Podcasts about Ecology Center

Cassie Petoskey: Hi, everyone. Thanks for being here. I'm Cassie Petoskey. I use she or they pronouns. And I'm the Director of the Waldron Student Alumni Connections Program, where our goal really is to help Weinberg College students explore career options through connecting with alumni. So thank you so much for our alumni for being here with us today. And we're going to spend some time. Amelia is going to take us through some prepared questions for our speakers. We'll get into it. Are you okay? I feel like I always talk at the worst time too. So no worries. And then we're going to save plenty of time for questions at the end. And Shai is going to moderate questions from you all. So please, we'll save plenty of time for that as you all are writing [inaudible 00:00:44] down throughout. And I think that's it without... And of course, thank you to Geoclub for partnering with us on this event. Very excited to have you all bring this idea forward and work with you all on this. So thank you. And without further ado, I'll pass to Amelia and Shai. Why don't you introduce yourselves first and then we'll go to our alumni speakers? [inaudible 00:01:06]. Amelia: Hi, everyone. Thank you so much for coming. I'm Amelia. I'm a second year. I'm a Bio and Earth Science... Technically, Earth Science minor, but whatever. And I'm the president of Geoclub. And I'm so grateful that you all attended this event. We really wanted to be able to show people what Earth and Environmental Sciences can do for you in the future and expand the idea of there are [inaudible 00:01:29]. Shai: Hi, guys. I'm Shai. I use he/him pronouns. I'm a senior majoring in Earth and Planetary Science. I'm education chair of Geoclub. So also very glad to see so many [inaudible 00:01:40] here, and I'm excited to hear all the wisdom that our alumni have to offer. Thank you guys. Amelia: Yeah. So to start us off with some questions, can you share with us more about your industry and current job function and introduce yourselves while you're at it? And if you could speak to the microphone, that would be wonderful. Cassie Petoskey: Yeah. We're recording it. Sorry. Seems silly. Max Jones: Sure. Yeah. My name is Max Jones. And speaking of the future of your careers, I'm the near future because I graduated in June actually. So I am a class of 2024. I'm currently a Master's student at the Chicago Botanic Garden and I'm working as a conservation biologist and wildlife biologist. And so right now I've just returned from seven months of fieldwork in Panama doing work on forest fragmentation and animal movements. And I'm super excited to talk about all that and then also how I've kind of gotten to this point, especially so fresh out of undergrad. And then moving forward, I'm also going to be moving to Germany this summer to work with some scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior to keep working there. And so I'm going to be talking mostly I guess about my time networking at Northwestern and then how Earth and Planetary Science and Environmental Science has led me to the strange position I'm in right now. Margaret Isaacson: Hey, everyone. So my name's Margaret Isaacson. I graduated in 2015. It's been a minute. I'm a graduate of the Earth and Planetary Sciences Department, and currently I am a conservation and outdoors division manager at the Parks and Rec department in Evanston. So I'm pretty local. My position title is a long way of saying that I oversee our local nature center and all the programs that we run out of that facility along with the park services team that oversees the maintenance of the public restrooms around town and the athletic fields around town and picnic areas. So happy and excited to be here and talk to you all. And I think what I'll focus on, but happy to answer any questions, is how my experience in the department brought me to maybe an unusual career path and sector of the workplace, which is parks and recreation. Amelia: Thank you. So what were some of the impactful classes or experiences for you in your undergrad at Northwestern that led you to pursue your career path? Margaret Isaacson: Max, I feel like yours is in more recent memory, but I'll dig back. Max Jones: Okay. For mine, I think I'd probably start with saying ironically Spanish. Spanish led me down a snowball into this world of Latin American conservation that I've found myself in. And it was really that triggered the start, but then also I had everyone in the Environmental Science Department urging me to branch out and try new things, which was something super interesting. And so then specifically which classes, I'd say the GIS class with Elsa Anderson that I took was incredibly impactful in my senior year. That's been a skill that I've used all the time going forward. And just knowing these different kinds of programs like that have made it really easy for me to quickly pick up new kinds of analysis or feel comfortable going into different fields that I might not have experience with at the time. There was that, and then I'd also say my community ecology class from... That one's with the Biology Department, although I think Environmental Science students often take that too. That one just exposed me to a lot of different kind of paper readings. And so at first I thought those classes were very unfocused, but then I realized the goal is to expose you to so many different kinds of scientific thought that then you can... You find that one paper that you get really, really into for some reason and then that ends up being the rabbit hole that you follow down into the career that you want. Margaret Isaacson: The first thing that I'm thinking about back 10 years ago is some of the field experiences that I went on with the various classes, everything from Earth 201, that [inaudible 00:05:45] like trip, which hopefully is still around, to doing lake sediment coring up in Wisconsin on a frozen lake in the middle of February. That's right. Maggie remembers that hopefully. It was very cold. It was very, very cold that day. A lot of dancing on the ice to keep warm. So these experiences in the outdoors, they built on my passion for camping, my passion for spending time in the outdoors, but I got to be doing important science while I was out there. And now as a parks and recreation professional, my job is primarily outdoors and the goal of our Ecology Center here in Evanston is to inspire families, young kids, adults, people of all ages to spend time outdoors, whether that's through a quick class, through a whole summer of summer camp. But really it was those experiences doing science outside that showed me what can I do to inspire other people. "My professors are inspiring me now. Is there something more local, maybe less academic that I can have an impact on a broad range of people?" So I think those experiential moments were really important for me and really didn't guide me directly to parks and rec, but reinforced my passion for the outdoors and for inspiring that in others. Amelia: Max, you mentioned a bit about how your connections and networking that you had here are important. I don't know if that's applicable to you, but if you'd share a bit more about that, I'd love to hear. Max Jones: Yeah. Sorry. Give me just a second. You guys, it really was like... It's a funny thing on how you get started in these things because it's never the path you originally take that ends up to where you end up in the end. Because I think I started with one of the professors who was teaching an introductory climate change course my freshman year. I worked with her on processing photos of trees for a while and then that slowly led me to meet the people at the Chicago Botanic Garden. And then even though my research interests don't perfectly align with them, I did a thesis with Trish, with Patricia Betos, as my undergrad thesis advisor. And Trish is a mover. She loves pushing people to go do more and more and more. So I ended up going and doing a thesis in Costa Rica for my undergrad field work. And this is what I mean by the snowballs because I started taking photos of trees and then I ended up in Costa Rica doing sea turtle work with Trish and then from there I met the people that I worked with on this project as well. So that's the number one thing that I always recommend is don't be afraid to follow a lead, even if you don't know exactly where it's going to lead you to in that moment. Margaret Isaacson: Yeah. I could add a little bit to that. Not so much networking here on campus, but just post-grad when you start out at an opportunity. My first job was a part-time... My first job after post-grad was a part-time position with the Ecology Center. It was limited hours. I was learning on the job how to lead programs, completely new in the environmental education field, but I then left and came back two times and in four different positions leading to the one that I'm in now. So I think, like you said, following a lead, even if you don't know necessarily where it's going to take you, building relationships with the folks that you work with, the folks that... Whether it's academic or professional or just a summer experience, those are connections that you're going to take with you along the way. They might be people that you meet again. They might not. But like you said, Max, it's going to take you somewhere. And I think I wouldn't be where I was now if I didn't have the Ecology Center, for example, in the back of my mind and just building back towards that in some ways once I found something that I was excited about. Amelia: That's great. Thank you. What has surprised you about what you learned or did during your school days that helped you in your work today? I hope something you learned helps today. Margaret Isaacson: I can speak to that a little bit. So when I was an undergrad, I had two majors. I studied French all the way at the south end of campus, and then I was up here at the north end of campus doing Earth and Planetary Sciences. And having those two degrees really helped me flex some of my critical thinking skills. I wasn't always focused on data and reading scientific papers. I was also reading French literature and writing papers about French literature. I'm not fluent in French. I'm not using that skill very much. But that flexibility between two different majors or two different ways of using your brain has really served me well in how I organize my time at work, how I manage my staff, how we think critically about designing a new program in Evanston or figuring out how to make the bathrooms clean. Somebody's got to do it, so figuring out an efficient way to do that. I think the work ethic that you learn and practice at Northwestern is going to serve you no matter what. Maybe, Max, you have more data analyst that you use in your day-to-day than I do necessarily, but I think it's those soft skills and those hard skills that are going to come into play. Max Jones: No. I 100% agree with the soft skills part because so many of the random little things you do day-to-day as a college student end up translating in very strange ways to you being in a post-grad experience. For example, I never played soccer before, but then I played IM Leagues here and then all of a sudden, I felt very comfortable going and playing IM Leagues in Panama and that was my resource to going to meet people. And so you do just learn very good social skills in college, I'd say, that then translate very well to being outside. And I think that's especially true at Northwestern when you're surrounded by people who generally like to have conversations because sometimes you come across someone that might not want to engage with you in a way that you want to engage with them and so you have now this kind of depth of experience of having good productive conversations with people and that you can use going forward. And that's something that I always found super useful. I also took a drawing class that I found really productive here. Yeah. Amelia: So sort of going back to the networking question, what advice might you have for networking within your individual industries? Max Jones: Do not be afraid to cold call people. That's the number one thing I think, is the worst that can happen is... Honestly the worst that can happen is that they remember your name and that's a best case scenario in most fields because then a few years down the line you can meet them again and be like, "Oh, hi. Do you remember me?" They say yes, then you've won technically. Yeah, because I've also talked to friends about this because they say... Especially in science, people love to collaborate in science. You'll have people wanting to collaborate even when you don't really want to. And so if you just email them and you just express your genuine interest, not just trying to find a job out of it, then I've only had people respond very positively in these scenarios. And so even if you get told, "No, we don't have an option," a friend of mine once told me that every interview or every kind of reaching out is a networking opportunity, so even if you don't get it, you've done your job for that day at least because then you've met one more person who maybe five years down the line is going to help you out. Margaret Isaacson: I would add that more than likely you're going to end up in... You potentially end up in some kind of professional sphere that has conference opportunities, whether that's something that you're attending now or looking to in the future. I was surprised. I shouldn't have been surprised, but I was surprised when I got into parks and rec that there's a parks and rec conference. There's an Illinois parks and rec conference. There's a national parks and rec conference. There's so many people in this industry that I can learn from and skills that I never thought I'd even touch. So like Max said, don't be afraid to reach out to people. They're excited to talk about what they do and how they got there and what they want to do. So I think if you don't hear from people right away, it's probably because they're busy, but hopefully they get back to you. It doesn't hurt to email them again. Yeah. Just keep a positive attitude when you're reaching out to folks. Amelia: [inaudible 00:14:20] question, what is your favorite thing about your job? Margaret Isaacson: Oh, man. There's so many things. I also thought of my least favorite things, but... Well, you guys know I'm in charge of bathrooms now. It's not so glamorous. Gosh. There's so many fun things about parks and recreation. Being able to be outside a lot of the time is pretty great. I do spend a lot of hours behind a desk like anyone, but having our seasonal special events that we get the community out for, building new opportunities too for folks to experience the outdoors. Is really powerful to see the Evanston Environmental Association and the Ecology Center are working on trying to build a new canoe launch so that we can access the canal more easily. It's going to have a really big local impact. And it's just an inspiring process to watch. There's other parts of my job, like I said, that I never thought I'd be doing, where our building is under construction right now. And I studied Earth and science. I didn't study construction or architecture, but I get to see that whole process play out. And I think you can really see a lot of variety in most professions and learn from each of those experiences. And yeah. Right now, the construction is actually really fun to see play out. Max Jones: Yeah. For me, I'd say the collaborative element is something that I really love in my profession. It's the fact that no science is ever done in a bottle, and so you're constantly just meeting with people. It feels like a very creative process as you go through it. So it's always evolving, always adapting. Even the things you think are going to be boring, like sitting on your computer all day, just coding in R, then ends up being like something's going on there. And then you just dive down the rabbit hole and then you text all the other people you're collaborating with. It's like, "Hold on. Am I seeing this correctly?" Hey, I find it very enjoyable the fact that the process is iterative and I always get a chance to learn from other people. And then, like I said earlier, people love to collaborate. So then I've had really brief meetings where they're just throwing out ideas left and right at me. And the concept of just putting together all of these people's collective knowledge and interests and passion into the project is something that really speaks to me. And then the other thing I'd say is definitely I have a very fieldwork heavy field, and I think that that is something that's I personally enjoy a lot is this balance of I get to do work outside and then I also get to do this collaborative, creative element and bring this... Synthesize it all into a living, breathing work that I can put out into the world afterwards. Amelia: Thank you so much. Not to be presumptuous, but I'm seeing some themes between the both of you, which you said you like to be outside and you like to be creative, which I think is awesome. I think that's a thing that a lot of us in the room can relate to. How have your work or how have your values and beliefs influenced how you approach your professional workplace? Margaret Isaacson: Oh. Max Jones: It's funny. I prepped for this question and I'm still not ready for it. Margaret Isaacson: So I spoke to a little bit my passion for the outdoors, passion for outdoor rec, whether that's camping, hiking, backpacking, canoeing. A lot of those things I don't do here in Chicago. There's not too many backpacking routes in Chicago, so I try to get out of town and state for those. But those core values, just spending time outside really inform my day-to-day work, like you said, Amelia. I think even just taking a little break during the workday to get some [inaudible 00:18:04] or planning a professional development program for the Ecology Center staff or the parks and rec department as a whole that gets everyone outside and gets them rejuvenated goes a long way to staff's mental health, having fun in the workplace, being inspired in the workplace, even when we have these boring administrative tasks that we have to do every day. So I think that outdoor passion is really something that's just stuck with me along the way. And then were it not for the Ecology Center existing in this parks and rec department in Evanston, I wouldn't be able to bring my passion for sustainability to work either. I think sustainability would inform a lot of the things that the department does and that the City of Evanston does. The city has its own sustainability staff. We've got a sustainable waste manager. So I would say the town is progressive in that aspect, but having a center that's dedicated to promoting sustainability and educating folks on sustainability in a fun way, not in like a, "Here's how you recycle. And here's a DIY workshop on how to," I don't know, "Swap your clothes or something with other folks." I think having that focus of a center dedicated to this brings the fun into the Department of Sustainability, and that's been really nice to take from my work in paleo-climatology to, "Okay. What are we doing now and here and in this time to help Earth?" Max Jones: I really like what Margaret said about passion driving a lot of the work because I think that's really prominent in this field, especially where passion for the subject matter is really what gets us out of bed in the morning and then gets us to go because not a lot of people choose what we do based on the money or it's not like a career path that's recommended. It's like, "Oh, you should go into Earth and Environmental Sciences because that's a high income field." It's like, "No. We're doing this because we love it." And I do think that that is something that's like... It helps motivate a lot of the work you do and a lot of the challenges you might face along the way. It's like you think that, "At the very least I'm doing this because I love it and not because anyone is telling me I should." Amelia: I totally agree. I'm guessing a lot of people in this room also have a passion that leads them to come here. I think I'm out of my questions. Does anyone else have questions that they want to ask the speakers? I mean, I have [inaudible 00:20:42] my paper. Yeah. Rose: Yeah. Thank you guys for both being here. My name is Rose. I'm [inaudible 00:20:49] major. I'm a sophomore. I'm kind of curious, when you both were juniors, seniors, what did you think you were going to do and what was the plan that you had in your mind and what were the factors, like, "Oh, grad school. Oh, this, that."