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moenvs3000-19-blog · 5 years

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Really interesting post! I agree, this quote took me some time for me to understand and unpack as well. You mention that the past isn’t something people are often thinking about, it is easily forgotten. I found that really interesting and I think you’re right. Even thinking about our history here in Canada, I can only speak for myself but my education of the indigenous people in Canada and the hardships they faced at the hands of colonizers was slim to none. We should be consciously teaching children and future generations about the history of our country, the mistakes we’ve made, the effects of our actions and how we are trying to improve issues we’ve caused. As you said, when everyone’s is focused on themselves and their future it becomes easy to forget the past and difficult to recognize the potential similarities.

I also really enjoyed the walking tour. I found that learning all this new information about a placed I visit all the time was so interesting. Knowing that I’ve lived here for over 3 years and hardly knew any of the information we learned about was surprising. The fact that Al Capone stayed in Guelph was also one of my favourite facts. I thought it was so cool and really gave me a new appreciation for the rich history Guelph has to offer.

I love the quote you shared “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”. That’s one of the major reasons I think that we need to have more historical education, there have been countless tragedies and avoidable mistakes throughout human history and the best way to ensure we don’t repeat them is to raise awareness. Ensuring the public is aware of wrongdoings, accepting fault and responsibility will help to make sure we don’t repeat the mistakes of our ancestors.

Do you think our education system should expand on the history we teach? Are we doing justice to future generations providing them with such minimal education in history, why is history class not considered as important as english class? These are just some questions for you to think about! Great job!

History: Never Forgotten

“There is no peculiar merit in ancient things, but there is merit in integrity, and integrity entails the keeping together of the parts of any whole, and if these parts are scattered throughout time, then the maintenance of integrity entails a knowledge, a memory, of ancient things. …. To think, feel or act as though the past is done with, is equivalent to believing that a railway station through which our train has just passed, only existed for as long as our train was in it.”

(Edward Hyams, Chapter 7, The Gifts of Interpretation).

The first time I read this quote I was quite confused as to what Hyams was trying to say. However, the more times I read it and broke it down into sections the easier it was to gain some understanding of what Hyams is saying, or at least my perspective of what is said.

My perspective on this quote is that Hyams is saying that history can be easily forgotten if we, as a society, don’t keep its integrity. A lot of the history that we learn or are taught is passed down through the years, in order to keep record and memory of the past. Because it is the past, something that not everyone is always thinking about, it can be easily forgotten about. A majority of individuals in today’s society are not thinking about the past because we are constantly worrying about our future and what it potentially portrays.

The history walking tour was an experience to learn more about Downtown Guelph, a place I have visited on occasion but never knew anything about its history. To be told that Al Capone stayed at the Albion Hotel with his mistress and that when he was caught and sent to jail and his mistress committed suicide and “haunts” the third floor of the hotel was definitely not something I was expecting from such a quant place.

As someone who holds an interest in history, it saddens me to know that it can be easily forgotten about, by simply no longer teaching it in school. The past isn’t something that society should ever forget about, its something that should be constantly taught and spoken about because it is such a powerful piece of knowledge to have. Without the past, we wouldn’t know how our ancestors lived, how societies and land formed, and how laws were made and changed. To me, history is a story that paints a picture of what our pasts used to be, it gives you an understanding of how everything used to be and gives you an even greater appreciation of what you have.

One of my favorite quotes is “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” by George Santayana. The reason I love it so much is because it is true. When we forget about our past, our very own history, we run the risk of repeating those condemned actions. By learning more about history we are able to prevent those actions from occurring.

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moenvs3000-19-blog · 5 years

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Some questions to think about!

Do you think we are losing touch with our history more than we have in the past? Did past generations have a closer connection with their ancestors than we do?

Learning from the Past

After reading the quote a number of times, I believe the author is trying to demonstrate that history is important because of the value it brings to us today. In order to understand something as a whole, it is very important to look at the history behind it. Edward Hyams says the ‘ancient things’ on their own hold no merit, it’s only when we use that information to form the complete story that it holds value. Another way I look at this is by imagining at a puzzle. The more pieces we are able to add to the puzzle, the more we’re able to understand and see the whole picture come together. The pieces don’t give us much information individually, they must be combined in order to form the full comprehensive image. History allows us to form personal and emotional connections to things we’ve never experienced.

