Nature Interpretation By; Catarina Rondinelli

ENVS*3000 Nature Interpretation Blog

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My Final Blog Post

Now that i've reached the end of my blog, this post will be dedicated to reflect on my personal ethic as I develop as a nature interpreter. After completing this class, the most important thing i've learned is how important it is for humans to have a connection with nature, especially having a sustainable relationship with the environment. When we look at our stages of economic development with respect to how we utilize Earth's natural capital, the future is aimed to move towards sustainable development and green technology. This will be the movement towards using technology and science to reduce human impacts on the natural environment.

I believe this will be our future outlook on life as we can begin to see a greater emphasis on sustainability in our society. I believe that humans need to have a connection with nature to improve their quality of life. I believe that the environment you grow up in affects every facet of your life and this comes to prove that we must incorporate the environment with our everyday surroundings. As nature has many beneficial effects to our human health and wellbeing, we must use it to improve our quality of life and find ways in which we can sustain that idea for generations.

With the ideas covered in this class, nature provides us with natural benefits that improves our mood, spirit, and mind. Now that I fully understand the impacts nature has on humans, it is time for us to analyze how humans impact nature, and where we can improve. Every single person on this planet has the responsibility to live having a minimal impact on the environment. With a predicted sustainable future for society, people must change and adapt to new ways of living so we don't further contribute to climate change. Our ways of transportation, how we utilize energy sources, and how we produce waste needs to all change in order for us to have a sustainable future. Nature interpretation can be a key tool in helping people understand how important it is for us to protect the environment and use it sustainably.

It will still take time for majority of people to fully grasp the importance around this issue and to take the initiative to have a sustainable lifestyle. But as nature interpreters, we have the knowledge to turn the dial on supporting sustainable initiatives; becoming leaders who can teach why it should be everyone's purpose in life. Everyone in this class will use their knowledge in nature interpretation in their own ways, but mine will be to serve a purpose to build healthier cities and use the environment to improve my quality of life. I can see myself working with people who can create innovative ideas, meshing together our natural world with our economic world.

I also have a great interest in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry, and I can use my nature interpretation skills to foster my purpose to create products that have a very little impact on the environment and improve human health. Gaining all the knowledge in how we can appreciate the environment has helped me create my vision for the future and what I want to do as a career in the future. I can not emphasis it enough on how important it is for every human to have a connection with the environment. It provides us with a purpose and with that, you can uncover what your true purpose is on Earth. At the end of the day, we are all here to work together to have a functional society, and we should be doing that with little impact on the environment because the visible consequences will only get worst.

Climate change is a scary and serious issue that can not be ignored. It is all I hear about in any of my science classes and it is in the hands of the younger generation to help fix it. All of us must come together to help combat and adapt to climate change. Building sustainable businesses, buildings, and lifestyles are the solutions to this problem and if you already appreciated the environment, there is no doubt that you would also agree with this statement. I love nature and appreciate everything it gives me, its art, its music, its history. There is no more room for us to destroy it and it is time to build a future with the environment, not without.

[crdaenvs3000w22]

Hey Erminio,

Amazing job at wrapping up your experiences and takeaways from the course in this week’s final blog post! I found that you made some really interesting and valid points throughout your post. For starters, I completely agree with your idea that humans need to have a connection with nature in order to improve their overall quality of life and I also believe that the environment we grow up in has an immense effect on every aspect of our lives which is why we need to ensure nature is incorporated in our day to day life. This is something I’ve unfortunately only come to realize recently through the help of this course. I never realized how much my experiences I had with nature growing up, have shaped me to be how I am today, passions, fears, beliefs and even my overall personality. I dream of building a future for myself and future family where we can be surrounded my nature and have the opportunity to really immerse ourselves into all its wonders. I am so thankful my parents gave me the freedom to explore and develop my own relationship with nature. I suppose this is one of the many privileges I have had growing up in Canada for the majority of my life and it is also why I share my love for nature with others in the way that I do today. This course has helped me reflect on my purpose as a nature interpreter and like you said, we will all have different uses for nature interpretation. I love that you plan to use it to help build a future with cleaner cities and use the environment to create better quality of lives. I will admit that I am not entirely sure which path I will take career wise but what I do know is that I will use my new knowledge and insights on nature interpretation to try and make a difference in the way people view nature, so that its not only for financial value but also for its value in beauty, peace and diversity. Once again, great work on this week’s final blog post, it was very well written! You have definitely inspired me! Good luck with rest of the semester and any other future endeavors! 

Catarina :)

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Who I Am as an Interpreter?

My name is Katie Schankula, and I am a 21-year-old girl who grew up in North Bay, Ontario, Canada. I am attending the University of Guelph because I have the privilege to do so. Because I grew up in a country that allows me to do so, with a family that supported me, and access to a high school education. I was able to go camping as a child, I had clean lakes to swim in, and Ontario Parks to hike through. That is my backpack, and I now see how much privilege it holds (Gallavan, 2005). I now more thoroughly understand the privilege I have and have an uttermost respect for the people who are underserved (Beck et al., 2018). I will not let my privilege of having access to an education and the ability to understand interpretation go to waste. That is my promise to my fellow classmates, my professors, and the people I interact with every day.

When Richard Louv suggested that no matter what your motivation is to do this job, you have a responsibility to future generations, this really sunk in for me. It emphasizes the idea that we may all come from different backgrounds as interpreters, we have different reasonings for taking this class, and different interests, but in the end, we share a common passion. And that passion runs so deep that it brings us all together and connects a diverse group of people with one common goal, to share our love of nature with others.

My responsibility as an interpreter is to do exactly that, to share my love of nature with others. Because I had the privilege to obtain a university degree from an environmental program that is well recognized, I have a role to share that knowledge with the public. Even if I do not obtain a career strictly as a nature interpreter or in that field, I have a responsibility to connect people to nature through the scientific education I have obtained. I now have the tools in my pocket to be able to take heavy material and create a fun and engaging program for all audiences. I recognize that some people do not have the access to provincial parks or the means of travel to attend a guided hike. For them, I will use communication and word of mouth to spread my stories. I will listen to other’s stories and help keep the art of storytelling alive. As Beck et al. (2018) mentions, storytelling is able to encapsulate entire cultures. It is inexpensive and just as effective, as even younger audiences can appreciate a good story.

I had the privilege of obtaining many certifications such as white-water canoe training, basic canoe training, wilderness first aid, basic CPR and first aid, and a pleasure craft operators’ card. I know the trade-offs between risk and reward, and I am responsible to ensure that I am encouraging safe behaviour in the environment for both the person and the ecosystem (Beck et al., 2018).

What do I believe? I believe that no matter the age, no matter the ethnicity, beliefs, or background, everyone has the right to enjoy nature. I think people are quick to picture children as enjoying nature, playing in a puddle, or getting covered in the mud. But why shouldn’t and adult be able to do that too? I want to create an atmosphere around interpretation that makes everyone feel comfortable being themselves and connecting to nature in whatever way that makes them happiest. I want to provide people with the tools to do so. That could be helping someone identify a bird call, or simply pointing out where to look for dragonflies.

I am an able-bodied person who is passionate about the outdoors and has worked as a nature interpreter in the past at Marten River Provincial Park. When I approach nature interpretation, I think I would personally be better suited in an outdoor setting. I don’t necessarily mean in a structured sit-down lesson, or a pre-determined game. This could be as simple as suggesting going for a hike with a friend when I am bored. I have learnt that interpretation can be found in everything. There are people that are better at engaging groups in more of a classroom setting, and people that are better at creating podcasts, but I am better suited outside being exposed to the sounds and beauty around me. I am sure lots of people feel this way, and I would be capable of running a program indoors or online, but my element is outside. And there is nothing wrong with accepting where your strengths lie.

If there is one thing I could work on as an interpreter, it is supporting fellow interpreters. Attending interpretation events at the university, or seeking community held events. Although interpreters are trying to create a sense of community with the public, I think it is also important to create that sense of community with each other. Because as I mentioned, as well as Richard Louv, we all have the same responsibility and together, we can create an even larger community.

I want to take a moment to thank the teaching staff at the University of Guelph and for the ENVS*3000 “Nature Interpretation” course for providing me with the tools and the education to spread my knowledge to others. And thank you to my classmates who interacted with my posts and started creating that sense of community between interpreters. To have the ability to interact with so many other people with the same passions as me has been awesome and I have learnt so much from you all! I hope to keep spreading your stories and inspiring others to do the same!