? Max Jones: Do you want me to start because more recent? Margaret Isaacson: Yeah. Max Jones: Okay. My journey as an undergrad was pretty funny because I came in as an engineering student. I originally wanted to be an environmental engineer because I come from Kentucky and so then back home you're just pushed to be either a doctor, an engineer or a lawyer. And I was like, "Well, engineer sounds fun." And then I got here and then I was just surrounded by people who were following passions instead of then just what they wanted to do. And so then I began to explore this career as an ambiguous just environmental researcher in my mind, but I didn't know exactly what that was going to look like and I really didn't know what it was going to look like until very recently. I only started all of my work abroad and then all of my work as a biologist specifically late in my junior year. And so it's one of those things where it's like I feel like a lot of it will take shape in very sudden and dramatic ways. So even if you don't know exactly where you're going, there's going to be some kind of event that triggers it and it all starts moving into place in that way. At least that's how it happened for me. Margaret Isaacson: I remember my advisor asking, "What is your dream job?" And I didn't really have a good answer. I wasn't ready, like, "Oh, I want to be teacher," or like, "I want to get a PhD and go into academia," or, "I want to do this type of research forever because I'm super excited about." And I was like, "Well, I like to spend time outside. Maybe a park ranger." I literally oversee staff called park rangers now. So I made it. But I think that brought me to, "Hmm. How can I take..." I really like reading about all this research. I really like digging into it myself. I like looking at under the microscope and making that into a paper. But I didn't see myself necessarily going to grad school. It wasn't like a for sure thing. And it wasn't a certainty for me. It didn't quite set in as that's what I definitely want to do. But I saw all this cool research and wanted to know, "Well, how do we take all this amazing but very specific research and take it and communicate it to the general public? What are they getting out of all the great things that we do here on campus and elsewhere?" And that took me down the path of environmental education and science communication. I think for a little while I thought, "Oh, I'm going to maybe go and figure how to write and become a science communicator." I found local part-time jobs that were environmental education related because that was going to be how I took my expertise and my knowledge, build on that knowledge in other ways, and then inspire other people to maybe they end up getting a PhD. Maybe it's not me, but it might be them, or they're just excited about being outside and learning a new fact about local wildlife. So yeah, it was kind of circuitous. And over the last 10 years or so since finding science communication, I've gone more towards the administrative and managerial side, which is also really exciting. I like flexing those muscles and figuring out how to get a team to work all together and put on that science communication. I'm not in front of the campfire group leading the program anymore, and that's kind of a bummer sometimes, but we make it happen as a team. So you discover different talents along the way as well. Amelia: That was an awesome answer. Thank you so much. I did realize there's one more question on my paper that Rose's kind of leaned into, which is what do you wish you could tell yourself when you were in student's shoes? Margaret Isaacson: Do you wish you could tell yourself last year? Max Jones: I know, right? I do wish that... Because it's very natural that while you're wondering if what you're doing is going to work out, then you put a lot of pressure on yourself. It's like, "Why haven't I figured out what I'm going to do next right now?" And over the process of I guess the last year and a half for me, it's very much like a process of it happens. Progress happens very slowly until it just jumps forward. So you're going to feel like you're stuck and then you're repeating the same patterns a lot. It's like, "Why haven't I gotten this next connection yet? Why haven't I figured it out?" And then it really snaps into place when you least expect it. And so then you finally get that motion forwards and then things start rushing and then life moves faster again, but then it'll slowly trickle back down and then you have to ride the waves of sometimes it moves fast in terms of you're making these good connections and you're moving forward in your projects or in your career, and then other times you have to be very calm and weather the storm a little bit. So I'd say I tell myself to calm down and chill out. Margaret Isaacson: I would second that. "Just relax. It's going to work out. Okay?" I think that I was kind of similar in putting a lot of pressure on myself to do well academically. Again, not really thinking about what I wanted to do post-grad until I was in it. But I think just give yourself some grace and be patient with what you do. Work hard, but you can also be patient and not expect that you're going to do the same thing as your colleague or your friend who is in the same department. Your paths could look completely different. Clearly. Ours are completely different. So talk to your colleagues. Talk to your advisors. See what their experiences are. Ask alumni what their experiences are. But don't think that that is the experience that you have to do or take or follow. There's a lot of options and you can also pivot later. You might get into something right after graduation and then you might find out, "Oh, I'm really good at this one piece of that job and I'm going to pursue that." It's not a straight path. It's not one thing. You can always switch it up. I may switch it up. You never know. Max Jones: Yeah. If I can bounce back off that again, it's not comparing yourself to the people around you [inaudible 00:27:34] critical because then you end up in cycles where the person next to you gets a fellowship and instead of being happy for them and interested in it, you're just like, "Oh, damn. Why don't I have a fellowship yet?" And it really is like, yeah, everyone has a different path that they're going to take throughout this and it just feeds into an imposter syndrome if you let yourself make those comparisons. Margaret Isaacson: A lot of the staff who come and work at the Ecology Center are recent grads. They come and they do part-time work as program instructors. That's what I started out as. And I think I see in them bringing just so much positivity and excitement about their work. I think that's a really great thing to grab on when you're just starting out after graduating in your career. You're going to feel great about yourself if you're doing something you're excited about. You're going to meet people and learn what they do. And the staff that I work with, they work so hard, they cobble together multiple part-time jobs. They're pulling experience from multiple places and it's getting them where they need to be. Not to say that that's the path for everyone, but I think it's just important to keep a positive attitude while you're in it and know that you're not stuck when you start one thing. You don't have to do that for the rest of time. Max Jones: That was beautiful. Amelia: That was beautiful. Thank you. Shai, you want to keep taking questions? Shai: Yeah. For sure. Did anybody have any other questions they want to ask alumni? Sure. Speaker 7: Do you guys feel like your identity ties into what you do? Or do you guys feel like you found parts of yourself doing your work? Even like you said, you kind of trialed a little bit. Do you feel like that kind of connected you more to who you are and even to [inaudible 00:29:27] up to what you do? Max Jones: Yeah. It kind of radically changed how I viewed myself in a way because, yeah, so I'm from Kentucky. I'm from a low-middle-income family. And so coming here I was very out of my elements it felt like a lot of times, surrounded by very elite academic institutions. So I went through a lot of my first second year with a chip on my shoulder. But then I go start working in Latin America where scientists there have to work twice as hard as I do just because they don't speak the same language. And then all of a sudden all of that feelings of angst, I guess, flooded away because I was like everything that I've been angry about or anxious about has just been minuscule on a larger scale. Yeah. I say working in international communities like that has very much changed my perception on life and science and as an industry as a whole. Margaret Isaacson: I would add the industry that I'm in, parks and rec, is very service oriented and I've learned so much about customer service, not from a restaurant job, but from answering 311s and... So. I don't know if everyone knows what 311. You guys know what 311 is, right? Okay. Maybe. Yes. That's Maggie, right? Are you sending me the 311s? No. But I think I've found that it makes me happy to provide a service for a community and you feel fulfilled when you... Even if it's something unglamorous, like cleaning bathrooms, you still feel like, "Oh, I'm impacting people on a regular basis, on a daily basis. And with my small work or local work, it's still important." So I think finding your impact is really a powerful thing, Speaker 7: [inaudible 00:31:29] but they take... Not take away from your [inaudible 00:31:31], but like you said, having that chip on your shoulder when you look back and now that you fulfilled almost in what you're doing, [inaudible 00:31:38]. Margaret Isaacson: I was so stressed back then. You don't need to be stressed. It's okay though. You can be stressed. College is a stressful time. There's a lot going on. You guys have a lot on your plate. You're managing a lot of learning. You're managing a lot of growth. And that's just going to continue. But you're able to take that on. And this is just one experience that's going to teach... College is just one experience that's going to teach you that you're capable of taking that on. You're just going to keep taking on new things. Shai: [inaudible 00:32:13] question? Yeah. Sure. Speaker 8: How do you guys feel about your work-life balance or just your outdoorsy hobbies come [inaudible 00:32:25]? Max Jones: Do you want to say? Margaret Isaacson: Sure. My work-life, so... Okay. Speaker 8: Your balance is [inaudible 00:32:36] by [inaudible 00:32:37] having outdoorsy hobbies and also that in a job. Margaret Isaacson: Oh, I see what you're saying. Interesting. No. Work is still work, even when it's outside, but it's nice when it's outside because you get a little break from your desk. No. I think work-life balance is probably something that you all are learning even now. And it's one of those things that you're going to get into the work world and it's going to look a little bit different. You're going to be tired. But I think if you find the right gig or the right job that's going to be able to build that in and still make time for yourself. And it's important to make time for yourself even in your work. I'm not sure if that was your question, but... Yeah. Do you want to? Max Jones: Yeah. I think I understand exactly what your worry is here because I love outdoors. I love all things nature related. But I have been surrounded by people sometimes when I'm working where it's like we're in the field 10 hours a day and then they come back, they're like, "Wow. That was great, wasn't it?" And I was like, "I'm tired. I want to go home," even though I love what I've done, but then you do come across a lot of... Not a lot, but sometimes you do find scenarios where the people you're with don't view what they're doing necessarily as work. They also view it as very fun. And so then you have to set your own boundaries there where you have to be like, "Yes, I enjoy this work a lot, but this is not what I want to be doing in my free time right now. I don't want to give up another afternoon of my time to go work, even though I enjoy my work." So I have found myself in those dilemmas before where it's like you really enjoy being outside, but also after your 15th hour of it, you're just like, "Okay. Let me go read a book or something." Shai: Good question. Do you have any more question? Cassie Petoskey: I think [inaudible 00:34:28] question about the goal day-to-day. I'm guessing every day is different, but what are you doing in [inaudible 00:34:36]? What are you doing in your outside? What are the activities? And how often? Like 15 hour a day you're outside? That's [inaudible 00:34:47]. What does that look like a day? Walk us through a day. Max Jones: Okay. For me, well, my day-to-day has just changed dramatically because I finished up my field season, but when I was in the field, it would be we're up at 5:45, quick breakfast, and then we go out into the forest, and then... I was setting up camera traps and so we were specifically looking at arboreal cameras and arboreal species, like monkeys and stuff. And so we would set up cameras in the trees. And so to do that, we would have to climb trees. I'd be climbing trees myself. And so that sometimes could entail... If one tree could take almost six hours sometimes just because you'd have to take a slingshot and then put a line up in the tree. I don't want to get too into it, but... Cassie Petoskey: [inaudible 00:35:32]. Max Jones: "Get into it. Get into it." Okay. Do we want the break- Cassie Petoskey: We want to know how you climb. Max Jones: Okay. So you take a big slingshot, and then you shoot a weight with a string on it over a branch that you think can support your weight. And then you... I say think because you test it. And then you tie a climbing rope. You pull the climbing rope over. And then I just hook into a harness and then a few climbing equipments. And then I go up. And then sometimes, depending on if the tree is difficult, if there's ants in it or something, it can take me a few hours up there too. Then I took my data and then I'd come back down. And the idea was always we would do two a day. Sometimes we would push for three a day. And so that could take like... We could be working from sunrise right up until sunset. There was a few times when I was still up in a tree and I'd had to use a headlamp to finish up up there because we were just pushing so hard by the end of the day. Margaret Isaacson: Very cool. Max Jones: Now- Margaret Isaacson: Can you teach a tree climbing program for the Ecology Center, please? Max Jones: I'd love to. Margaret Isaacson: Perfect. We'll talk later. I want to tell you what my day-to-day looked like when I first started out and then where I am now because it's very different. When I was first starting on as a program instructor, so post-grad, I would come to work, I would write a lesson plan or write up a program, decide what materials I needed, gathered them. I took care of animals on a daily basis that we had for educational purposes. And then often I would be going out and leading that program. Sometimes it was a family campfire. Sometimes it was a critter visit, where I'm holding up animals and showing them to kids and letting them pet them. Super fun. Now my work is a little bit more behind the scenes. So I do a lot of emailing and a lot of administrative tasks. I coordinate with a lot of different departments, whether that's greenways, to make sure that the athletic fields are ready for the sports season, or touching base with my seasonal staff to make sure that they're doing their rounds on the lakefront bathrooms, or planning, budgeting and meeting with the program coordinators who are actually planning programs. So it's a lot of, like I said, more backend work and making sure that when we present these programs through the program instructors, the position that I used to do, to the public or through summer camp, that it's kind of ready to go, we're using taxpayer money wisely and well, and that the city has services that are meeting their needs and expectations. So it's a lot of email and payroll and some unglamorous things, but we also get outside occasionally. Shai: Do other people have question? Speaker 9: Well, with the... Thank you so much for being here for answering all our questions, but with the summer coming around, I'm sure many of us in this room are looking for internships and jobs and any experience in the field. Where do you recommend we look? And then a follow-up that would be how do you prepare for interviews? Margaret Isaacson: If you're local, Chicago Environmental Network has a ton of opportunities, wide-ranging, seasonal, full-time, part-time. That's a great site. Yeah. Of course. Chicago Environmental Network. And they have a job board. I think they also have volunteer postings. We always post our positions there and all of the area nature science adjacent companies and organizations post on there as well. Shai: We'll find that [inaudible 00:39:22] a follow-up. Speaker 9: Thank you. Max Jones: I'd say it depends a lot on what kind of work you want to get into, but I know that there's a really good job listing board. It's like UT Austin or something. I'm sure Maggie or Trish know it. But it really kind of depends on what you want to get into. Historically, the Scientists in the Parks have been a very competitive but credible internship. I don't know if they're operating this summer because of everything happening. The Shedd Aquarium I've also heard has some pretty interesting opportunities for research assistants over the summer. I had a friend who did actually like scuba diving with them and then went to found mussels in one of the Chicago rivers or something. It was pretty cool. And then I've also heard some good things about the Audubon Society. Sometimes they periodically have stuff around here. Besides that, I'd cold call or cold email professors because a lot of them have... Either they directly have a project that they might want you to work on or sometimes they'll redirect you to Master's students or PhDs. Right now in the listserv that I'm on in the Chicago Botanic Garden, we get emails forwarded to us from students at Northwestern being like, "Hi. Is anybody looking for help this summer? I'd love to work." Margaret Isaacson: I think I was on some environmental listserv of some kind. I'll try to track it down and send it to Cassie. And this was a while ago. But I remember... Gosh. Anyway. It took me to Great Basin Institute, which is out west, but they do all kinds of research and experiential education in the western states. I did that for a summer. One year I was basically a camp counselor, but they also have a lot of research positions as well that are seasonal. Max Jones: Lincoln Park Zoo also has some really cool stuff down there. The Urban Wildlife Division is... I wanted to work with them every single year I was an undergrad. It just never worked out. Yeah. Shai: [inaudible 00:41:16]. Do they have any other questions [inaudible 00:41:16]? Amelia: How do we take care of the internship [inaudible 00:41:19]? Speaker 11: When was your last interview? Margaret Isaacson: What was that? Speaker 11: [inaudible 00:41:27]. Margaret Isaacson: My last interview was two years ago, a year and a half. Yeah. So pretty recent. The way I prepared for that interview, I had a little insight being already in the department and the division that I was applying for a promotion. So I kind of knew some of the questions that they might ask me, but you can... The way that I did it is I like to think of questions that I might be asked, go ahead and answer them and just write down ideas and thoughts. For my most recent position, I also thought about what I would want as a manager. So I was applying for the position that had been overseeing what I... That's so confusing. I was a program coordinator and I applied for a promotion. So I thought, "As a program coordinator, what would I want to see in a manager? And what projects would I want to prioritize?" And I brainstormed those. But yeah, just thinking through questions that they might ask. Most interviews will ask some of those classic questions. They're always going to start out with, "Why are you applying to this job?" So your elevator pitch is really important and can speak to your passion and also experience. Yeah. Just jotting down some notes. That works for me. Maybe it doesn't work for everyone, but that's what I did. Max Jones: I haven't been in a lot of interviews at this stage of my career, honestly. Most of my interviews have been very informal conversations. And so I think that's just by luck how I've moved forward. Right now, I just haven't had any interviews, to be honest. So think Margaret's advice is sage. Margaret Isaacson: I guess I could add more. Yeah. I also have done a lot of interviews where I didn't get the job too. So sometimes you just don't know exactly what they're looking for, and that's okay. It doesn't mean that you're not experienced and that you're not knowledgeable of what you do. It just might not be what they're looking for for that position, or someone has just a little bit more in a particular area that they're excited about. I've also been on the other side of interviews where I get to see all the candidates and hear what they have to offer and see what does it look like for our department if we hire this person instead of this person and they have different experience and we're not really sure how to staff this new position, and the interviewees inform the position. So that can happen as well, where it's not necessarily just... Sometimes it's based on a feeling a little bit, which sounds kind of crazy, but... Yeah. Been on both sides. I think you can practice a lot for an interview. You can hone your speaking skills. You can keep your answers brief but interesting and show your passion, and then just know that you're going to do interviews and some of them are going to work out and some of them aren't. And that's okay. Amelia: [inaudible 00:44:31] just kind of silly. Do people ever reference the TV show in your workplace? Margaret Isaacson: All the time. One of my co-workers has Leslie Knope on her desktop. Yeah. For sure. Yeah. Yeah. Definitely. Amelia: [inaudible 00:44:46]. Margaret Isaacson: No. There are moments where we have situations we're like, "This could be a Parks and Rec episode. We should just start our own show." Yeah. Cassie Petoskey: Thank you both so much for being here. And I know we have a few more minutes, so students, if you all have the questions or just want to make connections, we'll share out LinkedIn profiles after, but I encourage you to come up and chat with the alumni for a few minutes here. But really thank you all so much for coming out. Thanks, Geoclub, for bringing forward this idea. And thanks to Max and Margaret for being here. So... Amelia: Thanks again. Shai: Thanks [inaudible 00:45:28]. Cassie Petoskey: [inaudible 00:45:28].  

