As a blossoming nature interpreter, I’ve learned a lot about what it takes to be a good communicator. The methods I employ to interpret the natural world have been shaped by early experiences, travel, work as a bird guide, close friends and my university journey. Foremost, I can thank my parents for curating a love for the outdoors. I have been very lucky to have had opportunities during my childhood to explore the province of Ontario and beyond. Experiential learning has always been the most impactful for me. The adage, “seeing is believing” is so true! Memorable experiences like glimpsing my first snake, catching my first dragonfly, and identifying my first sedge to species have instilled wonder and excitement. This admiration of living things, plus time spent observing them in beautiful and remote spaces, with people from many different backgrounds has further influenced me to the point of shaping my world view and political orientation.
A motto I will always carry with me is that there is always something to learn about the natural world wherever you are, whether that be in a city or out in the wilderness. There will always be something about nature that piques my interest and inspires me to step out of my comfort zone and learn new things. This excitement and sense of wonder is something I want to pass on to others, because there is a growing disconnect between people and nature. Children are spending less time outdoors. For every child stuck inside glued to a screen rather than playing outdoors there is a missed opportunity. Nature is a teacher that everyone has access to; it encourages physical activity, fosters critical thinking and boosts mental wellbeing. “Children today are given few opportunities to be outside. In a school system rife with worry about liability, it is simply easier to stay indoors. Insurance rates are cheaper if kids are contained, accounted for, and “safe” inside.” (Rodenburg, 2019). This quote articulates a disturbing trend, where the outdoors is seen as dangerous, and needing to be “babyproofed”. God forbid a child is stung by a bee, ingests a berry, or falls while climbing a tree!
It’s unfortunate, because I have found that quite possibly the easiest way to entertain a young child is to take them on a nature walk. The author then makes the point that too often we feel the need to educate children about unsettling topics like climate change and biodiversity loss, where “Young children are, however, always ready to love the natural world. Connecting with nature is about establishing a relationship and building intimacy” (Rodenburg, 2019). Without the chance to develop that relationship organically and with innate joy, how can children be expected to appreciate the need to value and protect the natural world?
Rodenburg’s quote makes me think back to last weekend, when I went out with friends to look for salamanders. Every year in March on rainy, warm nights salamanders migrate, often across a still snowy landscape, to vernal (ephemeral) pools to breed. We positioned ourselves next to one such pool and waited. A steady trickle of salamanders began to arrive, mysterious in its resolve. While salamanders encompass an impressive amount of biomass proportional to other common species like the White-tailed Deer, they are hard to spot (Campbell et al., 2024). All five of us were captivated by this migration spectacle. I can only imagine how ecstatic I would have been if I were 10, watching these incredibly cool, almost mythical creatures. I would almost certainly be inspired to trade in my Pokémon cards for a flashlight and rubber boots! Yet what teacher would dare, or even be allowed to venture out after dark with their class to experience such everyday magic?? After the salamander walk, I fell down a rabbit hole; trying to understand the complex biology of one of the species we saw- a unisexual complex with genomes of multiple species, where all individuals are female. They essentially “steal” the sperm from males of a related species to initiate development of their eggs, while amazingly this male genome is rarely incorporated into the developing embryo (COSEWIC, 2016)!
Unisexual Ambystoma salamander (W. Konze)
My point with this anecdote is that you can have special experiences essentially in your own backyard, if you know where to look. Passing on this “secret knowledge” to children and adults is my responsibility as a nature interpreter. To appreciate nature, you don’t have to be a scientist; but seeing for yourself and learning a few mind-boggling facts about a salamander that lives throughout southern Ontario might just be enough to get someone “hyped up” about the natural world.
The following quote from our textbook embodies how I want to impact society through my interpretation, “Interpreters encourage people to see the world as interconnected and diverse. They show examples of our ability to alter the planet’s life support systems. They encourage taking responsibility as stewards for the natural world.” (pg. 55; Beck et al., 2018). Through taking an enthusiastic approach to nature interpretation I hope to encourage critical thinking about priorities in modern society. Is making money, having a nice house and an expensive car most important, or is living simply, enjoying the natural world, and taking care of the planet something to aspire to? Is leaving a desolate, inhospitable planet for the next generation really something we want as a society?
These are the big questions I hope to get people considering. Yet you don’t have to be “doom and gloom” to get people to think about uncomfortable topics. All you need to do is illustrate the innate value of nature, while providing the facts, perspectives, and experiences to think critically. I believe that gently, or even covertly incorporating conservation and lifestyle themes into interpretation that fosters every learner’s discovery and excitement is the way to go.
My responsibility as a nature interpreter is to get people excited about the incredible biodiversity in our own backyards. Communicating what I know - along with my passion - in a way that is accessible to everyone; engaging with this fantastical, stranger-than-fiction, outdoor world via experiential learning, is how I will try to create the change I would like to see in our ailing world.
Beck, L., Cable, T.T., Knudson, D.M. (2018). Interpreting Cultural and Natural Heritage: For a Better World. Sagamore Publishing LLC. https://sagamore.vitalsource.com/books/9781571678669
Campbell, E. H., Fleming, J., Bastiaans, E., Brand, A. B., Brooks, J. L., Devlin, C., Epp, K., Evans, M., M. Caitlin Fisher-Reid, Gratwicke, B., Grayson, K. L., Haydt, N. T., Hernández-Pacheco, R., Hocking, D. J., Hyde, A., Losito, M., MacKnight, M. G., Tanya, Mead, L., & Muñoz, D. (2024). Range-wide salamander densities reveal a key component of terrestrial vertebrate biomass in eastern North American forests. Biology Letters, 20(8). https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2024.0033
COSEWIC. (2016). Assessment and Status Report on the Unisexual Ambystoma Ambystoma laterale https://wildlife-species.canada.ca/species-risk-registry/virtual_sara/files/cosewic/sr_Unisexual%20Ambystoma_2016_e.pdf
Rodenburg, J. (2019, June 17). Why Environmental Educators Shouldn’t Give Up Hope [Review of Why Environmental Educators Shouldn’t Give Up Hope]. https://clearingmagazine.org/archives/14300