Colourbox.com / Valery Voennyy

A great example of this was our class trip downtown Guelph. While on the historical tour of downtown Guelph I learned so much about Guelphs history that I was previously unaware of. The tour guide was very good at connecting the history we were learning about with the landmarks and locations with which we would be familiar. He was definitely aware of his demographic and made an effort to tailor his tour to a group like us. For example, the guide mentioned a story where he was leaving the tour with a group of kids when they saw a snake…only for it to be grabbed by a hawk moments later. I imagine this isn’t a regular part of the tour, but knowing we were a group of students in a nature interpretation class, I’m guessing he chose to mention that story hoping it would be something memorable for us and that it would get our attention. Emphasizing different facts or stories you believe will resonate with the current groups is vital while being an interpreter. An important part of interpretation is to convey the information to your demographic, for example is you’re speaking to kids about life in Guelph 100 years ago, mentioning what most kids their age would be doing helps to make the information more relatable and accessible. Overall the tour gave new meaning to places I’ve been visiting for years and an overall greater understanding for the city I live in.

“To think, feel or act as though the past is done with, is equivalent to believing that a railway station through which our train has just passed, only existed for as long as our train was in it”

To me, this half of the quote says that it’s naive to assume that something has only existed for as long as you’ve known about or seen it. It seems silly to say that the station only existed for as long as the train was in it, of course it existed before! I think that’s exactly the point. We often forget about the history that took place in order for us to be living the lives we are, where we are. A prime example of this is the “discovery’ of Canada in the 1500’s when in reality, Canada hadn’t been discovered at all as indigenous people had been living here for thousands of years before their land was stolen. It’s only in recent years that land acknowledgements have started to become normalized and commonplace, but how can a 10 second statement even begin to make up for the broken treaties, residential schools, torture and blatant genocide? It can’t.

How does all this relate to nature interpretation? When working in nature it’s important that we understand the story behind our environment, what events occurred to make it this way? How has history effected the animals and plants and live here? Was the land taken advantage of in the past? All these questions hopefully combined with some interpretive techniques can help provide an experience that will hopefully inspire the listener, leaving them with new information, an appreciation for the area and insight from the actions of people before them, providing a meaningful take away.

A photo I took of the forest behind my house

History is able to connect by allowing us to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes, experience someone else’s life, even if they lived thousands of years before us. It allows us to feel the emotions such as love, grief and sadness that provide the much-needed perspective and closer connection, hopefully enabling us to avoid repeating the mistakes we’ve made in the past.

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moenvs3000-19-blog · 5 years

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Learning from the Past

Colourbox.com / Valery Voennyy

“To think, feel or act as though the past is done with, is equivalent to believing that a railway station through which our train has just passed, only existed for as long as our train was in it”

A photo I took of the forest behind my house

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moenvs3000-19-blog · 5 years

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I really enjoyed your perspective throughout the post, upper class citizens definitely do have a larger impact on the environment but it’s crazy to see that the richest 10% make up 49% of global emissions but the poorest 50% are only responsible for approximately 10%. Those statistics really gave me perspective as to just how large the disparity really is between classes.

I also think that despite post-secondary education having to be earned and worked for, it is still undeniable that having that degree puts you at an advantage over others and I would consider that a privilege. Even our class, we are all lucky enough to be attending post-secondary education in a scientific field. I know the amount of information and knowledge that I’ve gained whilst here has enabled me to understand difficult topics such as climate change because I’ve learned the science behind it, what contributes to the issue and so on. I’m sure since you’ve taken climate change biology you would agree. This puts us at a great advantage since this issue is so much more accessible to us than someone perhaps who didn’t get a good education as they had to work to support their family, or they weren’t able to attend post-secondary and has no familiarity with the science of the issue.

In addition, I love that you posted about actions you’ve taken in your daily life to minimize your carbon footprint; I really think that helps encourage others to follow suit and think twice about their own environmental impact. Participating in your community such as going to the strike last week definitely sends a message not only to the patrons here but globally and has become a great form of activism in our generation. As you said, it’s also very reassuring to see other people who are concerned about our emissions and taking action. Great job!

Blog #2: You don’t know what you’ve got till its gone

While going through last week’s reading I learned a lot about privilege that I had not even thought about before. In the first reading, the authors described how privilege can be thought of as an “invisible knapsack of unearned assets.” I do agree with this to an extent because I do think that some privileges are earned in certain cases. Obviously when we are born into middle class working families this is unearned, but what the professor talked about in class changed my perspective. It was when she was telling us how she was applying to summer part-time jobs but everywhere she applied would wonder if she wanted a higher up position and how this is a privilege. I am in agreeance that being considered higher up in the work force because of experience and/or education is a privilege and sadly not everyone who wants to continue on on post-secondary has the opportunity, but on some level it doesn’t seem as though it’s an unearned privilege. Seeing as the person would have put in the time and work to get to this place makes it less unearned to me. Therefore, my definition of privilege is similar to what was described earlier on in the reading. To me, privilege is a set of advantages that one group of people has, which is usually taken for granted. I say “usually taken for granted” because as it was discussed in the article “Helping Teachers Unpack their “Invisible Knapsacks,”” after the children unpacked their cultural artifacts from the backpack their privileges were brought to light. Even at a young age, the students were able to make this distinction between their positions and others, and in-turn their privileges weren’t taken for granted as much or at least they knew how lucky they were.