Leigh Ann welcomes Evan Marks, founder of the Ecology Center, a 25-acre organic regenerative farm in Orange County. Leigh Ann introduces the soulful and philosophical topic of organic regenerative farming and Evan discusses his origin story, inspired by environmental concerns and experiences in Latin America and Africa, to his return to Orange County and the creation of the Ecology Center. They delve into the significant differences between conventional, organic, and regenerative farming, emphasizing sustainability, soil health, and community impact. The conversation highlights the ripple effects of farming practices on both the land and human health, underscoring the importance of local, mindful consumption and support for family farmers. They conclude with a discussion on the broader vision of creating more community-centered farming initiatives and how individuals can participate in this sustainable movement.Product Discount Codes + LinksJacob Protein Bar: LinkApollo Neuro Wearable: Link (Discount Code: LEIGHANN)Guest InfoThe Ecology Center - WebsiteThe Ecology Center - InstagramRelated EpisodesPodcast Ep. 184: Karen Hurd - A Biochemist Dives Deep Into the Science of Detoxing at a Cellular Level, Debunking Common Detox MythsPodcast Ep. 172: Dr. Shivani Gupta - Ancient Wisdom for Modern Health w/Ayruvedic Principles for Daily LivingWork w/Leigh AnnLearn: What is EVOX Therapy?Book: Schedule a Session or FREE Discovery CallMembership: What is The Uplevel Lab?Connect w/Me & Learn MoreWebsiteInstagramTiktokYoutube

Market Match from the Ecology Center Website On today's show, I'll speak to Stacy Malkan, US Right To Know co-founder and managing editor, about Bayer/Monsanto's latest scheme to get out paying billions in compensation for all the cancer it has knowlingly caused.  We'll switch gears and speak to Ecology Center's executive director Martin Bourque about the possible federal cuts to SNAP/EBT. Stacy Malkan's report on Johnson & Johnson talcum powder scandal and settlement: Johnson & Johnson talc baby powder asbestos trials: key facts   The post Roundup Lawsuits & SNAP Cuts appeared first on KPFA.

Cooper Freeman works to protect Alaska's wildlife, lands and oceans. Before joining the Center for Biological Diversity, he worked with Alaskan Native Tribes and Tribal organizations as a strategic planning facilitator and policy advisor, was program manager and development director at the Occidental Arts & Ecology Center in Northern California, and professionally guided class V […] Read full article: Episode 144 | Fighting Back: Alaska's Stand Against Trump's Environmental Blitzkrieg

In this age of global weirding where climate disruption has tumbled the Goldilocks effect into unruly surges of too much and too little water, the restoration of beavers offers ancient nature-based solutions to the tangle of challenges bedeviling human civilization. Droughts, floods, soil erosion, climate change, biodiversity loss – you name it, and beaver is on it. In this episode, Kate Lundquist and Brock Dolman of the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center share their semi-aquatic journey to becoming Beaver Believers. They are part of a passionate global movement to bring back our rodent relatives who show us how to heal nature by working with nature. This is an episode of Nature's Genius, a Bioneers podcast series exploring how the sentient symphony of life holds the solutions we need to balance human civilization with living systems. Visit the series page to learn more. Featuring Kate Lundquist, co-director of the Occidental Arts & Ecology Center's WATER Institute and the Bring Back the Beaver Campaign in Sonoma County, is a conservationist, educator and ecological artist who works with landowners, communities and resource agencies to uncover obstacles, identify strategic solutions, and generate restoration recommendations to assure healthy watersheds, water security, listed species recovery and climate change resiliency. Brock Dolman, co-founded (in 1994) the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center where he co-directs the WATER Institute. A wildlife biologist and watershed ecologist, he has been actively promoting “Bringing Back Beaver in California” since the early 2000s. He was given the Salmonid Restoration Federation's coveted Golden Pipe Award in 2012: “…for his leading role as a proponent of “working with beavers” to restore native habitat. Resources Beaver Believer: How Massive Rodents Could Restore Landscapes and Ecosystems At Scale Fire and Water: Land and Watershed Management in the Age of Climate Change Brock Dolman – Basins of Relations: A Reverential Rehydration Revolution From Kingdom to Kin-dom: Acting As If We Have Relatives Brock Dolman, Paul Stamets and Brian Thomas Swimme The WATER Institute's Beaver in California reader Bioneers – Where Water, Flows Life Thrives - Ensuring Drought Resilience and Water Security for Farms, People and Ecosystems Credits Executive Producer: Kenny Ausubel Written by: Kenny Ausubel Senior Producer and Station Relations: Stephanie Welch Program Engineer and Music Supervisor: Emily Harris Producer: Teo Grossman Host and Consulting Producer: Neil Harvey Production Assistance: Monica Lopez Graphic Designer: Megan Howe

Nature's Genius is a Bioneers podcast series exploring how the sentient symphony of life holds the solutions we need to balance human civilization with living systems. For all the talk about the Age of Information, what we're really entering is the Age of Nature. As we face the reality that, as humans, we have the capacity to destroy the conditions conducive to life, avoiding this fate requires a radical change in our relationship to nature, and how we view it. Looking to nature to heal nature, and ourselves, is essential.  Traditional Indigenous wisdom and modern science show us that everything is connected and that the solutions we need are present in the sentient symphony of life. We can learn from the time-tested principles, processes, and dynamics that have allowed living systems to flourish during 3.8 billion years of evolution.  In this enlightening series, we visit with scientists, ecologists, Indigenous practitioners of Traditional Ecological Knowledge, community organizers, and authors reporting from the frontlines of ecological restoration. They explore the intelligence inherent in nature and show us how to model human organization on living systems. Guests featured in the series include: Jeannette Armstrong - Co-Founder, Enwokin Centre; Brock Dolman - Co-Founder and Program Director, Occidental Arts and Ecology Center; Erica Gies - Author and Journalist; Brett KenCairn - Founding Director of Center for Regenerative Solutions; Toby Kiers - Professor of Evolutionary Biology and Co-Founder of SPUN; Kate Lundquist - Water Institute Co-Director, Occidental Arts and Ecology Center; Samira Malone - Urban Forestry Program Manager, Urban Sustainability Directors Network; Teresa Ryan - Teaching and Learning Fellow, Forest and Conservation Sciences Dept., Univ. of British Columbia; Merlin Sheldrake - Biologist and Author; Suzanne Simard - Author and Prof. of Forest Ecology, Univ. of British Columbia; Rowen White - Seedkeeper/Farmer and Author from the Mohawk community of Akwesasne Executive Producer: Kenny Ausubel Written by Cathy Edwards and Kenny Ausubel Produced by Cathy Edwards Senior Producer: Stephanie Welch Program Engineer and Music Supervisor: Emily Harris Producer: Teo Grossman Host and Consulting Producer: Neil Harvey Post Production Assistants: Monica Lopez and Kaleb Wentzel-Fisher Graphic Designer: Megan Howe

David Gilbert, author and political ecologist shares more on his new book, "Countering Dispossession, Reclaiming Land: A Social Movement Ethnography." Then, Utah State University's Larissa Yocom, an assistant professor of fire ecology in the Department of Wildland Resources and Ecology Center, takes a closer look at fire ecology and the devastation from the recent California wildfires.

