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Post #11: Holiday Zero Waste Hacks

It can be difficult to stay environmentally friendly throughout the holidays. I find it especially hard when I’m trying to unwind and forget about school. However I do find it reassuring when I can still enjoy the holidays and do so with a low environmental footprint. Here are just a few “hacks” that I have found very useful this time of year.

While skating and shopping downtown today I brought my own backpack along with a reusable water bottle in order to avoid paying for/getting plastic bags or plastic water bottles. I also used my grandmas old skates that she generously gave me instead of buying new ones. (I am on the right :))

Here’s the short and simple list of hacks:

-Bring a reusable water bottle with you

-Carry a backpack or reusable bag for purchases

-Buy from markets that are most likely handmaid instead of large chain stores/corporations that contribute to fast fashion

-Buy gifts second hand such as thrift stores

-Buy “experience” gifts instead of feasible items or donate to your loved ones favourite charity/non for profit organizations on behalf of them

-Use newspaper, cloth (such as scarves) or biodegradable christmas wrapping paper as an alternative to regular wrapping paper

-Reuse tissue paper or any materials found around your house for wrapping

-Buy treats in bulk and put them in reusable containers, such as jars

-Send e-cards or make your own to cut down on packaging and/or plastic waste

-Make some of your own ornaments, like these cute pine cone ones (stay clear of non biodegradable glitter as well or look into biodegradable glitter options)

picture from https://www.familyholiday.net/50-eco-friendly-holiday-decorations-made-of-pine-cones/

Hope you guys found some of these useful and Happy Holidays!!

#ecofriendly #happyholidays

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My personal code of ethics and developing as an interpreter

When I think of ethics, I think about the various business courses I have taken and how a business will have a code of ethics. However, I have never really thought about what my own personal code of ethics would look like. My understanding of ethics from business class would involve parameters for appropriate behaviour based on morals. My personal code of ethics would then act as guidelines for my actions based on the morals I hold. There are many moments in life where I have to choose between two alternative and my own code of ethics plays an important role in the decision I make. Especially as I develop as a nature interpreter my personal code of ethics will impact the groups that I am guiding on interpretive walks or programs. This makes developing my personal ethic very important.

Photo from colourbox (2019).

I think that my personal ethics have developed since I was a child from learning and discovering the world. These are also constantly evolving as I continue to learn about the world and become an adult. There are four ethics I would like to talk about in this blog post: honest and integrity, hardworking and sincere, respect and be prepared.

Honesty and Integrity The truth matters to me. I think it is important to stand up for what is right and just. As a child my parents taught me important values such as honesty and compassion. I quickly learnt the importance of these values because my actions had consequences as a child such as getting a time out. Today as an adult this is still true only the consequences are different. As I develop myself as a nature interpreter, I think that honesty and integrity becomes even more important because the actions I make set an example for others. For example, as a nature interpreter it is important to me that natural landscapes be protected for future generations. To encourage others to be mindful of their own impact on the environment I need to show this to lead as an example for others. It is my responsibility as a nature interpreter to not only provide accurate information on the subject of climate change but also to stand up for the protection of the environment as various issues threaten the conservation of species and landscapes.

Hard work and Sincerity I am hardworking and sincere. It is important to me that I am dedicated to the activities and tasks that I am doing to fulfill my ambitions. I am developing this with each challenge I am met with in my life. Especially since attending university I have been able to over come many challenges and work hard to achieve success. This has made me not afraid to take on difficult tasks. I think this becomes more important as I develop as a nature interpreter because it can be challenging to relate the subject of nature to the variety of peoples live in an audience to offer a “spark” (Beck & Cable, 2011). I have received this “spark” from other nature interpreters that has made a lasting impression on my life. Now as a nature interpreter myself I need to develop this skill of offering the “spark” to others. This will take hard work to develop and practice as I improve in nature interpretation. It is my responsibility as a nature interpreter to understand my audience and what they are interested in to relate my message to the knowledge and experience of the audience and provide an engaging and meaningful experience. This includes catering to different types of learners in the audience such as active and reflective, sensing and intuitive, visual and verbal, sequential and global learners.

Respect I think it is important to be respectful. This ethic has been with me since elementary school and into high school. I developed this because my elementary school motto was: “treat others the way you want to be treated” and in high school the motto was: “respect: give it, get it”. This has stuck with me ever since, highlighting the importance of respect and treating others fairly. As I develop myself as a nature interpreter and communicating to a wide variety of audiences it is important to be respectful to everyone. Especially as everyone carries their own invisible backpack. Being aware of this as a nature interpreter means respecting everyone regardless of what someone might have or not have in their invisible backpack (McIntosh, 1989). It is my responsibility as a nature interpreter to be aware of the privileges I have in my life and not assume things about other peoples lives. This way I can be inclusive to everyone as a nature interpreter.

Be prepared Another important motto I carry with me is from girl guides and that is “be prepared”. In girl guides this meant that guides are ready to cope with anything. I think that as I develop myself as a nature interpreter being prepared means planning for interpretive activities and programs. I also realize as a nature interpreter there are risks in any activity or program. Despite every effort to be prepared incidents can still happen. I carry with me as a nature interpreter the lemon theory to avoid accidents when be prepared isn’t enough. I am still developing my skills as a nature interpreter to manage risks in outdoor activities. It is my responsibility as a nature interpreter that my priority is everyone’s safety when engaging in various outdoor activities (Hahn, 1960). There is an element of being prepared with planning to avoid risks however as a nature interpreter I need to develop my ability to risk manage because accidents are not planned and can be out of my control

My approach to nature interpretation is rooted in my love for beauty in the environment and being able to help people see this for themselves. Because beauty is subjective, and nature is dynamic there is always some aspect of nature that everyone can view as beautiful it just might not be obvious at first. I express the beauty I see in nature with my creativity in photography, so my approach to nature interpretation would involve photography to help others see the beauty in nature for themselves. By helping people who might not see the beauty in nature be able too perceive this beauty can help others understand the intrinsic value of nature to encourage the protection of landscapes and species. I am passionate about protecting the environment and as a nature interpreter my approach is not only to get people engaged with nature but also call people to action to protect nature and be mindful of everyday actions that impact the environment.

Photo of me taken by my sister, to remind myself that my personal code of ethics will help me inform my decisions and help me develop as a nature interpreter (2018).

My personal code of ethics will always influence my decisions and actions when I am faced with a dilemma. Some aspects of my personal ethics are influenced by how my parents raised me and values that have been instilled in me through experiences I had as a child. Other aspects of my personal ethics I am still developing as a nature interpreter and as adult. Because of this my ethics will adapt with my personal growth as a nature interpreter. I value the many lessons and experiences this course has offered me to developing myself as an adult and a nature interpreter.

References

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

Beck, L., & Cable, T. T. (2011). The Gifts of Interpretation: Fifteen Guiding Principles for Interpreting Nature and Culture. Urbana, IL: Sagamore Publishing.

Hahn, K. (1960).Six social declines of modern youth. Retrieved from: http://www.kurthahn.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/2017-obt1960.pdf

bfenvs3000-blog

Hi Emilia I enjoyed reading your last blog post. I definitely agree with what you said about your personal ethics changing as you get older. I think it’s important to always keep learning from new experiences and you those to grow as a person. The point you brought up about respect are important to bring forward as an interpreter. I think that creating a space that is built on respect for each other and also respect for the environment helps to enhance the experience of an interpretive program as the members of the group can feel that they are in a secure place where they won’t be judged.

I like that you mentioned how subjective beauty can be. Since it’s so subjective there’s always some part of nature for everyone to enjoy whether its changing leaves or a swamp area. I feel like this also works to help others realize that while to them an area may not be their type of beauty it can be a beautiful area for another person.

hayleypreeceandtheenvironment

Hi Emilia!