Best of luck moving forward to you all!

-       Katie Schankula

One last photo of my trip to Hawaii! Go explore what Earth has to offer! 

References 

Beck, L., Cable, T. T., & Knudson, D. M. (2019). Interpreting Cultural and Natural Heritage. Van Haren Publishing.

Gallavan, N. P. (2005). Helping teachers unpack their “invisible knapsacks.” Multicultural Education (San Francisco, Calif.), 13(1), 36–36. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A137921591/AONE?u=guel77241&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=9fe2f151

[crdaenvs3000w22]

Hey Katie,

Great work on this final blog post! I was genuinely moved by some of the points you touched upon, specifically addressing the acknowledgement of your privileges. It’s true that we are so lucky to have the opportunity to enjoy nature here in Ontario and access to this form of education at the university. I also love that you bring forth the idea that even if you don’t pursue a career directly in this field of nature interpretation, you will continue to interpret nature because you feel it is your responsibility after having had the privilege of this education and to experience nature in the way that you did. However, perhaps my favourite point you made is your belief that anyone has the right to enjoy nature and that we don’t have to let go or ‘outgrow’ it after we’re no longer children. This is also one of my very strong beliefs. I don’t ever want to let go of something that gives me such a sense of happiness, peace and good ol’ fashioned fun. It is my dream in life to go out and seek all of the wonders that nature around the world has to offer. I too, wish to continue interpreting nature and sharing my love for nature with others no matter where life takes me. You make a great point that the use of story telling is a great way to carry on the passion for nature from our own experiences and the experiences of those around us. Overall, this was really well written and I thoroughly enjoyed reading. Wishing you all the best!

Catarina :)

[crdaenvs3000w22]

The Conclusion and Moving Forward

I’d like to thank anyone who has interacted with my blogs during this course as well as those who chose to share their own personal experiences. You made this course all the more enjoyable and given me new insights and perspectives on nature that have allowed me to think outside my own ideas. Good luck with the rest of this semester and any of your future endeavors! Thanks for reading! :)Catarina If you were to ask me at the beginning of this course to describe my personal ethic as a developing nature interpreter I would honestly have no idea what you were talking about. I genuinely would not know how to answer such a question because up until this course, I’ve never really had the chance to actually spend any time reflecting on my relationship with nature and what it really means to me. This course has allowed me to analyze my relationship with nature and how I’ve chosen to share and interpret it to others all my life without any knowledge that I was actually partaking in nature interpretation. As our textbook states, interpretation “translates or brings meaning to people about cultural and natural heritage and interpreters help their clients to better understand, connect to [different nature sites]” (Beck et al., 2018, chp. 1, p.6).To be able to periodically put aside time and work on simply writing down my thoughts about nature and my experiences, relationship and passion for it has truly been a phenomenal opportunity that I am extremely grateful for. Perhaps my favourite part of all of it is how these blogs have allowed me to read about others’ experiences with nature and connect with them based on that common love for nature. In this way, I feel that nature can also bring us together. I’m sure this course has a variety of students coming from tons of different majors, from sciences, to businesses and to arts. However, despite this, we clearly all share the same passion for nature and the best part is that we all have different ways of interpreting nature based on our own unique experiences and passions. 

Throughout the course of writing all these blog posts and after careful thought, I have come to realize that my personal ethic as a developing nature interpreter is one of exploration, stewardship and sharing nature in a way that lets others develop a relationship with it, in their own ways. I strongly believe that nature is so much more than its beauty, thrill, resources and any other value it has to humans. Of course, I myself, being a human, value nature for these same reasons and that is definitely amazing in itself. However, not everything needs to be viewed and measured based on its value to humankind. One of my favourite parts of nature is that it is a powerful force and one that humans cannot control. From the tsunamis, to volcanoes, to hurricanes, nature is ever changing and unpredictable or controllable by humans. In my opinion, this is one of the many reasons nature is amazing, since it is one of the few forces left on earth that humans have not been able to conquer. Although, we all know that nature has been severely damaged and continues to be destroyed for its resources and/or simply to make room for expansions for the developments of humans. I also believe that human advancement is important so I can understand the need to expand and extract necessary resources. However, my belief is also that everything needs to be done in moderation, especially when it comes to taking only what we NEED from mother nature, and nothing more. Yet, money drives people to do some unethical things that destroy nature for greedy reasons and as a developing nature interpreter, I believe it is my responsibility to help others overcome their perceptions of nature only for its financial value to them and help them to grasp a deeper understanding of the true value of nature and encourage them to also follow this path of environmental stewardship. 

Exploration.

Nature and exploring have always gone hand and hand in my mind. From the books I’ve read to the movies I’ve seen and to my own personal experiences, nature and exploration are linked seamlessly. Now this isn’t to say that one can’t enjoy exploring a city or something indoors, away from nature, however, to me exploring has mostly to do with the feeling that discovering something new and incredible brings to you, and for me no new city or room could excite me as much as discovering something new in nature. My dream is to travel to as many of nature’s wonders as my lifetime will allow me. I love the feeling of adventuring through nature and experiencing new sensations, thoughts and thrills that truly make me feel alive. With this being said, nature makes me feel alive through the joy, sense of freedom, peace of mind and good ol’ fashioned fun that it brings me and I thought I’d share a couple of the moments where nature has most brought forth this feeling of being alive to me throughout my life. 

Stewardship.

My stance on nature is one of stewardship. This ties into interpretation since one of the most important factors of interpretation is playing a vital role in aiding to protect natural resources (Beck et al., 2018, chp. 4, p.60). I strongly believe that nature provides us with so much to survive, enjoy and experience and so it is only fitting that all of us take initiative to ensure it is looked after and cared for. I believe it is my responsibility to partake in conserving nature on our earth through sustainable practices and inspiring those around me to undergo the same course. I have chosen this path for myself ever since I was a young child as I always knew that in some way or another I wanted to be a part of something bigger than myself and contribute to conserving the nature and wildlife that I’ve loved for so much of my life. That is what inspired me to attend the university of Guelph and enroll as an environmental science student. I hope that my passions for conserving the environment and using science to make considerable contributions to how we view and extract from nature in the future. 

My Way of Sharing Nature.

As I said earlier, these blog posts have allowed me to reflect on how I view nature and choose to share it with those around me. I’ve come to realize that I have been a nature interpreter for the majority of my life without ever even knowing. Interpretation uses various facts to share the meaning of something and help share a deeper understanding with the audience (Beck et al., 2018, chp. 1, p.6). I have always been passionate about nature and so naturally I have always had the urge to share this passion with those dearest to me. I think I have always done this by encouraging my friends to join me on my nature expeditions north to Muskoka or begging my parents to go hiking or camping with me. However, most recently I think I’ve interpreted nature most to my boyfriend and young nephew. My boyfriend has always loved the outdoors, however, being in nature and doing nature activities were never really his forte. Throughout the years we’ve been together I’ve really started to see his love for nature develop and expand. I always tried to encourage him to come out and spend some time in nature with me and what started as him agreeing just to make me happy, turned into him suggesting this himself and even doing this on his own with his friends. I never tried to force my ideas of nature or feelings towards it onto him, but rather I tried to introduce him to it slowly and give him the liberty to formulate his own memories, feelings and thoughts about it. Turns out he loves it just as much as me nowadays, except he loves it for his own reasons which he says include alleviating any of his stresses and giving him new opportunities to stay active. Similarly, my 3 year old nephew is just beginning to develop a love for nature. He spent a lot of his life locked up inside due to COVID but in the past 6 months or so I’ve had the opportunity to take him out with me to be in nature and what started as a scary and rare experience for him is now something that he is always extremely excited about and loves. It’s been truly amazing to watch his relationship with nature develop and how kind and gentle he is with any of the plants or animals he interacts with in nature. I’m sure he drew some of these ideals from seeing how I interacted with the nature around me when he was with me but a lot developed from his growing curiosity towards nature and how he learned to associate nature with fun and freedom all on his own. Overall, I’m just glad to have been a part of the journey so many of my loved ones have taken to building their own relationships with nature by encouraging them to form deeper connections and sharing my love for it with them. I hope this is something I can continue to do for the rest of my life with not only my loved ones, but everyone else who I meet as well. 

