Marlene's Nature Views

This was a very daunting post to write. 

I feel as though the question of my “personal ethic” as a nature interpreter is something that’s always in the back of my mind. Upon reflection, I realized that I have some conflicted feelings about referring to myself as a nature interpreter and that I don’t feel entirely comfortable thinking of myself as one. I think that the term “Nature Interpreter” alludes to a certain amount of expertise and authority, and there’s a part of me that doesn’t feel like I’ve developed enough skills or done enough work to claim that authority and I think this ties back to one of my bigger issues: My reluctance to call myself an environmentalist.

On one hand, the natural world is very important to me. Nature is something that’s always brought me a lot of joy and wonder, and I feel very strongly about how it’s worth protecting. That being said, I always hesitate to call myself an environmentalist because no matter what I do, I never quite feel like I’ve earned that title because I always feel like I could have done more. This could be down to a sort of impostor syndrome that makes me feel as though my values will forever be undermined by all the plastic straws I’ve used over the course of my life.

However, reading some of the blog posts and reflections here has made me question some of the self-doubt I’ve been carrying. I’ve picked up on a love, reverence, and passion you all have for the natural world, and I don’t think I would hesitate to call any of you nature interpreters or environmentalists, regardless of whether you used a plastic grocery bag or ordered something from Amazon in the past week. Going forward, I’m going to extend the same grace towards myself, especially now that I understand how valuable that grace can be.  

During one of our podcast episodes, my team and I spoke about the importance of learning and speaking about environmental issues, and how changing hearts and minds can make a positive impact. Looking back, it feels as though making that claim while doubting whether I can call myself an environmentalist is a little hypocritical. I think that something as simple as calling yourself an environmentalist can be a powerful act of nature interpretation. It’s a simple act, but by using that label, you’re telling people that nature has a great deal of value to you, and that can help spread awareness. That being said, I don’t think it’s enough to adopt the label. I think that calling yourself an environmentalist or a nature interpreter comes with responsibilities, and I think those responsibilities vary based on your skills or your passions.

I think that developing my skills and my approach to nature interpretation has value beyond what I can personally do to help the environment. I was struck by how much I enjoyed the podcast assignment. In fact, after my team and I finished recording our second podcast, I was reminded of unit nine where we were asked to reflect on what gets us fired up.

I found that writing the script, and especially writing some of the more interpretive aspects of our podcasts, was challenging in a way that was really engaging to me. I was reminded that making inaccessible content make sense to more people is something that gives me a real sense of purpose and that there were moments during the podcast assignment where I genuinely did feel “fired up.”        

My team chose urban forestry as our podcast topic, and I was doing research on and working on the scripts, I was reminded of how fascinating and important urban forests can be. (It also reminded me of how fascinating urban planning can be, but I imagine that’s not as universal of an experience.) On top of that, recording the podcast gave me a chance to have a conversation about something I care about with people who feel the same way and even though it was a scripted conversation, I think it did a lot to lift my mood. Altogether, the podcast assignment got me feeling animated and excited in a way that’s been harder and harder to come by.  

I think it’s been difficult for a lot of us to get “fired up” over the past two years. I think that as we become more connected as a society, we become more exposed to and aware of threats to climate, economic and social justice. While I believe that this is ultimately a positive impact, I think that it also makes us more vulnerable to mental and emotional burnout and the added impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic As difficult as it may be, I think these threats and drains on our mental health make it more important than ever to find sources of passion, and I think that nature might be one of the most important sources of passion that I have.

I know that when I started this class, I thought that most of my value as a nature interpreter would be rooted in my skills as a communicator. I think that my work here has confirmed that I do have those skills and that they’re valuable skills to have. However, I think that I also uncovered some of my blind spots, and a lot of skills I need to develop as I move forward in this field.