In this age of global weirding where climate disruption has tumbled the Goldilocks effect into unruly surges of too much and too little water, the restoration of beavers offers ancient nature-based solutions to the tangle of challenges bedeviling human civilization. Droughts, floods, soil erosion, climate change, biodiversity loss – you name it, and beaver is on it. In this episode, Kate Lundquist and Brock Dolman of the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center share their semi-aquatic journey to becoming Beaver Believers. They are part of a passionate global movement to bring back our rodent relatives who show us how to heal nature by working with nature. Featuring Kate Lundquist, co-director of the Occidental Arts & Ecology Center's WATER Institute and the Bring Back the Beaver Campaign in Sonoma County, is a conservationist, educator and ecological artist who works with landowners, communities and resource agencies to uncover obstacles, identify strategic solutions, and generate restoration recommendations to assure healthy watersheds, water security, listed species recovery and climate change resiliency. Brock Dolman, co-founded (in 1994) the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center where he co-directs the WATER Institute. A wildlife biologist and watershed ecologist, he has been actively promoting “Bringing Back Beaver in California” since the early 2000s. He was given the Salmonid Restoration Federation's coveted Golden Pipe Award in 2012: “…for his leading role as a proponent of “working with beavers” to restore native habitat. Resources Beaver Believer: How Massive Rodents Could Restore Landscapes and Ecosystems At Scale Fire and Water: Land and Watershed Management in the Age of Climate Change Brock Dolman – Basins of Relations: A Reverential Rehydration Revolution From Kingdom to Kin-dom: Acting As If We Have Relatives Brock Dolman, Paul Stamets and Brian Thomas Swimme The WATER Institute's Beaver in California reader Credits Executive Producer: Kenny Ausubel Written by: Kenny Ausubel Senior Producer and Station Relations: Stephanie Welch Program Engineer and Music Supervisor: Emily Harris Producer: Teo Grossman Host and Consulting Producer: Neil Harvey Production Assistance: Monica Lopez This is an episode of the Bioneers: Revolution from the Heart of Nature series. Visit the radio and podcast homepage to learn more.

We're thrilled to welcome Becca Meuninck, Regional Executive Director of the National Wildlife Federation's Great Lakes Regional Center. In this wonderful conversation with State of Water host Seth Bernard, we hear about (3:30) NWF's current efforts across the region advocating for clean water for people and wildlife collaborating with a broad coalition of organizations and communities across the region. (5:30) Becca shares about how her love for the outdoors has inspired and informed her own educational and vocational path, having worked for more than 20 years at the Ecology Center which included time working with residents and families impacted by PFAS and lead poisoning. (13:05) She speaks to the importance of collaboration in taking on the many challenges in environmental work and how many people and organizations working together can maximize impact and reduce a sense of overwhelm. (21:30) Becca reflects on how growing up in Michigan in a family of nature lovers has nurtured a connection to the environment and how that has continued to sustain and inspire her. (27:40) Finally, she shares how people can get involved in NWF's efforts including urgent efforts to address climate change, to shut down Line 5, to grow access to renewable energy, and to support solutions to protect Great Lakes fisheries. Learn more about how you can support National Wildlife Federation's Great Lakes Center at: https://www.nwf.org/Great-Lakes We encourage you to to also check out our new podcast, Eminazhichiget, which translates in Anishinaabemowin to “person who does good things for others.” This new program celebrates Anishinaabek leaders by uplifting their efforts by providing a snapshot into their work and lives. Learn more and listen in or watch: https://titletrackmichigan.org/eminazhichiget/ Find the full video of this episode and all 2024 State of Water episodes on our YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MICleanH2O /// EPISODE 50 / Becca Meuninch interviewed by Seth Bernard / Produced, edited and mixed by Dan Rickabus and Chris Good / Narrators - Alex Smith, Ben Darcie, Dan Rickabus, Jenny Jones, Angela Gallegos, Rachel Marco-Havens / Graphic by Chris Good / Theme Music - Mike Savina, Seth Bernard & Dan Rickabus / Featured Music - “Homestretch” by Ecotone and “Authors (instrumental demo)" by Dan Rickabus

WHOOEE. Brock Dolman, folks, in this episode is weaving together all sorts of things previously explored on the podcast in a new (old) and incredibly articulate way. This podcast is about water cycles, beavers, fire, sand, geology, the oceans, a living earth, and so much more. Brock is a conservation ecologist and a specialized generalist over at the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center. He's also, in his own right, a linguist and an incredible waeaver of words. We explore the nouns and verbs of earth as energy flows, matter cycles, and life webs. This episode is a catch all - and at the heart of it, is a message about how to build lasting community. Find Brock Dolman:Occidental Arts and Ecology CenterWater and Fire VideoThe Universe is a Green Dragon: A Cosmic Creation Story by Brian SwimmeBiomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature by Janine BenyusCreating a Life Together: Practical Tools to Grow Ecovillages and Intentional Communities by Diana Leafe ChristianThe End of Growth By Richard HeinbergThe Ghost Forest by Greg King Eager by Ben GoldfarbBeaver Land by Leila PhilipTree Crops by J. Russell SmithPicture of subsidence san Joaquin valley of telephone pole Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall KimmererThinking in Systems by Donella MeadowsBlessed Unrest by Paul Hawken AC/DC: The Savage Tale of the First Standards WarSponsored By:REDMOND REAL SALTMine to Table Salt from Utah, Redmond Real Salt is packed full of 60+ Trace Minerals and is a staple in my kitchen. Find their salt, Re-Lyte Hydration Powder, and so much more here. Use code MINDBODYSOIL_15 for 15% off!redmond.life

Have you ever wondered about terms like ecosystem, watershed and biodiversity? Joining this conversation is Kate Lundquist, co-director of the Water Institute at the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center and Champion of Bring Back the Beaver Campaign.

In this episode we travel to Southern California to meet with Samuel Guitron of Gospel Swamp Farm in Santa Ana and Johnny Wilson from The Ecology Center in San Juan […] The post Urban Agriculture in Orange County: Gospel Swamp Farm and The Ecology Center appeared first on Community Alliance with Family Farmers.

Tyler Wells, Executive Chef of nationally-recognized LA restaurant All Time, will be at The Ecology Center farm to serve recipes from the new and equally well-recognized "The CookBook of All Time".   The special pop-up coming up on Thursday, July 11th from 4 - 7pm will allow locals to experience a taste of his exceptional cuisine.

On today's show, it's time for July events in Berkeley!  Keep It In The Ground – Plastic Free July at the Ecology Center, Jessica Mitchell Education and Engagement program coordinator and Martin Bourque executive director discuss the interactive, community events. We'll switch gears just slightly and speak to Cheryl Davila, founder and executive director of the Climate Emergency Mobilization Task Force about their upcoming summit July 19th on climate and biodiversity. The post Plastic Free July at The Ecology Center & Climate Emergency Mobilization Task Force appeared first on KPFA.

Send us a Text Message.This part didn't make it into the full podcast because we had SO much to talk about ... but here on this Cream City Digest you'll hear Jen and Amanda's favorite things about the three different Urban Ecology Center Branches. Washington Park, Menomonee Valley and Riverside Park all have their own unique offerings and Jen and Amanda let us in on what they are. Show your love for Cream City DreamsIf you haven't already, be sure to follow Cream City Dreams on Facebook and Instagram. Sign up for the newsletter HERE.  And I'd LOVE it if you rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts. If you're feeling especially generous, you can always Buy me a Coffee to help keep the lights on!Support the Show.

Send us a Text Message.Connecting people in cities to nature and each other. That is the mission of the Urban Ecology Center. And this week, I talk with two dreamy women who are making REAL connections in our city's natural spaces. Executive Director, Jen Hense, and VP of People and Culture, Amanda Panciera, are working to ensure that nature is accessible and enjoyable for everyone in the Cream City. AND … as if that wasn't enough, they are working to create a dialogue - indeed a MOVEMENT - around what it means to work at a non-profit. Must stewards of the land, and of our communities accept low wages and minimal compensation as the price for a career in service to others? These women don't think so and they are working to change the narrative. Listen in and then JOIN them! Locals and Links we love! Website: https://www.urbanecologycenter.org/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/urbanecologycenterInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/urbanecologycenter/Dan Palotta's TED TalkShow your love for Cream City DreamsIf you haven't already, be sure to follow Cream City Dreams on Facebook and Instagram. Sign up for the newsletter HERE.  And I'd LOVE it if you rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts. If you're feeling especially generous, you can always Buy me a Coffee to help keep the lights on!Support the Show.

Creative Commons – Salmon swimming upstream On today's show, I'll speak to Ecology Center's executive director Martin Bourque previewing Plastic Free July.  We'll switch gears and get an update on the salmon crisis in Northern CA and Oregon from Scott Artis, executive director of Golden State Salmon Association. EVENT LINKS: Enemy of the People Event: https://rb.gy/n83vte Food solutions. Civil Eats is holding an email-based “crash course” on climate solutions in food and farming during June. Learn more. Reproduction and climate. Grist is holding webinar “High Risk: How Climate Change Affects Fertility, Birthing, and Babies,” on June 11. RSVP. Women leaders. Women's Earth Alliance is holding a press briefing, “Voices Unearthed: Shifting the Narrative on Women Grassroots Leaders in the Climate Movement” on June 12. RSVP. Actors' climate voices. The Hollywood Climate Summit 2024 will bring together professionals across TV, film, gaming, and more to explore Hollywood's role in the climate movement. In-person and virtual. June 25-28.   The post Plastic Free July & The Salmon Crisis appeared first on KPFA.

A packed and meaningful interview here for you, some really potent permaculture history and explorations into the well known Occidental Arts and Ecology Center in Sonoma County CA. through the mind of Brock Dolman, Brocks depth of experience is unparalleled in the permaculture community , international in scope and teaching powerful PDC's three times a year from 30 years at OAEC. We discuss Bill Mollison's history with the community there, Alan Chadwicks legacy on the land, how to compose with nature rather than imposing on, and how to run good meetings in intentional communities! More about Brock and to contact hime go here- https://oaec.org/about-us/staff/brock-dolman/ https://www.regenerativedesign.org/instructors/brock-dolman