I really liked reading your final blog post and everything you described as “your ethics.” It was cool to see how you wrote about your own code of ethics will impact the groups that you guide in the future, as I had never thought about that very in-depth. We don’t realize it, but we are role models to these children when we take a position such as the one of an interpreter and they will try to repeat our actions. As the saying goes - monkey see, monkey do. I completely agree with what you said about advocating for the protection of the environment. We can limit greenhouse gas emissions as much as we want but unless we save a certain amount of biodiversity we will lose vital ecosystems.

Picture from https://www.totallandscapecare.com/landscaping-blog/lorax-tree-advocate/

I agree that nature interpretation is a lot of risks and a lot of improvisation, which can be very scary. However, as we learned during the walk with Chris Earley and the improve lab, it only gets easier and easier every time. At the beginning of the nature walk with Chris Earley, it was kind of nerve wracking, especially when we had to think of a talk to give to the class in only a few minutes, but after I saw how supportive everyone was of their classmates it made it easier and not so scary if I had been picked.

The way you described hard work and respect reminded me of the quote in The Gifts of Interpretation that says “Interpreters have daily opportunities to influence lives. Our privilege, and our obligation, is to help others enjoy, reflect upon, and find meaning in the places we work.” I thought this quote encompassed what you were saying in these paragraphs well.

hivany3000-2019-blog

My Personal Interpretation Journey

Throughout this course, we have learned a variety of interpretive skills that range from improving our communication to learning about effective ways to engage your participants in programs. Ethic is described as being a set of morals that are related throughout a specified field. With this in mind, my personal ethic as a nature interpreter surrounds being the most hard-working and inclusive interpreter I can be. I want to continue to develop skills that allow me to take information available and communicate it effectively to a variety of individuals. In terms of the beliefs that I bring to nature interpretation, I want to focus on three main ideas.

One: Effective interpretation occurs in a place of inclusivity and encouragement

The first one is my belief that effective interpretation takes place in a space that is inclusive and encouraging. With that being said, I think by creating inclusive opportunities for individuals, it creates a space where connections with nature can occur freely. As mentioned in the course lectures, each individual contains an “invisible backpack”. This is where each of us contains a set of tools in our backpacks that we have, these tools can either be advantageous or the lack of tools can put us at a disadvantage. I believe it is important to create programs where it can accommodate as many people as possible. While keeping in mind that not everyone has the same resources, this definitely makes it difficult to create programs but is well worth it! Especially if it means that you can help to create as many nature connections as possible.

In the same mindset, I believe that it is important to have an idea of your audience’s background. This is critical when delivering effective programs as it allows you to better achieve your purpose. By knowing the background, you can create a better space of inclusivity that ultimately allows you to most effectively encourage your participants throughout the program. I feel that knowing your audience helps to create a space that includes everyone.

Two: Communicate your passion

The second one revolves around my belief that nature interpretation stems from the ability of the interpreter to take their passions and communicate effectively. In the textbook, authors describe one of the gifts of interpretation to be passion. This describes effective communication stemming from the passion of the interpreter to share their knowledge in an effective way. I believe that it is important to have not only passion for the subject that you are sharing but also passion for wanting to connect participants to that subject. In the lab with Chris Early, I found it extremely interesting how he expressed that it would be excellent to have both of those passions all the time when delivering programs. However, you can help to create nature connections in areas that you are less passionate about (for me this is soil applications) by containing a passion or drive for connecting people to the environment. In my personal ethic as a nature interpreter, I believe that you need to be passionate about creating connections with people and the environment (in whatever area that may be).

Three: Creating respect through connections

The third belief that I have is sparking a connection between an individual and nature. This allows the individual to connect through experiences and helps to teach them that we should respect the environment. It is well known that our anthropogenic influence can drastically change the environments in which we interact with. Thus, through nature interpretation, I believe that it is important to instill a sense of environmental stewardship or respect. As interpreters, we should be able to take the place that we are delivering a program in and create a connection between the participant and the environment. Thus, by creating this connection we are encouraging the participant to deeply appreciate and respect the environment through personal experience. An effective way to do this would be to deliver programs that focus on providing hands-on opportunities. Events such as tree planting, water studies, or bug studies are excellent ways for participants to connect to the environment. It is important to instill a sense of respect and love towards the environment and I believe that nature interpreters can do this through helping to create nature connections.

Overall, I feel as though my ethic or set of morals related to the field of nature interpretation throughout the course has definitely changed from what I would originally have expressed at the beginning. I feel as though I have a deeper understanding of the amount of passion, dedication, and research that it truly takes to effectively communicate or connect people to nature. This being said, there are some main responsibilities as a nature interpreter that I believe are important to always keep in mind. Some of which include:

Being inclusive and adaptive

Encouraging nature connections through self-exploration or guided tours

Providing a safe space for learning and expanding knowledge

Accepting that you will never know everything and to continually learn and grow

Conduct background research, prepare, and plan out programs (to the best of your ability). This will allow you to deliver the most effective program.

And many more!

Lastly, I will touch on the approach to nature interpretation that I feel is most effective for myself. As most of you know, there are three major learning styles. The first being visual learners which include individuals that learn best through seeing and watching. The second is an auditory learner which learns best with listening. The third is a kinesthetic learner that connects best with touching and interacting with things. It would be most effective when interpreting nature to incorporate all three of these learning styles into programs. However, I understand that it is not always practical to do this, and some activities work best with specific styles of learning. Throughout the course, we have experienced a variety of labs that include, the arboretum (parts aimed towards auditory learners, through the bird game), the downtown walk (also aimed towards auditory learners but also visual through a tour style), the art gallery (auditory and visual), and the indoor lab (aimed towards kinesthetic learners through participating in activities that involve interacting with objects). After being able to observe other interpreters deliver programs throughout a range of subjects, I have concluded that there is not one approach that I feel is most suitable to myself. Although, I have found that I prefer to incorporate or have programs incorporate hands-on learning activities. In terms of being a participant in programs, I prefer that they incorporate some aspects of kinesthetic learning. However, I also enjoy when those programs utilize visual and auditory cues. If I were to deliver a program to a group of participants, I would prefer to incorporate a hands-on activity. Although, I do see the benefit of incorporating auditory and visual cues to help connect the most amount of people I can to the content being shared.

To conclude this course, I have realized that what I thought I knew about nature interpretation was only the surface. To ultimately understand and appreciate the reach that nature interpreters have is far too much to do in this short period of time (one semester). However, I do feel like I have gained a deeper appreciation for those who share their passions (more specifically environmental ones) with the world! The main takeaway from this course for me would be that interpretation covers a wide range of subjects. But, to become a successful nature interpreter it only requires you to have a passion (of anything) and a passion to communicate and help create connections within others!

I am interested in your main take-aways from this course. Please share them with me, since interpretation can take on so many different forms and touch people in different ways, I am interested in how you feel with this course concluding.

References

hayleypreeceandtheenvironment

Response #10:

Hi Holly!

I liked your blog this week and found is similar to mine in some ways. I also want to continue to develop my nature interpretation skills. However, I’m still unsure about whether or not I want to pursue it as a career, but many qualities that a nature interpreter requires are also needed in other careers.

I also liked how you used the invisible backpack theory about privileges and describes that some are advantages, while others are disadvantages. We all may be disadvantaged in some way, but this doesn’t mean mean that we can’t work hard and change our situation.

I too believe that it is important to create programs where we can accommodate as many people as possible. We learned about this as the gift of targeted programs. This includes all age groups, such as children, teenagers, and seniors. Furthermore, certain disadvantages may require more attention or assistance and we need to keep this in mind. As we read in “The Gifts of Interpretation,” “interpreters may have to provide special assistance to apprehensive children who carry negative and unpleasant perceptions of nature.” Additionally, it is important to express that we can never be too old or too young for nature interpretation, especially when working with difficult or troublesome teenagers.