As we near the end of this course, I cannot help but feel a sense of gratitude for all that I have learned over the past 12 short weeks. Not only was I able to write about my love for nature frequently through our weekly blog posts, but I was taught that through nature interpretation, I can share my passion and knowledge of it with others as well. Along the way, I was able to meet classmates through our podcast groups who share the same desire to further our education with our environment at the centre of it. This course truly reminded me of the power that nature has to offer, with everything from the mental health benefits to physical benefits. Oftentimes I found myself participating in meaningful conversation with others who are not enrolled in this class about how we enjoy spending our time in nature, almost as if we were acting as nature interpreters without knowing it. Once you find yourself speaking about a course outside of the classroom, I think we can all agree that you know that you really enjoy learning about the topic!

As someone who is passionate about the environment, my personal ethic as a nature interpreter is to educate others on the importance of taking care of our planet and how climate change has been, and will continue to be detrimental for our world. If we fail to preserve nature, there won’t be much longer before it’s destroyed. As I develop as a nature interpreter, it is my hope to inform my audience about ways to reduce our carbon footprint, and to show them that spending time in nature is fun, and to provide ways in which it can be protected in easy ways! 

It was mentioned in our course material that kids must be taught in an empowering way about the challenges that are posed in the environment today. It stated that one day, it is with great hope that children will take it upon themselves to sustain and restore planet Earth. I am here to say that I believe that we, my classmates and I, are these children. We are the children that can make the difference. We have the ability to make a powerful change to reduce and stop climate change, and it all starts with all of us doing our part each day. Although this may seem hard at times when there is an immense amount of negative news that is constantly being spoken about in terms of climate change, especially because it primarily hasn’t been caused by our generation, we must not lose hope. It is our duty to make little changes that will make BIG differences. We have a responsibility to do better. I have a responsibility to do better. To learn more. To help others. And to use my voice for things such as the environment that do not have a voice of their own. For this reason, I will dedicate my skills as a nature interpreter to help others achieve the collective goal to care for the Earth.

After much consideration about my approach to being a nature interpreter, I have come to the conclusion that it is to educate others to mitigate climate change instead of adapting to it. Adapting to the changing environment is only a bandaid fix. An example of adapting to the changing environment would be to buy a fan because it is getting increasingly hot over the years in the summer. Mitigation actually works to reduce climate change, and is effective both in the short and long term. An example of this could be to plant more trees to decrease the albedo effect, thus decreasing global temperatures. In order to put my approach into action, it entails putting my privilege to use! Privilege can arise in all aspects in life, even in places like nature interpretation. It was truly a privilege to have been taught growing up that the natural world can bring so much joy into our lives, and to now attend university and to be taught all about nature, I am very fortunate because of it. When we use our privilege wisely, we can reach people who are not as privileged as us, and hopefully educate them and share the happiness that nature provides to us as interpreters.

To conclude this course, my “so what” thoughts are that nature interpretation can be anywhere where we choose to find it, whether that be in music, art, or in quotations, just to name a few. It is important in life to not always look at the grand scheme of things. Sometimes we must zoom into the little things in life to find joy that we didn’t know existed, like simply hearing the sound of water in a ravine on our morning walks. Beck et al. 2018 describes 15 gifts that interpretation can provide for us. The first gift that is listed is, “The Gift of a Spark” which is defined as, “To spark an interest, interpreters must relate the subject to the lives of the people in the audience.” If there is one thing that is for certain that I have learned from this course, it is that I feel that I have been given the “Gift of a Spark” as an interpreter. After weeks of thinking about the content in this course, and delving deeper to find the true meaning behind simple words, I have found a passion in nature interpretation. I have discovered that I love being educated on the strong forces that nature is revealing to us each day, and it has given me a desire to help others feel this way too. So while this may be my last blog post for this course, this is not a farewell - rather a hear from you soon and I look forward to reading about your curiosities again one day. This is not the end of our journey, in fact, only the beginning. 

Thank you all!

Katarina

Hey guys, I hope you guys all had a great week! I’m beyond excited for this week’s blog prompt because I love learning fun facts, especially about nature! I am curious to see what everyone’s most amazing thing about nature is.

For my blog post, I decided to tell you guys a little bit about this super cool way of how acacia trees release gas to protect themselves and warn other trees about danger! Acacia trees are found in tropical regions of the world such as Australia and Africa. They grow all around the African savannah and their leaves are a giraffe’s favourite diet.

