking water: 'unacceptable in a country so rich'. The Guardian. from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/30/canada-first-nations-justin-trudeau-drinking-water

ccenvs3000w23

Hey Simran!

I enjoyed reading your post this week, I think you bring up amazing points on rights versus privileges. The point you brought up about how clean drinking water should be a right is extremely valid. I think it is unfortunate how there are a vast amount of Indigenous communities in Canada that do not experience this right, and it demonstrates how negative colonialism’s effects are on native populations and how these impacts are still extremely relevant today.

To answer your question, I think privileges are most definitely confused with basic human rights. Humans should be able to have access to clean drinking water, shelter, and food, but unfortunately some groups of people are more likely to experience this privileged lifestyle than others.

Privilege in nature interpretation is also very important to address. I definitely agree with your point that where we live and our lifestyles define our connection with nature. I also think that race and culture also contribute to this connection and there are some privileges that white-individuals experience in the nature interpretation community that can impede other races’ connections. For instance, there are plenty of predominantly white-based activities in nature such as canoeing that other cultures may not be as exposed to and/or avoid these activities due to the risk of discrimination from white people against other races (Beck et al., 2018). These social issues should be addressed and inclusivity should be more pronounced in the nature interpretation community.

Overall, I loved reading your post and can’t wait to hear more from you!

Catherine :)

Beck, L., Cable, T. T., Knudson, D. M. (2018). Interpreting Cultural and Natural Heritage for a Better World. Sagamore Venture.

Unit 03: Risk versus Reward Interpretation

Addressing Privilege in Nature Interpretation

I define privilege as unearned advantages that apply to certain groups of people. For instance, someone who grew up in a middle-class home with married parents did not earn the benefits of having food on their table every night, but rather are born into that privileged lifestyle. Peggy McIntosh (1989) describes how privilege can be seen as an ‘invisible backpack’ of unearned assets that can be counted on cashing in each day, but is meant to remain oblivious. In other words, many individuals are unaware of the privilege they hold in their invisible backpack and overlook the lack of privilege that others experience. By unpacking our invisible backpacks, we can acknowledge the privilege we have as individuals.

Here I will unpack my own invisible backpack; I am a white, middle class, healthy, young woman. I am also a highly educated individual that speaks English, is able to pay for university, possesses a Canadian passport, and has the opportunity to travel outside of Canada if desired. I grew up in a small suburban neighborhood that was relatively safe, I always had food on the table and my family could afford many extracurricular activities that my brothers and I would partake in. These are all things that I have been given from the love and support from my family without directly earning.

Privilege also has a major influence on how we interpret and experience nature. There is a noticeably large lack of attendance from minorities in nature interpretation parks and this is suggested to be true due to economic, cultural, communication, knowledge, and fear barriers (Beck et al., 2018). Economic barriers from minority groups relate to large entrance fees to parks and minorities experiencing a generally lower socioeconomic position in society (Beck et al., 2018). Cultural barriers refers to the differences in culturally accepted activities in minority groups. For instance, some minority groups would not prefer camping as it is deemed more as being in deep poverty than as an activity to experience the wilderness for enjoyment (Beck et al., 2018). Communication barriers can prevent interpreters from being able to communicate with a variety of audiences that speak different languages aside from English. Speaking English is of high privilege and gives great advantages to people to be able to experience an abundant amount of activities in Canada. In relation to this, there is a lack of knowledge on the subject of nature in minority groups which can be a result of language barriers. Finally, fear also corresponds with this notion of lacking in knowledge. There is uncertainty of what to expect with wildlife encounters, as well as potential discrimination against minority groups in predominantly white-based activities such as camping (Beck et al., 2018).

Beck et al. (2018) suggests ways that we can provide inclusivity towards underprivileged and minority groups in terms of nature interpretation. Cultural barriers can be reduced by personally inviting minority populations to nature interpretation events through organizations to attract minority populations. By hiring a more diverse group of individuals, language barriers can be minimized by having a variety of programs be presented in multiple languages. Similarly, by increasing staff diversity, fears can be reduced and ultimately more education can be provided to marginalized groups.