Lastly, I can argue that we have all ended this course with a lot more knowledge about what it takes to be a nature interpreter and I can say I definitely have a lot more respect and admiration for the profession. My main takeaway from this course would be to be yourself and take risks while interpreting even if it makes your nervous.

Post #10: Every End has a New Beginning

In a lot of different ways this course has helped me “find myself” more and what stances I take on nature as well as other general topics. After writing my own blogs and reading and commenting on the blogs of my classmates, I have become more aware of what my personal beliefs, responsibilities and suitable approaches are for me as a nature interpreter and will share them with you in this post.

Throughout this course, I’ve come to realize I have four concrete beliefs that I’ve developed as a nature interpreter. The first being that history needs to be incorporated into nature interpretation as much as possible. After taking the tour downtown about Guelph’s history, I feel that when history is incorporated into nature interpretation it gives a more in-depth perspective. Like I wrote about in my third blog post it can be easy to forget history or believe that it doesn’t have any relevance to the present day when it completely does. This can also be vital because the more we share about the history relating to nature, the more we can help our audience find their “spark” or share different perspective and stories. This leads me to my second belief that anyone can find some sort of spark within nature. While attending all the labs in this course, I have developed my own spark a lot and found that there are so many ways for someone to find their own spark if they haven’t already. Just like all the labs we did, there are so many different approaches you can take in nature interpretation that if one doesn’t fit or isn’t you favourite there are many others that can.

A photo taken from https://livepulchritudinously.com/2018/05/26/anyone-can-cook/ and edited by me.

My third belief is that while you can help other find their spark, you cannot force someone to be interested in something, you can only influence them to be more aware or spark their curiosity. In my fifth blog post, I touched on how the reading elaborated that our role is to assist and guide our audience without any condescension to point out the beauty in nature. My last belief is that we remember and are more engaged in what interests us. I had the struggle this year of not always taking the courses I was interested in because I didn’t want to branch off from my friends in my program or struggling to decide if I should do masters right after this year since all my friends are. However, I’ve decided that I need to do my own thing next year and am planning to go to Australia with an exchange program to gain experience in either apiculture or horticulture.

In terms of responsibilities, currently, this depends on how much I hold myself accountable. Not all of the following are my responsibilities per se but something I can do to sort of give back to what this course has given me. I would like to continue this blog account in my downtime and through this share and help people find their “spark” and help others “unpack their privileges” while discussing common privileges and guiding others to see the raw beauty in nature themselves. As well as continuing to raise environmental awareness for topics such as climate change protests and suitable living. In my first post I explained how I developed my “spark” and I would love to help others do the same through this blog. My relationship with nature developed at an early age and I was fortunate enough to have spent most of my childhood at my grandparent’s cottage. This being said, I do realize how fortunate I am for this experience, but throughout the course I was able to “unpack my privilege” more and more. Even while writing my second blog about privilege I wasn’t fully aware of how much privilege I do have. Another point I want to further re-iterate is that all of us developed countries, such as our own have the privilege of not being as affected by the effects of climate change. Furthermore, the richer populations and businesses are to blame for most of our CO2 emissions, but its the citizens in less developed countries who are least responsible who will be most vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

Suitable approaches were developed and through this course in terms of how I would go about interpreting nature as well as whether or not I want to pursue nature interpretation. If I were to become a nature interpreter, I would include my own humour suiting it to my audience and stories of my own. The reading about the gift of precision has opened my eyes to how nature interpreters and public speakers, in general, have to apply humour to different audiences in order to keep everyone engaged. Additionally, it’s good to keep in mind how much humour to incorporate because if humour is used constantly throughout it can be too difficult and lack direction. As I have talked about in past blog posts, stories help me learn because they stick with me and I remember them more than a random fact and I think many people can agree with this. While interpreting I would try to make my talks more personal to allow my audience to relate more to the program. Currently, I don’t think I want to pursue nature interpretation as a career, but you never know, I learned a lot of things taking this course and I don’t know what the future holds. Continuing on the topic career, I will remember and keep in mind a lot of the things Dr. Fairweather talked about for applying for jobs in this field. I think two of the most influencial things that I’ll take away is to be yourself when applying for jobs and go the extra mile even if it means putting yourself out there more. I remember back to when he told us a story of the professor who had to fly somewhere for a talk and was trying to pursue a position at their work place but missed his flight and instead joined them to play in their hockey game and made up for it. As well as the story of Dr. Fairweather adding “ I look forward to working for your team” at the end of his email and the professor thinking this was very showing to how he’s ready to be part of their team and work hard. Overall, I just want to gain a career that keeps my interest alive. It may be cheesy and cliché, but if it’s something I love, it won’t feel like work. Yes, there will be roadblocks like any other career, but as long as the passion and drive are there that is what matters most to me.

A photo of me and my roommates on a cabin trip (circa 2018)

brenvs3000-19

Improv: A Recipe for Delight

Dread. An emotion I’m sure many people felt with the looming thought of an Improv lab. What could this mean? What will we do? Hesitation. Shy at first trying to blend into the background. But, by the end? Laughing and face sore from smiles. A pleasant surprise that I’m sure many people shared.

I am fairly comfortable with general public speaking, but this style of presentation was new to me. Therefore, I found that exposure to on the spot thinking was very rewarding. Although it felt like light-hearted games, underneath I could clearly see the intent behind them to help us become comfortable with our classmates.

(Teacher With Male And Female Drama Students At Performing Arts School In Studio Improvisation Class - Retrieved from Colourbox)

The first gift I think shined through was the gift of Spark. Activities, such as our 5-minute prep presentations on a new invention gave us the chance to practice conveying information while trying to capture and maintain the interest of the audience. As Beck and Cable mention, “Interpreters can capture attention by using movement, noise, bright colors, unusual objects, or with startling statements.” I found all of our groups used this approach well, as exaggerated movement, voices, and actions focused our attention. It was the humor we all tried to infuse into our little presentations that maintained the interest. Many of us took to the infomercial route, in which we were over the top and using rhetorical questions to engage the rest of the class.

(As seen on tv grunge rubber stamp on white - Retrieved from Colourbox)

Next, I felt the improv class was a good way of practicing the gift of story. Interpreters have the ability to “treat knowledge imaginatively,” (Beck and Cable, 2011) and assemble an overarching story to their program. This can be conveyed in different forms, not just words. The game in which we acted out different ecosystem was a great example of conveying a story without words. We had to cut away all the insignificant details and focus on prominent features that would tie together to form a bigger picture. By each student acting out a different feature of the ecosystem, the class as a whole was able to paint a picture to the guesser. It makes us think about what’s important and recognizable to an audience.

Finally, one of the strongest gifts this lab provided was the gift of joy.

“Interpreters can promote optimal experiences through intentional and thoughtful program and facility design”

(Beck and Cable, 2011)

Interpretation shouldn’t just be a constant flow of information to digest. This dry form of learning can lose the attention of the audience. Inciting joy in an audience through a program can make it memorable and looked back on as a good experience. I found our class’s use of humor captured the attention of all who attended and immersed us in the experience. We were able to see “beyond [ourselves] temporarily,” (Beck and Cable, 2011) and set aside our anxiety to simply have fun with each other.

In the end, I think a gift that could have been further developed in this lab is the gift of precision. Although it can be very entertaining it is important to remember that “the key to using humor effectively and appropriately is to recognize that all humor is not the same” (Beck and Cable, 2011). We are all at the same stage of our lives, therefore we focused on relatable jokes to us, but these might not be effective with other audiences. We need to know our audience and carefully select jokes that do not go over someone’s head or drive people away. It was clear our intent was playful, but we need to clearly establish this in future interpretive programs.

References:

Beck, L., & Cable, T. T. (2011). The Gifts of Interpretation: Fifteen Guiding Principles for Interpreting Nature and Culture. Urbana, IL: Sagamore Publishing.

hayleypreeceandtheenvironment

Response #9:

Hi!

I liked reading your take on the improv lab and thought the “gifts” you took away from this lab were similar to the ones I also would have chosen.