Now what’s cool about these trees is that they are able to defend themselves and also warn neighbouring trees of danger! When these trees sense injury from giraffes eating its leaves, it will start to produce toxins. This toxin is called tannins and in larger amounts it can be harmful to animals. After that, they start to release warning gas in the form of ethylene to warn other trees of the same species in the area of this potential danger.

I find this so fascinating that they have this ability to signal their neighbours about a crisis. Us humans and other animals do this same thing but verbally or through action. But these trees that obviously cannot communicate verbally, have evolved this complex defense system of releasing gas to do the same thing!

Now what happens after the first tree sends signals to its neighbours is that the surrounding trees pick up this warning gas and will now pump toxins (tannins) into their own leaves to prepare themselves for defense. It’s like an army of these trees that are getting ready for an intense battle with these giraffes. How cool is that?!

By doing this the trees can effectively defend themselves from predators such as giraffes who are trying to chew on their leaves. Giraffes that try to eat the leaves with tannins will taste the bitterness and often refuse to continue to feed. However, if these giraffes continue to feed on these leaves with toxins, it could possibly sicken or even kill them.

Now, just when you thought that acacia trees won the battle, these giraffes have unfortunately outsmarted them. Although this is a great way to defend themselves from being eaten, these giraffes evolved along with these acacia trees to work around this. In fact, giraffes will now explore for food while walking into the wind so that the warning gas doesn’t reach the trees ahead of them. In case of no wind, these giraffes will travel 100 yards or more which is way further than ethylene gas can move, in order to feed on acacia leaves.

This is all so interesting to me because you see a tree and they’re just standing still, not doing much. But what you don’t know is that they could in fact communicate to one another via signals! Just like how we communicate by talking, they can send signals in forms of gas or underground through their roots.

What I’m curious to know now is whether trees communicate with each other for reasons other than warning? Do trees release anything when they feel safe and content? Let me know if you guys have any idea! I hope you guys found this interesting.

I have not read the book, but based on the description it looks like a book you might enjoy. This book talks about the connection of trees from different age ranges and species. It also talks about the connection between different tree species. This is done through complex mycorrhizal networks. Mycorrhizal networks are networks of fungi that connect trees in the soil. In her work she identifies how trees are connected to one another and communicate with one another. Simard research unlocked a whole new world in the BC forests that challenged current thinking on competition and tree-tree interaction in the re-planted forests. The concept of the Mother Tree was birthed in the multi-age forests in BC. They found that through connections between the trees that the Mother Tree - old age trees- would nurture seedlings that were connected to them. Having a Mother Tree present improved the success of saplings maturing. You can watch a talk by Suzanne Simard here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUg8JGws1Ko&t=972s

Interpretation comes in so many forms as we have been learning. Music is one of my favourite outlets and looking at it from an interpretation point of view is very intriguing to me. Music has been around for centuries, remaining a constant glue in many communities. The sounds that immerse from music create a channel to connect members of the same species together, or to other species in nature. With it being a part of the “affective” learning domain, music relates to an individual’s feelings, which I personally think is the most effective method of interpreting. This is because it is not affected by discrimination or privilege as we discussed in Unit 3: music is a universal language!

When I think about music in nature, I think about ambient noise, as it is constantly all around us in nature. One does not have to be immersed in a fully rural setting to experience the sounds of ambient noise. Tilden’s 6 principles of interpretation, especially number 4, outline the idea that nature interpretation should be a thought provoking process that creates memories, not just needless amounts of information thrown at the audience that will not be absorbed. I think music and ambient noise correlates well with this idea, as there are no facts or limiting knowledge involved. Instead, it evokes a different response in everybody depending on their respective experiences. For example, when I think about ambient noise, I think of an opening shift at my job in Bronte Creek Provincial Park in the summer. There is not one soul in the usually packed park and I get to experience the amazing silence. Hearing the trees rustle, the whistling of the wind, or the waves of the pool fills me with a sense of calmness of peace that prepares me for the day! 