Episode 169: Food insecurity and Obesity in Kern CountyFuture Dr. Kim presents the problem of food insecurity in Kern County and how it is linked to obesity and liver disease. She shared several resources available to address food insecurity. Dr. Arreaza reminds us of the importance of improving access to fresh and healthy foods.  Written by Judy Kim, OMS3; Mira Patel, OMS3; and Vy Nguyen, OMS3. Western University of Health Sciences. Editing and comments by Hector Arreaza, MD.You are listening to Rio Bravo qWeek Podcast, your weekly dose of knowledge brought to you by the Rio Bravo Family Medicine Residency Program from Bakersfield, California, a UCLA-affiliated program sponsored by Clinica Sierra Vista, Let Us Be Your Healthcare Home. This podcast was created for educational purposes only. Visit your primary care provider for additional medical advice.Arreaza: Why did you pick this topic?Judy: While Kern County is known as one of the top-producing agricultural counties in the country, food insecurity is a major health disparity within this county. In order to dissect the problem of food insecurity in Kern County, we must first discuss the demographics and significance of this current topic. Among residents of Kern County, 23.1% are at or below 100% of the federal poverty level (FPL) and 47.7% are low-income (200% of FPL or below), which is higher than that of California.  Arreaza: What is food insecurity? In February 2023, we discussed the definition in Episode 128, but it is important to remember what it is. “Food insecurity is having limited, uncertain, or inconsistent access to the food necessary for a healthy life.” Another interesting fact is that it is estimated that 45% of undocumented immigrants in California are affected by food insecurity, including 64% of undocumented children (Source: 2021 CHIS).Judy: Food insecurity is strongly tied to numerous conditions such as hypertension, coronary artery disease, diabetes, hepatitis, stroke, cancer, asthma, arthritis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and kidney disease. Thus, this problem must be explored and discussed to find ways to improve health outcomes. However, the first steps must focus on bridging gaps in accessing healthy and affordable foods. For example, consumers have consistently noted that reliable transportation is a barrier when even applying for assistance before accessing their benefits. Oftentimes, families experiencing poverty, a large number of residents in Kern County, are part of the migrant community, move frequently, and experience difficulties even completing the necessary paperwork for programs such as the Migrant Childcare Alternative Payment program. Arreaza: It may be off-topic, but I had to search what MCAP is. The Migrant Childcare Alternative Payment (MCAP) Program provides childcare services to migrant farm worker families in Kern and other counties in California, such as Merced and Fresno. MCAP allows parents to work while children are taken care of by licensed childcare centers, licensed family childcare homes, license-exempt (relatives), and in-home providers. I think many families may not be aware of this program. This is a reminder for our residents and students that this is available for your patients. Judy: Going back to food insecurity, when looking at the distribution and locations of large supermarkets in the greater Bakersfield area, such as Albertsons, Smart & Final, and Vallarta, the northwest area has many large stores and without a high density of households in poverty. In contrast, Oildale, the southwest and southeast areas do not have many large markets nearby. Thus, it is also important to examine how and where our patients can access healthy and affordable food.Obesity and Fatty Liver Disease in Kern County.Judy: I would like to describe the relationship between food insecurity with liver disease. The food insecurity that is prevalent in Kern County contributes to the increasing number of overweight and obese populations we see here. Almost 78% of adults in Kern County are considered either overweight or obese. This is concerning because increased rates of obesity are correlated with higher rates of liver disease. As we know, the liver is responsible for breaking down fats, creating new small and medium-chain fatty acids, and transporting fats. With obesity, fat tends to accumulate in the liver since it is unable to properly break down the fat. This leads to steatosis. Short-term fatty liver disease does not have many clinical findings associated with it, but long term if left uncontrolled it can lead to cirrhosis and death. Arreaza: According to a review of the liver transplant list done in 2022, Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is currently the second leading cause of liver transplant overall, and in females, it is the number-one cause. In California, we see about 13.8 deaths per 100,000 persons from liver-related disease, but Kern County has a high 15.9 deaths per 100,000 persons, which exceeded the Healthy People 2020 objective for liver disease deaths of 8.2 per 100,000 persons. Judy: This was found in Kern Medical Community Needs assessments so these deaths could be correlated to NAFLD, NASH, fatty liver, autoimmune hepatitis, etc. but it is still concerning that the number of deaths from liver disease is about 2x the goal of maximum deaths we would want. Arreaza: So, you are linking food insecurity to obesity, and obesity to fatty liver disease, I see the correlation. Tell us about the local resources to address the problem of food insecurity. Local Resources Judy: As patients walk through our doors, we recognize the social determinants for health and quality of life of our patients. Besides providing affirmations and words of encouragement, it's helpful for the physician and medical staff to offer specific local resources that one can refer to. We collected a list of available resources, please keep in mind that this is not an exhaustive list of the support available in Kern County. Rely on resources around you such as local organizations like Community Action Partnership of Kern (CAPK) and social workers in conjunction with your research to have a comprehensive understanding of what's available for your patients. Arreaza: The first notable resource you guys found is the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, for our unique population– the elderly. It's a USDA-sponsored program that provides a 30-lb monthly food box for seniors 60 years and older who also fall below the federal income guidelines. Judy: The Golden Empire Gleaners also offer support to eligible seniors via a program called  Senior Sack, which has established over 20 sites throughout Kern County. Twice a month, each registered  senior will pick up 10-12 items of fresh fruits, vegetables, canned food, bread, and boxed staples at a local site. Upon arrival, they also engage in interactive activities with the staff and learn more about other local services available.Arreaza: Another resource is the Food Bank, provided by several nonprofit organizations such as Community Action Partnership of Kern, Golden Empire Gleaners,  where individuals of any age can come and receive nutritious food every month. Home delivery and emergency food boxes for seniors are also available. Judy: There are also farmers markets such as F Street Farmers Market, which operates year-round every Saturday from 7:45 am to noon. What's unique about F Street is they offer Market Match which matches program assistance's benefits such as that of CalFresh and eWIC to the farmers' markets and other farm-directed sites. How it works is when individuals use their benefits, Market Match will match that fund so the person can buy even more fruits and vegetables. For example, if I use $10 of CalFresh benefits at the farmers' market, I will also receive another $10 for a total of $20 to spend on any fresh produce. F Street Farmers Market will match up to $20 per visit year-round which increases access to fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as provides an incentive for the locals to support family farms and their businesses. To find other farmers' markets that offer other benefits, please visit Farmers Market Finder by Ecology Center or call CAPK for other free food distribution sites. Arreaza: I have to mention this wonderful initiative which I have participated in many times. It is called the bishop's storehouse, sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is a place where those in need can go to obtain food and other supplies at the recommendation of their bishop. So, it requires a “ticket” from a bishop, who is the leader of a congregation, to receive goods for free. People of any faith can request this help by going to any church location. So, we mentioned the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, Golden Empire Gleaners, Food Bank, F Street Farmers Market, and the bishop's storehouse. Judy, thanks for sharing this relevant information. Please give us a conclusion to wrap up this episode.Judy: As primary care doctors we are in a special position to prevent and treat many diseases. By addressing food insecurity, you may have a significant impact on your community. By providing appropriate nutrition, we can fight and prevent many diseases, such as fatty liver disease among others. We should share these resources with patients to improve their access to healthy food.___________________________Conclusion: Now we conclude episode number 169, “Food Insecurity and Obesity in Kern County.” Future Dr. Kim explained that food insecurity is linked to multiple chronic conditions, and she mentioned particularly obesity and fatty liver disease. Food insecurity can be partially addressed by sharing with our patients the resources in our community, and today you heard some of them, but we encourage you to keep looking for many others and share them with your patients. This week we thank Hector Arreaza, Judy Kim, Vy Nguyen, and Mira Patel. Audio editing by Adrianne Silva.Even without trying, every night you go to bed a little wiser. Thanks for listening to Rio Bravo qWeek Podcast. We want to hear from you, send us an email at RioBravoqWeek@clinicasierravista.org, or visit our website riobravofmrp.org/qweek. See you next week! _____________________References:Food Bank - CAPK: Community Action Partnership of Kern. CAPK. (2024, February 27). https://www.capk.org/seniorfood/Kern Food Insecurity Needs Assessment. CAPK. (2023, August). https://feedingkern.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/CAPK-Food-Insecurity-Needs-Assessment-Report-revised-with-copyedits-9-11-2023.pdfMarket Match Program Helps Residents Double Their CalFresh Dollars. Department of Public Social Services. (n.d.)https://dpss.lacounty.gov/en/news/2021/05/calfresh-market-match.htmlSenior Sack. Golden Empire Gleaners. (n.d.). https://www.goldenempiregleaners.com/programsSenior food program - CAPK: Community Action Partnership of Kern. CAPK. (2024, February 27). https://www.capk.org/seniorfood/Fabbrini E, Sullivan S, Klein S. Obesity and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: biochemical, metabolic, and clinical implications. Hepatology. 2010 Feb;51(2):679-89. doi: 10.1002/hep.23280. PMID: 20041406; PMCID: PMC3575093.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3575093/Know your numbers. Kern County Public Health. (2024, April 1). https://kernpublichealth.com/knowyournumbers/CAPK feeding Kern - feeding Kern. CAPK Food Assessment Report. (2024, March 15). https://feedingkern.org/Community Health Needs Assessment. (n.d.). https://www.kernmedical.com/documents/Kern-Medical-2019-CHNA-Report-Final.pdfDepartment of Health & Human Services. (2007, November 28). Liver - fatty liver disease. Better Health Channel. https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/liver-fatty-liver-disease#Noureddin M, Vipani A, Bresee C, et al. NASH Leading Cause of Liver Transplant in Women: Updated Analysis of Indications For Liver Transplant and Ethnic and Gender Variances. Am J Gastroenterol. 2018;113(11):1649-1659. doi:10.1038/s41395-018-0088-6. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9083888/The Bishops' Storehouse, Provident Living, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, https://providentliving.churchofjesuschrist.org/bishops-storehouse?lang=eng.Royalty-free music used for this episode: Good Vibes by Simon Pettersson, downloaded on July 20, 2023, from  https://www.videvo.net/royalty-free-music

On today's show, I spoke to two amazing climate leaders that will be featured at the 35th annual Bioneers conference.  The first one, Martin Bourque, executive director of Ecology Center and the second, Najari Smith, executive director of Rich City Rides. conference.bioneers.org The post 35th Annual Bioneers Conference appeared first on KPFA.

What is plastic? Plastic is a material derived primarily from carbon-based sources like natural gas, oil, and even plants. It is created by treating these organic materials with heat and catalysts to form various polymers.  Producing plastic is energy-intensive, often relying on the combustion of fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas, both for power and as a primary source.As a product of fossil fuels, plastic itself is unsustainable because of its fundamental connection to nonrenewable energy.  Since its introduction in the early 1900s, plastic has become omnipresent due to its cost-effectiveness and versatility. However, the environmental toll of our extensive plastic consumption — impacting oceans, wildlife, and contributing to climate change — is undeniable.Unlike natural organisms, plastic decomposes at a very slow rate due to its polymer structure. Though some recently identified microorganisms, like the Rhodococcus ruber strain studied by PhD student Maaike Goudriaan, show promise in digesting plastic faster, the research remains preliminary.Types of Plastic Most plastics we use, like bags and bottles, originate from oil and natural gas. Their widespread use has led to significant environmental contamination. On the other hand, there are bio-based plastics derived from sources like food waste, starch, or plants. Not all of these are biodegradable, and even these can harm the environment when they break down into tiny fragments consumed by wildlife.Addressing the Plastic IssueWhile completely eliminating plastic use seems unlikely, there are dedicated efforts to reduce its consumption. Grassroots organizations, like the Berkeley Ecology Center led by Martin Bourque, emphasize local community engagement and education. They advocate for sustainable practices such as using reusable bags, ditching plastic utensils, and employing minimal plastic in packaging. Initiatives like Berkeley's Single Use Disposable Ordinance have been instrumental in cutting down disposable food ware waste, like the clamshell packaging found in the produce section of grocery stores. Prioritizing bio-based plastics and managing our plastic consumption are essential steps towards a sustainable future.Who is Martin Bourque?Martin Bourque is the Executive Director of the Berkeley Ecology Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to enhancing community well-being and the environment. The Center's initiatives range from incentivizing farmer's markets to championing community-based policies. Outside of the Ecology Center, Bourque has also served on numerous state and national boards to help build the organic farming movement.Bourque earned his Bachelor of Arts in Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior from UC San Diego and his Master of Arts in Latin American Studies and Environmental Policy from UC Berkeley. For a transcript, please visit https://climatebreak.org/tackling-the-plastic-crisis-with-martin-bourque/

The Open Buffalo Ecology Center is a holistic solution to tackle the complex and interconnected systemic challenges faced by Buffalo residents, in particular the approximately 93,000 residents of the East Side of Buffalo. In January, The Public Good host Dejia James sat down with Francelle Parker and Max Anderson, Executive and Deputy Directors of Open Buffalo, respectively.  In this episode, Franchelle and Max discuss Open Buffalo's plans for the Ecology Center, envisioning it as a focal point for ecological justice and economic empowerment.  The conversation touches on the importance of multi-generational collaboration, grassroots engagement, and reimagining traditional economic models.  To learn more about our work, visit our website at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ppgbuffalo.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Be sure to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠sign up for our newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Share your ideas for improving our community by emailing us at ⁠⁠⁠info@ppgbuffalo.org⁠⁠⁠. Whether it's highlighting community organizations you admire, shedding light on deserving initiatives, or providing feedback on our current episode, we welcome your thoughts. Let us know how you envision positive change in our community!

Journalist and author George Monbiot has a radical idea for fixing farming's environmental devastation — but can a post-agricultural world feed the planet? Once a social scientist and now a farmer, Chris Smaje offers a defense of small-scale farming and a robust critique of industrialized food production. The Ecology Center is a blue dot in a red sea. How did Evan Marks come to run this 28-acre regenerative farm in Orange County? Reporter Alexander Sammon visits Cherán, where armed militias guard the area to prevent rogue avocado farming.

Rebecca Reagan, founder of Bunnyhawk, shares her journey into meditation and mindfulness. She discusses her early experiences with meditation and how it became a natural instinct for her. Rebecca also talks about her formal training in mindfulness meditation and transcendental meditation. She highlights the importance of daily practice and the benefits of meditation in navigating challenging life events. Rebecca also touches on her passion for tea and her involvement in regenerative agriculture and environmental activism.Visit her on her site for life coaching and meditation teaching:  https://bunnyhawk.life/Visit her bio site: https://rayonthebae.com/Co-founder, new foundation in Ecuador helping farmers & forests https://amazonhealing.love/ Co-founder, recently nominated for a grammy: https://www.thebirdsongproject.com/ Guided meditations here: https://insighttimer.com/bunnyhawkThe Ecology Center: https://theecologycenter.org/ Thanks for listening to this episode. Check out:

Hosts Tim Bray and Dr. Robert Spies talk with Brock Dolman and Kate Lundquist, co-directors of the Water Institute at the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center, about their work on beavers in California ecosystems.Because beavers transform ecosystems and have done so for millennia, a number of other species are adapted to the conditions they create, including many California natives and some threatened species. Dolman and Lundquist are engaged in a project to restore beavers to the landscape wherever possible. 