I thought that the way you explained the “so what” part of the improv lab was really well done. For example, when you explained the game where we acted out different ecosystems was like a story without words it changed my perspective of the game. I hadn’t thought of the game in this way. Furthermore, you explained the main point of the activity, which you said was to “cut away all the insignificant details and focus on prominent features that would be together to form a bigger picture.” You then explained how we all worked as a team by “each student acting out a different feature of the ecosystem.”

The gift you said could have been more developed, which I agree with, was the gift of precision because not all humour is the same and we must recognize this. As you said, our jokes during the improve lab worked because we are all around the same age group. One way to ease our way into humour that all audience types can enjoy would be incorporating puns. Additionally, it’s important to consider how much humour to incorporate because if humour is used constantly throughout it can be too difficult and lack direction. This being said, using humour that applies well to your audience well can be considered a part of targeted programs.

Post #9:The Best Gifts of Interpretation

The two lab activities I took the most meaning away from were the history and nature walk labs. The history tour of Guelph had a lot of different stories and facts which caught my interest and kept me engaged; however, the nature walk/interpretation with the arboretum’s coordinator Chris Earley kept me engaged in a way that I was excited for every next activity. It was clear his way of interpreting nature definitely included more than three “gifts” from the “gifts of interpretation.” The three I found the most relative to the walk we joined him or were the gift of the story, the gift of targeted programs and the gift of precision.

The gift of story was very apparent in Mr. Earley’s walk with us, especially towards the end. In my opinion, adding stories to anything, whether it be a presentation or blog post pr podcast, makes it more personal and allows your audience to connect and relate more to your material. At first Mr. Earley talked about his experiences with interpreting and how a lot of the time when he first started and he would tell people his job title they wouldn’t take him very seriously, but as time went on it became more and more popular. Now some of us find what he does to be a dream job. I found this a great way to break the ice and introduce himself because it gave me more perspective about what he does and it’s nice to hear a backstory from someone that has gotten so far. Another story he told towards the end of the walk when our professor was doing his interpretation of centipedes and millipedes was how his daughter used to be very interested in bugs, but as time went on she became less and less so because of her friends and their social influence. I have talked about this in a previous blog, but I was able to connect to this story on a personal level because I can also remember the days where I used to collect potato bugs and caterpillars. Eventually, the same thing happened to me, where it was a mix of losing interest and the social influence, such as my friends, who didn’t want to look for bugs with me.

Photo retrieved from https://writingcooperative.com/telling-a-story-vs-storytelling-2c7a52377e95

The gift of targeted programs was definitely apparent within his nature walk with us and this was easy to tell right from the start. The first activity Mr. Earley had us do was the bird call one, which was originally designed for elementary school kids, but he was able to target it to our age group. It was also fun having a game that wasn’t necessarily serious and got us out of our comfort zones a little, but at the same time we had just as much opportunity to learn from it.

Thirdly, Mr. Earley did a great job following the gift of precision during the walk. The main quote from the gift of precision chapter is “our charge as interpreters is to keep our talks focused and interesting.” Chris Earley did a thorough job in making sure his walk was focused and interesting even though what he had prepared didn’t work out because the wind was too strong for us to walk through the woods.

If I have to choose which one “gift” could have been further developed I would say the gift of story. This course has taught me that a lot of the time it’s better to ask your audience questions or help them figure out the answers to questions to get them thinking instead of telling them the answers. I understand that too many stories wouldn’t be appealing to the whole audience and would cause the first of precision to be less attainable. However, I really enjoyed hearing what he had to say especially because he is a figure of inspiration to a lot of us.

My question to you guys is what your favourite part of Chris Earley’s walk?

gtenvs3000-19

Heroes; They Live Among Us

When you hear the word “hero” who do you think of? I being a massive marvel fan think of Captain America. In this week’s blog I am going to be talking about heroes, but not the fiction or marvel kind, the scientific kind. Now don’t worry this won’t be a snooze fest, I am going to be talking about who influenced my life as a kid to go into the sciences. As a kid I was extremely studious (I mean as studious as an elementary school kid can be) and hated getting low grades. But unfortunately science was a subject I struggled with a lot, I could never quite grasp the concepts. I was encouraged by my elementary school science teacher to take applied science in high school but at the time I wanted to become a OB-GYN and knew a background in science would be crucial. So I decided to take the grade 9 academic science course and my teacher was Ms. Pulford.

Photo of me in an airplane stimulator that Ms. Pulford thought would be a good idea to show me the different kinds of science. Photo taken by Charlotte Tenszen (sister).

My experience with Ms. Pulford made me completely change how I thought about science. Before I was terrified to put my hand up and dreaded the class, but after grade 9 science it became one of my favourite subjects and then my undergraduate degree. Ms. Pulford was an amazing teacher for so many reasons. First being that she actually cared about our success. She didn’t just want us to show up and shut up. Ms. Pulford wanted us to have questions, be curious, and demand answers. One thing we talked about in my ENVS*3000 class earlier in the semester was how everyone is a different learner. Another reason why I learnt so well in Ms. Pulford’s class was because she didn’t just appeal to one type of learner. She did experiments, videos, lecturing, reading, and even a podcast! When it came to her tests, she had a variety of questions such as multiple choice, short answer, long answer, and diagrams. She tried very hard to make sure the auditory, visual and tactile learners all got equal shots at success.

Photo of my teammates and I at a cross country event. A sports team run by Ms. Pulford who encouraged me to join as a way to manage my anxiety with physical activity. Photo taken by Ms. Pulford (teacher).

Most of you properly don’t know this but I use to be a very anxious kid. When my anxiety would get really high in class I would need to physically move or else I’d have an anxiety attack. My mom ended up informing all my grade 9 teachers so they were aware and would let me leave the classroom if I asked. Unfortunately I was really embarrassed and ashamed of my anxiety so I never wanted to ask to leave in front of everyone, which caused me to just skip classes entirely. Ms. Pulford recognized this and came up with the idea that every 30 minutes everyone in the class would get up, walk around the room, and change their seat, kind of like musical chairs. She told the class she liked doing this to give our brains a break which meant no one knew that I was the reason.

Photo of my friend Annika, two science teachers and I at a grade 9 leadership camp which Ms. Pulford nominated me to go on. Photo taken by Gabrielle Bettio (friend).

My current career path has shifted quite a bit from OB-GYN since I am now working towards the goal of becoming a high school biology teacher. As I have mentioned before, in the textbook “The Gifts of Interpretation”, it talks about the gift of a spark and how nature interpreters must try to find a way for their audience to attain that spark. Ms. Pulford wasn’t my spark for nature but she definitely was my spark for science. Some desired traits that I want to take from what I learnt in Ms. Pulford’s classroom is being able to modify the material so all types of learners are able to learn. As well as being able to be there for my students and accommodate them accordingly. I believe these specific traits are important since they are what made me go from hating science to loving it. Ms. Pulford honestly changed my life and hopefully one day I will have the opportunity to change someones life as well. My question for you is, do you have one teacher that you will always remember and why?

hivany3000-2019-blog

Hi!

Great post, I think that having a passionate teacher in any point of ones educational career can make a big influence on your experience. It is nice to hear that you had a positive experience with a teacher that helped integrate you into science. I am glad to hear that you persevered within science and I wish you well in obtaining your final goal, to become a biology teacher!

Personally, I have had quite a few teachers inspire me to be involved in the sector of environmental science that I am in today. To pick one teacher that I will always remember is a difficult task, however, I do remember many of the traits that they possessed. Some of these include; a passion towards the subject (its always so amazing when someone is excited to share the information they know!), clear communication (it is crucial to communicate effectively to portray information to the class), and inclusivity (similar to what you mentioned, it is important to try and appeal to many different learning styles).