I’d like to thank anyone who has interacted with my blogs during this course as well as those who chose to share their own personal experiences. You made this course all the more enjoyable and given me new insights and perspectives on nature that have inspired me and allowed me to think outside my own ideas. Good luck with the rest of this semester and any of your future endeavors! Thanks for reading! :)

Catarina 

Beck, L., & Cable, T., & Knudson, D. (2018). Interpreting Cultural and Natural Heritage. Ebook.

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Nazaré: A surfers paradise...

My father was born and raised in the town of Nazaré, which is located in the heart of Portugal. Many others refer to it as “sufferers paradise,” which is a more accurate description. I’ve been going to Nazaré, Portugal, for as long as I can remember. The area is well-known for its massive waves, which are both distinctive and unpredictable. As a matter of fact, it has been the site of multiple Guinness World Records, including the greatest wave ever surfed and the largest wave ever surfed by a woman. The summer is normally the best time to visit, however the biggest waves have been observed during the winter season, between October and March.

Surfers from all over the globe are always present, and the number of tourists is increasing. Thousands of people have already spent the season of enormous waves at Nazaré, and if there are waves, they will surf, which is also beneficial for visitors since it gives them a better sense about how big the waves are. In addition, there are several Surging Challenges that take place in Nazaré. One of these competitions is the World Surf League Nazaré Tow Surfing Challenge.

You may be wondering if my dad surfs, and the short answer is no. He claims to have attempted it as a child, but that the danger was just too great, particularly on the enormous waves of Praia do Norte, often known as North Beach. Regardless, he and his friends would always gather by the Nazaré lighthouse to watch the waves. Even though he wasn’t surfing himself, he explains that, as a lover of the water, he was awestruck by the sea’s immense power. “I was amazed every single time I watched,” he says. It is, without a doubt, the place where the Atlantic Ocean demonstrates its full might! Nature is a beautiful thing.

I’ve also never tried surfing, but if I did, I don’t believe I’d do it on North Beach since it’s too dangerous. To be quite honest, it can even get a little frightening to watch the surfers. Even though they are professional and skilled, the waves may be quite hazardous. Maya Gabeira drowned in Nazaré in 2013 and was resuscitated on the beach (Lock, 2021). Following this, the Nazaré Surf Rescue Organization was formed in order to avoid worst-case situations from occurring (Lock, 2021). Since the accident in 2013, Maya has returned to Nazaré and, in 2020, she set a new female world record for the largest wave ridden in  Portugal. 

Nazaré is definitely an experience of awe. Awe-inspiring experiences, according to the textbook, generate wonder, curiosity, perspective, purpose, and creativity (Beck et al., 2018).  The textbook suggests that Keltner describes awe as, “elicited especially by nature, art, and impressive individuals or feats,” (Beck et al., 2018). At times, just being at a park or museum and absorbing the experience is sufficient, with no need for interpretation (Beck et al., 2018). The same may be true of Nazaré; even without explanation, the waves evoke a reaction. I hope that one of you reading this, have the opportunity to visit Nazaré, Portugal. If you’ve gone, I’d love to hear about your experience!

Keep reading

[crdaenvs3000w22]

Hey!

Great work on this week’s blog post! I think it’s really cool that you decided to focus on your amazement at these waves at Nazare in Portugal that nature creates. My mother and I were actually watching a documentary about the surfers here a few nights ago; what a coincidence! 

I myself definitely love the adrenaline and thrill that nature can offer, as I spoke about in my own blog post, however, I don’t think I could ever bring myself to try surfing somewhere like Nazare. The waves look absolutely massive and quite terrifying to be frank. I’ve attempted surfing once before in Costa Rica on some very small waves, I‘ve even included a picture of it in my own blog , but it is actually an extremely difficult sport and the waves I was surfing were just small and lasted for about 10 seconds. I cannot begin to imagine the talent and bravery needed to surf the waves of Nazare. 

I find it really cool that your father grew up alongside such a thrilling place. I would be so entertained watching these professional surfers surf these giant waves. You are definitely right in saying that these waves require no explanation to invoke a reaction. 

I also find it interesting that you mention the case of Maya Gabeira and how even after getting so close to a near death experience, she never gave up and came right back to do what she loves, which ultimately lead her to win a world record. That is some awesome motivation to keep pushing through!

Lastly, I wanted to ask you a question. I know that to us this seems terrifying and something that we would want to refrain from ever trying, but if you wanted to interpret this amazement of nature in a way that would attract people to surfing and encourage them to instead try it for themselves, how would you go about presenting it instead? 

Great work! :)

Catarina

[crdaenvs3000w22]

What Makes Nature Amazing to Me?

Since this week’s blog post is supposed to revolve around the most amazing things we know in nature, I thought I’d share some of my personal favourite components found within nature.

For starters, I love the way nature makes me feel. In my experience, it’s a feeling that just fully captivates you and puts you at ease, taking away any stresses that life may have brought you lately. This is why I believe so many people just go out for a walk or sit by the water or at a park when they need to think or take their minds off of things. Nature has a way of alleviating all the weight on your shoulders, at least for a little while. It brings me the most natural form of joy, simply to be alive and existing in that moment. For that brief time I spend in nature, it’s just me and nature, any other factors or concerns just disappear for a while. I know this all may sound a bit cheesy, but it’s true. Everyone has that one thing that can always calm them down and make them happy, and in my case that something is being out in nature. Below I have included some pictures of some times I experienced these feelings of peace and joy in nature where it was captured on camera!

Secondly, I want to talk about the thrill of being in nature. Being in nature always brings me a sort of feeling of thrill and adrenaline. Of course, not so much so when I am just walking my dog in a park or sitting on the beach, but when I’m out in nature I like to try to push myself to stay active and do something thrilling that gives me that feeling of adrenaline and excitement. This can simply include adventuring and exploring new areas, or it can include rock/cliff jumping into the lake, atving through the woods or tubing through the lake or down a river. Whatever the extremity may be, I simply enjoy seeking out thrills and finding new ways to push myself outside of my comfort zone to really have a good time, of course whilst still being safe though. I have so many things on my bucket list that I’d love to try. A few of these include: skydiving in the Swiss Alps, bungee jumping off the Bloukrans bridge in South Africa, snorkeling at the Great Barrier reef and cage diving with sharks at Isla Guadalupe in Mexico. I hope to be able to experience the thrill of nature in these ways at some point soon in my life. Below I have included some pictures from some of the times I have experienced this thrill and adrenaline feeling when doing some fun activities in nature!

Lastly, I love the beauty that can be seen in nature. However, I know this can be a very broad way to describe nature because there can really be beauty found in everything in nature. For this reason, I chose to focus solely on the beauty of sunsets in nature because they are one of the few things that every time I see, I just can’t help but admire and usually snap a picture of too. Sunsets bring a bit of both thrill and peace and joy to me. This is because, in my opinion,  sunsets are so beautiful and they inspire this feeling of awe and amazement which is both relaxing and exciting at the same time. I love watching the skies light up as the sun goes down when I’m in the car, sitting on the beach or going for a walk. Sunsets really never cease to draw my admiration and bring me excitement. It’s these little moments where I get taken aback and just spend a second to acknowledge how beautiful nature really is and always will be, no matter how busy and/or stressful our lives may get. Below I have included some pictures of some of my favourite sunsets and moments in those sunsets that I’ve captured on camera!

These are just a few of the many things that make nature so amazing to me. It’s hard to try and describe the feeling that something like nature can transcribe, but these are some of the ways that I interpret nature and a few of the many lenses that I can view nature through, which make me love it so much!

Catarina

[fleurcareil]

#7: Music and nature; a natural match!

I’m an avid hiker and try to walk daily - luckily close to home is Paletta Lakefront Park in Burlington, which is a nature getaway in the middle of the city; it has a lovely creek, a rocky beach and pretty grounds on Lake Ontario, see the picture below. Needless to say that there are constant human sounds from the many visitors and car noiseswhich became clear when I recorded nature sounds for this assignment. It made me realise that as much as I like walking with others as a social activity, I truly relish hiking alone as it allows for a deeper appreciation of the sounds of nature. By paying attention to the sounds around me, I suddenly heard the trickling of melted snow dripping onto a rock whereas otherwise I’d have walked by; listen here.

