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My personal ethics as a nature interpreter

As I've studied more in this program, my personal ethics have also grown as a nature interpreter. I didn't have the same strong ethical beliefs going into this class as I have now. My values and obligations towards nature have been rediscovered as a result of taking this course. I did have personal ethics about nature before taking environmental science classes and learning about nature interpretation, but they are more stronger and more varied now. My environmental ethics were very much what you may have heard before this class; I didn't litter and I was concerned about recycling, but now they go far deeper. Even while I still think those things are significant, my knowledge has grown to include a greater comprehension of how humans affect the environment.

While advancing my nature education, I have grown more conscious of the ethics of accessibility and inclusivity in the environment and in nature education. Many more people will become aware of their effects if environmental education is made more widely available. In communities where there may be a lack of natural knowledge, nature interpretation ought to gain more traction. Everyone should also get the chance to enjoy the outdoors and learn about the natural world.

As a nature interpreter, I also think it's critical to provide accurate, fact-based information. The public is assisted by interpreters in understanding the scientific and financial foundations of resource management (Beck et al., 2018, p.12). As interpreters of nature, it is our duty to stay up to date on scientific and practical issues pertaining to the natural world. As a nature interpreter, my ethics have developed to place a high priority on sharing what I know about the natural world. I had no idea how crucial it is to educate people about nature interpretation and the reasons why protecting it is so vital until I took this class. In my opinion, encouraging conservation and environmentally friendly behaviours is crucial to protecting ecosystems, and biodiversity, and minimizing the effects of human activity on the environment. One of the most exquisite things that nature has to offer is biodiversity.

Additionally, because of the special connections among species, the diversity of plant and animal life would diminish the wonder and allure of the natural world. By protecting them, we can extend the lifespan of the distinct and varied ecosystems. Ecosystems depend on biodiversity in order to function, despite their own diversity. We depend on ecosystems for clean water, air, and pollution control as well as climate regulation. Not only are they necessary for survival, but they are also a crucial first step toward establishing a connection with your surroundings. Human-caused carbon footprints have harmed the ecosystem. Some people may not be aware of their carbon footprint or the influence that humans have on the environment if they had little environmental education or were not raised in an atmosphere that emphasized preservation and conservation. That's why educating others about nature and how to perceive it is one of my personal ethics.

It is our responsibility as nature interpreters to encourage the moral preservation of the natural world while also encouraging people to have a personal connection with it. This is a crucial duty because nature interpreters should promote respect for the natural world in order to motivate conservation efforts and moral behaviour in relation to the environment. If someone is motivated to take the time to enjoy the outdoors, they could come to respect sustainability and conservation as well. As interpreters of nature, it is also our duty to adjust to changing requirements and learning methods. We need to be adaptable and change with research and education. Our knowledge and methods may need to change when new insights into sustainability and nature are discovered.

There are many useful methods for interpreting nature that might be used to encourage people in the future to cherish nature. Children love to utilize their imaginations and are frequently entertained by stories; they also enjoy believing that a forest is magical. Anybody, but especially kids, can be inspired to be creative when they hear stories told aloud in the outdoors. Engaging in hands-on activities is another captivating approach to encourage someone to get inspired and involved with nature. Approaching nature interpretation as a return to childhood is another way you can inspire children to become involved with nature. Whether you take a child on an adventure with friends and show them the pileated woodpecker, or you give them the tools they need to make healthy decisions, when on a hike with friends. Or something else, you are offering a spark to be fanned and developed (Hookyas, 2023). My parents encouraged me to explore with nature and utilize my imagination when I was little. Playing in the mud, the trees, or the creek was one of my favourite ways to pass the time when I was a child growing up in a house surrounded by forests. There were so many levels to the forest to discover, and I frequently figured out a method to mark my favourite locations with groups of sticks and pebbles so I could find them again. This did, in fact, ignite a spark in me that motivated me to mature and pursue my education in nature. This is why I relate to the perception of nature as a return to childhood.

I still cherish my ethics and views of how to perceive nature while I pursue my studies. As I go through life, I want to keep learning and encouraging others to get outside and discover why so many people work to preserve the environment. We are really fortunate to live in Canada, where there is an abundance of wildlife. We are fortunate to have a wide range of natural characteristics, including different kinds of fauna and the northern lights. Along with this obligation is the maintenance and protection of our ecosystems. I am passionate about ensuring that nature is recognized and conserved because I have this luxury. The interpretation of nature is a field that benefits from a diversity of viewpoints and methods. This means that everyone may find inspiration in their own unique facet of nature, and that there is no right or wrong way to spend time in nature. By selecting approaches that are in line with variety, interpreters help to create more harmonious and long-lasting connections between humans and the environment.

rgenvs3000f23

Hey!

I had a similar experience in this class with really getting in touch with my personal ethics surrounding nature. You brought up a really good point about regarding the obligations of nature interpreters. I agree that there’s a responsibility for anyone who interprets nature and the environment to be well-informed on natural/scientific/biological processes, as well as keeping up with our understanding of nature. It can be easy to rely on being sensational or exaggerating to try and keep people’s attention, but really the natural world is already fascinating enough if people who want to be nature interpreters are willing to take the time to learn about it.

I also really liked your story about being inspired by nature as a little kid, and how places like forests can be so inspirational to the imagination of children. Honestly, I don’t think that sort of feeling, being excited and inspired by natural places, should be limited to kids. One of my favourite parts of re-discovering nature as an adult was realizing that the sort of “magic” it seemed that forests held as a kid was not only still there, but often more fun to experience as an adult.

Thank you for sharing, and I hope the rest of your semester goes well!

mfenvs3000f23

Small actions, big outcomes! Environment as a frequent classroom topic!

Describe your personal ethic as you develop as a nature interpreter. What beliefs do you bring? What responsibilities do you have? What approaches are most suitable for you as an individual?

This is my final blog post and you likely do not know who I am, but if you are interested, I invite you to delve into Madeline Fantin’s interpretive ethics, values, and ideas for the future.

To start, what beliefs do I bring? I am a wildlife biology and conservation student; therefore, the vast majority of my courses have looked through a scientific lens (western science that is). Perhaps the reason I chose my program is due to possibly my most core belief, that individuals have the power and influence necessary to make a real difference. This is why I became a vegetarian even though my entirely Italian family thinks I’m bonkers, I think one person cutting their carbon emissions is a worthwhile effort. Are billionaires flying their private jets around for unsatisfactory reasons and investing in all kinds of large corporations who dump pollution directly into our environment? Yes of course, and don’t get me wrong, I think part of the fight towards a healthy planet is holding the extremely wealthy accountable. Perhaps they are hoping we will put all the blame on ourselves so that we ignore their insurmountable consumption. However, we are consumers too and where possible, we can choose where to put our money and how to live our lives to a certain extent. I believe that however small, the average citizen’s fight against climate change is valuable and necessary. In conversations I have had with the people in my life, I have learned that many people become unmotivated by the “all or nothing” mindset. For example, I frequently hear people say that they “could never go without meat all the time.” So don’t! Have meatless Mondays! Have meatless weekends! Go pescatarian! Go meatless biweekly! There are unlimited combinations of schedules that could provide a more reasonable expectation. The effort doesn’t need to be “perfect” to be worth something. This can be applied to many environmental actions. In most places in Ontario, it wouldn’t be reasonable to ask people to use public transport or bike as a main form of transportation. Most cities don’t have great public transport, and most people live a long, long bike ride away from their place of work. However just because you cannot bike to work doesn’t mean you can’t ever trade the car for your bike. Maybe there’s a friend you often visit just on the other side of the neighborhood, and maybe you usually drive to them, but when the weather is ideal and if you are able, the bike could work! Many “imperfect” actions are better than no action at all I promise!!!! There is no shame in not being the perfect environmentalist all the time, it is near impossible in the society we have created.