From reading your post and comparing it to my experiences with some of my favourite teachers, there is quite a bit of overlap from traits that each of them hold. Interesting enough, our textbook, which is geared to a more “non-traditional” education being outdoors, stresses many of the same traits that effective nature interpreters must have to be successful as our in class teachers have. Traits that are stressed vary from effective communicators to their ability to spark passion within a participant/student.

I wonder, since you have the goal of becoming a high school biology teacher one day, is there one teaching style that you have learnt so far in this course that you will try to incorporate in the future?

Reference

hayleypreeceandtheenvironment

Response #8:

Hey,

your post this week was really sweet and it was amazing to read how much of an impact your teacher had on your views and interests in science. Not only did she help you excel in sciences, she also went above and beyond in making sure your learning environment was comfortable and that you were involved in after school/ out of school experiences. From what I read she seemed like a mentor and a friend, which is definitely something all teachers should strive to be in my opinion.

To answer your question, I did have a teacher that I will always remember. Its kind of similar to your experience in that she was my high school chemistry teacher and helped me believe in myself. I wasn’t always great at sciences and had my worries about pursuing them later on in university, but she was very reassuring. Not all of my friends were huge fans of hers because she made us do a lot of readings and had us try to figure stuff out on our own first. However, I found this very helpful later on when I started university and it was a lot more independent/study group work.

The way you described your teacher reminded me of both of the readings from this week. I think teachers can definitely be a type of interpreter in the eyes of their students. The way they convey information can depict how well their students learn and retain it. The way you described Ms. Pulford’s teaching style, how she would incorporate different techniques to modify the material for all types of learners is similar to what a great interpreter does. A line form chapter 9 writes “our charge as interpreters id to keep our talks focused and interesting.” I think teachers also have to consider this if they want the best learning experience for their students. Chapter 12 about the gift of relationship relates even more to teachers. A great teacher has a good relationship with their students, just like the one you and Ms. Pulford had.

Post #8: Scientific Heroes

From the days when our teacher would roll in the tv and the class would watch Bill Nye to supportive teachers in High School to environmentalists and documentaries today, I have had a lot of scientific heroes. As a child I often found learning science and math difficult and had a hard time excelling in these courses. I later realized in high school that I am a very visual learner and teachers explaining concepts to me often didn’t do the trick. However, before I had this figured out, Bill Nye made science a fun learning experience for me along with many other students from our generation, I remember thinking that the way he explained his experiments hardly seemed like school but more like a fun activity and I often wanted to replicate them at home. I even dressed up as a mad scientist for Halloween in grade 5 and I’m pretty sure if it wasn’t for Bill Nye that I would not have been as invested in sciences as I was. To this day I still enjoy watching his content and watch his new shows and read his books. His content has grown with me well because a lot of his focus is centered around climate change and the science behind it and this is what I am also very interested in.

A photo of Bill Nye’s new show “Bill Nye Saves the World” taken from https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6021260/mediaviewer/rm2890217216

In high school I started to enjoy sciences a lot more because most of the time I was able to read the textbook and teach myself concepts I struggled with or go to the teacher and ask if I still didn’t understand. As a result, my grades picked up and this only furthered my interest in sciences. Furthermore, I had great biology and chemistry teachers who helped keep this “spark” alive. They let us do a lot of great experiments which prepared us well for university. I can thank my chemistry teacher in particular for encouraging me to continue on in sciences. In grade 11 I had my doubts about whether I would be able to handle sciences in university or even the next year in grade 12. She believed in me and this doesn’t sound like much now, but at the time it meant a lot, especially because I hadn't done that well academically in science all throughout elementary school.

Currently, my science role models revolve more around certain environmentalists, such as Greta Thunberg, as well as documentaries. As I said before, Bill Nye is still someone I watch along with documentaries by National Geographic. I watch these when I have time, but I find myself watching them a lot more when I’m not in school to keep my science brain alive or when I’m at a road block and feel like I’m missing a “spark.”

A quote from the reading that I really enjoyed and thought resonated with my post this week is: “our mission should be to leave our gentle enriching thumbprint on our visitors, donors, volunteers, policy-makers, and administrators. If we do this, we will garner the support we need and leave a legacy.” I thought this quote was really sweet and I was able to relate this to how my chemistry teacher believed in me and how such small actions can impact us so profoundly.

My question to you guys is: what do you do or who do you go to when you feel like you are lacking your “spark”?

kmenvs3000-19

The Bee’s Knees

Get a buzz out of something…this time I’m talking about bees! Ever since I took honey bee biology I have been passionate about learning more about honey bees and pollinator conservation. I even convinced my group to do our podcasts on honey bees, to make sure the “buzz” gets around.

To test your knowledge on our “furry friends” I want to ask you a question:

How do bees pollinate on a single foraging flight?

a) Go and pollinate a variety of different flowers, whatever is closest to the hive

b) Stick to pollinating two species of flowers

c) Pollinate one species of flower

Check your answer at the bottom of my blog. If you didn’t know the answer I highly encourage you to read on so you can learn more about these amazing little creatures!

(My own photo. Check out the pollen basket on this bee’s legs!)

Learn how to dance like a bee and hive a great time! I’m serious…bees know how to dance. One of the dances they do is called the “Waggle Dance.” These dances are actually the most complex language used in all invertebrates! They let the other bees know the direction, distance and quality of a food source. The angle of the dance is in relation to where the sun is in the sky and where the food source is relative to the hive. It’s pretty amazing that bees can accomplish this!

(Bees “waggle” down the centre in this dance to communicate about the food source. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waggle_dance#/media/File:Bee_dance.svg )

Bees are also very important for our environment; in fact they are one of our best pollinators. Most species of plants require insect pollination. Bees are able to pollinate so well because they only pollinate one species of flower at a time. They are automatically carrying the right pollen from flower to flower! Get this…1/3 of our diet relies on insect pollination and 80% of this is done by honey bees! Un-bee-lievable! Fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, even CHOCOLATE is pollinated by bees. Unfortunately, their numbers continue to drop and truth “bee” told, without them we will not have a lot of essential items in our daily diet.

It’s important that we help save the bees and other pollinators. I strongly advise you to start planting native plants in your gardens to attract bees. This doesn’t seem like a lot, but if lots of people do it, it will have a huge impact!

(”Bee Bomb” an example of a native plant. http://fieldnotescumberland.blogspot.com/2014/08/bee-bomb.html)

I wrote my own program this summer on honey bees and I realized how much this relies on the “gift of relationship.” The best way to pass on the buzz about bees is to attract support for programs to let them flourish. If we had more educational programs on bees and pollinators, I am sure this would improve knowledge and support in our communities on this subject.

A few quick facts before you fly away:

1) Honey bees fly at about 25 km/h and beat their wings at about 200 times per second

2) Honey bees have about 170 odourant receptors, quite the sense of smell!

3) Queen bees can lay up to 2, 500 eggs a day!

These are just some of my favourite bee facts and there are plenty more! If you want a break from studying, I also suggest checking out the Honey Bee Research Centre or even just their website. They have lots of facts on bees! Well…I gotta buzz, but thanks for hiving a listen to my buzz about bees…pass it on!

Answer: c)

Question: What’s your favourite insect? And what’s an interesting fact about them?

References:

https://www.natgeokids.com/za/discover/animals/insects/honey-bees/

ENVS 2210 Notes-University of Guelph

Beck, L., & Cable, T. T. (2011). The gifts of interpretation: fifteen guiding principles for interpreting nature and culture. Urbana: Sagamore Publishing.

km-envs3000-19

Hi!

This was a sweet post! I can clearly tell you are so passionate about the bees and want to save them! I wrote a paper about the waggle dance for my ZOO*3600 course and I found it so incredible that bees can dance to communicate! They even have long-term and short-term memories so they can go back to previous waggle dances if their food source changes! Incredible how such tiny creatures have such complex systems and ways to communicate. They don’t even have bones! Amazing! Something interesting about bees is the muscles contributing to their rapid wing movement. Instead of having 2 separate vertical muscles, bees have muscles running vertical and horizontal so that they require minimal energy to flap their wings. The contraction of the vertical results in the contraction of the horizontal and so on and so forth. Super interesting!