References

Beck, L., Cable, T. T., Knudson, D. M. (2018). Interpreting Cultural and Natural Heritage for a Better World. Sagamore Venture.

McIntosh, P. (1989). White privilege: Unpacking the invisible knapsack. Peace and Freedom, 10-12.

hmgeog3320f23

Teaching Learners

What exactly is an environmental interpreter and what do they do? An environmental interpreter can be described as an individual who is knowledgeable as well as entertaining when it comes to observing and interpreting natural nature. I recently came across an article that highlighted some of the environmental interpretive work done by Dr. Roberta Bondar. Among many other accomplishments such as being an astronaut and scientist, Dr. Bondar is an environmental interpreter who captures the biodiversity and alluring photos of the planet, she uses these photos to further educate others. “Without knowledge, the world is bereft of culture. And so, we must be educators and students both. At some point, an educator must broaden the net to include all issues relevant to humanity's challenges.” - Dr. Roberta Bondar” (Bondar, 2019). Below I have inserted a link to DR. Roberta Bondar's site that explains more of her work.

In my opinion, an ideal environmental interpreter is passionate about what they are teaching, take their audiences (and their own) learning styles into consideration, and are open to learning new things even though they are the educators. If and individual is not passionate about the education they are providing, they are likely to provide information and interpretation that is limited and unappealing rather than someone who is interested in what they are teaching who goes the extra mile to illustrate and interpret nature. Prior to completing unit two, I had never taken into consideration that educators have a learning style too and this influences not only the way they learn but the way that they teach. After completing the quiz that highlighted my learning styles, I learned that I am quite balanced. I scored 30% auditory, 30% visual and 40% tactile. Clearly, my results were skewed slightly towards the tactile learning style. Although I’ve always thought of myself as an auditory learner, this quiz brought to light some interesting facts that I was able to use as advice to potentially improve the way I learn. If I were to take on the role of being an environmental interpreter, I believe my teaching style would have to be tactile as well. I say this because personally, I think I can often provide interesting analogies and I believe I am a good storyteller (auditory) although sometimes I find people seem to be uninterested in what I am saying. This may be because they are uninterested in the topic or me. In order to avoid this, I believe that in order to succeed as an interpreter, I would need to provide a physical experience where my audience would get to interact with what they are being taught. I would take on this role in a place with a warmer climate as I am not a huge fan of the cold and I find that the things that interest me sin nature such as plants and insects are mostly found in warmer climates. Since the main goal of an environmental interpreter is to educate other individuals as well as influence them to create a safe and positive connection with nature, it is important that I would have the skills stated above to achieve this goal!

Citations

Environmental interpreter. (2019). Dr. Roberta Bondar - Environment Interpreter. Available at: https://www.robertabondar.com/environmental-interpreter.html

ccenvs3000w23

Hi Helena, I loved reading your post this week! You bring forward a lot of well written points. I also looked at the Dr. Roberta Bondar article when figuring out how to tackle the question on what it means to be an environmental interpreter! I am fascinated with Dr. Bondar’s work as an astronaut and scientist and her passion truly amazes me. I agree with your point that an ideal environmental interpreter is passionate about what they are teaching. I think it's important to teach what you know, understand, and are passionate about versus trying to teach through a script that is not genuine. I also really admire Dr. Bondar’s quote about how we all must be educators and students—we must be willing to continuously learn with an open mind about the natural world while also trying to teach those that are uneducated in the subject.

I think it's interesting that you are a tactile learner because I believe this one is the most uncommon! In terms of your point of how you think you can teach people best, I think that although your best method of teaching involves tactile methods, I think it's also important to try to incorporate methods that would benefit other learning styles as well since tactile learners are the most uncommon.

I can relate to your point on not being a big fan of the cold and that warmer climates would be more enjoyable as an environmental interpreter. I suggest looking at National Parks in South America potentially if this is something you're truly passionate about.

Looking forward to reading future posts of yours! :)

-Catherine

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