Regarding nature in music, I think that it is everywhere. An article called The Music of Nature and the Nature of Music expresses how us humans have been influenced for many years by species in nature when it comes to music. For example, it states that we utilize every elementary rhythmic sound that birds use in their song. More so, whales have been seen using repeating sounds that form rhymes! As a lot of human music also uses rhymes, we are involved in a symbiotic relationship with nature and music, in which we both benefit from each other.

My favourite memory of music and nature is from my trip to Tobermory last summer with a group of friends. We stayed up very late and listened to the soundtrack to Interstellar by Hans Zimmer in the backyard of our airbnb, laying on the ground and watching a spectacular display of shooting stars. The music itself is very special, mysterious, and moving, therefore making it an incredibly memorable experience.

- Sophia 

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

Hello my fellow classmates, I hope you are making it through midterm season, and can utilize your blog post writings as a source of fulfillment in these harder times!

“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

To begin our journey of unpacking this dense quote, let’s define a few key words. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary (2021), peculiar is defined as “Different from the usual or normal”, merit is “A praiseworthy quality”, and integrity is “The quality of being honest and fair”. Keeping this knowledge in mind, we can interpret this quote by saying there is nothing out of the ordinary about the supposed praiseworthy quality in ancient things, but there is praisable quality in being honest. This praisable quality has the special capability of remembering the past. When we pay tribute to history and keep past memories alive, we respect their value and can learn and grow from them. The train metaphor is used as an example to describe the above. The train station was not only of value when the train was physically at the station. There are various little details and events that take place behind the scenes to successfully get the train to and from the station, and is arguable that these small events are of greatest importance. Similarly, major historic events have several micro-details involved that must be studied and passed on to get the full picture and true meaning of the situation. Interpretation shines light on previous events, architecture, and artifacts. It boosts wisdom to lead a way living in the present. Historic interpretation unites communities to remember their shared memories and traditions, and makes them a more special place to live (Beck, Cable, & Knudson, 2018). Relating back to the quotation, there must be maintenance of historic memories in order to preserve the wisdom enclosed in them.

It is important for history and nature interpretation to be presented at the same place. All natural sites hold a unique history, and all historic sites have natural assets (Beck, Cable, & Knudson, 2018). When I think of how history plays a role in natural interpretation, I immediately think of First Nation communities’ reserves. Indigenous people pass on the stories of their early ancestors from generation to generation. They are taught to respect and praise their land, care for it, and to live in harmony with the natural world. The elders on First Nation reserves act as the interpreters to the younger citizens so that their community history is kept alive, and still retains its relevance today, just like the quotation states.

There does not always have to be an interpreter present for an audience to be guided and informed on historic topics. Beck, Cable, & Knudson (2018) state that high quality interpretive writing encourages the reader to think deeply about the writing. When a piece of writing has the ability to spark an inspiration among the reader, they are able to gain an understanding and grow. It is for this reason that interpretation should always be used to examine past events so that not only are we aware that the train has arrived, but we know where it has come from and where it is going.

- Katarina

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

I am in my last semester of my undergrad and have applied to teacher’s college and a few environmental college programs. These won’t start until the fall next year so I will have the entire winter off! With all of this downtime, I want to start reading books again for fun. I have a few books on my list so far but I wanted to reach out to everyone for book suggestions :)

So far, my list includes these;

Braiding Sweetgrass - Robin Wall Kimmerer Gathering Moss – Robin Wall Kimmerer The Hidden Life of Trees – Peter Wohlleben The Lost Art of Reading Nature’s Signs – Tristan Gooley

As you can tell there is a bit of a theme here. These are a few books I have read already and recommend if you are also interested in the same types of things!

The Secret Wisdom of Nature – Peter Wohlleben This book contains a bunch of short stories that discuss the relationships between animals and plants. The stories are easy enough to understand and are very interesting!

Wenjack – Joseph Boyden This book is very short but very beautifully written. It is based on a true story about an Ojibwe boy named Chanie Wenjack who escaped a residential school and attempted to run home. The book is written from the perspective of Chanie and the animals he encounters on his journey.

I really loved your post this week. I was stuck when coming up with an idea for the free write and sure wish mine was as creative as yours! I am not a big reader, but definitely have always wanted to be. Your book choices documented your love for nature and I assume probably helped you with interpreting it for this class. I for sure will look into reading some of them :) 

Thanks for sharing!