Image 1: A diagram showing the differences in muscle physiology between a dragonfly and bee. From ZOO*3600 textbook “Animal Physiology” by Hill.

The honeybee research center that the University is proposing we build is a great idea, because we need to invest resources into protecting this amazing species. But I don’t think it’s a good idea to build it over the organic farm because it is a major site of pollination for the bees, so it seems a little counter productive. There is definitely a better place for the research center, we’ve just got to find it!

To answer your question, I don’t think I have a favourite insect! I’m more of a mammal kind of person honestly! But there is something to be said about the wonder of the insect world!

Great post!

P.S. I love your photo of the bee and the purple cone flowers! Such a good shot!

cjwenvs3000-19-deactivated20200

Hi – great post! I love the fact that you made a blog post about bees. I’m taking a course about pollinators next semester so this is a great way to start thinking about that. I find it so neat how bees dance to communicate. I think it’s unfortunate that pollinator numbers are declining. I do see quite a few people in Guelph let wildflowers grow in their front lawns, which I quite like seeing and greatly appreciate, for the purpose of pollinators. I’ve learnt that it’s important to have flowers that grow during the different seasons – spring, summer, and early fall – for continual support of pollinators. You make a good point that there aren’t many educational programs about bees and pollinators, I’ve only heard an in-depth talk maybe once in my university degree, and not much before that.

Throughout the summer I worked with young kids and it was important to teach them that bees won’t hurt you unless you cause harm to them (and that wasps are what will sting you more frequently, I find!). There was one day where this one 4 year-old was extremely frightened by a bee, and on the verge of crying, but once we explained to her that the bee was important in helping plants grow, and that it wouldn’t hurt her if she stayed still, she was laughing! It was a great moment.

I must add that I agree with the person who commented before, that although the Honey Bee Research Centre may be important, the organic farm is just as important! If the HBRC was built over it, it would remove so many flowers and produce that needs pollination, and that helps the pollinator community!

- CJ

hayleypreeceandtheenvironment

Response #7:

Hi!

I am taking Honey Bee Biology this semester and really enjoyed your post! I loved how you started with a question to engage readers. Whether you have taken a course on bees or know nothing about them it really hooks you and gets you wanting to know more. Additionally, I thought your been puns added for a fun reading and helped entice your audience throughout.

I completely agree that we need more support programs for bees. One that I came across a few years ago that I thought was neat was the “Cheerio’s Bring Back The Bees” mission. I saw the advertisement on the back of their cereal box and checked out the site printed on it and they sent me seeds to plant for free and instruction on where/how to plant them. This was a really cool thing of them to do and I think it can be small initiatives from us as well as companies that can make a big difference! I’ll insert the link for the program at the bottom. However, we need to keep in mind that its not only the lack of flowers from monoculture and flowerless landscapes, but also pesticides, such as Neonicotinoids, and diseases and parasites that are causing a decline in bee populations. There’s a great ted talk that explains why exactly bees are disappearing which I’ll also insert below.

From what I have learned in the course so far, it’s really interesting to me how queen bees are responsible for their whole colony and without them the colony would collapse. As you have probably learned, the queen emits pheromones known as her “queen scent” so that her worker bees cannot lay eggs. She is also the only one able to fertilize eggs. An unfertilized egg results in a haploid male bee (also known as a drone) whereas a fertilized egg results in a diploid female bee (also known as a worker bee). If the queen dies, the worker bees are able to lay eggs, however, they cannot fertilize their eggs and as a result only unfertilized drones would be born and the population would eventually die off.

I really liked your picture and wanted to share my own.

Here’s a picture my roommate took while on a walk in September!

Cheerio’s Bring Back The Bees initiative: https://www.cheerios.ca/bringbackthebees/

Marla Spivak: Why bees are disappearing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=5&v=dY7iATJVCso

Post #7: Fungi and Fun Times

Think back to when you last felt like a child. Could it be encapsulated by a feeling of curiosity and exploring? Or a feeling of freedom mixed with a rush of adrenaline? For me, its a combination of the two. I didn’t know where to begin with this blog post, but yesterday I went on a spontaneous nature walk and found myself lost in a forest and thought it would be a good place to start. There isn’t anything in specific I feel that is the most amazing thing I know about nature so i thought I would share some little things that amaze me.

This semester I am taking a plant pathology course and we have to collect a total of fifteen diseased plant samples for our final project. As a result, I am forced to constantly inspect plants and probably end up looking like a crazy plant lady in hopes that what I randomly picked up is a diseased plant. However, doing so has allowed me to notice things I usually would not pick up on and has helped me improve my eye for detail. I’ll share some yesterday with you guys too. They were all mushrooms, which as you all probably know are under the Fungi Kingdom. Other forms of fungi are moulds and yeasts. Fungi were long thought to be considered plants, but their cell walls contain chitin which differs from plant cell walls containing cellulose. Late October to early November is a popular time for mushrooms to grow in Ontario because cool weather combined with rainfall allows underground fungal mycelia to spurt fruiting bodies. These fruiting bodies are the mushrooms themselves and indicate good soil health. There are two in particular that I found which I was somewhat able to identify.

The first ones I came across were growing out of decaying log on the side of the trail and are known as Turkey Tail. Since they were growing on the dead log they are most likely saprophytic, meaning they require dead or decaying organisms to get their nutrients. They also help break down these organic materials for other organisms to take up.

Photo of Turkey Tail taken by me (Saturday, November 2, 2019)

Photo of Turkey Tail taken from https://www.flickr.com/photos/bluemarla/261153536/in/photostream/

The second mushrooms I saw were also probably Saprophytic but were growing on decaying bark that was more decomposed as it was mixed in with the soil. After some narrowing down, I am fairly sure it’s under the genus Psilocybe and might be Psiclocybe azurescens, but there’s still some uncertainty. If they are part of the genus Psilocybe they would be considered psychoactive mushrooms, also known as magic mushrooms.”

Photo taken by me (Saturday, November 2, 2019)

Photo of Psilocybe azurescens taken from https://entheonation.com/blog/psilocybin-mushrooms-identification/

The next part of my walk is to do with the feeling of freedom and adrenaline. During my walks i always end up back at this rope swing that my roommates and I found a few weeks ago. Its right by our house which makes it very tempting every walk home from the bus stop. Its exactly as it sounds, it;s a long rope attached to a tree, but its on a hill making it a little more thrilling than your average swing. When I first pushed of there’s not much else that can top the feeling I get. It’s like if a roller coaster were slowed down but still gave you the same feeling in your stomach. It reminds me of the scene in “Bridge to Terabithia:” when they find a rope swing. The way they portray them swinging is exactly what it feels like.

References:

ENVS 3210 Plant Pathology notes - University of Guelph

Rope swing scene from Bridge to Terabithia:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8jE9NJvqAg

km-envs3000-19

the hills are alive with the sound of music

My heart wants to beat like the wings of the birds

That rise from the lake to the trees

My heart wants to sigh like a chime that flies

From a church on a breeze

To laugh like a brook when it trips and falls over

Stones on its way

To sing through the night like a lark who is learning to pray

-From “The Hills are Alive” from the musical “The Sound of Music” (1965)

The song goes: “the hills are alive with the sound of music” and that most certainly rings true. Life all around us is singing, and it’s up to us to decide whether we hear it or not. The sound of rain on a canopy of trees, crickets chirping late at night, the buzz of a bee whizzing by my ear, frogs and toads croaking, baby birds learning their songs, it’s hard not to find music in nature.

I’m not very musically inclined, I did piano lessons growing up but quit because I hated practicing (and my parents weren’t big on making me practice!). This summer however, I bought a ukulele at a small music store in the French city where I was living. I’ve tried to be consistent in practicing, but life always gets in the way. I only know 3 or 4 chords, but I can do a couple basic songs thanks to YouTube tutorials.