Now more than ever I think it can go one of two ways. We either become caught up in having the newest form of everything, whether that be clothes or technology, or we are able to become more aware of how much we have through social media and various platforms. Travelling to other countries and experiencing different cultures definitely also helps with the ladder.

Personally I have realized a lot of my own privileges since studying climate change and its effects. I took Climate Change Biology last fall and it opened my eyes to a lot of causes and concerns of climate change; however, the biggest take home point was how the rich are to blame for most of our CO2 emissions, but its the poorest citizens who are least responsible who will be most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Specifically, many journals explain that the world’s richest 10% is responsible for around half of all our carbon emissions.

photo from https://ourworld.unu.edu/en/the-worlds-richest-people-also-emit-the-most-carbon

One thing we can all probably agree on is that the human population takes our Earth for granted all the time. The courses I have taken as well as my own journey to make small changes in my day to day life to become eco-friendlier (ie. reduce plastic waste, overall carbon footprint, etc.) have allowed me to acknowledge and appreciate my own privileges. Very recently I finally acted on this in a more active way and went to the climate strike held downtown last Friday. I’m really glad I went because making small changes on a physical level doesn’t always show you how much of an impact these changes make, so it was very reassuring to see others doing the same but on a social level.

Here’s a picture taken by me of one of the speakers.

One song that always reminds me to not take things for granted, environmentally and also in general, is Big Yellow Taxi by Joni Mitchell. My mom was a big Joni Mitchell fan so naturally I grew up listening to her songs and later on realized the very significant meaning behind that song in general. I’m sure all of you have heard this song, but if not definitely go check it out!!

References: Helping teachers unpack their “invisible knapsacks” Nancy P. Gallavan. Multicultural Education. 13. 1 (Fall 2005): p.36.

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moenvs3000-19-blog · 5 years

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Privilege: Opportunities in Nature

Privilege’s role in nature interpretation is one that I hadn’t put much thought into until recently. I always knew that growing up I was lucky. I didn’t want for much and anything I needed was always taken care of. I was never concerned about getting food on the table or having clothes that fit.

It’s not until I started to acknowledge all of the opportunities and experiences that I’ve been privy to that I really began to understand the magnitude of my privilege and all the experiences in my invisible backpack. Growing up in southern Ontario has given me access to a number of things those in other countries and even provinces don’t get to experience. We’re lucky that here in Canada we have universal healthcare and don’t need to worry about how we will pay the exorbitant medical bills people are suffering with in the United States amongst other counties. In addition, I grew up in Burlington which is a very safe city with low crime rates. My friends and I were rarely ever scared for our safety, even when out walking at night which is uncommon for many who live in other areas. I have a relationship with both my parents who continue to support me in countless ways even after graduating high school and moving out on my own.

My Mom and I on a family vacation to Alberta and BC

My parents also valued the education and experience nature can give a child. When I was young there was no choice but to come with the family when kayaking, hiking or on camping trips and while at the time I’m sure I complained that I was tired or cold, my parents knew that those memories are something I would hold onto for the rest of my life. It is also a privilege that my parents had jobs where they were able to take 2 weeks off every summer to spend time with their children. For many families this isn’t an option for many reasons, taking 2 weeks off is a big financial burden for someone who is struggling with money and camping is not as inexpensive as we often think. Campsites can be expensive and even without that added cost, the tents, outdoor clothing and gear necessary for a week outdoors can be extremely costly. As well, Ontario is also home to countless national parks, provincial parks and protected areas. Many countries don’t put the money and resources into preserving the natural environment making it very difficult for its patrons to experience nature the way we do.

