Richard Louv writes, in Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder, that children’s understanding & experience of nature has changed over time and that these changes have not been for the betterment of relationships with nature. Louv, in the book, writes about many practices in environmental education that are both effective […]
While out with the dogs and Heather this morning, I heard a bird song that was different than the “regular” bird noises I hear while I’m out and about. I had a similar experience of hearing an unusual call last month. Upon hearing that call, off I went traipsing across a park with a dog […]
photo credit: jnthnhys The Toronto Star is reporting that a local plan to tap Norway Maples (Acer platanoides) this spring, collect sap and boil it down into maple syrup has hit a snag (no pun intended) with the proposal to tap the Norway Maples found in city parks: Toronto’s urban forestry department believes that tapping […]
While in the field conducting interviews at Rondeau Provincial Park over two weeks in spring 2008, I collected ten consecutive days worth of travels on my trusty GPS. The data consisted of two things: a track (a continuous line where I had travelled) and ‘exact’ points, recorded every 30 seconds, of my location. Now, I’m […]
Update (5-17-11): This post has turned into a book chapter, which, in turn became a presentation. Feel free to visit both. Inspired by others’ use of Twitter in higher ed, I decided to try and integrate Twitter into the course that I’ve developed and instructed while a PhD student in the Faculty of Environmental Studies […]
I’m not sure if this will end as a lament or an attempt at sharing my all-digital solution for work and research. I’m in the process of purging my technology drawer (less a drawer and more a graveyard, really) and came across the objects essential for my paperless and highly mobile system of ought-four: That’s […]
The start of the Skunk Cabbage, originally uploaded by Gavatron. A sure sign of spring is the emergence of Eastern Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus). While walking the dogs in the Nordheimer Ravine today, I noticed some cabbage is beginning its 2010 growing season. This is the earliest that I’ve noticed the Cabbage in this location, […]
This post is one part of a two-parter that I’m writing in response to a paper on the sport of birding that was published in the Journal of Sport and Social Issues. photo credit: auburnxc Instead of protest, culture jamming, confrontation, and direct action the environmental sporting practices of traveling the state by automobile and […]
This post is one part of a two-parter that I’m writing in response to a paper on the sport of birding that was published in the Journal of Sport and Social Issues. photo credit: iBjorn Earlier this year, Spencer Schaffner ((Hi Spencer! I know you have a Google Alert set up and I want you […]
This post includes ruminations and ideas emerging as I analyze the data collected for my PhD dissertation focusing on the act of birding. It doesn’t represent a final thought or particular endpoint: these are ideas in progress. I would be interested in hearing your opinion of my ideas, too. During my analysis, I kept track […]