Growing
Fresh spring buds on a tree or sprouting plants emerging from the ground signal growth. What is less visible, is the interwoven underground network called Mycelium. Mycelial networks connect the roots of trees and plants through decaying soil. The nodes of growth it spurs allows for the deepening of roots and the expansiveness of branches. In its phenomenal symmetry, can the grounding foundation ask the branches to reach towards the sun.
There are moments for letting a landscape be vast and all consuming. But when my job was as an Ecological Field Technician for the Montana Natural Heritage Program, I had to report the nuances of the landscape and thus have an eye for relationships. Growth is spending time to disentangle what makes every grass, every flower, every plant, every layer of soil distinct from the next. To understand silty soil, you must feel sandy soil. Not to mention the mental growth that 40 mph winds, thunderstorms and 95 degree heat inspires.
Creating nodes of connection for building a resilient community is a growing pattern. While working with the goal to help heal the racist history of the National Park Service as an In My Backyard Intern, I created a system for tracking conversations with local organizations to understand relationship potential. By facilitating connections that are mutually beneficial, a resilient network can be created as the foundation for creating everlasting change.
While creating and implementing lesson plans for environmental education,
I negotiate the boundary between telling and creating a space to ask.
When I taught women who wanted to backpack for the first time as an REI Guide, I wanted to encourage them to safely and respectfully explore, while not overwhelming them with the myriad of challenges of backpacking. While educating middle schoolers about our modern environmental crisis as a Educator at Temple Beth Am, I asked myself how can I interest them in investing in the health of the planet without producing debilitating fear? When educating children aged 4-13 as a Farm Camp Counselor at Coastal Roots Farm, I utilized the flourishing farm environment around me to engage kids asking profound questions about the different life cycles of creatures and plants.
Below are two maps I made for my Weinker Award Winning Honors Thesis titled
"When Monkeys Push Your Buttons: Using Maps to Analyze Human-Macaque Conflict in Singapore"
For my Honors Thesis for the Department of Anthropology at University of Washington, I used GIS to study human-macaque conflict in Singapore. When crafting a scientific based story of the importance of living peacefully alongside urban dwelling wildlife, I know a nuanced approach must be taken. Why are people complaining about the animals; is that complaining because of a distinct behavior pattern of the animals, is it because a certain land type facilitates conflict more, or is it the human’s entitlement to that space that can be explored through income or housing types? Creating and executing a research plan with an immense amount of data demanded me to ask, what process will allow me to answer complex questions. Click here to read "When Monkeys Push Your Buttons: Using GIS to Analyze Human-Macaque Conflict in Singapore."