My sister and I with a large redwood tree in BC

What is privilege and how do these experiences play a role in nature interpretation? I would define privilege as any sort of advantage that you experienced unrelated to decisions you’ve made or who you are (ex. race, gender, socioeconomic status). When working as a nature interpreter it’s important to remember that not all patrons have the same or even a similar background to myself and it’s unlikely that they all share the privilege I experienced. All these different experiences will affect how they may approach a situation or information that you might provide. For example, when working at a butterfly conservatory as a nature interpreter this summer I experienced first-hand how different everyone’s invisible backpack is. Some patrons came with a love of nature and the outdoors, excited to learn about our insects and other animals we had and completely willing to try something new such as holding a large tropical insect. Their background knowledge was enough that they weren’t afraid or were able to conquer that fear with some encouragement. Other individuals had absolutely no interest in seeing or even being close to some of the insects. Sometimes this was due to a prior negative experience with insects or simply a lack of exposure and knowledge. Sharing how beautiful and amazing nature can be with people who haven’t had much experience is an extremely rewarding job and adds another experience to their invisible backpack, hopefully leading them towards the ability to experience and appreciate nature.

Being able to experience nature at such a young age no doubt had an effect on myself as I grew older. Without the ‘spark’ from my parents that we discussed about in last week’s blog, I highly doubt I would have had the amazing work experiences or education that I’m receiving now.

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moenvs3000-19-blog · 5 years

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Wow, it was really interesting to read your blog post given I grew up out of the city surrounded by trees and forest every day. That being said, I can connect with you given that I find being in nature instils a sense of peace and calm that I’m often missing in my everyday life. Going for a walk, hike or even camping for a weekend always has the ability to help me relax, take a break, and leaves me feel recharged (although often tired) to face the following day or week. Something about listening to the wind and countless other noises in the forest, or the waves crashing on the shore brings a feeling of tranquility. I think this is common for many of us to find that these sounds make us feel better, but science has even demonstrated the positive effects of spending more time outdoors. For example, in 2018 the University of East Anglia conducted an experiment on the effects of exposure to “greenspace” (undeveloped land containing natural vegetation including parks in urban areas) and concluded that this increased exposure reduced the risk of premature death, stress, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure and preterm birth.

You also spoke about biking with your friends, discovering new spots. Experiencing nature with my friends is one of the things I love to do the most. Leaving our phones and computers behind, not having to worry about work or school and having no other distractions. An experience such as arduous hike with a beautiful view is something you will both remember and a memory you’ll share. Even if there are a few arguments along the way, because of the weather, a fall, or a bee sting we always persevere and are closer because of it.

Bibliography

University of East Anglia. (2018, July 6). It's official -- spending time outside is good for you. ScienceDaily. Retrieved September 22, 2019 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/07/180706102842.htm

In depth analysis on the boom and bust cycle of the economic success of the Malaysian steel industry

Sorry for the slightly misleading title, just some ‘click bait’ to get you here.

So, my current relationship with nature? It’s a little shallow.

Limited to Urban and suburban parks and some well maintained national parks, you can usually catch me outside once a week during the ‘nicer’ times of the school year and roughly every other week during the winter. Nature walks are one of the techniques I use to escape the pressures of modern life. No destination in mind, no expectations, and no judgement. Free to walk as I please. Deep in the forest away from the sound of traffic is where I find a calmness in both myself and the environment; where I am synchronous with the natural world.

The only consistency among my experiences in nature is that they all occur in the deciduous forests common to southern Ontario even though I’ve been to other cities and countries. That’s because when I travel, it’s always been with my family who don’t quite share the same interests in the outdoors with me.

If I could change my current relationship with nature, would I? Most definitely. I may not possess the same drive for the outdoors as mountaineers or explorers but it’s fine; there’s a level of exploration for everyone. Whether it be the weekend warriors white water rafting or a dog walker following a park trail there’s a level of engagement and activity for everyone. All I have to do is find my own.

My engagement with nature developed when I was a young adult as a way to explore my neighborhood. I grew up in a smaller suburban city just north of Toronto where small fragmented patches of forest were commonly found throughout the city and especially in my neighborhood. These patches of forests usually led to other surrounding neighborhoods or served as a scenic shortcuts between locations. One thing that always frustrated me were forks in the trail. Each fork led somewhere else and another path meant different experience so I would spend multiple hours spread over the course of multiple days exploring each path. They say curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back, and that couldn’t be truer. The rewarding feeling of discovering what lies beyond the trail was enough to keep me going and going.

But I’d hardly ever go alone. Often I’d be accompanied by my friends, Kavie and his neighbor, Alex and it’d be the adventures we’d shared together that kept us outside all evening nearly everyday of the week. Together, we’d bike to the edges of our city in search of waterfalls, rolling hills, cliffs, and other unusual geographic features that weren’t commonly seen from the birds eye view on google maps. It was through these adventures that I’d learn about the natural landscape and the outdoors that would form the basis of my experience that I will continue draw upon to make better sense of the new things I’m always learning and doing.

