Recently I’ve become dissatisfied with my knowledge of trees. I’m not entirely certain what has caused these feelings at this point in my life – I just find myself looking at a tree and becoming irritated with myself if I can’t identify it.
Therefore I’ve begun a course of study in the trees in my local area; an activity made much easier than it otherwise would be thanks to the superb book Trees to Know in Oregon by Ed Jensen as published by Oregon State University Press Extension Service.
Let’s face it: children ask an astonishing number of questions, and children exposed to even a tiny bit of nature ask an exponentially larger number. Parents – or for that matter, grandparents, aunts, uncles, teachers and anyone else with an interest in a child’s overall education and well-being – naturally want to be able to […]
Of all the things I find dispiriting about being a hausmann in a rural corner of a large country, the inability to participate in the intellectual life of the nation in any meaningful way is one of the most vexing. I can read the latest books on topics of interest – when I can obtain […]
Of all the professional natural history educators I’ve met – and in my work I’ve met quite a few – none have ever surpassed Kristie Reddick and Jessica Honaker, better known as The Bug Chicks, in their levels of enthusiasm, creativity, and sheer love of what they do. If anyone can successfully bring the appreciation of […]