Nature is never silent regardless of the season. As the unit content describes, music in nature can be recognised by tapping into the sounds that other animals make (Hooykaas, 2022). Bird song in my backyard wakes me up even in the dead of winter (listen to this 22 February recording), and squirrels always make a lot of sound, rustling leaves looking for food or chasing each other over food :). All natural habitats have their own “animal orchestra” which represents a unique musical fingerprint (Gray et al., 2001). That said, I believe that the most powerful music in nature comes from an abiotic source; water. Water is the source of all life on earth and is everywhere around us. At Paletta Park, I captured besides the trickling snow melt two more distinct water sounds; that of waves crashing on the beach, and of the creek running its course. Water sounds remind me of the great forces of nature that were in place before humans showed up and that will remain long after we’re gone. Never make the mistake of camping next to a river; what appears to be a gentle melody during the day turns into an ear-deafening concert at night!

Nature in music tends to be used as a metaphor for the human condition; similar to how the coursebook (Beck et al., 2018) describes that news releases are mostly focused on people’s stories rather than things or events, so do most songs. Diana Ross’ uplifting chorus in Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (2:40-3:06) proclaims how “no mountain, no valley or no river '' present insurmountable difficulties for love. Guns N’ Roses’ famous line in November Rain (6:28-7:02) “Cause nothin' lasts forever, even cold November rain” evokes a vivid mental image of hardship that will pass eventually. In this way, popular music acts as a channel of nature interpretation to the masses (Beck et al., 2018), reminding millions of people of their connection to the natural world.

One of my favourite songs is The Hills Are Alive from the Sound of Music film, in which the first 22 seconds of instrumental music before the lyrics start, immediately evoke the majesty of mountains. The rich music creates an atmosphere of magnificence in which humans are just tiny creatures in the landscape - supported by amazing video footage for that time (see picture below) - and depicts the feelings of sacredness and awe that I experience in the mountains. The words that follow then specify what it is all about (Sahi, 2011), singing about the hills, a brook and a lark. This song more than most encapsulates how music and nature are a natural match!

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

Gray, P. Krause, B. Atema, J., Payne, R., Krumhansl, C. & Baptista, L. (2001). The Music of Nature and the Nature of Music. Science. 291. 52-54.

Hooykaas, A. (2022). ENVS*3000 Nature Interpretation course manual. University of Guelph.

Sahi, V. (2011). Using folk traditional music to communicate the sacredness of nature in Finland. Spiritual Values of Protected Areas of Europe, 2, 129-132.

[crdaenvs3000w22]

Hi Fleur,

Really great work on this week’s blog post! I think you did a phenomenal job at getting the point of nature sounds across through the use of actual sounds you recorded! It really helped to make me feel as if I could experience nature through the way you’ve heard it. 

I completely agree that although walks with others can be enjoyable for social reasons, something about walking alone in nature really allows you to listen for things you would not have heard or even noticed otherwise. I’ve always loved taking nature walks on my own as its always been something that has helped clear my mind and allowed me time to relax and think. Nature sounds are also something that can easily put me to sleep, as I mentioned in my own blog post, like the sounds of a campfire, water crashing or flowing down, or rain drops hitting the ground or rooftops. 

None of these noises have ever annoyed me in any way but instead were actually soothing. For example, even when I’m waking up early morning to birds chirping, I don’t feel annoyed to have been woken up but rather I feel good about waking up and it seems to serve me much better than my alarm clock would! 

I really love your idea that water is nature’s most powerful source of music and I can totally understand where that idea comes from. Water, like you mentioned, is necessary for all life on Earth and throughout nature there are SO many different ways to see and in this case, hear water. The sounds of waves crashing, water flowing, rain dropping or snow melting all have their own unique nature sounds and therefore all of their own individual music.

But quick question, what made you list the idea to never sleep by a river? Was that from experience or just a quote you heard somewhere? I’d love to know!

Overall, I think you did a really great job with your blog post this week. Keep up the great work! 

Catarina

[crdaenvs3000w22]

Music Through Nature

I believe music is an art form that is so diverse and capable of transcending any social or cultural barriers. Anyone can listen to music of any sorts and there’s a little bit of something for everyone in music. I feel that music is the one art form that everyone has at least a bit of interest or passion for. When I think about connecting music to nature it’s something that seems to come to mind so naturally. 

To me, music has always served as an escape and almost as a type of therapy to whatever I'm going through or feeling at that time. When I’m out in nature I like to try and just be very quiet and really allow myself to just listen. In doing this, you can really allow yourself to hear so many different variations of music throughout nature itself. You can hear the music of birds chirping, wind flying through the tree leaves, water flowing or crashing and so much more. For this reason I’ve always really loved this quote by George Santayana: “The earth has music for those who listen.” The way I understand this quote is that music can be found everywhere and that is in fact not just an independently human invented art form. If you really listen for it, you can see that everything in nature can create its own music and that truly nature itself can be seen as various forms of art. 

Many forms of wildlife themselves have also been recognized by humans to create their own music. Birds for example chirp the same tunes rhythmically in variations that are similar to the music humans have created. Similarly, whales have also been known to ‘sing’ to one another in different intervals through symphonies that are similar to that of humans’ music. This is consistent with the idea that nature itself can produce its own music.

It is even evident that many different modern forms of music use nature sounds in the background or even main components of songs/pieces. I myself can usually easily fall asleep to the sounds of nature whether it be on a video online or physically in person. A few examples of this are the sounds of wood crackling in the campfire, waves crashing against the shore, rain hitting the roofs over our heads, birds chirping, or wind breezing through the trees. All in all, I believe nature provides the same effects that music can to people, being that feeling of escape, relaxation and strengthening of emotions. Both nature in music and music and nature are evident throughout the way humans live their lives and appreciate music.

One song that always takes me back to nature is “Better Together” by Jack Johnson. This song itself doesn’t necessarily talk about nature very much in its lyrics although it does touch on some nature aspects at times like ‘sitting beneath the mango tree’ and ‘when the morning light sings’. Mostly, this song just immediately brings me back to nature because it's a song I really enjoyed listening to with my family growing up when we were on our way to the cottage, what I’d wake up to hear playing in the early mornings, or what my brother would play and sing around the campfire late night. All in all, this song is really simple and upbeat, making it an easy song to sing along to, fall asleep to and feel truly relaxed and carefree when listening to it. For this reason I’ve always tied it to being in nature because it just fits so perfectly with nature, considering both make me feel the same way.

If you’ve never heard this song, I’d highly recommend it. It is one of my favorites! Check it out and let me know what you think :)

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Ancient things and the importance of history

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, Chapter 7, The Gifts of Interpretation)

       This quote is something I do not agree with but understand where the author is coming from.  This quote explains Hyams’s opinion that ancient things are not as important as the effort that has gone into conserving and interpreting them. Hyam also explains that although that past has already occurred there is no reason to believe that we are done with the past. The first part of the quote is what I don’t agree with. I believe that there is merit in ancient things. Ancient architecture, art and knowledge are not only extremely important now but also very important in the time they were first created. The way ancient people behaved and the knowledge they amassed is really important for the basis of a lot of our knowledge and behaviour. For example, we still use some of the mathematical equations from ancient Greece, the building techniques of the ancient world are not only still used but also the basis of architectural advancement, our number system comes from ancient India and art techniques based in ancient times are still used and built upon today. Even though I am not an artist I believe that all art has merit and although preserving it makes it visible to more people, it doesn’t need that to hold merit, if the art reached even just one person then it is important. Ancient things also held merit to the people who used or admired them and should therefore hold merit in modern time. I do see the authors side of this part of the quote though because so much work has been put into conserving and preserving these ancient things. The merit of ancient things also includes the preservation of it, conserving and preserving these ancient things gives them merit to people now, because they are able to see ancient things. 

       I agree with the part that that past is not done with yet. We are still using knowledge and techniques from ancient times and all of our knowledge is based on the knowledge acquired in the past. This part of the quote also reminds me of the popular quote by Winston Churchill: “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it”. These quotes are similar because they talk about how the past is not done and how we are constantly thinking about and using things from the past. The Winston Churchill quote is very poignant when it comes to war and other dark parts of history. If we do not think about the causes and learn from the consequences from the past then we are likely to not understand the problem of doing it again.  