I also believe that there is something to be gained from spending time in nature, for anyone. Whether that is a chance to gather thoughts, get some exercise, some vitamin D, you name it. I don’t think it needs to be picturesque either. Sometimes connecting with nature looks like sitting on the curb outside your east campus townhouse because the sun has reappeared after some days of gloom. Sometimes you will have the energy to head to the arboretum, but when you don’t, taking a sunny break on the curb is better than skipping the outdoors all together. Again, it doesn’t have to be all or nothing.

I believe it is never too late to get started! Everyone, no matter the age or circumstance, should feel like they have a place in the world of nature interpretation and the outdoors. Having not grown up in an outdoor adventure family doesn’t mean you can’t have any outdoor adventures! On that point, outdoor adventures are whatever you make them. They need not be a costly trip to the other side of the continent. Someone with the right mindset could gain more from an hour by the local creek, than someone with the wrong mindset on their trip to Mount Kilimanjaro.

What responsibilities do I have? Well, there are the obvious ones such as to deliver the program I have advertised, inform guests about risk, manage and prevent dangers, present accurate information, check my bias and privilege, to be fun and engaging, and for guests to leave feeling like they have benefitted in some way. Other more specific responsibilities I believe depend on the approach…

So what approaches are the most suitable for me? Well, it is my goal to get into teaching in high school classrooms. This is not the type of environment we have spent the last few months discussing, but nonetheless I think there is a ton of relevant overlap. Nature interpretation could take place in the classroom, or the school yard. There may also be opportunity for class trips where students could be exposed to new ways of learning or new environments.

When relevant to the content, I would aim to stimulate interest and conversation about the environment and environmental issues happening around the world, as they relate to us in Canada and otherwise. I probably plan on living in Canada, and therefore will need to create programs suitable for all 4 seasons. This could mean the same topic modified with each passing season, different topics in each season, or a combination. I am excited to take advantage of the variance each season brings. I think many topics in the high school curriculum could benefit from an environmental lense, and I would look to make connections throughout where possible.

I would look to encourage active learning and participation through mediums the students may be interested in, just like we talked about all the different mediums of nature interpretation. If I’m teaching grade 9 or 10 science, then this class is still required of them, and many may only be there by necessity. They might not want to be there or have particular interest in the content, which is ok, and I would need to navigate how to still make sure they get what they are meant to, even if they never develop excitement about it.

To revisit responsibilities, as a teacher I must provide a classroom environment conducive to learning, where everyone feels comfortable, valued, and that students look forward to attending each day.

For my final blog post outro (☹), I will say that climate doomism is very contagious and easy to get wrapped up in. I think one of the most important things we can do as nature interpreters is spark hope for change. You never know who is looking to you when they are feeling discouraged about the state of the world, and how you can provide them motivation to keep fighting the good fight!

rgenvs3000f23

Hey!

As a biology major, I appreciated that you brought up that our degrees are western science. That’s something that’s been on my mind a bit recently. It seems there’s so often a tendency to act to like western science is the only valid form of knowledge, and to disregard or put down other knowledge systems. Even though really being able to bring in knowledge from a variety of places and perspectives is almost always helpful when it comes to understanding our world and being connected to it. I also agree that caring about the environment is never all or nothing. There’s always so much pressure to do everything perfectly, sometimes it can feel discouraging and like it’s not worth doing anything at all. And often being eco-friendly is used as a marketing term, utilizing people’s guilt to make them feel like they can/need to buy themselves into helping the environment. But like you mentioned, every action can make a difference. I personally believe that a few people making a habit of small positive changes is more important than the flashiest celebrity climate change money donation. I really liked your final point that succumbing to hopelessness about the environment is both easy to do and important to avoid. Nature is….just really cool, and it’s important to remember why we care so much about it and what it means to all of us personally.

Hope the rest of your semester goes well!

Blog 10

Describe your personal ethic as you develop as a nature interpreter. What beliefs do you bring? What responsibilities do you have? What approaches are most suitable for you as an individual?

Hey! For our final blog post, we were asked to write about our personal ethic as we develop as nature interpreters.

I’m currently in my final year of university, and I’m beginning to look for jobs. And for the first time in my life, I’m looking for career jobs, instead of part-time of summer positions. So needless to say I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about what jobs I ideally want, what jobs I’m willing to do, and what jobs I’m not willing to do. Our course readings for this week mentioned a fear of a desk job being a potential motivating factor for pursuing a career related to environmental interpretation. That one did admittedly resonate with me a bit. My last job was more or less of a desk job, where I worked as a research assistant in a lab. And even though, on paper, it was closer to what I want to do as a career, I didn’t enjoy it very much. I missed working in the service industry, I missed the high-energy, social atmosphere, I missed getting to work with my hands and see the results right in front of me. Spending most of my working hours not only indoors, but in a dim lab staring at a laptop just made me irritable. So I’d love to find a job in the sciences that’s more hands-on and active, but I’ve realized I’d happily move away from research if I can’t find a job in that field that lets me move around.

Every week or so I get an email from the university describing job opportunities. It hasn’t been very useful in finding jobs, but it sure has been useful in helping me figure out exactly what place/companies/fields I am not willing to work for. There’s always plenty of decently paying opportunities working for mega-corporations like PepsiCo, and the like, as well as their countless subsidiaries. I know now that I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I worked for a place like that. I would much rather go just about anywhere else, including back to the service industry. I might have a less prestigious career, but I care about having a job that I enjoy doing and that I see as important. During my last job, it was difficult to get up and go to the lab in the morning when I couldn’t really see the effects and importance of the research that was being done. I know that whatever I end up doing, it needs to be relatively active, and even better if I get to spend time outdoors as part of it. As long as I’m still able to spend my free time outside, that much is negotiable.

I wanted to go into more details about my beliefs/motivations/self-assigned responsibilities. First, the rather apparent role of nature in mental health and our current culture around it. Not that I have enough space to go into all of my thoughts on that, but I’d like to include a few of them here. One, on mental health being treated like an individual problem, when it really should be recognized as a systemic one. Even if people admit that it’s systemic, the “solutions” and treatments that are currently popular tend to be highly individual. Take mood-regulating medication, go to eternal therapy, isolate yourself from others in the name of self-improvement. In general, mental health has been both commercialized and capitalized upon. Like I mentioned, I don’t have the adequate space to go through my thoughts on the systemic causes of mental lack-of-wellness. But as I’m sure many of us are aware, spending time outside and spending time with other people (or even both at the same time!) have been shown time and time again to be beneficial to human well-being. Honestly, I don’t think we need more research in that area. We already know, and as much as I like numbers, more statistics aren’t going to save us.