Jonathan Zaidman is the Director of Engagement at The Ecology Center in San Juan Capistrano. For the past 8 years, Jonathan has built community around the concepts of sustainable living, community health, and thriving food systems. Jonathan has been in the environmental and animal conservation non-profit field for nearly 20 years.  When you arrive for the Community Table experience at The Ecology Center, a one-of-a-kind farm-to-table dinner, Jonathan greets you, takes you on a farm tour and guides you through the culinary evening.  Located on a historic agricultural property that is today surrounded by urban sprawl, The Ecology Center is a 28-acre Regenerative Organic Certified™ farm and education center that serves as a hub for southern California's ecological movement. We discuss: Farm to table dinners Outdoor cooking equipment  Cooking over fire Benefits of growing multiple varieties on a farm What is in season now Favorite guest chefs Health benefits of spending more time outside Learn more about The Ecology Center https://theecologycenter.org Learn more about High Vibration Living with Chef Whitney Aronoff on www.StarseedKitchen.com Get 10% off your order of Chef Whitney's organic spices with code STARSEED on www.starseedkitchen.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bailey talks to Todd Kent, CEO and co-founder of the hard kombucha company, Boochcraft. Todd walks us through how he left a synthetic fertilizer company due to a difference in values, starting an organic hard kombucha business thereafter. His scrupulous standards for sustainability and dedication to organic, fresh, and local ingredients are second to none. Todd tells us about partnering with The Ecology Center, questioning everything from "natural" greenwashing to byproducts and waste, as well as how to reinvent discarded materials to be useful. This conversation is essential in understanding how consumers should question products, and how a business can be built for good from the beginning. Learn more about Todd and Boochcraft at www.boochcraft.com This episode is sponsored by Eartheasy! Use my code "BAILEY15" for 15% off your first order at https://eartheasy.com/ More about Bailey: www.baileyvantassel.com

These days the East Bay's waterfront is lined with parks, restored wetlands, marinas, and beaches, but for most of the twentieth century this shoreline was a dirty, dangerous wasteland. Factories stretching from Emeryville to Richmond treated the San Francisco Bay as a garbage bin. The habit of using the Bay as a dump was so common in Berkeley that the city legitimized the practice by creating a massive landfill on its western border in 1923. Beneath the idyllic grassy hills of Cesar Chavez Park and the bird-filled marshes of McLaughlin Eastshore State Seashore lay hidden mountains of trash. The transformation of this area from a leaky dump into a beautiful site for recreation and nature, a controversial process that unfolded over several decades, has been well-documented. Less has been said about the day-to-day activities of the landfill before its closure in 1983. Although the dump was a loud, smelly, wind-blasted environmental hazard, some of the people who worked there still carry fond memories of the place, and several significant Berkeley institutions emerged from friendships that were nurtured in that toxic soil. This episode explores the interconnected stories of folks who remember “the pit” long before it was turned into a park. First, you'll hear from Margie Ellis and her daughter Ruby Quintana, whose family were the unofficial managers of the landfill from the mid-1960s until the early 1980s. Then Martin Borque, executive director of The Ecology Center, and Dan Knapp, co-founder of Urban Ore, will discuss the dump's connection to Berkeley's pioneering recycling movement, as well as a consequential battle over a proposed incinerator. Finally, Katherine Davis and Steve Smith of the recently closed Ohmega Salvage, will explain how lessons learned at the dump informed a lifelong dedication to combatting the wastefulness of contemporary culture. Listen now via Apple, SoundCloud, Spotify, or wherever you get podcasts. Music for this episode was generously provided by Pacific Bells: https://pacificbells.bandcamp.com/album/7-days East Bay Yesterday relies on listener donation to survive. To support this program, visit: https://www.patreon.com/eastbayyesterday

What is plastic? Plastic is a material derived primarily from carbon-based sources like natural gas, oil, and even plants. It is created by treating these organic materials with heat and catalysts to form various polymers.  Producing plastic is energy-intensive, often relying on the combustion of fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas, both for power and as a primary source.As a product of fossil fuels, plastic itself is unsustainable because of its fundamental connection to nonrenewable energy.  Since its introduction in the early 1900s, plastic has become omnipresent due to its cost-effectiveness and versatility. However, the environmental toll of our extensive plastic consumption — impacting oceans, wildlife, and contributing to climate change — is undeniable.Unlike natural organisms, plastic decomposes at a very slow rate due to its polymer structure. Though some recently identified microorganisms, like the Rhodococcus ruber strain studied by PhD student Maaike Goudriaan, show promise in digesting plastic faster, the research remains preliminary.Types of Plastic Most plastics we use, like bags and bottles, originate from oil and natural gas. Their widespread use has led to significant environmental contamination. On the other hand, there are bio-based plastics derived from sources like food waste, starch, or plants. Not all of these are biodegradable, and even these can harm the environment when they break down into tiny fragments consumed by wildlife.Addressing the Plastic IssueWhile completely eliminating plastic use seems unlikely, there are dedicated efforts to reduce its consumption. Grassroots organizations, like the Berkeley Ecology Center led by Martin Bourque, emphasize local community engagement and education. They advocate for sustainable practices such as using reusable bags, ditching plastic utensils, and employing minimal plastic in packaging. Initiatives like Berkeley's Single Use Disposable Ordinance have been instrumental in cutting down disposable food ware waste, like the clamshell packaging found in the produce section of grocery stores. Prioritizing bio-based plastics and managing our plastic consumption are essential steps towards a sustainable future.Who is Martin Bourque?Martin Bourque is the Executive Director of the Berkeley Ecology Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to enhancing community well-being and the environment. The Center's initiatives range from incentivizing farmer's markets to championing community-based policies. Outside of the Ecology Center, Bourque has also served on numerous state and national boards to help build the organic farming movement.Bourque earned his Bachelor of Arts in Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior from UC San Diego and his Master of Arts in Latin American Studies and Environmental Policy from UC Berkeley. For a transcript, please visit the episode's page on our website at:  climatebreak . org

What began as a one-acre dirt lot has turned into a 28-acre, regenerative certified, farm and thriving community ecosystem. They have successfully conveyed a vision over their storied history of giving more than you take, and to act with intention within our food systems, community, and decisions that we make regarding the planet. In conversation with Jonathan Zaidman, we discuss The Ecology Center's approach to growing food, care for the soil, creating a holistic view of farming, and what it means to live in an equitable community. Learn more about The Ecology Center here

Joe DeMare pops in briefly to talk about the latest disastrous developments with HB434, the "Nuclear Authority" bill. Then guest host Shehbaz Khan give us a deeper look at the long, sordid history of bribery and scandal in the nuclear industry culminating in the recent conviction of Larry Householder. Next he interviews Gillian Miller, scientist with the Ecology Center in Ann Arbor, MI, talking about bisphenols in receipt paper. Rebecca Wood, in honor of the fourth of July talks about our native American Alligator, found nowhere else on Earth. Ecological News reports that fossil fuel use is still increasing, dooming our society to almost certain destruction. 

Milwaukee's Urban Ecology Center started in a trailer. Now it offers dozens of programs and is connecting area kids and adults with careers helping the environment. We check back in with the UEC to learn how they're helping people find environmental jobs.

You've likely heard of BPA – or – Bisphenol A; a chemical used in most polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins. While it's been popular with manufacturers for decades, mostly because of its unique physical ability to harden plastic, research has uncovered some disturbing facts about BPA. Our guest, Melissa Cooper Sargent, an environmental health advocate sheds light on a recent study by the Ecology Center based in Michigan which operates the Healthy Stuff Lab; a scientific research project whose team of scientists conducts research and tests consumer products, air, soil, water, fish, food and more for toxic chemicals. The study found toxic chemicals in 80% of paper receipts tested from large retailers in the US. Key Takeaways What toxic chemical is being used to replace BPA in receipts How common BPS (Bisphenol S) or BPA is in receipts today The health concerns associated with BPA and BPS Improvements seen since 2018 What people receiving receipts should do What cashiers or their employers can do Head over to www.ecocenter.org to learn more. And be sure to also visit ToxicFreeFuture.org for more information. We'll have the links to all of the links in the show notes at www.Ronandlisa.com/Podcast.

How can you create a purposeful farm culture in the middle of a city? On today's episode of the Thriving Farmer Podcast, Evan Marks is joining us from Orange County, California. He is the Founder and Executive Director of The Ecology Center, which is not only a farm but a nonprofit education center that is passionate about putting the culture back into agriculture.  Located on a historic agricultural property that is today surrounded by urban sprawl, The Ecology Center is a 28-acre Regenerative Organic Certified™ farm and education center that serves as a hub for southern California's ecological movement. With over 100,000 visitors a year, their farm produces everything from CSA boxes, flowers, and ferments to farm experiences, including educational classes and camps, an apprenticeship program, and weekly community dinners with world-class chefs.  Tune in to this episode to hear all about how this thriving non-profit farm and education center conducts business!  In this episode, you'll hear: How Evan ended up back in Orange County 1:48 The history of the property where The Ecology Center is located 4:08 About the soil type and fertility on the farm 9:32 More about the different teams and roles at the center 14:12 About their Regenerative Organic Certification 17:33 How they grew from 1 acre to 28 acres 25:29 More about their educational programs 32:32 Evan's advice for a beginner farmer 33:33 The importance of pivoting your farm plans when things aren't working 37:00 What Evan's favorite tool is 47:05 About the Four Core Principles of The Ecology Center 50:55 About the Guest: From studying Agroecology to working in Indigenous and traditional agricultural systems around the world to founding The Ecology Center in San Juan Capistrano in 2008, Evan Marks has dedicated his life to finding creative solutions for the most urgent problems facing our food system.  Resources: Website: https://theecologycenter.org/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theecologycenter Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theecologycenter/       This podcast is sponsored by Small Farm University, THE go-to resource for gardeners, homesteaders, and farmers around the world. Small Farm University delivers classes online and on demand, with training on how to grow crops AND how to grow a profitable farm business that serves you, your family, and your community well.  Applying what you learn in SFU could save you countless hours and thousands of dollars. And, it can save you the agony of costly mistakes some make, just because they “don't know what they don't know.” Delivered by real farmers with hands-on experience and expertise, it is unique in its approach, using the RIPEN method for growing and building a farm or farm business. To learn more, visit:  GrowingFarmers.com today!

In this age of global weirding where climate disruption has tumbled the Goldilocks effect into unruly surges of too much and too little water, the restoration of beavers offers ancient nature-based solutions to the tangle of challenges bedeviling human civilization. Droughts, floods, soil erosion, climate change, biodiversity loss - you name it, and beaver is on it. In this episode, Kate Lundquist and Brock Dolman of the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center share their semi-aquatic journey to becoming Beaver Believers. They are part of a passionate global movement to bring back our rodent relatives who show us how to heal nature by working with nature. For more information and transcript, visit: https://bioneers.org/beaver-believers-how-to-restore-planet-water/ Resources Beaver Believer: How Massive Rodents Could Restore Landscapes and Ecosystems At Scale Fire and Water: Land and Watershed Management in the Age of Climate Change Brock Dolman – Basins of Relations: A Reverential Rehydration Revolution From Kingdom to Kin-dom: Acting As If We Have Relatives Brock Dolman, Paul Stamets and Brian Thomas Swimme The WATER Institute's Beaver in California reader This is an episode of the Bioneers: Revolution from the Heart of Nature series. Visit the radio and podcast homepage to find out how to hear the program on your local station and how to subscribe to the podcast. 

Welcome to Inside the Skev, the podcast that explores the important stories shaping our community. In this episode, host Aaron Masliansky speaks with Matt Poole and Margaret Isaacson, dedicated professionals at the Evanston Ecology Center. The Evanston Ecology Center is an integral part of the Parks and Recreation Department for the City of Evanston, fostering environmental awareness and promoting outdoor recreation throughout the community. Matt, the Recreation Manager, and Margaret, the Program Coordinator, share their passion and commitment to environmental stewardship.In this engaging conversation, we discuss the Earth Day events planned for April 22, 2023. Residents can look forward to a variety of activities, including a guided nature walk, a bird watching hike, a tree planting ceremony, a children's art contest, and a complimentary community lunch to celebrate Earth Day together.In addition to Earth Day celebrations, the Evanston Ecology Center has ambitious plans for the future. One such initiative is the construction of a kayak launch on the canal, designed to provide a safe and accessible way for residents to enjoy paddling activities. Another exciting project in development is a state-of-the-art nature classroom, aimed at enhancing environmental education through hands-on learning experiences.If you're interested in visiting or learning more about the Evanston Ecology Center, the facility is located at 2024 McCormick Blvd., Evanston, IL 60202. For further information or inquiries, please call (847) 866-2992 or visit their website at https://www.cityofevanston.org/government/departments/parks-recreation-community-services/ecology-center, where you'll find the latest news and resources related to their environmental programs.In closing, Aaron thanks Matt and Margaret for their dedication to environmental stewardship and their ongoing contributions to the Evanston community. He encourages listeners to participate in Earth Day events and support the Evanston Ecology Center's initiatives as a valuable part of the City of Evanston's Parks and Recreation Department.  

Ahead of a Community Recycling Day at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan on April 23, The Lambert Center's Jason Blitman talks to Christine Datz-Romero, co-founder and executive director of the Lower East Side Ecology Center. Christine talks about the history of the center, how e-waste works, and what it takes to compost at home.

“It's time to take our fire fears and connect that with our water woes!” – Brock Dolman Caroline welcomes “Fluid Druid” Water Wizard Brock Dolman, for auspicious hydro cahooting: that we ally with Beavers. To cooperate to cooperate, good for the whole Community the human relationships become more egalitarian…. Even our rogue species learns manners. Neptune, Mercury, exactly aligned (on Brock's Moon!)… So Water would like to speak with us… through its dedicated ally… The California deluge… The Sky Rivers stalling…losing the capacity for undulating flow… So, let's undulate…. To protect water become more like water… Tao Teh Ching Brock Dolman co-founded (in 1994) the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center where he co-directs the WATER Institute. A wildlife biologist and watershed ecologist, he has been actively promoting “Bringing Back Beaver in California” since the early 2000s. He was given the Salmonid Restoration Federation's coveted Golden Pipe Award in 2012: “…for his leading role as a proponent of “working with beavers” to restore native habitat. oaec.org   Brock contributing to Bioneers Conference: Revitalizing the Biosphere by Protecting Animal Habitats and Species April 6th | 3:00 pm to 4:15 pm According to a recent World Wildlife Fund report, since 1970 we have lost, on average, roughly 70% of the global populations of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish. Scientist activists working tirelessly to reverse this catastrophic trend share their strategies. With: Dave Phillips, co-founder of the Earth Island Institute and Director of its International Marine Mammal Project; Brock Dolman, Co-Director of the WATER Institute and Permaculture Design and Wildlands programs at the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center, and a leader in CA beaver reintroduction; Michelle Lute, Carnivore Conservation Director for Project Coyote. Moderated by Maureen Nandini Mitra, Editor of Earth Island Journal.   And find Caroline at Bioneers on Thursday, April 6th, at 9:00pm at Freight & Salvage (2020 Addison St, Berkeley, CA). Free and Open to the Public – Holy Moly! See more details     Support The Visionary Activist Show on Patreon for weekly Chart & Themes ($4/month) and more… *Woof*Woof*Wanna*Play?!?* The post The Visionary Activist Show – Hydro Cahooting · Cooperating with Water appeared first on KPFA.