      In terms of nature and interpretation, it is important that we remember history and conserve ancient things. In my opinion, remembering our history is important for conserving our planet because we know what Earth was like in the past and how we have changed it. Interpretation of history is also incredibly important because it provides the public with more knowledge and many people find history really interesting (like me). 

[crdaenvs3000w22]

Hey!

Great work on your blog post this week! I really enjoyed reading about understanding of this quote and your own opinions about it.

For starters, I can see where you’re coming from saying all ancient things are important both now and during their time, however, my worry with seeing things from history in this way is that the past should not always be dwelled on. Appreciating the advances that history has helped us accomplish and learning from history’s mistakes has and will always be something I find wise. However, I fear that when we get too stuck in the past and study too much into ancient things, we lose appreciation for the things in the present.

I love the point you made about how history is important for the conservation of our planet and I completely agree with you! I think the way people used to do many of the things we still do today in the past was much more environmentally friendly than some of ways we go about doing these same things today. I understand that there has been a lot of technological advancements since then, however, I believe it is important to still look back into history for reference of how to go find more conservative ways to accomplish things today.

I do think it is not always wise to count too much on history as it can be dangerous and harmful to some and you risk mistakes of history repeating themselves. However, in the way of learning valuable lessons from the past, it is one of the most wise ways to make decisions.

Overall great work and I’m glad I was able to read a different opinion! :)

[crdaenvs3000w22]

Interpretation Through History

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, Chapter 7, The Gifts of Interpretation)

I had to read this quote over a few times to really try and understand the underlying meaning behind it. To me, this quote is primarily addressing the past and its significance to placing the pieces together for how things are today. The past may have come and gone and although I don’t believe it is wise to get too stuck in the past, dwelling on it, I do believe it is important to recognize how the past has shaped the way things are today and how it plays an important role in telling a story about a particular person/place/thing. While time is not stagnant and history is more than just a moment in time, I don’t think it should be treated as more than guidance for the decisions we make in the present and future. I believe this ties in to how interpreters use history as a way to really articulate the value and beauty of what they are interpreting. I believe an audience is much more engaged and likely to show interest when they are learning about the past behind what they are witnessing and how it was valued, connecting it to it’s value presently.  As seen also in our readings, even kids can take an interest in history when it has a lot of history and stories that have been passed down about it and that have been preserved well into the present. With this being said the value of something has a lot less to do with its age or how long it's been a part of history, but rather how others interacted with it in the past and how it was influenced over time. 

History, as I have previously stated, should not be dwelled upon, however, it can serve as a lesson that we can learn from in order to refrain from making the same mistakes and inspire a better future. However, I don’t believe history is always kind to those within it. Perspective is a major part of interpretation and when it comes to history there can be a lot of different points of view and most of the time it is impossible to know what is really the truth. I believe that when history is being shared, it is crucial to remain as unbiased as possible and ensure that only the known facts are being stated, without trying to pin any one specific person or side as ‘hero’ or ‘villain.’ This is my only real issue with history, as it can be cruel to the memory and/or names of those who are no longer around to share their sides of the story. For this reason, I believe history can only be ‘taken with a grain of salt’ (as the saying goes), meaning it shouldn’t be taken too literally nor should it’s stories be considered fact or ‘set in stone’. While history is very important to understanding how we’ve come to get where we are today, it has little to do with the present and how our future must turn out to be. The readings share the example of Christopher Columbus who has been shared and credited throughout history as the first person to discover the Americas. Except overtime, people slowly started to pick apart this idea and spread the truth that the indigenous people were there and had their own lives years before his arrival. Christopher Columbus actually colonized the Americas and caused a lot of suffering for the indiginous people there before him. Thus, for Columbus to have been painted as a hero and the first to discover this land is both a lie and offensive to the inidigenous people today whose ancestors suffered under his hand. 

Thus, history is a great tool for interpreters to use to help their audiences gain a deeper understanding and connection to what they are interpreting, however, history should be used in a cautionary way, knowing how information can be falsely spread and therefore damaging to some. When sharing stories and ideas of the past, interpreters help their audience to understand from stories of personal experience or stories that were passed down to them. However, this once again can be dangerous because although personal experience can be valuable and relatable, making it easier to understand, it is usually also extremely biased.

[sbenvs3000w22]

Blog #5 - Just a one way ticket

“Travel. Because money returns, time doesn’t” is one of my favourite quotes. Travelling the world has been my ultimate bucket list dream. I want to travel the world to enrich and gain a broader and better view of our world while simultaneously gaining insight into our planet’s different cultures, roots, and beautiful landscapes. In addition to travelling the world, I have smaller bucket list goals that I hope to complete and experience during my Europe trip.

I have found various resources, guides, YouTube videos, blog posts and traveller advice regarding the best locations to visit. I have gathered a list of places around Europe that I will visit once I can travel. Throughout this trip itinerary, you will see that I hope to visit significant cities filled with beautiful chaos while also staying in places filled with greenery, mountains, and beautiful landscapes with almost no mundane infrastructures.

My trip around Europe consists of over 20 locations, but I will only highlight 3 as I can write for hours about this trip :) 

1.     Amalfi Coast and Rome

Starting the trip off strong Rome and Amalfi Coast provides some of the most beautiful experiences. In Rome, I want to be the most tourist-like individual possible! Consuming delicious foods such as pasta and pizza topping it off with a creamy Italian gelato sounds like an absolute dream! After spending time in Rome, I want to head south to the Amalfi Coast, relaxing by the beach, driving on the coast, and getting some colour!

Things to do in Rome:

-       Ride on a vespa (especially during the night!)

-       Visit all historical sites

o   The Colosseum

o   Arch of Constantine

o   Vatican City

o   Roman Forum

o   Palatine Hill

o   Trevi Fountain

-       Visit multiple museums in Rome

o   Capitoline Museum

o   Galleria Borghese

o   Palazzo Colonna- Galleria Colonna

Things to do in the Amalfi Coast: 

-       Take a day tour of Pompeii

-       Drink loads and loads of delicious Italian Coffee

-       Visit the Arsenale della Repubblica museum

-       Wander the Via dei Mercantini (the market)

-       Spend the day by the beach

-       Eat, eat, and eat some more!

2.     Interlaken and Lucerne, Switzerland

Where do I even begin! Switzerland has got to be the #1 natural beauty of our planet. From previous blogs, I had mentioned that I feel most at home in the city, but I feel most at peace in the natural world filled with greenery, mountains, and countryside views, thanks to my grandpa, who provides me with “my sense of place.” Interlaken is one of my dream locations, particularly my dream location to go skydiving! Skydive Interlaken offers guests the opportunity to jump from 14’000ft “between the glacier lakes with the best view of Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau.” Before your jump, you experience a beautiful helicopter ride filled with scenic panoramic views of Interlaken, glacier lakes, and the beautiful swiss alps.

I mean, just look at this view! How could anyone not want to jump out of a plane!!!

*I included a short 2-minute video posted by Skydive Interlaken of a skydiving experience!  https://youtu.be/yKQenILe11I  

Unfortunately, not many people are willing to sign their life away to experience a short rush of adrenaline which is entirely understandable! The list below highlights some amazing things anyone can do when visiting Interlaken and Lucerne, Switzerland.

Things to do in Interlaken:

-       You can make your way up as high as 730 meter using a ten-minute funicular to a mountain called Harder Kulm

-       Hop on the Interlaken Ost Railway train ride

-       St Beatus Caves

-       Escape the tourist areas and take a beautiful hike in the Weissenau Nature Reserve

Things to do in Lucerne:

-       Explore Old Town (very low on traffic)

-       Attend the Swiss Museum of Transport

-       Cross the Chapel Bridge

-       Visit the Glacier Garden

-       Hike up a mountain to see the breathtaking views, capturing the Musegg Wall (Lucerne’s city defence wall)

3.     Croatia + Montenegro

This destination is how I would want to end my 20+ European cities/countries tour. I will get into more detail in a few minutes about why this would be my final stop. To start off the destination, a Balkan country known as Montenegro is filled with beautiful mountains, small medieval villages, and coastline beaches. This location is the perfect mix of beautiful landscapes and incredible history that captivates many individuals such as me.