So for me personally, all that means that I don’t want to have a job that drags down the health of other people, or my own. I would love to have a job that helps remove some of the barriers that have been put up between nature and people, which I don’t think should belong in different categories in the first place. But an important caveat for me is that I don’t want my career to be a constant fight. I’m quite tired of war analogies. There’s less of a point in destroying something if there’s nothing better to work towards. I don’t want to dedicate my life to fighting climate change, because I’ll make myself miserable and make everyone around me a little less happy. That’s not to say I don’t care, but I do think that a bunch of sad and lonely people aren’t going to bring about much positive change. Like the video with David Suzuki and Richard Louv mentioned (I think it was Richard Louv who mentioned it), it’s hard to make change if people don’t have any sort of positive idea of a future to look forwards to.

So to summarize as neatly as I can: If I end up doing something related to nature interpretation, I want it to get people excited and help people feel more connected to the world around them.

Picture: One of the Arboretum gardens after a snowstorm

On the same note as working towards something rather than solely working against, I have a book recommendation for anyone looking for a sci-fi story with a positive outlook: Monk and Robot by Becky Chambers (and its sequel)

Thanks for reading!

Blog 9

Hey! This week we were asked to write about something we think is amazing about nature. Since I’m a big fan of anything fossilized, I wanted to write about a favourite topic of mine: fossil forests! (And the evolutions of land plants and forests in general.)

Fossil forests are really just what they sound like: fossilized or otherwise preserved stands of ancient trees. However, like a lot of ancient things, there’s a ton we still don’t know about them. Ancient forests are often poorly preserved, if they were preserved at all (Berry, 2019). Since fossils are best preserved in areas that were muddy, with fine sediment and low oxygen, often just fossilized roots and stumps are left behind (Berry, 2019). However, there are some fossil forests where whole ancient trees have been preserved, which has let us learn about what the earliest forest were like. The world’s first forests evolved around 400 million years ago, during the Devonian period (Meyer-Berthaud & Decombeix, 2012). This was around 200 million years before flowering plants evolved, and even before dinosaurs (Berry, 2019)!

These early forests were quite different than the ones we have today, but they’re still recognizable as forests. I've included a picture below of an illustration of a fossil forest. The first known tree-like plants are called Cladoxylopsids (Fazan et al. 2020). These plants were tall, up to six metres in height, and had long, unbranched trunks with simple canopies (Meyer-Berthaud & Decombeix, 2012). Although they looked a lot like trees, they’re more closely related to today’s ferns (Meyer-Berthaud & Decombeix, 2012). Additionally, they didn’t have complex roots yet, as land plants had yet to develop them (Berry, 2019). Instead, they had woody rhizomes, root like structures that anchored the plant (Meyer-Berthaud & Decombeix, 2012). Recently, it was discovered that these giant plants likely weren’t even made up of woody tissue, and were more like giant hollow reeds (Stein et al. 2012). This even had implication for our understanding of plant evolution, since up until that study discovery wood was generally thought to have evolved as a support tissue, rather than to assist in water and nutrient transport as part of the plant’s “plumbing” (Fazan et al. 2020).

Fossil forests also help illustrate the issues with studying paleontology. Since, like I mentioned above, most extinct things just weren’t preserved, it can be difficult to get an accurate picture of what ancient life was like. This can often lead to much lower estimates of biodiversity than what was actually there at the time. For example, one of the world’s most well-known fossil forests, the Gilboa Fossil Forest, was recently discovered to have had a third plant present, forming a previously unknown understory (Meyer-Berthaud & Decombeix, 2012).

An illustrated reconstruction of the Gilboa Fossil Forest

Image: https://www.nature.com/nature/volumes/483/issues/7387 Ilustrator: Victor Leshyk

References:

Berry, C. M. (2019). Palaeobotany: The Rise of the Earth’s Early Forests. Current Biology, 29(16), R792–R794. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2019.07.016

Fazan, L., Song, Y., Kozlowski, G. The Woody Planet: From Past Triumph to Manmade Decline. (2020). Plants, 9(11), 1593. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9111593

Meyer-Berthaud, B., & Decombeix, A.-L. (2012). In the shade of the oldest forest. Nature, 483(7387), 41–42. https://doi.org/10.1038/483041a

Stein, W. E., Berry, C. M., Hernick, L. V. A., & Mannolini, F. (2012). Surprisingly complex community discovered in the mid-Devonian fossil forest at Gilboa. Nature, 483(7387), 78–81. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature10819

sgrenvs3000f23

Blog Post 9

Interpret (through this blog) the most amazing thing you know about nature – get us excited. This is your blog – your audience isn’t out in the field with you so bring the field to your armchair reader.

Hello everyone, hope you had a great weekend and that your podcasts went well!

I really enjoy learning about nature, and one fascinating fact I'd like to share in this blog relates to plants! Did you know that scientists estimate there are over 400,000 species of plants on Earth, with at least half of them being edible for humans? It's mind-boggling to think that we potentially have access to around 300,000 plant species that we could consume. However, the reality is quite different. Our food choices are not solely based on taste and nutritional value; in fact, many of our most important crops are shockingly high in pollutants. Because of their hazardous qualities, several of these crops might even be prohibited from being consumed by humans if they were introduced today.

I distinctly remember the shock I felt when I first discovered this information. In a world with such an incredible diversity of plant life, I couldn't even name five plant species that I regularly eat. This revelation prompted me to dive deeper into the topic. What I found was both enlightening and practical: being edible doesn't necessarily mean something is "eatable." Many of these lesser-known edible plants either taste terrible, require specialized skills to prepare, or are so challenging to cultivate that they would cost a fortune to maintain.

I'm genuinely interested in hearing your thoughts on this subject. Have you ever come across this surprising fact before? Feel free to share your opinions and experiences in the comments. If you'd like to read more about this topic, you can check out the article I'm referring to by following this link:

From Roman toilet gods to fat hen, good stories abound in this book about why we eat only particular plants

I also recently learned a fact when it comes to studying the medicinal potential of plants. It's quite surprising that only a tiny fraction of plant species have been looked into for their healing properties. Particularly the rainforest holds a wealth of possible treatments for both modern and historical medical conditions. There's still so much we don't know, and this untapped resource might hold the answers to major medical breakthroughs. I had to work on an assignment about this, and it made me realize that scientists should absolutely keep digging into plant research. Time and time again, they've shown us that these remedies can be incredibly beneficial for our health. So, it's a no-brainer that we should continue exploring the incredible world of plants for our well-being. If you have any home plant remedies that are medicinal, please let me know! Have a great week everyone.

rgenvs3000f23

Hey! I really enjoyed reading your blog this week, you brought up a great topic! I’m a big fan of plants as well, and it always makes me really happy to see other people who care about them, or even just think they’re cool. Like you mentioned, there's so much still to learn. Unfortunately, research into the medicinal plants has been actively repressed for decades in favour of increasing the power of pharmaceutical companies. There’s a great example of this with passionflower, a plant commonly used to treat anxiety. In 1978, it was banned by the FDA due to a “lack of evidence” despite having been a major ingredient in anxiety medication and sleep aids up until then (Rodriguez-Fragoso et al. 2008). The context of the ban shows that it was more likely put in place in order to more effectively market pharmaceutical anti-anxiety drugs to people instead. Numerous studies have shown the efficacy, not to mention general lack of side effects, of passionflower when compared to other anti-anxiety medications (Janda et al. 2020). Not to be dramatic, but I think that people tend to be discouraged from learning about plants for the benefit of corporations. Humans worldwide have used and studied medicinal plants for a least a solid few thousand years (Halberstein, 2005). And there;s also a general issue of Western science excluding/not considering/looking down on other bodies of knowledge. While other cultures worldwide have a much better idea of medicinal plants and their usages, it seems like we’re only just starting to catch up in university-based research and education.