The Science of the Sacred - Nicole Redvers

One Drum - Richard Wagamese

I will have to check out some of the ones on your list.

Thanks for sharing your reading list.

Thinking about how to relate this week’s open prompt back to interpretation through science, I decided to consider what role knowledge plays in interpretation. This course and the readings have definitely shaped how I think about interpretation, as there are aspects about interpretation that are passive – allowing one to enjoy the beauty of nature – that I had never considered. Knowledge definitely plays a role here, as I tried to share last week. Knowledge of beautiful places lets you share nature you find beautiful with others. But knowledge can also be used actively within interpretation, to tell a story. The more you know about something, the better you can describe it to someone without needing to use technical jargon. Science gives us the chance to share small details with others about the way the world works to build an appreciation that may help provide some sense of spiritual uplift. I’d like to share some experience that gives me the opposite of spiritual uplift.

I have a fear of mushrooms. And not the pathogenic ones, the little dubious lumps that grow out of stumps. I hate them so very much.

Mushrooms are the expressions of fungi we see at the surface. They may seem to come and go, but are actually living and hiding underground at all times. Toadstools are the ‘fruit’ of the fungi, a method to reproduce – the branches, trunk, and leaves are all hidden under the Earth. Despite appearing to grow like plants, they are much genetically closer to animals – but interact with the environment like microbes. Picture a decaying log under the surface. Like bacteria growing in an agar plate, a fungus will find this food source, and grow outwards, not up. They decompose and consume it until the nutrients are gone, and finally sprout to the surface. The result is a ring of mushrooms in a perfect circle. 

The creepy little artist is letting you know that:

a) Something died in the middle of this circle

b) I ate it, and it was delicious.

Utterly disturbing. Again, when you see a fairy ring, that is one fungus. This is one organism. Did you know the biggest living thing in the world is a fungus, akin to what we see above? Maybe climate change isn’t so bad. Even the word ‘fungus’ is a mass noun – simultaneously singular and plural. My skin is crawling typing this out.

Mycophobia is the fear of mushrooms. The most common cause of mycophobia is that some mushrooms are poisonous when consumed, and some believe that evolution has produced a fear response in some people upon sight. The best way to get over your fear of something is often through exposure, but this unfortunately has not been the case here. I loathe these abhorrent creatures and everything they do. There is no shortage of unsettling facts about fungi and their activities.

Also, they can communicate with each other through electrical impulses. Here’s what it sounds like:

Five Minutes of Blue Oyster Mushrooms Talking - YouTube

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Knowledge plays an important role in nature interpretation because it allows me to tell a story, and communicate with others through facts that we can agree on rather than my own opinions. I could have written 500 words this week about how mushrooms are gross, and I don’t particularly like looking at them. This is true, but not very convincing. Not everyone has mycophobia, but everyone can learn more about these fascinating (and terrifying) creatures and relate to what mycophobia may feel like. At the age of 21, I am now mostly okay with the sight of mushrooms. I’ll share some pictures of the biggest fairy ring I’ve seen this autumn so far (from a distance). 

———-

My question prompt for this week is:

How can something that grows from the ground have such suspiciously meaty flesh?  

In your blog post you referred to the fairy rings, which prompted me to learn more about the origins of the name. Fairy rings origins lie in many European, English, and Celtics people’s folklore. The folklore ranges from fairy dinner and dance parties, signs of good luck, to sinister portals to another realm. There is much caution about entering into the fairy ring as it may bring bad luck, disease or soured milk. Maybe your fear of mushrooms is warranted their potential sinister fairy ring ways. Read more about the folklore here: What is a Fairy Ring and What Causes Them? - Woodland Trust.

The majority of art comes from what we see in the world around us and how we interpret it. Nature inspires art in many different forms of media. When I think of art, the first idea that comes to mind is a landscape painting of nature scenery. Capturing the feeling and experience of being in nature is a powerful way to share the environment. The beauty of nature is why people are attracted to the outdoors and express it in their artwork.