Things to do in Montenegro:

-       Visit the Kotor Town and Bay of Kotor

-       Enjoy the day in Budva Riviera (this place is an actual paradise)

-       Blue Grotto (snorkelling is a must in this cave)

-       Visit the town of Cetinje (was the Capital of Montenegro during the late 19th and 20th century)

-       Explore the beautiful Durmitor National Park

After enjoying some time in beautiful Montenegro, the trip’s final stop concludes in Croatia. Now, in my opinion, this is one of the best ways to end a fantastic trip. Yacht week Croatia has been a lifelong bucket list goal since I was as young as 14 years old. This is an 8-day trip, where you live on a yacht/boat filled with 2-3 other cabins occupied by individuals from different locations around the world. Every day, you port to a different town and have the day to explore the beautiful country of Croatia. I honestly believe that no words can express my love for this trip, nor could they do a good enough job describing it. I have linked a YouTube video that shows the beautiful 8-day Original Route, and I 1000000% recommend you give it a glance.

https://youtu.be/5JBwGUqp1Jg 

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Hi Shelly!

That is a beautiful quote and I completely agree with it. Travelling the world (or at least some of it) is a big dream of mine as well.  Just like you, I want to travel to learn more about the world and the people within it. I also love travelling just for fun (and to eat great food). I think the best kinds of trips incorporate both fun and some sort of educational or eye-opening experience. Rome is also one of my top destinations. I love the amount of history that is there and would love to visit all the sites of ancient Rome. I also love Italian food so that would make the trip so much better! Yacht week sounds so fun but I don’t think my body would like it as much as I would (getting motion sickness on boats is not very fun). The idea of yacht week is really interesting to me, it gives people the opportunity to meet people from all over the world without having to spend an immense amount of time and money to travel the whole world. Most of my top of list trips involve places with a lot of histories such as Greece, London and Egypt. Another category of my most anticipated trips is extremely beautiful locations such as the Amazon, Thailand and Bora Bora. I think i’ll take some of your ideas for travel as they seem really fun and thought out. 

-Isabelle 

[crdaenvs3000w22]

Hey Shelly, 

I simply loved reading your blog post for this week and I am completely taken aback by some of the amazing ideas you listed for going on your trip to Europe. Believe it or not, I have actually never heard the quote before but I am definitely saving it because I completely agree with it and I’d love to use it as a constant reminder to work to do what makes me happy and to follow my dream, which is similarly to yours, to travel the world! Ever since I was a little girl I have always dreamt of travelling the world to experience all the different types of life, biodiversity, landscapes and rich cultures that our Earth truly has to offer. I, myself, am a huge adrenaline junky and it is one of life goals to be able to experience skydiving all over the world just for the amazing views and adrenaline it will bring me. Your post for this week was truly well thought out, and beautifully designed. It has inspired me to want to formulate my own bucket list and inspired me to soon book a trip to Europe with all these great new ideas you’ve shared. I love that you have taken the time to plan out each aspect of your future trip and carefully included even the simplest details and pictures. In my blog I spoke about how the colder months tend to make me feel much more disconnected from the outdoors and nature but sometimes I believe that is also from just being stuck in the city during the winter. With this being said, I would love to travel to northern Canada to see the northern lights or to have the opportunity to experience nature in a different way in any other cold country! In conclusion, great work on your blog post this week! :)

Catarina

[crdaenvs3000w22]

My Relationship to Nature and The Seasons

Seeing that this week was a free week to write about whatever we were thinking about, I had to take a moment to self reflect about what was on my mind lately. I realized that in the past few months I have not been in nature, let alone outside very often. I can easily blame my busyness with school or work but I know that it is honestly because I feel much more disconnected from nature in the colder seasons of fall and especially winter. Thus, in this week’s blog I have decided to discuss my relationship to nature during the different seasons and how they affect me differently. 

In the spring time I am always extremely ecstatic to see the sun start setting a little later, the snow start melting, the flowers beginning to bloom and it just becomes warm enough to go out with a light sweater in the late afternoon. I have always loved spring for this reason and the feeling of joy and excitement that it brings along with it. It makes me feel proud of the accomplishments I’ve made during the school year that lead up to that point and it makes me feel very warm and appreciative of all the new life that blossoms. 

In the summer I feel at my highest point when it comes to my mood and motivation. Waking up everyday to the sun shining through my windows, heating my room and skin up just a bit and hearing the birds chirping outside has always made me feel excited and happy about getting up in the morning and going about my day. I am someone who just loves sitting outside in the summer just taking in the sun rays and this is not because I want to tan because really, I don’t actually care for trying to purposely get more tanned, but I simply just like feeling the heat of the sun on my skin. I really strive to make myself go outside and in nature every day I possibly can during the summer and it really helps me uplift my mood and be very happy.

In the fall I can feel my mood and motivation slowly start to diminish as the sun begins to set earlier and the days slowly become colder. I find there to be a lot of beauty in the fall time since the leaves on trees begin to change colours and fall to the ground. However, I do not particularly enjoy being outside in the fall in the way that I do during spring and summer. I end up finding excuses to make up for staying inside such as school or other things that keep me busy indoors but I know truly it is just because I don’t feel motivated to be outside once the sun starts going away more and the weather gets colder. 

In the winter I feel extremely unmotivated and much less excited about being outside whatsoever. I have to really force myself to go outside but I passionately dislike cold weather and snow so I find it really challenging to push myself. During high school, most of my winter days were spent at school and then at my job after school every day during the week. This meant that when I got up early for school in the morning and left it would still be dark outside, and when I left my job to go home it was also already dark outside. This took a major toll on my mental health oftentimes and it really diminished my relationship with nature during the winter and my overall feelings toward winter in general. 

Having said this, I know I am someone who thrives during the warmer months and is ultimately fueled by sunlight as many of us are, considering we all need vitamin D. However, I specifically know that I am also someone who loves nature and the outdoors but loses all motivation for either during the cold and short sunlight period months. I’d love to hear about others who may experience the same thing or any advice/suggestions you may have so that we may help one another. Anyways, thank you for reading. :)

Catarina

[nienvs3000w22]

Blog Post 4: Art and Nature

A picture is worth a thousand words. This is a common saying, and we believe that we can share experiences or information through art or images posted on social media. Even professional interpreters use arts to convey a message to society, such as interpretations of art in museums, music festivals, and sculptures (Beck et al., 2018). At the same time, a picture or art is essential to convey a message, understanding that art is vital (Beck et al., 2018).

To answer who I am to interpret nature through art, I would say that I am a student who enjoys nature in my way.  I am not an artist or have the knowledge and experience to interpret paintings or sculptures efficiently in a museum. However, I believe that every individual interprets art differently based on beliefs, knowledge, and values. Look at the picture at the bottom and let me know how you interpret this art of flowers, and then look below to see my interpretation. I am sure we will have a different understanding, and both interpretations are different in their way because we all look at art and interpret them differently.

I took this picture in 2019, in Dubai Miracle Garden. This picture depicts a floral clock, portraying that time is beautiful, and we take it for granted. It shows as time goes by, there are beautiful things around us that we miss because we are so focused on time. Especially in our age, we are so focused on pursuing our goals to have a bright future as we should. However, I tend to forget to appreciate these years, and in the future I will look back at these years and think of all the beautiful things around me that I took for granted because I was focused on my goals. I interpret the gift of beauty by appreciating the art and nature around me. I acknowledge that every individual will interpret the gift of beauty in their way; for instance, I could never enjoy paintings because I could not develop a personal connection. When I go to museums, I walk past the paintings and sculptures and can’t relate or find much meaning in them because I believe they share a history I am unaware of. Thus, I like to observe nature as a painting and appreciate it by making my own story. I feel like for me to enjoy something, I must find a personal connection to it, and with nature, I can do that. For instance, when I look at the image above, I see three hearts under the clock. It shows the three times I will fall in love in my life. I believe the first love is the love for my family, the second heart is me finding my partner, and the third heart is the love I will have for my future children. As mentioned in the course notes, a story is continued when art or sculpture is shared over time. This was my interpretation of this art in nature; I would love to know how you interpret this image.

Thanks for reading!

Nabila

Reference

Beck, L., Cable, T.T., & Knudson, D.M. (2018). Interpreting Cultural and Natural Heritage for a Better World (1st ed.). Sagamore Publishing.