All in all, I think plants are cool and they can do us a lot of good if we let them. Have a great week!

References:

Halberstein, R. A. (2005). Medicinal Plants: Historical and Cross-Cultural Usage Patterns. Annals of Epidemiology, 15(9), 686–699. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annepidem.2005.02.004

Janda, K., Wojtkowska, K., Jakubczyk, K., Antoniewicz, J., Skonieczna-Żydecka, K. (2020). Passiflora incarnata in Neuropsychiatric Disorders-A Systematic Review. Nutrients, 12(12). https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12123894

Rodriguez-Fragoso, L., Reyes-Esparza, J., Burchiel, S., Herrera-Ruiz, D., & Torres, E. (2008). Risks and Benefits of Commonly used Herbal Medicines in México. Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, 227(1), 125–135. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.taap.2007.10.005

hkenvs3000f23

Blog post 7

Where is music in nature? Where is nature in music?

As a follow-up (focus on the above two before you tackle this one), what song takes you immediately back to a natural landscape? What is the context? Share it with us – I would imagine many of these ideas may have similar underpinnings of a campfire, road trip, backpacking journey, etc.!

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- We’ve discussed how nature is interpreted through art a few weeks ago, and I mentioned how the relationship between the two often go hand in hand. For that prompt I mainly looked at the visual arts and photography side of art. However, music is one of the greatest forms of arts, as it has the power to convey emotions and tell stories through sound. As we know, music has a major influence in our world today and has had played a crucial role in shaping cultures throughout history.

So, let’s talk about where music is in nature.

If you look at any of these pictures I took, you can probably just hear/imagine what they sound like.

I think you can find music in all aspects of nature, as nature itself is a symphony of sounds. You can hear music in the sounds of the water flowing, leaves rustling, or through the sounds of the wind. Some more obvious sounds may be from crickets and cicadas or birds chirping. There are so many unique sounds of nature. While these sounds may not seem like ‘music’ separately, it’s when you hear them together, where nature really starts to sound like music. So, if you find yourself putting on headphones when you go on walks, try to take them off and listen to the sounds of nature instead. The music of nature can have a therapeutic effect, so it’s important to get outside and just listen for a minute.

Now as for nature in music.

This may not be as simple to find, but a lot of songs will have nature sounds incorporated into them, even if you don't notice at first. By adding nature elements to songs, artists can enhance the overall atmosphere, or like this week's reading says it can "change the way people see, think, and feel". One of the first examples of this that comes to mind is “Good Days” by SZA. While she makes multiple references to nature in her lyrics and video, what I feel enhanced the ambiance is the sounds of nature, such as the birds chirping and water flowing. The use of nature elements gives a relaxing and therapeutic feeling, which is why this song reminds me of going for road trips or hanging out at a park with friends during summer. Another example of an artist that uses the sounds of nature is Frank Ocean. For example, he uses the sounds of birds chirping and flowing water in both “Seigfried” and “Skyline to”. “Skyline to” exudes a sense of calm, whereas “Seigfried” has more of a dramatic tone. This is interesting since both songs use similar nature elements, however the way they are used conveys distinct emotions/atmospheres. While “Skyline to” makes me think of going on a walk or sitting outside early in the morning, “Siegfried” reminds me of going on a walk late in the evening.

Generally, incorporating sounds of nature into music can allow the artist to invoke certain emotions in the listener and can transport the listener to a specific landscape.

rgenvs3000f23

Hey! Those are great pictures! Even though I don’t get to be near the ocean and lakes all that often, just seeing a picture immediately brings back the memory of the sound of waves. While, like you said, we might first think of things like birds and insects when talking about music in nature, things like the movement of water and wind also have a musical quality to them and when used in music can also convey stories and different feelings. For example, water is often associated with calm, but the sound of a quiet creek conveys a very different feeling than the sound of a stormy ocean.

I also really liked your point about listening to the sounds of nature around, instead of always wearing headphones outside. While listening to music on headphones can be great, I’ve found it can sometimes be distracting rather than helpful, depending on the situation. Just recently I started going for walks without headphones, and I’ve found it to be a lot more relaxing/refreshing than always listening to music. It can be really nice to listen to all the little noises around, everything from squirrels rustling in the fallen leaves to tree branches creaking. Like you said, the music of nature itself is just as therapeutic as music made by people, sometimes even more so.

Blog 7

Hey! This week we were asked to consider our answers to the above two questions, and to share a song that we associate with our personal experience in nature.

Where is music in nature? I think music can be just about anywhere in nature, depending on where and how you want to look for it. Humans are generally great at finding patterns/rhythm in things, and we can find music just about anywhere if we want to hear it. That being said, there are a few specific examples that come to my mind when asked where I see music in nature. First, and probably most clearly, is birdsong (it’s even in the name). Whether it’s the chirping of sparrows in the morning or owls at night, there are tons of little songs being sung all around. I personally love hearing owls, even if they don’t always have the most song-like calls. On summer nights, when I have my window open, I can sometimes hear screech owls in nearby trees. They have a spooky, trilling sort of call, but it’s still musical in a way. There are lots of other places to find music in nature as well, really depending on personal interpretation. You could consider the sound of water in brooks and streams to be musical, or the cheeping of insects and frogs.

Where is nature in music? Everywhere, I guess. Same as with the first question, I think nature can be found all over music, especially since they’re both such broad categories. Nature is a common theme to write lyrics about, whether it’s about nature in general or the lyricist’s relationship to or memory of a certain place. For me personally, one of the first artists that I think when discussing nature in music is Fleet Foxes. I don’t know their music super well, but the songs I do know always make me think of something related to nature, particularly the changing seasons. . As was mentioned in the readings, music doesn’t need to have lyrics to evoke a connection to nature. Additionally, I think a lot of movie soundtracks do a great job at transporting people to a natural setting.

Follow up question One song that always takes me back to a natural landscape is Carl Sagan by Night Moves. A couple of coworkers at a former job would often play it during shifts. I didn’t specifically listen to it outside, but it always reminds me of a time when I was outside a lot. It reminds me of hiking far enough out that I couldn’t hear the sound of cars anymore, and of being able to see the Milky Way at night.

ltenvs3000f23

Unit 6 Blog Post

“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)

Unpack this quote.

Many concepts are being discussed in this quote by Edward Hyams, most notably the ideas of integrity and the importance of history. I believe he is expressing that age alone does not add value to something; however, the integrity surrounding that thing is what contributes to its value. Integrity involves many aspects as well but is mostly centralized around moral and ethical consistency and honesty. It also includes the quality of being whole and undivided, maintaining the essential elements that make up a particular society or other system. Connecting to history, these elements that make up the whole of a system can be spread over time, not just from one era. Lastly, he states that this is also an integral reason why the past is an essential part of sustaining integrity; it shapes who we are today as well as in the future. Throughout our education, there have been many events that we have learned about that have historically had effects that we’ve seen today.