The best musicians are consistent in their practice, rehearsing until they get it just right. Nature is the most consistent musician in my opinion. Barring any irregularities (mutations, etc.), nature consistently exhibits the same patterns, like a composer repeating the same bars of a song hundreds of times before they get it just right. We could even stretch this analogy and say that when nature suddenly changes, it’s the composer rewriting that bit of the song, so it flows better. For example, take evolution and adaptation. Plants and animals gradually change over generations, as nature perfects each process and each aspect of their genotype and phenotype. The composer is changing a note here and there to create something that sounds different but ultimately works better in the song.

Nature is infused in our art and language. For example, the use of onomatopoeia in literature. For those of us who haven’t touched literary devices since grade 12, onomatopoeia is the formation of a word, as cuckoo, meow, honk, or boom, by imitation of a sound made by or associated with its referent (Dictionary.com), like a babbling brook. Nature has so much pull in our language, it only makes sense that it influences our music as well. Take Beethoven’s Symphony number 6 for example. He wanted to portray a mid-summer’s day from start to finish, and he did it without any lyrics! Moving forward into the 1970s, artists like Joni Mitchell penned songs about climate change and urbanization. Even in the present, we hear songs about nature coming from artists such as Kacey Musgraves (Oh, What a World). The rhythms of nature are surrounding us, and it up to us to make those songs known.

Image 1: A waterfall in a forest, retrieved from Colorbox. I can almost hear this photo!

My question to you is what is your favourite sound in nature?

hayleypreeceandtheenvironment

Response #6:

Hi!

I really enjoyed your post this week and how you started off with “ The Hills are Alive” from “The Sound of Music.” It made the post very captivating from the very start and drew my attention because it was something I could resonate with. It was also very well linked to what you had to say about animal calls in the next few paragraphs.

Your post was similar to mine in the sense that we both really enjoy music but were not very musically inclined in our childhoods.

When you talked about Beethoven’s music I wouldn’t have really related or fully understood what you were saying because I’m not very familiar with his work, but when you connected it to nature I could. I also liked how you talked about artists that incorporate nature into their music, but especially how they were from different times. This allows your post to appeal to all types of audiences. For instance, I was able to understand your reference to Joni Mitchell and Kacey Musgraves, but someone older or younger than me might only be familiar with one of the two. Similar to how I couldn’t relate well to Beethoven’s work.

To answer your question, my favourite sound in nature is probably a loon’s call. It’s a very nostalgic sound to me, as I remember always hearing loons call out while trying to fall asleep at the cottage in the summer. It’s also kind of a sad noise since they usually call when they’re trying to find their family and gather together to defend an area of water from other loons since they’re territorial birds.

Post #6: Music is all around us if we listen

Music can move us and help us feel a huge array of emotions. Personally, if I feel down or in a slump I like to put on pump up music or happy music like Abba to help me brighten up. At the same time, if I hear a sad song I can go from being in a great mood to instead feeling nostalgic or sad. I often forget how much music can move us. I have never been very musical but my Grandpa was a great pianist and I really enjoyed it when he would play. He loved to play, but he loved to play for others even more.

Photo taken by my mum of me and my grandpa (summer of 1999)

Music is everywhere in nature, in the songs bird sing to the rush of water in a river. One of my favourite movies as a kid that reminds me of my childhood is August Rush. The movie is about a boy who is an orphan and it follows him on his journey to find his parents and how music helps him along the way. HIs parents are also both musicians and its very much based around music in nature. There are various points in the movie where they use different parts of nature in their music. The opening scene is my favourite, it shows the main character in a field and all the different sounds of wind and birds chirping. A great quote that depicts this from the movie is “the music is all around us, all you have to do is listen.” In my opinion, the movie also portrays how a lot of people are too busy in their own lives to look around and see how amazing music is and how it’s always around us. This is very relatable to how people pass through life and sometimes forget or take for granted how fortunate we are to have such strong ecosystems and environments.

A picture from my favourite scene in August Rush with my favourite quote from it. Taken from https://twitter.com/movies_quot/status/581527180078907393

As for nature in music, it is only recently that I feel like more and more forms of expression have been accepted and encouraged. I found a quote in The Gifts of Interpretation to be quite meaningful and moving. “In the past three decades, the field of interpretation has witnessed an elaborate expression of story through poetry, dramatic performance, storytelling, puppetry, music, dance and visual art. This mode of interpretive programming has been tremendously effective in its power to attract and move people.” Additionally, the quote “Tilden would likely be surprised to see the information of many of these techniques into effective interpretation today. It offers broad appeal to visitors who might otherwise forego more traditional interpretive opportunities” helped me remember music’s role in nature interpretation. If we can connect the two, nature and music, we can inspire a broader audience and hopefully appeal to a wider audience who might not have been interested in nature interpretation or nature before.

My question to you guys is do you have a musical role model or if you had to pick one who would it be?

References:

My favourite scene from August Rush: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZwuBuTBFYQ

kvenvs3000-19

B-E-A-utiful

A photo taken by my mom this weekend at the cottage. (I asked her to send me a photo of a flower because she loves taking photos of flowers, and she sent me 63 photos)

I believe that everyone is qualified to interpret nature through art. Although some people may interpret things in different ways, everyone has that one thing in nature that they love. Whether it be close-up photos of flowers (that’s what my mom stops for) or animals in the wild (what I stop for), everyone has something that peaks their interest. Even if you have no experience and no knowledge about interpretation, you can still be an engaging interpreter if you can personally connect with something around you.

I think for me, photography is one of the best ways to capture the beauty of nature. Since photography is both easy to do and yields rewarding results, I believe that photography can help to spark interest in nature. In my personal experience, giving a child a camera automatically sets a little light off in their heads where they think it’s a competition to get the best photo or the perfect flower for the photo and I think that this is a great way to get kids interested in nature. We discussed in class that one of the nature parks in Niagara Falls awards points to kids with photos of certain things. I think that photography is a way to put yourself in nature and since you end up with beautiful pictures, it is really rewarding.

I think one of the things that stuck with me the most on our lab this week was when Chris talked about how to engage an audience when you don’t have any knowledge on the subject. Chris mentioned that even if you have no knowledge on the subject, if you show interest and share your interest with others, you can engage people. I can personally relate to this strongly and I completely agree. As someone who has never worked as an interpreter, I find this world completely out of my comfort zone. Seeing so many of my classmates thrive in this environment is incredible because all of them seem so confident and are so knowledgeable and when you are surrounded by such incredible people, it’s a bit intimidating. I think that one common ground all of us share is the interest we have in nature. I think that Chris’s comment about sharing your interest really put this course into a different light for me. Since I don’t have experience to contribute to interpretation, I know I can contribute my interest.

Another photo taken by my mom at the cottage this weekend.

I think the “Gift of Beauty” as described by Beck and Cable related to me on more of a personal level than I thought it would. They discussed how being an interpreter is about “helping people see beauty beyond the ordinary” and that it “convinces people to become as passionate about your cause as you are” (Beck and Cable 2011). I think both of these quotes represent a different way of looking at nature. To me, these quotes mean that as long as you have an interest in nature and you appreciate nature for what it is, I believe you van be a great interpreter. I believe the first step is being really interested and committed to sharing your interest with others. Everything else, every other skill, will come as time passes.

My question for you:

“Do you think that a nature walk led by someone with little to no knowledge of the area can be as rewarding as an experienced interpreter if they have enough passion and interest in nature?