[crdaenvs3000w22]

Hey Nabila,

I really enjoyed reading your blog post for this week, well done! I can relate to your points made about not feeling very artistic in the way of efficiently interpreting artwork such as as paintings and sculptures. I myself struggle with connecting to this type of art in that way, but on the other hand, this week’s readings helped me understand that nature can actually be viewed through that same type of artistic lens. This makes art mean so much more to me, as I realize that not everyone will share the same interests and connection to different forms of art and that is okay! It seems fitting that nature be the form of art that I can most appreciate considering how much beauty I see in nature and how many emotions it invokes in me. For example, I’m one of those people who simply cannot see a beautiful sunset or landscape without snapping a picture. Most of the time I do not even have any intention on sharing that picture but I simply want to keep it to myself, stored away as a happy memory. This is because I found that sunset or landscape (or whatever it may be) to be beautiful and it instilled a feeling of happiness and peace within me, as all nature usually does. 

Additionally, I absolutely love that you brought up the point that at this point in our lives we sometimes forget to appreciate the nature around us and experiencing it in the moment. I completely agree with you as I sometimes even catch myself slipping away from nature as I am so busy worrying about a variety of other things. Additionally, as I mentioned before, as amazing as I think capturing these moments in nature on our phones and/or other cameras for the sake of capturing the moment is, I believe sometimes it can be doing more harm than good. I believe that sometimes it is better to live in the moment and really enjoy it rather than focus too much on getting it on camera. I do love having pictures to look back to for memories but sometimes we can get out of hand and focus too much on capturing the moment for a memory instead of living in the moment and making memories. I think living in that moment is really important so that in this way we can really a take moment to discover the “gift of beauty” for ourselves.  Do you agree? 

Catarina :)

[crdaenvs3000w22]

Nature Through Art

This week’s blog post instantly made me think twice. I believe this is because I have never considered interpreting nature as much of an art. I suppose the beauty of the mix of colours I see in the sunsets seems like something out of a painting, or how the leaves change colour and cover the entirety of a forest in the fall has always seemed rather artistically aesthetic. However, I have never really divulged into the idea that nature in itself is art, although having that point being brought to my attention, I can surely see how that is fitting. I wish I were more artistic and capable of interpreting art for what it truly is, being messages that convey the emotions an artist chose to share. I find that I often struggle seeing the underlying meaning behind some art but I am always amazed when artists explain their pieces and their meanings. However, whenever I had a chance to witness some form of art, I was conscious of the emotions the art would invoke on myself and the connections I was able to make, even if I did not understand the artist's feelings that inspired the artwork. This once again further develops my understanding of how nature, in this way, is considered art. 

The question of who I am to interpret nature through art is still rather tricky to me. I know that I am simply someone who loves nature for all that it is, the beauty, the danger, the risk, the gruesomeness and the ongoing circle of life that never stops for anybody. I’m someone who is simply taken aback in awe by the beauty in nature and also someone who is passionate about protecting it. I am also someone who is a student learning more and more everyday about all that nature has to offer, such as plants, animals, landscapes, ecosystems, chemical cycles, climate, how they all tie together and what our place as humans is throughout all of it. I enjoy learning about the environment and our natural world as it is a passion of mine. Nature invokes a sense of joy, peace and freedom in me which is how I choose to interpret nature as a form of art. 

The “gift of beauty”, in my own understanding, is when an interpreter is able to invoke a feeling of appreciation for the beauty surrounding one’s self while encouraging them to seek out that feeling on their own. To me, it essentially means adding value and a greater purpose to nature that may have been missed or unconsidered before. For example, looking at a lake and seeing more than just a body of freshwater, but appreciating all the diverse life within it and how much that lake contributes to the ecosystems within and surrounding it. Additionally, looking at a forest and seeing more than just a standing of trees, but as major carbon sinks and a home for so much diversity of life. Sharing the ability of placing a higher value on nature seems like such a powerful tool that is so important to be shared. A person in my life who invoked this “gift of beauty” in my mind was my dad. Whenever we walked along the shores of a beach, or hiked up through trails, he would always pick up any garbage he saw off the ground. Ever since I was really young he would tell my puzzled young self about his reasoning. He would explain that although it was not our immediate home, it was the home of so many other life forms that could be harmed by human carelessness such as that. He explained to me how precious every life is and how valuable maintaining our oceans and forests was for the overall health of our planet and protection of so many different species, thus instilling the “gift of beauty” into my mind. I would love to one day be able to encourage and instill this ‘gift’ in others and provide them with the opportunity to discover the beauty and meaning in the nature surrounding them in their own ways. 

A fond memory of my dad and I (at about 3 years old) in Brazil where he allowed me to hold a little chick while teaching me about its beauty and value.

[kkdenvs3000w22]

Privilege

Privilege is a tricky topic. Those who have it often do not understand what it means whereas people who don’t understand it clearly. I believe I carry my own invisible backpack because I live in Canada, with “first-world problems” and I am able to discuss this topic openly. Although I am a Sikh woman who lives comfortably, I am able to do many things that my own mother was not able to do back home. For example, because I have a good relationship with my mom she understands that I have my own life and goals. I know that this is not the case for many kids with immigrant parents as we feel like they have sacrificed a lot for us, which makes us feel guilty for living our own lives. Many students also feel like they are studying for their parents which is why I like that I am able to study what I am genuinely interested in. To continue, over the past years there has been a lot of discussion on the news about Black lives matter and the injustices occurring with Indigenous peoples. These topics always get me very upset, even though I am a person of colour I feel like not enough is being done within our own communities as well. There is a lot of performative activism such as naming streets after people or wearing orange to show support. The real support comes from the day to day life, for example, if you notice someone making a racist remark you should call them out for their behaviour. These racist remarks are not always in the way you think, they could be as simple as “Oh why is it only black lives matter, what about all lives matter”. These types of remarks are the reason why we need these movements as they completely invalidate the struggles of black people and everyone should be supported. Moreover, privilege plays a big role in nature interpretation because not everyone is able to go out in nature and enjoy things the same way. For example, as a woman, it is harder to travel alone in foreign places as you could become a target for many people. As a person of color, you can also face many different discriminatory experiences which make being out in nature harder. The textbook also highlights ways that nature interpretation can increase inclusivity for everyone. For example, reducing cultural barriers by inviting people to certain places would make them feel more comfortable. Another way could be to reduce communication barriers by providing multilingual interpretation to include people who don’t speak the language. Another way to think of it is the nature you are observing could be land that is stolen or not being respected properly. In this case, instead of ignoring the signs, you should be respectful before you decide to visit a place because that becomes disrespectful. An example of this is the government of Hawaii letting tourists know that currently, it would not be a good idea to visit the island, as many of the locals are experiencing difficult scenarios right now. All in all, I believe that privilege is a tricky topic because people do not want to put their pride aside and be held accountable for having it.

[crdaenvs3000w22]

Hi,

I really enjoyed reading your blog post for this week and I’d like to begin by saying great job! I love that you brought up the point of the privilege it is to live in Canada. It slips my mind sometimes of the amazing country I get to live in being Canada. I moved here from Brazil when I was young and I often forget how different the two countries are. Although I love Brazil, it is still a third world country with a lot of different issues with poverty and corruption and although Canada isn’t perfect, the quality of life here is much, much better in comparison. I also take for granted how accepting and encouraging my parents are towards my dreams and choice of study/career even being immigrants because I often forget that not everyone has that luxury. 

Additionally, I agree with your points made about wanting to see more change within our own communities to support the black lives matter and justice for indigenous peoples movements. The protests are amazing but I agree that seeing the small changes within our community first is what really is going to instigate greater change. Finally, I also completely agree with your point about reducing communication barriers by providing more multilingual interpretation for people to experience nature. I know that whenever my family comes to visit from Brazil, they’re very nervous or hesitant to go out places because they don’t understand english and they won’t/can’t get some full experiences without fully understanding the language. 

Overall, great post and analyzation of ideas!

[crdaenvs3000w22]

Privilege

This week's topic definitely seems heavier to reflect on and upon really diving into my thoughts about it, also very eye opening. In my opinion, privilege can be both something that is simply out of one’s control, such as what they’re born with, like skin color or sex, or it can be something that throughout one’s life was given or accomplished to them, such as degrees, languages learnt and money earned. Privilege is something that one is or possesses that puts them ahead of others in society or that makes it easier for them to succeed. However, I only really consider it to be a privilege, when it is something one cannot control. Yes, I know many of us are more equipped in life (money, social status, location) to succeed than others, but in my own opinion I do not consider that privilege. To me, that just means that those of us who are less equipped to succeed need to work harder and do a lot more than those who are. Yet, true privilege, in my opinion, is those in which we have no control of, such skin colour or race, or health conditions because there is no working harder to change those, that’s just who we are and how we were born. 