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moenvs3000-19-blog · 5 years

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Growing up Surrounded by Nature

(Myself as a toddler on a family camping trip at Killbear Provincial Park)

Growing up my family and I took 2 weeks each summer to go camping at Kill Bear Provincial Park. My childhood was filled with memories such as hiking, watching the sunset and spending the day at the beach. I’m lucky that I grew up in an environment where there was always an intense love and appreciation of nature. My dad has always been an avid kayaker often going on weeklong trips around Georgian Bay.

Nature was and continues to be a constant theme in my family. Nature has shaped the many different parts of me and I’m grateful to have a growing experience so closely tied to it. Growing up my family and I would always reserve two weeks each summer and dedicate it to camping at Kill Bear Provincial Park in particular. My childhood memories are filled with bonding experiences with my family and friends. Hiking, watching the sunset and spending the day at many different beaches created a lifetime of memories for me. I am lucky to have grown up in an environment where there was always an intense love and appreciation of nature.

My dad was the partial starting point to my love for nature. My dad grew up in a household that had much appreciation for romantic literature. This literature is inspired by nature and expresses the importance of it. Because of this my dad found that it was important for his children to understand the great experiences of connecting with nature both on a spiritual level and via appreciation. In particular, my father has always been an avid kayaker often going on weeklong trips around Georgian Bay. Kayaking was always one of my favourite activities, allowing me to work in partnership with the lake. Controlling movement on my part and understanding the way the water was moving with currents and the wind was key to my acknowledgement of how these activities could shape my patience and attention to aspects of nature that is often overlooked.

My mom taught me lots of information about the various flora and fauna we would see while hiking. This knowledge stuck with me, giving me a broad understanding to build upon both on my own as well as within my studies. Walks with her meant stopping and admiring different flowers, bushes, trees, and shrubs. She is very persistent on maintaining a garden at home filled with both beautiful flowers but also beneficial plants for pollinators such as milkweed, lavender, hosta and zinnia. She showed me how gardening and caring for the plants could not only help nature and the animals outdoors, but also provide clarity, reduce stress and give time to think. It continues to feel rewarding for me to see my plants grow healthy and beautiful because of the care I provide.

For many other summers after I became a camp counsellor at a summer camp in Muskoka. Activities included kayaking, canoeing, windsurfing, art and wilderness skills. Teaching and taking part in these activities enabled me to tie in nature with both team building and problem solving. Starting as a camper myself and becoming a counsellor, I knew how much I admired and looked up to my counsellors and learned the valuable impact people like myself can have as a role model when in that position. I was able to pass down the knowledge I received from my parents to my campers at camp. It wasn’t uncommon that I got to be present for some of their first experiences such as overcoming their fear of insects or a fear of the woods/dark. I recognize not all children grew up like I did, not everyone’s parents thought it was important to teach them about the nature surrounding them so I consider myself extremely lucky that I was able to help some campers discover the value and beauty in Nature that they may not have discovered otherwise.

(Myself and other camp counsellors watching the sunset in Muskoka)

This past summer I worked at a Butterfly Conservatory. The facility included a variety of tropical plants, streams, waterfalls, exotic birds including Chinese painted quails and Gouldian finches, red-eared slider turtles, thorny devil stick insects, giant Asian millipedes among other insects and countless species of butterfly.

Insects weren’t something I had a vast knowledge in but this summer I was able to learn about numerous different insects, their lifecycles, habitats and other information and then conveying it to the public. My job was to also cultivate as much knowledge as I could on the animals and insects at the conservatory which was very exciting for me. This information allowed for me to connect with costumers and pass on my joy to them. It wasn’t uncommon that people would come in having already decided that they don’t like bugs and had no interest in seeing or holding the specimens we had available for them. I always tried to change people’s minds by conveying information they may find interesting or attempt to connect them with the insects. More often than not, people eventually gave it a try and realized that despite the sometimes scary and off-putting appearance, these insects are amazing creatures. I hoped my customers would leave feeling like they have not only seen something new but have knowledge they can now share. My love for insects grew because of this job, I realized how diverse and amazing the insect world really is and how little we truly understand.

(Thorny devil stick insect)

(Lime swallowtail butterfly)

(Atlas moth)

My question is for those of you who developed an appreciation for nature at an early age, how has this shaped you into the individual you are today?

(eg. education, career, interpersonal skills, daily life, mental health, relationships...)

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