Recently, there was an issue that would have affected us locally if it were pushed through, involving the Greenbelt. The Greenbelt was created in 2005 and provides many important economic and environmental benefits. Some of these include forest protection, protection for species at risk, drinking water quality, and so much more. If you want to learn more about just how important the Greenbelt is for us in Ontario, I recommend you read through their page here (about a 30 second read). Initially, Doug Ford made a promise not to touch the Greenbelt in 2018. However, in November 2022, the Ford government decided to change their mind and remove 7,400 acres from the Greenbelt to use for housing development (Callan and D’Mello, 2023). Taking protected land off of the Greenbelt would have come at the cost of jobs, species, weather management, agriculture, and so on. Lots of controversy was surrounded by this announcement, and rightfully so, as the Greenbelt is an integral part of Ontario.

It is clear that the Greenbelt was created for a reason, or many reasons, for that matter. Although it was created in 2005, expansions have been made ever since to keep the local economy thriving. Growing up in Oakville, I used to go by the creeks many times, especially when I was in elementary school. On one of my field trips in grade 3, my class went to Crawford Lake to explore the Indigenous history of the conservation area. During this trip, we ate cornbread, used snowshoes, and explored the historical area with the help of our tour guide along the way. It was a very fun trip that allowed us to connect with the past and expand our knowledge of Indigenous history and culture.

However, the biggest reason this field trip stuck with me is how our guide interpreted some of this history. Once it got dark, we gathered around a campfire while he told us the legend of Crawford Lake. Legend has it that on one late winter day, while men were carrying lumber on a horse drawn sleigh over the frozen waters, the ice broke and the horses, sleigh, and lumber fell into the water and sank to the bottom. He then went on to say that legend has it that the horses lie undisturbed at the lake bottom until awakened at sunset, and at that time, any person standing on the shore of the lake may see the glowing red eyes of the horses at the bottom of the lake.

Once we were all a bit frightened and vulnerable, one of his co-workers decided to jump out from the back and scare us. We all found it funny, and it was a great way to talk about the history of the past and interpret it for us when we were quite young.

Overall, it is so crucial to continuously recognize our past and not dismiss it. It is an important step in preserving the integrity of our local areas, such as the Greenbelt and the Crawford Lake conservation area, which is located within it.

This was a long post, so thank you for reading it!

References

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

In 2018, Doug Ford promised he would not touch Ontario's Greenbelt. The premier, however, is facing severe backlash after reversing that pro

The Greenbelt Foundation stewards the Greenbelt - 2 million aces of working agricultural and ecological landscape that helps Ontario thrive.

rgenvs3000f23

Hey! I really enjoyed reading your blog this week.

You brought up a great example with the issues surrounding the preservation of the Greenbelt. Like you mentioned, removing land from the Greenbelt can seem like a quick fix to an immediate economic issue, but it would actually result in a greatly deteriorated economy down the line. That’s not to say that economy should be the only thing considered when looking at historic sites, but unfortunately it does often seem to be the greatest consideration made by politicians. I thought that it fit in well with the quote, if you use the definition of integrity as something being whole. If the Greenbelt was broken up into smaller pieces, we would lose an important part of history everyone who lives in and around it benefits from.

I also really enjoyed your story about visiting Crawford Lake in grade school. Knowing the stories connected to a place in nature can really impact our connection to it. Looking forward to reading the rest of your blogs!

Blog 6

Hey! Our blog prompt this week was to unpack this quote, and I disagree with the very first clause.

As a history major turned biology major/ natural history enthusiast, I think there is in fact merit in ancient things, whether or not we know anything about them. Hyams says that what gives ancient things merit is human integrity, via work in piecing together the stories and memories carried by said “ancient things”. As someone who would love to dedicate their career to working with natural history, I don’t think that human effort has anything to do with its merit. I would argue that everything that existed in the past has inherent worth regardless of whether humans acknowledge it, remember it, or care enough to spend time learning and understanding it. Every ancient thing, be it an object or a place, is full of countless stories, and they exist regardless of human cognizance. There would be no point in having museums or preserving historic sites if they only existed as a monument to human integrity.

I enjoyed the video that was part of the course content this week, the interview with a historian who worked at national parks. He talked about changing the usual story told about a park to include a more accurate/encompassing picture of the actual story. This related to the rest of the quote (which I agreed with more). Hyams mentioned how it can be detrimental to “act as though the past is done with.” As much as we may not be able to change the past, there is always more to learn about history and our understanding of it is not static. It’s important to keep changing the stories we tell as we learn more about the past, or acknowledge things we already knew but didn’t want to talk about.

Of course, I do think that human effort is generally involved in understanding and sharing information about history, natural and/or human, but I believe that the merit comes first and the human integrity comes later and as a result.

Overall, I think it’s important not to frame humans as the centre of the universe. Especially since this is an environmental science course, many of us took it because we’re interested in learning how to share knowledge, and simply get other people to care about the rest of the world outside of humans and what we’ve built. By saying that ancient things don’t have any importance unless humans decide to bestow it upon them, I think we undermine that goal. We aren’t just tellers of the story, standing outside of time. We’re part of the story, and we exist within time. The world existed before humankind, and it will continue to exist after. Like Hyams said, the railway station will still exist after our train has passed through.

Blog 5

Hey! This week we were asked to write whatever was on our minds (presumably still related to nature interpretation).

This semester I’m in the process of completing an independent research project on aquatic plants, so needless to say they’ve been on my mind quite a bit recently. I thought my some of my experiences with the project and things I’ve learned so far fit in well with this class. There are two topics I wanted to write about today, the first being aquatic ecosystems in general, and the second being science communication and some thoughts on the readings for this week. The project I’m working on focuses on freshwater macrophytes. Macrophytes are aquatic plants that function as carbon sinks and important sources of oxygen, in addition to providing food and habitats to a variety of species (Bornette & Puijalon, 2011). I’m looking at their physiology, and determining how abiotic environmental parameters contribute to their survival and success. Specifically, my project focuses on pH (how acidic or basic the water is), and how aquatic plants respond to changes in water pH. The pH of freshwater systems is affected by climate change, in ways that are less predictable than marine systems (Hasler et al. 2016). If the pH of a lake changes to a level that its macrophytes can’t handle as well, they are at much greater risk of being outcompeted by photosynthetic algae (Sayer et al. 2010). This contributes to algal blooms, an issue that’s become quite prevalent recently. So, having a greater understanding of aquatic plants can assist with preventing algal blooms, as well as restoring damaged freshwater ecosystems. Reviews have found that most research on aquatic plants focuses on marine ecosystems, and very little research is done on freshwater ecosystems (Hasler et al. 2016). In my own (very non-qualitative) analysis from watching nature documentaries, it definitely seems like there’s a much greater focus on marine environments. While there is certainly more water in oceans than anywhere else, I think it’s important not to forget about freshwater ecosystems. So many of us, especially in Canada, get to enjoy being surrounded by so many beautiful lakes and rivers. It can definitely be easy to take them for granted. The readings for this week focused on interpreting nature through science, which is something I’ve been learning a lot about while working on my project. Currently, I’m in the process of learning how to communicate something I care about in a way that’s accessible to a variety of audiences. Part of the course is writing papers on the topic, as well as giving presentations. It’s made me realize how easy it can be in the sciences to get excited about a relatively niche topic (ex: freshwater botany) and essentially start speaking in a language that few people are going to understand. And if someone can’t understand a topic, they’re probably a lot less likely to care about it. So, it’s made me think about how important communicating science is when it comes to nature interpretation, as well as conservation.