In our first-ever episode of The Indisposable Podcast, we celebrated the passing of the 2019 Single Use Foodware and Litter Reduction Ordinance in Berkeley, California. More than 100 episodes later, host Brooking Gatewood welcomes back Martin Bourque, Executive Director of The Ecology Center, to discuss the organization's new toolkit to help others learn from this unique model for both policy and research. Joined by Jessica Heiges, researcher at the Environmental Science Policy and Management Program at UC Berkeley, the three talk about the unique conditions that led to the ordinance's passing, the importance of campaign finance limits for environmental policy, the unexpected setback of COVID-19 – and what we're learning now as implementation and enforcement are finally under way. Tune in for this rich policy and practice discussion as the city of Berkeley works to get off the disposable treadmill. Resources:The Disposable Free Berkeley ToolkitThe Ecology Center

LARRY OLMSTEAD Author of Real Food Fake Food shares the hidden secrets of the unregulated food industry JOHN TERLATO of Terlato Vineyards shows restraint in Burgundy EVAN MARKS Founder of The Ecology Center in San Juan Capistrano CA betters our environmental practices

In episode 283, Kestrel welcomes Kristin Morrison, the founder and designer behind All Species, to the show. A textile arts and design studio, All Species investigates the potential to create regenerative garments and textiles. The below story was written by this week's guest — it's vision-inducing and reminds us of all the value that can come from further connecting ourselves to the natural world. It's a beautiful way to envision what could happen if we work toward literally wearing the land around us. “Can we imagine together the rumble of 200 hooves- the vibration spiraling up from your feet to your heart as you witness wooly Rambouillet sheep running in the distance. Your work boots kick up dust as you run alongside to get a closer view. Sipping in the scent of wool, grasses, soil, you can sense the vitality of this wild ecosystem. Hooves till the soil…wild grasses are mowed by hungry animals and the carbon gases are sequestered safely back into the earth in the process. Today is a special day, sheep shearing day. You are here to witness the fine wool be cut from the animals, leaving them with small bare bodies. Shearing is a necessity and tradition that keeps the sheep healthy and also provides a source of income for the farmer. Giant pillows of dusty, grassy, potent wool will be sent to local mills to be made into cloth. Sensing the good intention of this in your belly, brings a feeling of wholeness to your being, like you are part of something bigger than yourself. The wools is then spun and woven into exquisite cloth in artisanal mills. In your minds eye, you imagine the supple yet stiff fabric and how it will be draped into form passing through hands of more creators…how it might shift from cream to charcoal as it is colored with native plants-and eventually come together as calf length coat styled with other fibers from the land. This embodied garment, carries the vibration of all the hands who have imbued love into its cloth and echos the rumble of those 200 sheep.” Quotes & links from the conversation: Sally Fox, one of Kristin's fabric suppliers — listen to Sally on episode 267 of Conscious Chatter > CA Cloth Foundry, one of Kristin's fabric suppliers — listen to founder Lydia on episode 135 of Conscious Chatter > “When we are wearing the land, we embody the frequency of it — it's subtle quiet and yet, powerfully transformative. And in this, we are invited into the wisdom and the knowing, to what the lands needs to regenerate.” -Kristin (32:09) All Species website > Follow Kristin / All Species on Instagram >

Did you know that most plastic packaging is not recyclable? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Martin Bourque, Executive Director, the Ecology Center, based in Berkeley, CA with international reach. Bourque pulls back the curtain on plastic recycling myths and describes meaningful policy action we can take to reduce plastic's toxic footprint on our planet.Related website:   https://ecologycenter.org/https://upstreamsolutions.org/ https://www.breakfreefromplastic.org/

On this week's EcoNews Report, host Tom Wheeler talks to friends from across California about "rewilding." What the heck is rewilding? It is a global movement to restore lands and ecosystems to a more complex and "wild" state, often with the reintroduction of keystone species—think large mammals like elk or ecosystem engineers like beavers—that may be absent. This episode is a crossover collaboration with John Davis of the Rewilding Institute (and host of the Rewildling Earth Podcast) and the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center. Support the show

Today, David is talking to Caitlin Wege. Caitlin is the Executive Chair at Contract Pharmaceuticals Limited and its sister company, Glasshouse Pharmaceuticals. She serves on the board of Neuralace Medical and Pumpspotting Inc. In addition to her corporate leadership roles, she is a partner at MooDoos Investments. This private family-owned investment fund invests in early-stage companies throughout the US and Canada. MooDoos is industry agnostic and invests in several industries, including life sciences, manufacturing, and education technology. Caitlin is also the President of NuFund Venture Group. NuFund is one of the largest Angel networks in the US. She is also a Trustee, finance committee member, and Chair of the Governance Committee for the Wege Foundation, an environmentally-focused family foundation based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, a board member of The Ecology Center in Orange County and serves as a mentor and advisory board member for the ZIP Launchpad, the business accelerator at San Diego State University. Caitlin is passionate about fostering entrepreneurial and investor education and learning. What You'll Learn: Family Office Workflow Team Work Strategies and Investment Thesis Changes in the Industry and Adjustments How to Choose a Pre-Revenue/Pre-Product Company Angel Community Angel Fund vs. Traditional Angel Investing Neurodiversity Favorite Quote: “Seed Investors understand that you can invest in an “A” product in a “B” team and it just won't survive, but investing in an “A” team with a “B” product that “A” team can turn into an “A” product very easily.” The Capital Stack All Things Tech Investing and Value Creation Early growth investor David Paul interviews the world's most excellent ecosystem, learns how to start and scale your own business, and finds an edge in today's capital markets. To connect with David, visit the following: Twitter - https://twitter.com/davidpaulvc (CLICK HERE) Substack - http://davidpaul.substack.com/ (CLICK HERE) LinkedIn - http://linkedin.com/in/Davidpaulvc (CLICK HERE) IG - https://www.instagram.com/davidpaulvc/ (CLICK HERE) DISCLAIMER: David Paul is the founder and general partner at DWP Capital. All opinions expressed by David and podcast guests are solely their own opinions and do not reflect the opinions of DWP capital. This podcast is for formational purposes only and should not be relied upon for decisions. David and guests may maintain positions in the securities discussed on this podcast.

Jenna and Sarah could not think of a better person to wrap up their Voices of a Healthy Ocean tour with than the one and only Hermina Glass-Hill. The two joined Hermina for a day in Hinesville, Georgia to visit places where they could walk in Susie King Taylor's footsteps and learn more about her remarkable life. Hermina founded the Susie King Taylor Women's Institute and Ecology Center in 2016 to honor this Gullah Geechee freedom seeker and to provide educational programming on the influence of coastal ecology in the lives of enslaved and free women. In 2019, she received the Georgia Governor's Award for Arts and Humanities for her service in preserving African American history and culture. Most recently she worked as the climate justice advocate at Georgia Interfaith Power and Light, engaging communities and educating local, state, and federal policymakers on the impact of climate change on frontline coastal communities.

July 26, 2022-- Host Anna Halligan replays and interview she had with Kate Lundquist and Brock Dolman of the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center, followed by a recent discussion she had with Kate about what the California Department of Fish and Wildlife's new beaver management plan is all about.

This episode explores the topic of Mission, Vision, and Values in community. These guiding principles and founding documents help communities determine who they are and what they do. In many ways, this is the “intention” part of intentional community. Joining me on a deep dive into this topic is Dave Henson. Dave Henson is a co-founder and current member of the 27-year old Sowing Circle intentional community, as well as a co-founder and the Executive Director of the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center, OAEC.org. Sowing Circle and OAEC share living and working at an 80-acre organic farm and social movement training and retreat center in Sonoma County, Northern California. An ecologist, educator and facilitator for 40 years, Dave has served as a strategy and organizational design consultant to hundreds of environmental and social justice organizations, movement networks, foundations, and land-based projects in the US and around the world. Within the intentional communities' movement, over the past 25 years Dave has led more than 50 weekend or week-long “Starting and Sustaining Intentional Communities” workshops at OAEC for more than 1000 participants, and has consulted with over 100 projects around the U.S. seeking to develop shared living farms, centers and Communities. If you want to learn more about creating Mission, Vision, and Values, or any aspect of building community check out the Inside Community Podcast sponsor, The Foundation for Intentional Community. FIC is an incredible resource center with weekly events, online courses, classified advertisements, an extensive bookstore and lots of free educational materials. You can learn more about FIC, access show notes, at ic.org/podcast. Your financial support of Inside Community helps us to continue to create meaningful and exciting content and I hope you'll consider donating through our website while you are there. Follow the show and see inspiring images and video of community life on Instagram @InsideCommunityPodcast - I'd love to hear from you there! If this content has been meaningful or useful to you, please subscribe, rate and review, and share with your friends and folks you know who are curious about living Inside Community.

