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2. How long have humans affected the environment? Is it a relatively modern phenomenon caused by industrialization, or did ancient civilizations also have an effect on the environment?

I came across this topic while reading the book Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Harari. Turns out that humans affecting their environment is something as old as humans themselves.

The first humans to migrate from the African continent to Australia roughly 40,000 years ago are a perfect example of this. The large mammals native to the Australian continent, with no natural predators, quickly succumbed to the humans that migrated there. These animals were quickly extinct, as the humans hunting them had no concept of extinction, and their absence had a deep impact on the environment. 

From then on, humans have continued to affect their environment simply by being there. Farmers have depleted the nutrients in the soil by once fertile rivers by mismanaging their crops, and thousands of acres of trees have been cleared in favor of agriculture and commerce. 

Today the impact on the environment is at an all-time high. Recent decades have seen the rise of new forms of pollution such as light pollution. In a National Geographic article on the topic, it is stated that light pollution has had a negative effect on things like animal migration, habitat creation, and even our own circadian rhythms. 

Linked on that article was the World Atlas of Night Sky Brightness which shows just how pervasive light pollution has become.

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4. What simple changes can people make every day to reduce their impact on the environment?

Last summer I had the opportunity to tour the water treatment plant operated by Veolia here in Milwaukee. Before we started the tour, we were given a presentation on the work that Veolia, Milorganite, and the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) do together to help protect the city’s water supply. I remembered a section from the presentation about things people could do to help out, so I decided to check out their websites to see if I could find that information again.

One of the tabs on the MMSD website is literally called “What you can do” (I know, lucky me) and I will answer this research question by focusing mainly on small things people can do to make a positive impact on water quality in particular.

The key goal, as stated on MMSDs website, is to “treat water where it falls” rather than letting it go down the sewer and to the water treatment plant. Ways people can do this vary, but some of the most interesting ones include rain gardens, porous pavement, bioswales, and rain barrels. All of these are ways to capture water or redirect it in useful ways.

I did more research on porous pavement, and it turns out that over 60% of roads, parking lots, and walkways in the city of Milwaukee are not porous, meaning water flows on them with little to no absorption when it rains. This water then flows into rivers and other clean water sources, or it simply overwhelms the sewage system. Replacing these surfaces with porous concrete could help mitigate some of these issues, and it could even reduce the amount of salt needed to deice the roads during the winter.

I also looked into the rain gardens, as it seemed like a relatively low-effort endeavor that just about any home owner could do. These gardens should be ideally planted with deep-rooted native plants, near the downspouts of a home. These gardens are an excellent means of removing pollutants from stormwater runoff, and they don’t need to be that big to function.

https://www.mmsd.com/what-you-can-do

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1. Why must people intervene and “help” restore the environment through stewardship? Wouldn’t nature correct itself if left untouched?

I had the opportunity to ask about this on two different occasions while volunteering at the nature center. From what I learned, there are two main reasons why it is beneficial for people to intervene: safety and native wildlife preservation. 

As it pertains to the nature center, the hiking trails are frequented by many people every day. In order to keep it safe, some trees must be cut down so they don’t ever fall on anyone walking by. Trees don’t usually fall, but I was told that the ash trees at the nature center have been plagued by a bug that eats them from the inside out. To be safe, all ash trees near hiking trails have either been cut down, or marked to be cut later.

On one of my later visits, I asked my supervisor Drew this research question, particularly if nature would correct itself if left untouched. He said that rapid expansion of human settlements and travel in the past did not allow for the natural migration of certain plant and animal species that have begun to displace the native ones. As a land steward, it is his job to preserve these native species and drive away the non-native ones.

Of course, if left untouched nature would eventually correct itself. This is a process, however, that would take hundreds if not thousands of years. The earth has gone through several cycles of damage and recovery, and life still goes on. However, our lives are not that long and our impact on the environment has certainly accelerated things, so we must do what we can if we expect future generations to enjoy the same lever (or better hopefully) of healthy wildlife. 

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Research Questions

Why must people intervene and “help” restore the environment through stewardship? Wouldn’t nature correct itself if left untouched?

How long have humans affected the environment? Is it a relatively modern phenomenon caused by industrialization, or did ancient civilizations also have an effect on the environment?

 Can the environment ever be restored to what it used to be? Is there even a definition of what the environment should be, or used to be, or is our involvement in nature intended?

What simple changes can people make every day to reduce their impact on the environment?

How can material extraction be sustainable? Is there a hard choice between depleting the environment or leaving it be, or can both things be done in tandem?

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Buckthorn Removal

Today was a bit different than the last two. Instead of the labor intensive, action packed removal of ash trees, we were tasked with lopping off buckthorn and dabbing the stumps with pesticide. 

It was more tedious and time consuming, and I have to admit that chopping down ash trees was far more exciting. Regardless, my supervisor taught me why this work is important, and how he plans on repopulating the land we cleared with native plants. We also had a conversation about his mom, and how she was going to have to travel to a convention in Las Vegas despite the threat of the virus. Hope she doesn’t get sick!

Saturday, March 7th, 2020.

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Removing Ash Trees

Today for volunteering, we helped remove ash trees. These trees have been unfortunately plagued by an insect that rots the trees from the inside out, and in order to keep the nature center, these trees need to be removed.

Kyle, my supervisor, took care of the cutting down the trees and the volunteers and I carried the logs off the trail. Later in the day, I had the opportunity to help bring down a larger tree by using a mechanical winch to pull on the tree as it fell, so as to guide it away from some younger, healthy trees.

Friday, March 6th, 2020.

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Schlitz Audubon Nature Center

“Our mission is to connect people with nature and inspire them to become responsible stewards of the natural world.”

This is the mission statement found on VolunteerMatch.org, which I was unfortunately not able to find on the nature center’s own website. 

From the times I visited for volunteering, I can confidently say that this is a mission statement they closely adhere to. The staff that overlooked the volunteers were constantly educating us on what we were doing and how our actions helped both preserve the environment and improve the center’s ability to educate others.

https://www.schlitzaudubon.org/about-us/

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Personal Mission Statement

In my life, I strive to be:

Charitable with my time and resources.

Courageous in the face of adversity and deliberate in my actions.

Just and compassionate and understanding of everyone’s value in life.

Prudent in my approach to every situation and faithful to my beliefs.

Humble in my thoughts and open to new ideas and points of view.

Tempered in my actions and considerate with every word I say.

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There’s been a change of plans! I originally intended to volunteer at UMOS, but I was talking with some friends and they mentioned they were volunteering at the Schlitz Audubon Nature Center. From what they told me it seemed like a really fun and engaging volunteering opportunity, so I tagged along last Saturday and I had a blast AND I learned a lot! I will be going back this coming Friday and Saturday. Hope the weather is as nice as it was last Friday.

Saturday, February 22nd, 2020.

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Who am I?

My name is Ignacio Garcia, but I go by Nacho. I’m a senior in Industrial Design, and I’m originally from Mexico City.

For my service, I have been volunteering with the Milwaukee Justice Center’s Mobile Legal Clinic since last semester. For the time being, things are in halt due to cold weather, but should resume shortly.

I was also put in touch with UMOS through my work at the MJC, and I am currently pursuing a volunteering opportunity there as a supplementary source of hours.