References: Bornette, G. & Puijalon, S. (2011). Response of aquatic plants to abiotic factors: a review. Aquat Sci, 73, 1–14.

Hasler, C.T., Butman, D., Jeffrey, J.D. & Suski, C.D. (2016). Freshwater biota and rising pCO 2 ? Ecol Lett, 19, 98–108.

Sayer, C.D., Burgess, A., Kari, K., Davidson, T.A., Peglar, S., Yang, H., et al. (2010). Long-term dynamics of submerged macrophytes and algae in a small and shallow, eutrophic lake: implications for the stability of macrophyte-dominance. Freshwater Biology, 55, 565–583.

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Blog Post 4

Who are you to interpret nature through art? How do you interpret “the gift of beauty”?

Who am I to interpret nature through art? I am someone deeply captivated with the great outdoors, finding comfort in the rustle of leaves, the dance of sunlight through the trees, and the gentle melodies of chirping birds. For me, nature is not just a place, but it’s a canvas of boundless beauty waiting to be explored, appreciated, and immortalized through art. Art, in its various forms, has a unique ability to mimic the intricate patterns and vibrant colours of nature. The strokes of a paintbrush or the chisel marks on a sculpture can capture the essence of a blooming flower, a majestic mountain, or a serene river, allowing us to carry a piece of nature’s beauty with us, even indoors. But art's role doesn’t stop at only imitation – it goes deeper.

Art is a gateway that opens our eyes to the profound beauty existing in the natural world. It serves as a bridge, connecting our emotions with the wonders of the environment. In chapter five, the concept of “the gift of beauty” is perfectly defined. Interpretation, at its core, aims to instill in people the ability and desire to sense the beauty in their surroundings.

Renowned artists like Vincent van Gogh have demonstrated the transformative power of art. Through his masterpieces, van Gogh breathed life into nature, immortalizing its beauty on canvas. His works have allowed people to perceive nature in diverse forms, aiding in a collective understanding and appreciation for the natural world. Art, in this context, becomes a universal language, transcending cultural boundaries and bringing people together in awe of the Earth’s wonders.

However, art is not just about aesthetics, but it’s also about education and awareness. More than a beautiful object, art can be a powerful tool for change, addressing pressing environmental issues like conservation, sustainability, and biodiversity. It has the ability to interact with viewers by sparking conversations about crucial environmental issues. By depicting threatened habitats, endangered species, and the delicate balance of ecosystems, art educates and engages. It touches hearts and minds, inspiring action and nurturing a sense of responsibility towards the environment. Yet, the interpretation of art is as diverse as the art itself. Art is subjective, and its beauty lies in the eye of the beholder. Each stroke of the brush, every sculpture, and every photograph can evoke different emotions and interpretations. What one person sees as a symbol of hope, another might perceive as a reminder of fragility.

In essence, being someone who interprets nature through art is an insightful journey of connection, education, and advocacy. I think it’s about capturing the essence of nature’s beauty and sharing it with the world, while igniting a spark of appreciation, understanding, and action. Through art, we not only renew our connection with nature but also invite others to experience the gift of beauty that the natural world graciously entrusted to us.

Thanks for reading :)

Shanel

rgenvs3000f23

Hey! I really enjoyed reading your blog this week. I liked how you mentioned finding patterns in nature and putting them into our art. When I was considering my own personal favourite art pieces, one of the first things that came to mind was MC Escher’s drawing of interlocking lizards climbing out of a piece of paper, and circling back around to climb back in. At first it didn’t really seem like it could be very connected to nature, but I realized from reading your blog post that it actually fits in quite well with this week’s prompt! It’s a pretty literal depiction of a bridge connecting a person’s art with the nature that inspired it. Like you mentioned, art is a great way to create both awareness and caring about environmental issues. It was mentioned in a few people’s blog posts last week that language can create a barrier when interpreting nature, and I agreed with your point that many forms of art a way to overcome that and share a connection with nature, no matter what language people speak. I know I’ve learned a lot, and begun to care more about, ecosystems that I only learned existed by seeing art that someone else had created and shared. As much as art is nice to just look at, I agree that it’s also an important tool for inspiring connection and education. Thanks for sharing, and enjoy your weekend!

Blog #4

Hey! This week’s blog prompt our relationship with interpreting nature through art.

I wanted to start by answering the first question, and considering my own relationship with looking at nature through art. One of my favourite ways to experience nature interpretation through art is through nature documentaries. Although they might also be educational, I personally think the best ones also have an element of story to them and they’re always beautiful to watch. Also, I think it’s fascinating to see behind-the-scenes of how all these breathtaking videos of nature are recorded. It lets me learn about and see places I’ve never been anywhere near, and feel like I’m right there. The diversity of animals, plants, and even geology on our planet is incredible, and I really appreciate all the work that goes into creating art to share it. As much as getting outside is a great way to interpret nature, art can be an accessible and inspiring way to interpret nature. It can be a way to teach, but it can also be a way to share a love of and connection to nature with other people.

Often the first idea that comes to mind when someone thinks of nature interpretation is guided hikes and walks. While it was discussed in this week’s readings how these also have an element of art to them, I also think it’s important to incorporate other forms of art, whether that be books, poetry, photography, painting, videos, or anything else. Art is an integral part of nature communication, I think one of the most important things it does is just make people care. While there may be no official definition for “art” in general, I think it always has something to do with expression of feeling, and be able to share that expression with other people. Feeling disconnected from nature seems to be a relatively common thing, and I think that art can be an incredibly important remedy to that. While it may not always be possible to drop everything and go for a backpacking trip, art is almost always accessible in some form, and can be way to bring nature into our own lives even when it sometimes feels far away.

This weeks prompt and reading made me consider other aspects of how I might want to include nature interpretation through art in my career. Personally, I’m not much of a visual artist, I hadn’t really considered bringing art into my work even if I might enjoy it in some forms as a hobby. But I would like to find a way to incorporate it more into my life. For example, I love taking photos when I’m outside. Being able to look back at them later always reminds me of the experience and place where it was taken. They also give me a way to share something I care about with friends and family. Art is a powerful form of communication and connection, and there are so many different ways to include art when interpreting nature.

Photo: Vegetation near the alpine zone

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Risk Versus Reward in Interpretation

Blog 3: What role does “privilege” play in nature interpretation? Please include your working definition of privilege.

Privilege plays a large role in nature interpretation because it influences how we view the world and connect with people. Recognizing and acknowledging personal privilege is a step that is necessary in providing an enjoyable educational experience for people from all walks of life. It is equally as important to realize that every person carries their own bias based upon their lived experiences. Thus, I believe that it is crucial to take a step back and recognize who you are as a person and how that can translate to who you are as an interpreter.