The question "who are you to interpret nature through art?" brought me to the realization that everyone can interpret the environment through art. We all experience different emotions and experiences when in nature that can be portrayed in many different art forms. Two people could be looking at the same sunset and create two completely different forms of art based on their interpretation. I personally am an artistic person, and I find a lot of joy in creating, whether it's through painting, sewing, drawing or photography. Taking time to stop and appreciate nature around us is the first step to interpreting nature into art forms. I put a few paintings I've done below :)

Before reading the textbooks definition of the "gift of beauty", I wanted to interpret my meaning. I believe the "gift of beauty" is referring to the gift nature is giving to everyone as a place to experience true beauty. Our natural world is a place where humans can escape and enjoy becoming secluded from themselves. The book Interpreting Cultural and Natural Heritage For a Better World explained that having "the gift of beauty" means you can present nature in a way that allows others to see the beauty you experienced. Inspiring others with the artwork you made to capture the environment around you. I have always found it easy to find the beauty in nature. Always try to travel places with new landscapes that I've never seen before to experience the beauty. I also try and appreciate the nature around me and how even something that happens every day, like a sunset, can be so beautiful. I find reading poetry or listening to music are some of my favourite ways to experience other expressions of nature. Music and poetry, I feel bring emotion and room for visualization. Listening to a song and picturing a place and feeling in time helps me feel connected to nature. Poetry is something I have recently started reading, writing can be a powerful way to express emotions and experiences.

One of my favourite activities I ran as a nature interpreter at camp was bringing a group of children to a lookout spot in Algonquin Park to spend the hour painting what they saw and interpreted from the area. At the end of the session, it was amazing to see how everyone's paintings looked unique when they were all painting the same image. This activity allowed the children to take a minute and absorb the beauty surrounding them and capture it in a painting.

Your discussion on music and poetry role in nature interpretation is interesting. I have never really listened to music that interprets nature. The only time I have listen to nature sounds is when I am trying to fall asleep or relax. For me nature is a place of calm, so listening to the sounds of nature help transport me to that space mentally.

The biggest privileges that I think of when I think about nature interpretation are geographical location and class/income you grew up in. After reading through this unit, one of the first things I noticed was the privileges I have associated with nature interpretation; I’ve even mentioned them already in previous blog posts! For example, having parents who can afford seasons passes to Ontario’s Conservation Parks, or attending a high school that provided so many opportunities for camping trips. This is extremely important for me to recognize as an environmental interpreter, as I must take these privileges of mine into consideration when engaging with an audience.

Privilege plays a massive role in nature interpretation, especially in this relationship between interpreter and audience. As Professor Hooykaas mentioned in one of her personal experiences of bringing youth at risk on a Northern Ontario canoe trip, you will never fully understand an audience member's entire life and what privileges came with it! However, as interpreters, we can understand that every person is different and therefore we cannot treat every audience the same. Simply the location you were born or grew up in can provide a lot of privilege in nature interpretation; being located close to safe areas of nature evidently provides increased opportunity for nature interpretation compared to a location where there are cultural barriers and the environment is more industrialized and unsafe. The privilege of being part of a high class or high income family will also provide natural advantages like travel/transportation opportunities and paid excursions/activities in nature whereas individuals with economic barriers cannot always take part.

The privileges that I have seen being mentioned including the ones I have just discussed are all associated with the very generalized concept of underserved audiences. To truly discuss privilege’s association with nature interpretation, we must be more understanding of audiences on a case to case basis without making any generalizations.

This is definitely a unit of heavy reflection and I am excited to learn as much as I can on these topics so I can mature as a person in nature and as an interpreter!

It is true that not all areas are safe for people of colour. This was clear with the treatment of birder Christian Cooper in Central Park. In this incident Christian Cooper was being subjected to racism, which manifested as unwarranted suspicion and confrontation. This was an eye-opening moment for many in the birding community. For many they would not have considered racism in the world of birding prior to that event. Since this time there have been numerous online discussion and forums to bring these ongoing issues to the forefront. It is a heavy topic to consider. We all need to commit to further learning and reflect on our privilege and position in society as well as how we can change the space to make it more inclusive to everyone.