Taking a step back and thinking of privilege in the way of just “what has helped me get ahead of others in my life” and diving into my “privilege backpack”, I have come to realize that I have several privileges in my life. For starters, I am a heterosexual female, who’s parents raised me in the middle class and who was born without any overlying, major health conditions. With that being said, I realize how fortunate I am to simply be a healthy person and be able to live my life normally as I feel like many of us may take this for granted. Additionally, simply being born into a middle class family has provided me with many more opportunities that I may have not otherwise had if I were in a lower class, such as having the opportunity to attend university. Similarly, although english is not my first language, I had the privilege of moving to Canada with my family when I was young and learning to read and write in english, as well as portuguese. This provides me with a great privilege as I now not only speak and write the most utilized language in the world (english), but also have been able to become bilingual because of it which may put me ahead of others who are not. 

Although, when I think about the association of privilege with my relationship to nature, I can also realize how privileged I am in that sense as well. I did grow up in the city but my family had always pushed to be outdoors and in nature. My entire family really enjoyed spending time in nature and shared love for animals as I do. My parents had bought a trailer for our family up in Muskoka ever since I was really young, and so I had way more opportunities to experience nature than the average person in the city. Similarly, when I was in high school my parents bought me a trip to Costa Rica for the opportunity earn a high school credit studying there and so I obviously was privileged enough to have parents who were able and willing to send me on a trip like that, where I got to experience nature in a completely new way and where my love and passion for working with nature developed tenfold. Therefore, the privileges that I have experienced and continue to experience in my life, have played a major role in the way I interpret nature as they have provided me with many unique opportunities to be in nature in completely different and more expensive ways.

[arenvs3000w22]

My Ideal Role as an Environmental Interpreter

My ideal role as an environmental interpreter would be in the field, learning hands-on and sharing what I’ve learned in that same space. 

I recall a research fellowship I had the opportunity to participate in a few years ago, where we studied bacteria presence in creeks within the Hamilton watershed. This experience was intensely valuable to me, because I got to take on the role of a researcher, collect samples from some of Hamilton’s waterfalls, and learn to use PCR machines to amplify and analyze bacteria presence. What I appreciated most about this opportunity was that I was able to see the functional significance of the things I was learning. To me, this ties into the “So What?” segment of Unit 2. The professors and students I was working alongside took something they cared about and succeeded in engaging a group of eager learners to care as well. After we gathered results, we worked to display our results in a way that would make sense to a naive intelligent audience. This included preparing graphs and posters, but also presenting our findings through lectures and answering questions. 

As an environmental interpreter, I aspire to be able to create interest and engagement in the topics I discuss to appeal to people with different learning styles. The lessons I learned in the research fellowship were more memorable because they impacted me directly. So, I think that drawing connections to real world applications will help me to be an effective nature interpreter.. I would love to work in Parks in the future and be able to educate patrons about the features of the landscape and its plant and animal occupants. Seeing the bigger picture of ecosystem interactions can help students to also visualize their place in the ecosystem, and has the potential to inspire lifestyle changes to support the longstanding health of those ecosystems. 

I want people to realize that having a responsibility to nature can be empowering, and to help them to see that the health of the ecosystems around them inform many aspects of their own lives. Whenever I’ve visited provincial parks, I’ve found my experiences with staff to be eye-opening, and I think it would be fulfilling to extend this to others. I would love to work outdoors and guide groups of learners in discovering the natural world. This type of work has the potential to support all types of learners, being able to see, hear about, and experience hands-on the world around them.

[crdaenvs3000w22]

Hey!

Firstly I would like to point out how much I enjoyed reading your blog post! I think it’s so cool that you had the opportunity to work hands-on as a form of researcher! The things you say you learned while on the job seem so interesting and seem like great experience to have gained while still in school. You mention how much you valued the learning of the functional significance of the things you were working with which I think is awesome! I myself am a tactile learner meaning I learn best when working hands-on and getting to try things for myself. However, being able to tie what you’re learning about to the real world and actually understanding the significance is my favourite part of learning. Yet sadly, it does not happen too much in the classroom setting. For this reason, I love labs! They help connect what you’re learning in class to real life ideas and give you the chance to work hands-on with what you’ve learnt. However, getting the opportunity to actually go out into the field and work in a real world scenario must have been surreal! I hope I can experience such an opportunity someday before going out and pursing my career. 

I also agree with the importance of being able to appeal to your audiences. My idea of best appealing to an audience has always been to try to engage to them by allowing them to try the experience out themselves in someway. I find this method especially effective with younger and more naive audiences. However, I can completely appreciate how visuals can be just as effective if not more, and answering questions always seems to engage more of an audience! I also think drawing lectures to real world applications is extremely effective because it helps people relate more and therefore, further understand and take interest.

Finally, I really love what you said about helping learners see the bigger picture of ecosystem interactions and helping them realize their own place in their ecosystems. This ties in so perfectly to helping connect lectures to real world applications! I would also love to work outdoors, teaching others about their environment and helping them develop their own love and passions revolving around it. You make a great point that educating people in nature in this way can appeal to all learning styles as it involves lots of opportunities for visuals, listening and experience what they’re learning hands-on.

Overall, great job! I thoroughly enjoyed reading your blog post for this week! :)

[crdaenvs3000w22]

My Role as an Environmental Interpreter

Growing up with so much love for wildlife and nature, I’ve become exceptionally passionate about the topics. Whenever I am asked by my friends or family about any topic revolving around the environment, I find that I can become a bit  overwhelmingly passionate when trying to communicate my feelings toward the topic at hand. Sometimes it’s easy for me to forget that not everyone is as interested or passionate about this field in the same way that I am. Thankfully, being in the environmental management program, I’ve met so many others like myself who I am happy to have become friends with. However, having grown up in Toronto for a lot of my life, many of my friends from the city showed little interest in being outdoors or in nature. I found that this began to slowly change over the years as I began bringing my friends along to the camping resort I’ve always gone to in Muskoka. Everything there was so new and estranged to them as many of them had never been in a lake or forest, let alone even outside of the GTA. Once I took them swimming, kayaking, fishing and hiking through the forests with me, I realized a spark of interest ignited in them. Soon after, every year they would tell me how eager they were to return with me. I have attached a few photos from over the years below! :)

Now thinking about it, I have always known that I was a tactile learner and enjoyed doing things hands-on and developing my own interests and opinions on what I learn. However, I realize now that it’s also my teaching style. In the case of my friends who I brought to Muskoka with me, I was able to share what I am passionate about by simply bringing them along for the ride and letting them try it out and learn for themselves. This allowed them to form their own passions and care about the same things I did, but in their own ways. Now, I believe that as an environmental interpreter, a tactile teaching style in this way, may be the most effective way of sharing my passions. I believe this means that I would have to be somewhere outdoors in nature, experiencing nature hands on, so that I may also share my interpretations to my audience in a hands-on way. For myself this may mean working as a tour guide at a national park, leading groups of people on forest expeditions or even serving as an information guide at an outdoor wildlife rehabilitation center. For these types of career paths I would need a lot of patience, enthusiasm and confidence. I would want my audience to develop their own opinions and interests toward nature in their own ways and at their own pace, meaning that I would need to be very patient. However, I would also want to provide them with opportunities to develop these opinions hands on, in an enthusiastic and confident way so that they are at least excited to try these new things out in nature. Although I am still very unsure of what career path I may take in the future, I believe my strengths lie in trying to help others experience nature hands-on, in their own ways, as I like to do myself. This may aid me in reaching my goal of working to spread awareness about environmental issues and shedding light on the beauty and significance of nature. 

Thanks for reading! :)

Swimming with my friends at the cottage.

Kearney, Ontario (Muskoka). 2020.

Candid photo of my friends at the cottage.

Kearney, Ontario (Muskoka). 2021.

Candid photo of my friends at sunset at the cottage.

Kearney, Ontario (Muskoka). 2021.