References

Beck, L., & Cable, T. T. (2011). The Gifts of Interpretation: Fifteen Guiding Principles for Interpreting Nature and Culture. Urbana, IL: Sagamore Publishing.

hayleypreeceandtheenvironment

Hi Katie,

I really liked reading your post this week and could relate with it a lot. I totally agree that we all have one thing in nature that we love and sometimes we may not even realize it. Personally, I find that I enjoy various aspects of nature, whether it be blossoming flowers in the spring or baby toads in the summer. However, time and again without even knowing my own motive behind it, I find myself always trying to get the perfect picture of a sunset. I love the way it slowly fades without us really realizing and how the colours change throughout. You also mentioned that photography is one of the best ways to capture the beauty of nature and I completely agree and to add to this, I think drawing and writing are also great ways to capture nature’s beauty. This week’s reading mentioned that both drawing and writing force us to slow down and notice the small details no matter what the level of drawing or writing we are at. This then allows us to notice the meaning and significance behind the beauty of nature.

Secondly, I enjoyed how you said that even though you may not always have experience or knowledge to contribute to interpretation that you could still contribute you interest. I thought this was a really nice way to put it. If everyone is supportive then its more reassuring and we are all able to put ourselves out there even if we may not be sure if our contributions are as great as our classmates’.

Finally, to answer your question, I do think a nature walk led by someone with little to no knowledge of the area can be as rewarding as an experienced interpreter if they have enough passion and interest in nature. As we talked about it’s mostly helping others see the beauty in nature themselves, so I definitely think someone that is less knowledgeable can make just as big of an impact.

References:

Post #5: The Gift of Shared Beauty

The beginning of this week’s reading really caught my attention right off the bat. The first paragraph read that “beauty is too personal, and therefore too subjective to lend itself to a universal definition.” I resonated a lot with this because it reminded me of the saying “beauty is in the beholder” which is one of my favourite sayings that I strongly agree with. However, I had never connected this saying with nature or the environment, so this helped me make the connection early on in the reading. There was a further elaboration on this point with what Freeman TIldman believed which was that “a broad generalization about the beauty of an area contributes to establishing an appropriate mood while leaving individuals free to make their own judgments.” The last paragraph even added this same saying, but it was expressed that it should be beauty is in the heart of the beholder not the eye because the appreciation of beauty is deeply personal which I thought was really cute.

Nature’s beauty makes us feel all sorts of emotions and can even be overwhelming. “I never watch a sunset without feeling the scene before me is more beautiful than any painting could possibly be, for it has the additional advantage of constant change, is never the same from one instant to the next” -Sigurd Olson. Here are two pictures of sunsets that are very different, but beautiful in their own ways.

Photo taken by me ~2013

Photo taken by me ~2015

Another part of the reading I thought was interesting was “interpreters help people understand that beauty is not merely a matter of size and ruggedness and help them see beauty in the ordinary, miracles in the mundane.” I thought this quote related to our outdoor seminar in the arboretum this week when we all had to go out and chose something to talk about. At first it was really hard because I had nothing in the back of my head or anything prepared, but at the end of it I realized it’s really just what’s surrounding us. We can all agree that everything in nature is beautiful or at least try to see it from someones else’s perspective. Furthermore, there was a part where the reading talked about “creating a sympathetic atmosphere” in order to be accepting of all aspects of nature. This made me think back to when the professor showed us the centipede and earwig he had gotten. Most of us were a little disgusted at first, including myself, but I was able to kind of put it past me and remember that all aspects of nature are important and play a role in our ecosystems. I also liked how the reading elaborated on this point by explaining that we cannot force this on others, we can only assist them. “Instead of looking upon people with reproach, our role is to assist them, to guide them without condescension, to point beyond finding beauty only in obvious grandeur.”

It also reminded me about how when I was younger I was very curious about bugs and I would be able to pick up potato bugs or worms and hold them in my hand or collect caterpillars at recess, but then at some point I found it really gross and was even scared of holding them. I know this is the case for a lot people too and it made me realize that it is such a social aspect. It’s not really our own opinions all the time, but how other people react and their opinions which impact our own. Not to make it all about bugs but also just in general, it’s definitely the people around us and society that have a subconscious impact on our own opinions and thoughts.

brenvs3000-19

Power of Provocative Interpretation

I discovered this video a couple years back and the wildfire issues in the Amazon this past summer reminded me of its importance. It had an immense impact on me the first time I saw it. I have always been very passionate about habitat destruction and the ripple effect it has on not only biodiversity but also humans. After all, people rely on the natural environment for survival too. Insects pollinate the crops we rely on for food, forests and wetlands purify the water we drink, and natural resources provide the basic materials to every synthetic product we buy. I feel as if we seem to forget that even when we are not surrounded by the natural environment, it is what provided all the necessities that we need to survive. Cellphones and buildings didn’t appear out of thin air….they were all built from resources extracted from our earth, often without regard for the overall health of the ecosystem. A trend in current society seems to be a disconnect from nature.

Rachel Carson once said, “But man is part of nature, and his war against nature is inevitably a war against himself.” Human disregard for nature in the great race for progress has had disastrous results, and it doesn’t seem to be improving much. Discussions are silenced and we’re so busy in our own lives we forget about what is happening on a global scale. How do we wake everyone up before it’s too late?

That’s where provocative interpretation comes in. Beck and Cable (2001) assert that “interpretation can add an intellectual spice to a basic emotion and motivate further experiences, knowledge, and action.” Provocative pieces can inspire certain emotions and “by disturbing and unsettling an audience, we can wake them from complacency to responsibility and to action” (Beck and Cable 2011). Change starts from discussion and this video inspires just that.

Another factor that I think makes this video so compelling is it’s ability to connect with both visual and verbal learners. As discussed in class, visual learners attain more when presented with pictures and diagrams, whereas verbal learners rely more on the words and spoken explanations. What really stood out to me was its ability to blend these two styles to appeal to the greater population of viewers. The graphics and unique combination of slam poetry and song create an experience rather than just a simple lecture. The creativity in the presentation really appealed to me, and this form of interpretation of the need for action on deforestation was an eye-opener. As Beck and Cable say, “interpretation has become a key tool in changing behaviors to address management issues and interpreters are becoming important members of the management team.”

Change comes from one. The actions of one can ripple across hundreds of thousands of people, and provocative interpretation is one of many successful ways I think that helps inspire change. Take Greta Thunberg for instance. She inspired a movement. A movement only just beginning to take flight from her powerful (and provocative) speech at the UN Climate Action Summit.

(See her speech here)

A strong message goes a long way when it invokes emotion in its viewers.

A question for thought:

Do you think these forms of interpretation and the media it is available on is geared towards a certain age group?

I encourage you to check out more videos by Prince Ea!

References:

Beck, L., & Cable, T. T. (2011). The Gifts of Interpretation: Fifteen Guiding Principles for Interpreting Nature and Culture. Urbana, IL: Sagamore Publishing.

hayleypreeceandtheenvironment

Response #4:

Hey, I really enjoyed your post this week and the video that you posted with it! I had also watched that video a while ago so it was cool to re-watch it after all these years.

I found that even though our topics for this week’s posts were different, both of our posts went back to the point that we should have made big changes for the environment long ago and now we need to catch up. I really like the quote by Rachel Carson that you added in as I definitely agree that if we lose nature we also lose human kind. A lot of people don’t realize that this whole environmental movement is very self centered towards saving our population. Yes, we need to save our environments and do as much as we can for them, but at the same time we depend on them for our survival.

As you mentioned “A trend in current society seems to be a disconnect from nature” which I do agree with and it was a huge topic for last week’s reading, but is it that majority of the population that is holding us back from making more environmentally driven decisions are the older generations? In our readings it was discussed that its young people who are becoming most disconnected to nature and that older generations grew up exposed to nature. So it’s interesting to me that younger generations are the ones trying to make change possible and older generation cannot be bothered to vote or take action towards improving our environmental situation.

To answer your question, I do think the forms of interpretation, such as YouTube videos, are geared towards a certain age group. I definitely think it’s our generation and younger who make up the majority of YouTube viewers and this for sure has a great impact on the content that is available and how it is presented.

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