My working definition of privilege is: “Privilege is an exposure to opportunities that are only available to a certain group of people and results in an unearned advantage in life.” As an interpreter/ educator I must recognize that I am teaching from a place of privilege as I believe it a necessary step in combating stigma and creating a welcoming environment for everyone.

In terms of bringing people into the outdoors, I must recognize that my positive exposure to nature is a result of my privilege and has led to a high level of comfort in the outdoors. I grew up travelling and camping with my family which played a large role in who I am today. I acknowledge that not everyone had the opportunities I did growing up and that it is a part of my privilege.

I was also fortunate to have parents that recognized the fact that swimming is an important skill to have. From a young age I was placed in swim lessons and had water safety messages drilled into my brain. One of the most prominent deliveries of water safety took place at my summer cottage. I remember that until a certain age, there was always a rule that we were only allowed to enter the water at the beach with an adult. As we grew older and became better swimmers, we were allowed to enter up to our hips but only our knees when it was wavy. These boundaries were put in place to ensure safety, but my guardians had to know that it was important to set these rules. I was also fortunate that my parents had the means to register my sister and I in swim lessons (and eventually competitive swimming). I was lucky that my parent’s jobs allowed for them to be able to drive me to the pool in town at 4:30am for practices and have time to volunteer at my swim meets, not to mention they could afford all the necessary equipment for the sport.

After my time as a competitive swimmer, I became a lifeguard and swim instructor. It was a natural transition to teach others, but I really found myself enjoying the fact that I could help others have safe and pleasant experiences in the water. Even though lifeguarding is a pretty common job, it takes quite a bit of time and money to become fully certified. Let alone, the fact that you must be a competent swimmer to achieve the necessary certifications. Through my work as a lifeguard, I became more aware of the role privilege plays in aquatics. It became clear that inclusion is such an important topic to discuss in aquatics.

Not everyone engages in the world in the same ways and to assume as an interpreter that everyone will experience something the same way would be very ignorant. From this unit I have taken the time to reflect on the opportunities and experiences that I was privileged to have. It has allowed me to think about the influence these opportunities have on how I interact with the world around me as well as the importance of acknowledging privilege.

rgenvs3000f23

Hey! I really enjoyed reading your blog this week.

I related a lot to your discussion about swimming. I also learned how to swim at a young age, have always been very comfortable around water, and had parents who signed me up for swimming lessons that turned into being a competitive swimmer. Swimming is a great example of an environment that is either very enjoyable or just plain scary for people, and mainly depending on whether or not their parents were able to enrol them in swimming lessons as a child. Like you mentioned, having a positive exposure to something, nature or otherwise, is key to developing important skills and a feeling of belonging. If someone feels uncomfortable, or like they lack necessary skills, it can create a barrier that prevents them from enjoying time spent outside. It seems like a lot of people who weren’t taught how to swim as a child often deal not only with being uncomfortable participating in activities in water, but also feeling like it’s too late to learn (even though that isn’t the case). It’s been great to see a lot more swimming lessons for adults showing up recently. I think it’s a really important step towards helping people feel more comfortable spending a day at a lake, for example. Providing welcoming opportunities for education, like teaching people to swim regardless of their situation, is a really important way to help more people enjoy nature.

Hey! This week blog prompt asked us to consider that role that privilege plays in nature interpretation, and to think about and share our own working definition of privilege.

My working definition of privilege is the sum of the benefits, opportunities, or lack of barriers that someone is given through no effort of their own.

From personal experience, I have seen that privilege plays a massive role in nature interpretation. At a previous job, I worked in the kitchen of a hiking lodge. It was a beautiful place, and provided plenty of educational opportunities, but mostly just to those who could afford them. A two night stay there would have cost me a week’s wages. And I was lucky to work there too, since the place was pretty remote and I needed one of my parents to drive me. While there, I was able to meet a few people who worked as hiking guides, but most of the people who they brought out into nature were rich families on a weekend getaway. The idealized situations of taking “less privileged” children to witness how life-changing the outdoors can be did happen, but were relatively few and far between. At one point the presidents of the outdoors organization that ran the place came to visit, and seem to think themselves deserving of special treatment as thanks for their philanthropy. They had charcuterie boards airlifted in when in all other cases helicopters were reserved for only the most dire of medical emergencies. It’s not an experience I’m going to forget any time soon, and it made me acutely aware of how not ever considering the privileges one has been given can lead to rather negative consequences.

Access to the outdoors has in many ways become a privilege that relatively few people get to enjoy. People generally need time off from work, a car, enough money for a day trip, money to pay for any needed gear, access to care for any medical issues that would hinder physical activity, etc., etc. It’s a long list, and I think that privilege in all its forms is a very important thing for anyone interested in nature interpretation to at least consider. There often seems to be an attitude that people who don’t take an active interest in nature just need to be “shown the light.” I don’t completely disagree, but I think it’s important to respect that not everybody has the privilege to dedicate any of their time to nature. There are plenty of people out there who would love to spend more time in nature, but can’t take time off from work, for example. Or live in an urban area and don’t have access to green spaces or a car to get to one. And unfortunately, those are issues that guided nature walks aren’t exactly a direct fix for. It’s much easier to be interested in and care about nature when someone has the time, money, and mental space to be able to do so. Overall, this week’s prompt was a lot to think about, and it’s difficult to fit a solid response into a short blog post.

twsenvs3000f23

Blog #2

Prompt: Describe your ideal role of environmental interpreter. What might it entail? Where might it be? What skills might you need?

Hello again everyone! Hope you’ve all been enjoying your classes so far this semester.

I think my ideal role of environmental interpreter would definitely have to take place in some kind of forest. I think my favourite place would be in any forest at all but the boreal forests would be my first choice because I love that ecosystem and the fauna and flora that live there. I'm a very tactile learner and enjoy learning by doing and being in the field. For my role of interpreter I would definitely take people out in the field so that they could see the forest up close and take a look at the smaller things that are harder to see from just photos like moss. Did you know that moss covers up to 97% of the surface in boreal forests! Seeing all the small things in that ecosystem that can be so easily overlooked make the boreal forests seem like a completely new place. To accomplish this my interpretation would entail being there in person so that everyone can hopefully experience the same thing I did when learning about all the little processes that happen at that small scale and be as intrigued as I was to start learning more. I think I would like my role as an interpreter to be more passive, not talking the whole time but mostly leading them through the ecosystem and let them experience it themselves and mostly answering the questions that come to their heads. I think the reason I would do it this way is because its similar to the way that I learned to appreciate nature and would like the people I’m with to feel how I felt as a kid, full of wonder and curiosity to learn more. It also makes me feel much more connected to nature and makes it easier to interpret the ecosystem if I actually stand in it surrounded by all its plants and animals. As for skills required for my plan to be successful I would definitely need to learn how to better ID mosses or lichens (Which I already want to start learning) as well as learning and better understanding larger scale processes that take place in the boreal forest because I think learning and interpreting the reason that these processes occur might help me as well as others better understand the ecosystem and feel more comfortable in it, plus it is one of if not the largest ecosystem in the world so I think it's just as important to learn about the larger scale processes that take place as it is to learn about what happens at the centimetre and metre scale in the ecosystem. So overall my role as interpreter would be to show people first hand the smaller processes that happen in the ecosystem while also discussing about how they relate or contribute to larger scale processes so that hopefully the people i'm interpreting for can better understanding their surroundings while also feeling more connected to them.

rgenvs3000f23

Hey! I really enjoyed reading your blog post this week. It seems like the boreal forest is a really cool place. It would be fascinating to learn more about the plant life in those kinds of forest environments, I had no idea there was so much moss! I personally really enjoy botany, and I agreed with your point that it’s important to learn about all the parts of an ecosystem that might be less obvious at first glance. I remember learning in a class I took last winter about how important lichen is to forest ecosystems, even though most of it is hard to see.