In this episode, Alicia points out that despite Chris's delusions of popularity, there are people who don't know who he is. Hilarity ensues. Transcript Season 0, Episode 4: Who is Chris? Chris Clarke: This podcast is made possible by our supporters at Patreon, who give us the resources we need to produce each episode, you can join their ranks at 90milesfromneedles.com/patreon.  Alicia Pike: So Chris, when you invited me to be a part of this podcast, I naturally assumed I would need an introduction, but I figured everybody knew who you were. You have a storied background in being a desert defender. I figured everybody'd just naturally, like, “oh, it's Chris Clarke.” I don't necessarily think that's true. I think out of the 7 billion people on this planet, there are a few who don't know who you are.  CC: Good point. What should we do about that?  AP: Maybe we should do a little special introduction to Chris Clarke. [Intro music] Bouse Parker: The sun is a giant blow torch aimed at your face. There ain't no shade nowhere. Let's hope you brought enough water. It's time for 90 Miles from Needles, the desert protection podcast, with your hosts, Chris Clarke and Alicia Pike. AP: So who are you, Chris? CC: I am just this guy. I live near Joshua tree with my wife, Lara and my dog, Heart and 14,000 fathead minnows in a former swimming pool. Are there specific things you think we ought to talk about?  AP: I think your background in ways that you've been building momentum to get to where you are today. CC: Well, my first visit to the desert, I was six years old. It was the summer, 1966. I have a few really vivid memories of it. I remember camping at Park Moabi, south of Needles on the Colorado River and being sick. Because it had just been so hot and I'd been drinking gallons of really bad theoretically fruit flavored stuff, an inauspicious introduction to the desert. But there were things like going to Petrified Forest National Monument — at the time it was before it was a national park — and seeing petrified logs and the Painted Desert, which was absolutely breathtaking. Even as a little kid, I was like, “wow, this exists?” It was so different from the small towns of upstate New York, where I grew up.  16 years later, I was 22 years old and heading to California, sitting in a Greyhound bus that was heading west on interstate 80, going across the Great Salt Desert at night, and just got a sense of something immense and awesome out there. And the next day Northern Nevada looked incredibly desolate to me, cause my eyes had not yet adapted to the west, and It was terrifying at the same time, it was really intriguing. And now of course, Northern Nevada looks like a tropical rainforest to me, cause it's just all really lush sagebrush and junipers and Pines and things like that. A couple of years after that, uh, my girlfriend at the time was heading to law school and we were doing the tour of campuses and left the bay area, got to Mojave pretty late at night, stopped in a restaurant that's no longer there for dinner. It was. Amazingly picturesque even in the dead of night, woke up with a start because my girlfriend had fallen asleep at the wheel and then woken up after about a second and hit the brakes reflexively. And we piled out of the car. There were Joshua trees and saguaros growing together, and there was a coyote standing in the middle of the road, laughing at us, and it was just intoxicating. And I got propelled into it by some cursing and brake noise. And all of a sudden I was in this magical land. It was amazing to me. I just couldn't believe what was there. I mean, I knew that desert existed, but my introduction to the desert was just life altering.  AP: I'm struck thinking about this listening. I've heard some of these stories before, but yeah, I grew up in the desert. San Diego doesn't look like it desert, but I knew from a very young age that we had planted a bunch of Palm trees and paved over what was Chaparral and it, you know, basically desert. And all the road trips I took with my mom as a kid were to Arizona and Nevada seeing other parts of California that it's all desert. Like I've never known anything else. And it's striking to me to think you came here from lush green water-rich woods back east. And I grew up in this dry desert environment. And I feel like I can fall in love with nature wherever I go, but I'm just realizing that I'm taking it for granted, that I grew up in the desert and have always cherished the Chaparral as that's home to me, that that smell to this day, whenever petrichor hits the air, I'm transported to my childhood and just being wandering around in the canyons and just being free. And in my church. CC: Nice. Yeah. I mean, it was, it really took some time to get acquainted with how the desert is supposed to look. And I think one of the reasons that's a hot button issue for me when people bring their assumptions from elsewhere to the desert is because I know I did it. And not that I want to detail every single trip I took to the desert, you know, cause I'm already well on the way down that road, I'm going to just stop. But I was living in the Bay Area and I had this old beaten up Volkswagen pickup truck that Really should not have been driven to the store, much less to Organ pipe national monument, but I tried, but I was young and foolish and it was an adventure, but because it was a truck that was likely to break down, I realized as I was on interstate 40 passing the East Mojave National Scenic Area, which later became Mojave National Preserve, that I was absolutely terrified by the landscape and wondering how fast I would die if I got a flat tire. And this is interstate 40! I mean, it's basically a linear extension of Los Angeles. There's no danger on interstate 40, except from driving. Somebody will see you and stop and give you water and take you where you need to go. And that's just the way it is, even in the late eighties. But it was a daunting landscape. Even after a decade of living in California, I was not yet used to the Mojave. I'd only ever seen it at night, really. And it was just… it was sublime in the original sense of beautiful and terrifying both. The landscape got its hooks into me.  I was at that point working for environmental organizations, writing and editing and publishing magazines, newspapers, that kind of thing, All of which had to do with preserving the environment. And in those days, a lot of the work that I was doing. Involved much moister places.  AP: Julia Butterfly CC: Exactly right. It was Redwood summer and people were protesting Pacific lumber cutting down the last of the old growth redwoods. And I was getting up into the Redwood trees and sword, ferns and salad and Western azaleas and just all this beautiful stuff that I still love. And thinking about the Sierra Nevada, I had a job for a while, updating wilderness press trail guides. And so I was like hiking through Yosemite and Tahoe and south of Yosemite I'm around mammoth and Ansel Adams, wilderness, places like that. And so I just really loved California, but the desert, the desert was where I went when I needed a psychological break. I would get really fed up with my job or just with life in general. And I would throw a bunch of stuff in the pickup truck, head out into the central valley in California and drive south. Sometimes I would drive north and end up in lava beds or something like that, but mostly I would drive south and get to the Mojave and maybe I wouldn't go any farther than red rock canyon, state park, just inside the west edge of the Mojave, but it was where I could decompress.  And at one point, and I remember the precise month. It was October, 2003. I was on route 66 between Essex and Cadiz. I just had this incredibly strong feeling that I belonged there and it wasn't like “I belong in nature.” It wasn't like “I belong in wild places.” It was, “I belong here.” And it took me five years to move.  I was really obsessed with deserts reading well reading Ed Abbey, of course, and developing a rather nuanced critique of his work reading people like Gary Nabhan. His writing is marvelous. Terry Tempest Williams, Ellen Meloy. If I had to recommend one desert writer to inspire you, it would be Ellen Meloy  AP: Big fan. Big fan. CC: And my own writing, took a decidedly desert turn by had this blog while I was living in the east bay. And it was all about nature in the east bay, except that it also had a bunch of nature in the desert stuff. And pretty much nobody was surprised when my divorce happened, and my then-wife suggested that I moved to the desert and she was really being nice.  AP: “Get out of here and go move to the desert!” CC: Yup.  AP: If we could back up real quick, I think it's important. At what point during your college years or wherever it was in that transformative point in your life, did you see that you were going to move in the direction of advocacy? CC: That was pretty early on! and it was college years. This is in Buffalo, New York. I got involved in the support for the defendants in the trials that were going on over the Attica prison riot. So I, I came into activism from a social justice point of view.  And before I left Buffalo, I had gotten involved in anti-war stuff and resistance to draft registration. I was the local person who refused to register publicly. There were hundreds of thousands of people that refused to register quietly, but I put out a press release. And from age 14 or 15, I saw myself as an activist. To the point where there was a Period of about three years in my mid-twenties where I wasn't doing any kind of activism and it was a crisis of identity. Because I just didn't recognize myself without taking part in something.  In 1989, went into activism essentially full-time, and that's been since to one degree or another. And as I think I've said on this podcast before in the desert, even though we are fighting against things It's pretty obvious that we are fighting for something, you know, we are fighting for this beautiful landscape that has a right to exist, regardless of what services it offers us or not. It's just, it's a place that has integrity and its own identity. And it's not simply here to serve us though It does. And it's just a beautiful entity, this large piece of essentially undisturbed habitat.  There was this day I was in the desert for a minute and I was heading back into the city and I didn't want to go. And there was a Mojave Yucca that was growing out of the lava flow and I was jealous of that Yucca cause it could sit in that spot and just survive and hang on and endure and witness all these things for hundreds of years without worrying about sunscreen. Or fleece clothing in the winter. It didn't need to have a canteen, didn't need a tent, none of that stuff. And I was just sitting there suffused with rank envy of this plant because it could do what I wanted to do, which was stay there. And I couldn't. And I felt that way for a few minutes. And then I realized that there was one thing that the plant couldn't do for itself, which was defend itself from people and their crazy ideas about what should be there in. We're doing this little teaser episode to introduce people to who I am, if they don't know my work and more people don't than do. And we could talk about the resume, sure. I worked at the Ecology Center in Berkeley for nine years, and then I worked, uh, Earth Island Institute publishing the Earth Island Journal for a decade, and then ended up being the environment editor at KCET public television in Los Angeles for a good five years. AP: You are currently the… CC: The Ruth Hammett Associate Director of the California desert program for the National Parks Conservation Association. And it's a lovely job that really like the people I work with and the things that we're working for and opinions expressed on this podcast are not those of the National Parks Conservation Association, though they are more than welcome to adopt them for their own. This is a side gig. But if I was asked what my career is, it would be hard to choose between activist and writer, because I have a foot in each world, the KCET job burned out my writing circuits for awhile, and I still haven't picked up too much just because I wrote essentially 1500 pieces [note: actually closer to 1750] for them in the space of five years. It's been hard for me to get that motivation back to do that.  AP: It was exhaustive. I think that those 1500 pieces [see above] could be compiled into a book and be a sort of desert manual, because I know that I personally shared so many of those articles to people who had questions for me, that I knew the answers because I had read your article, but I wanted them to read the article to get the in depth background on cholla, on ancient creosote on whatever it was that we were talking about on trail that day, you wrote so much that contributed to my education in those KCET days that, like I said, I think it could be a book desert manual. on occasion I'd find myself feeling like, oh, there's this article he wrote about Joshua trees from I'd go type in “Chris Clarke. Jaegeriana” And go find that article so that I can reread because they're so dense people talk about food as nutrient dense. I feel like your writing is like that. It's food for the desert Curious mind.  CC: Yeah. And it had to be information dense because for awhile, I was expected to write three stories in a typical day And so I didn't have time to pad them out and put in prepositions and things like that. Yeah. They're rather… rather jam packed with info. It's nice to feel like I'm starting to want to write again, whether it's material for this podcast or finishing up the book I've been intending to do on Joshua trees for some time, or the email newsletter that has been languishing a little bit called Letters from the Desert. But yeah, that's what I do for creativity, aside from putting cacti in the ground and that kind of thing.  AP: We all need a break sometimes, especially when you're creating out of passion and love, and I could understand very easily why you would experience bouts of not being able to write because it hurts. And even while you may be writing something about something you love, that's something is generally being threatened…  CC: or no longer exists.  AP: or no longer exists. CC: A more important way of saying who I am is something that I get at sometimes when I'm speaking to people, if I'm doing something formal and if I think people are going to go for it. And we're in the desert. I ask people to close their eyes and just relax for a minute and then breathe in and then exhale, and then breathe in again and think about the desert plants that provided you with the oxygen that you're taking in. And then exhale, and think about the carbon dioxide that you're providing to those plants. And that means you're part of the ecosystem. You are part of the desert. And you are part of the desert that has grown aware of itself and of the desert. You can act to defend the desert against things that might harm it. We are the desert's immune system.  AP: If we so choose to be.  CC: if we choose to be. And we're not the entirety of it, the desert has a lot of ways it can heal itself and protect itself. It's got cactus thorns and poison water and, you know, rattlesnakes and all that kind of stuff. We are a part of the desert's immune system and that's who I am. When I am at my best. AP: And I sure do think it's a great thing that you have that visceral awareness of how important it is that we make other people aware: You're not some outside source. You are part of the source and I I've always admired your work. And I look forward to the work we're going to do on this podcast, Disseminating that important information. CC: Me too. [Outro] Bouse Parker: This season zero preview episode of 90 Miles from Needles was produced by Alicia Pike and Chris Clarke. Podcast artwork by the wonderful Martin Mancha. intro and outro music is by Brightside Studio. Follow us on Twitter at @90mifromNeedles and on Facebook at facebook.com/ninetymilesfromneedles. Find us wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks to our Patreon supporters: Jeff Hunter Cat Lazaroff Sergey Konozenko Karl Young Monica L. Mahoney Lorraine Suzuki Madhusudan Katti cara b Derek Loranger Jim Stanger Eve Brown Meera Sethi Luana Lynch Sarah Jane Kennington Sean Sharp Sam Easley Patrick O'Driscoll Juvenio Guerra Lynn Sweet Heather Hurley Florian Boyd Kathy Holmes Michele Simmons Anne Graham Terry McGlynn Cody Hanford Bonnie Brady Darryl Evans Mary Ann Ruiz Anne Kelly Caroline Conway Michael Mack Adan Lopez Deborah Bollinger Brian Fies John Griesemer Juniper Harrower Matthew Woodman Judith Lynn Laffoon S.P. Justin Tappan Riah Buchanan Brendan R Cummings Kenneth C Erickson Brett Barry Tenkai Kariya Jasmeet Singh Gloria Putnam Laraine Turk Charles Peterson Sarah Cardin All characters on this podcast are angel-headed hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night. Support this podcast by visiting us at 90milesfromneedles.com/patreon and making a monthly pledge of as little as five bucks. This has been Bouse Parker. You're all invited back next time to this locality. Support our show!: https://90milesfromneedles.com/patreon See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://90milesfromneedles/patreon See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hi everyone! This week, I have Kristin Gabriel with me, one of my old high school friends who I now have the pleasure to work with at The Ecology Center. This episode, we discuss a concept that isn't talked about often but is very common: codependency. The simple definition of codependency is complete emotional and psychological reliance on a partner in a variety of settings, resulting in the loss of a sense of self and confidence through "people pleasing" and other unhealthy behavior patterns.Recently, Kristin and I met over some coffee and shared our own experiences in the past with codependency, quickly realizing how often our stories paralleled in similarity. This realization inspired us to commit to creating an episode for you all in which we open up about our own struggles with "people pleasing" that most likely will hit a little close to home in resemblance with maybe some of your own experiences. I hope you enjoy the episode!!

Episode #48 of the Ground Shots Podcast is the last recording Gabe and I conducted on our 2020 Colorado Trail Plant-a-go walk. This episode documents a few conversations Gabe and I had with our friend Téo Montoya who came to hike with us for a brief stint on the west side of the Collegiate Loop section of the trail.   Téo Montoya is a Lipan Apache(Ndé) Writer, Indigenous futurist, Electronic Music Producer, Human Design Analyst, Traditional Ecological Knowledge Student, and Educator. After completing his BA in Food and Medical Anthropology, with a focus on Indigenous diets and health disparities in Native American communities, Teo spent 5 years exploring the worlds of plant medicine, Ancestral Health Coaching, Djing and Producing music, Information Technology, working with a Native-Led Non-profits, and completing his Human Design Training. As a writer and creator he has begun the long process of writing a speculative fiction series and media project imagining future worlds and societies built upon indigenous values, ideals, and cultures. Teo believes imaging the future, specifically a future grounded in indigenous knowledge and technology, will provide us with the solutions to meet the largest challenges to the Earth and our Humanity. Today, Teo lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, writing, producing music, and supporting people on their personal and spiritual health journeys.   Teo and I met at the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center in the Spring of 2019 during a multi-week permaculture training. This episode of the podcast isn't a formal interview or formal conversation with Teo, though I would like to do that with Teo in the future. This episode features snippets of the conversation between Teo, Gabe and I during dinner and then again for breakfast.   In this episode, we touch on:   Teo's thoughts on ‘transcommunality' and moving forward into the future by learning from indigenous wisdom but also not romanticizing it a place for modern technology in new visions of the future re-thinking the ‘anti-sacredness' of the urban and complex technologies some more Russian Olive rants (again I know) and talk more about how our culture uses invasive plants as scapegoats for our mistakes the need for indigenous wisdom in the Green New Deal talks Teo's perspective on white folks or settlers wild harvesting food and medicine and the complexity of this practice problems that arise with the ‘white-hands off' perspective on land tending indigenous peoples are innovative: in the past, present and will be in the future questioning how we define ‘wild' and ‘wildcraft' and within the colonialist concept of private land ownership Teo tells us a little bit about an indigenous futurism media project he's working on and got funding for with a grant in California      I know some of the topics we dip into here will be controversial, and I personally am open to multiple sometimes contradictory perspectives at once. It is necessary in a time of such political and social polarization. Some topics require consistent critical conversation and hearing from multiple perspectives, looking at deep time and into the future, and all of the socio-economic-cultural factors at play. I think we need to be able to have different beliefs and try to understand where the other is coming from, even if you know they are totally wrong (or believe they are).  Teo offers a unique perspective as an indigenous person that doesn't mean all other indigenous people agree. As humans, culturally, we are just as diverse as the plant life that shift and morph from one mountain, forest or meadow to another.      Links: ‘Rekindling Native California Ecologies Part 1” with Redbird (Edward Willie) from the Native Seed Pod Podcast, a teaching we mention a few times Metapod music, Teo's project featured as interstitial music for this episode Teo's Instagram accounts: @Teomontoya.nde @humandesignreadings   Support the podcast on Patreon to contribute to our grassroots self-funding of this project.  Support the Ground Shots Project with a one time donation via Paypal at: paypal.me/petitfawn Donate on VENMO: @kelly-moody-6 Cashapp: cash.app/$groundshotsproject   Our website with backlog of episodes, plant profiles, travelogue and more: http://www.ofsedgeandsalt.com  Our Instagram pages: @goldenberries / @groundshotspodcast Join the Ground Shots Podcast Facebook Group to discuss the episodes Subscribe to our newsletter for updates on the Ground Shots Project Theme music: 'Sweat and Splinters' by Mother Marrow Interstitial Music: ‘Willow Call' by Metapod Hosted by: Kelly Moody Produced by: Kelly Moody and Opia Creative