I thought your point about being a more “passive” interpreter was really interesting. It seems like there’s often an attitude in interpreting where the interpreter feels they already have the right idea and their job is to convince everyone else to have the same idea. I really liked how you talked about having a focus on teaching an understanding of the ecosystem, and helping others feel more comfortable and familiar with a place as expansive and ecologically important as the boreal forest. I also agree that being able to be somewhere in person is a great way to learn about an ecosystem. As much as I enjoy what I’ve learned in lectures, nothing compares to being able to go outdoors and see the plants, animals, and general ecological processes happening firsthand.

Looking forward to reading the rest of your posts this semester!

Blog #2

Hey! This week’s blog prompt asked us to consider and describe our ideal role as an environmental interpreter, and discuss what kind of skills might be needed.

One way I admittedly can’t see myself wanting to be a nature interpreter is anywhere that requires me to spend a lot of time on social media. I’m not personally a big fan of it, and the more I learn about it, the less I like it. Even having this blog, although I understand why it makes sense for the course, is a little uncomfortable for me. I feel that social media is often pushed as the best way of getting information to people, but I don’t think that’s true. And if it is, then I’d rather work to change it. On a positive note, there are other forms of media that I could see myself wanting to be involved in creating, like books and nature documentaries. I love nature documentaries and they always inspire me to learn more, even if I always get way too invested in any animals they show.

That all being said, there are two main ways in which I can see myself wanting to be involved in nature interpretation.

Firstly, I would love working at a place like an outdoors centre, a museum, or a botanical garden. Places like that present great opportunities for people to experience nature firsthand, and they tend to be very engaging and welcoming places to learn. Although I’m currently working on my science background for a job like that, I would definitely have to learn a lot about teaching. Those jobs tend to involve working with all sorts of people, and all different ages, and I really don’t have much experience working with kids. I’d love to learn more, though! Part of why I enrolled in this course was so I could start learning about how to share science with people, and get some practice communicating and engaging with different audiences.

Secondly, as a research biologist, as long as it involved a decent amount of fieldwork. I love working outside, but I also don’t mind dealing with numbers and analyzing data. Research might not be the first job somebody thinks of when told “nature interpreter” but I think it’s still an important part of interpretation. It’s just the first part, finding the facts so they can be presented in an engaging way. A field I’m particularly interested in is palaeobiology. It’s fascinating how much we can learn about extinct species from just a couple of fossilized bones or some tracks left behind from millions of years ago. Although it might not be the same as being a tour guide, reconstructing natural history is also part of understanding nature and the environment. There’s so much we still don’t know about the history of life on our planet. As a kid, a large part of what got me interested in biology was looking at old bones in pictures and museums, and then hearing about how those creatures might have looked like and lived. I’d love to be able to help someone else discover their own enthusiasm and interest for nature.

Cast of the skull of Deinotherium giganteum, located in the Oxford University Museum of Natural History

czenvs3000f23

Unit 1 Blog Post

Prompt: Describe your current relationship with nature. How was this developed/evolved? Who offered you "a sense of place," as described in our textbook?

For practically all my life, I've lived in the suburbs of Southern Ontario. I would go to school which was flanked by busy roads and intersections that would support the constant stream of cars going 70 km/hr. I would eat lunch under the glass ceiling of the mall, where I could still see the white, puffy clouds overhead. Most of my time was spent within the walls of my house, which looked identical to the others that spotted the neighborhood.

Despite this, I knew from a very young age that I wanted my career to do something with the environment. I'm not exactly sure where this stemmed from. I might've always had an intrinsic interest in biology or inherited my mom's passions, but I think most of it had to do with the programming that I was exposed to. I spent many days after school watching TVO Kids, which had a heavy emphasis on environmental education as a part of their broadcasting. I devoured the content supplied by The Wild Kratts, Dino Dan, and many others. I also got really invested in National Geographic Kids. I remember when I would get so excited to receive my monthly subscription to the magazine, and proudly showed them off to my classmates the next day at school.

Still, I hadn't racked up many hours outdoors hiking or going on other excursions. I used to be so insecure about this fact. Did it diminish my passion for the subject? Do I really belong in this field?

I think this really changed once I was in my first year. It was during the height of COVID and I was living on residence during the winter semester. The transition from high school to university was challenging as I suddenly had to be responsible for a whole slew of things. I was meeting new people from all different walks of life, adjusting to living on my own for the first time, and learning what it meant to be a student at a university. All while navigating the pandemic. Suffice it to say that in some moments it was really hard. I remember distinctly after I learned that I failed the CHEM1050 midterm, I headed straight to the arboretum. At this point I'd be going there on daily walks to get out of my stuffy dorm but this time I went to clear my head.

There's something about walking through the trails of the arboretum at the end of winter and the beginning of spring. It's almost indescribable what I felt during that time in my life. Seeing the snow melt, and the little buds poking out from the soil stirred something within me. I would stare at the pond at Wild Goose Woods for a long time, just thinking. And suddenly, I would feel better. Being part of nature puts things into perspective. Deadlines don't matter. Petty dramas don't matter. It matters that I am alive in this moment, bearing witness to incredible ecological interactions that underpin the very fabric of society.

Since then, I'm still learning to appreciate the little things. I take joy in Ontario's natural heritage and am proud of the fact that I get to live in such a place where we experience four seasons. This past summer I had the opportunity to work at a farm as a camp counselor, where I was outside 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, and despite the hard work, I genuinely loved it. I'm excited to continue to grow and experience how rich and diverse our planet is.

rgenvs3000f23

Hey!

I loved your story about how the media you saw/read as a kid contributed to wanting to pursue an environmental career. I didn’t have a subscription to National Geographic Kids myself, but I remember being so excited when my brother gave me a giant stack of his old issues, and I would spend hours reading through them. It seems like TV shows, books, magazines, etc., are an important way of helping people discover their interest in nature, especially since a lot of people don’t have easy access to outside environments.

I also related a lot to your point about feeling unsure of whether you belonged in the field. My experience was really similar, I worried a lot that I didn’t have enough experience to “prove” that I loved biology and being outdoors. There can be so much pressure to like things in a certain way, but I feel like being interested and wanting to learn and experience more is what really matters.

It’s great to have places like the Arboretum, green spaces are so irreplaceable and beneficial in so many ways. Like you said, being able to walk around outside and watch everything grow, change, and just exist really helps put things into perspective. With so much to keep track of in university, and life in general, I always find being outside makes everything seem more manageable.

I’m looking forward to reading the rest of your blogs!

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