Eiren Caffall is an award-winning writer and musician whose writing on loss and nature, oceans and extinction has appeared in numerous publications. In this episode of Nature Revisited, Caffall talks about her recent first novel The Mourner’s Bestiary, a literary memoir on loss and chronic illness, as well as a meditation on grief and survival told through the stories of animals in collapsing marine ecosystems. Caffall carries a family legacy of two hundred years of genetic kidney disease, raising a child who may also. As she describes, the process of writing the book was a way for her to weave environmental research with a memoir of generational healing, and the work it takes to get there for the human and animal lives caught in tides of loss.
Episode 138: Amy Tan - The Backyard Bird Chronicles
Amy Tan is an American author best known for her novel The Joy Luck Club (1989) as well as other novels, short story collections, children's books, and a memoir. Tan is the recipient of the National Humanities Medal, among other awards, and her writing has been praised for its bravery in exploring both the personal struggles and triumphs of immigrant families. In this episode of Nature Revisited, Tan discusses her latest work The Backyard Bird Chronicles. What initially began as a way to find respite from the country's increasing social division, hostility and misinformation, the act of observing and drawing the birds in her backyard became something greater - a meaningful way to connect with nature, and imagine the intricate lives of the birds she admired.
Episode 137: Patrick Dougherty - Stickworks
Patrick Dougherty is an award-winning American environmental artist best known for his sculptures and installations constructed with sticks and saplings. Over his decades-long career he has constructed over 300 works across the United States and abroad. In this episode of Nature Revisited, Patrick describes his works and the personal history of his artistic career, his sources of inspiration, as well as the unusual large-scale, temporary characteristics of his outdoor installations which invite the engagement and interaction of the communities in which they are created.
Episode 136: Mark J. Easter - The Blue Plate
Mark J. Easter is an ecologist, researcher, and author of more than fifty scientific papers and reports related to carbon cycling and the carbon footprint of agriculture, forestry, and other land uses. In this episode of Nature Revisited, Mark offers us a picture of the impact the foods we eat every day have on the earth. From the soil that grows our crops, to the farmers who steward the land, to the workers and grocers who bring the food to our table, the compounding social and environmental impacts are far-reaching. However, we can employ low-carbon, in-season alternatives to make our foods more sustainable, but we must first understand how food is produced, harvested, and shipped.
Episode 135: Leigh Ann Henion - Night Magic
Leigh Ann Henion is the bestselling author of Phenomenal and Night Magic: Adventures Among Glowworms, Moon Gardens, and other Marvels of the Dark. Her writing has appeared in Smithsonian, The Washington Post, and Oxford American, among other publications. In this episode of Nature Revisited, Leigh Ann invites us to reset our relationship with the night and open our eyes and minds to a parallel world that comes alive in darkness. From the physiological effects of the absence of light itself, to the vast, surprising array of nocturnal organisms that transform our surroundings, when we rediscover night, dazzling wonders can be found in our own backyards.
Episode 134: John Navazio - A Tribute
John Navazio was a breeder of genetically-resilient, open-pollinated leafy greens and root crops for regenerative farming practices. He also authored The Organic Seed Grower, a comprehensive manual for the serious vegetable grower. His work focused on developing varieties with robust growth, broad resistance to disease and environmental stress, and superior culinary quality. In this episode of Nature Revisited, those who knew John best pay tribute to the life of a truly passionate and inspiring spirit, celebrating his magnetic personality, his lifelong relationship with seeds, and his philosophy & approach to growing robust, genetically-diverse crops. For more information, visit the Organic Seed Alliance.
Episode 133: Yolonda Youngs - Framing Nature
Yolonda Youngs is an Associate Professor of Geography and Environmental Studies at CSU San Bernardino and a dedicated scholar, teacher, researcher, and leader. Her expertise lies within national parks and protected areas, environmental policy, conservation of natural resources, and cultural landscapes. In this episode of Nature Revisited, Yolonda traces the idea of the Grand Canyon as an icon and the ways people came to know it through popular imagery and visual media. She reminds us of the shifting interplay between humans and their environments and how visual representations shape popular ideas and meanings about national parks and the American West.
Episode 132: Cynthia Jurs - Summoned By The Earth
Cynthia Jurs is a dharma teacher (Dharmacharya) in the Order of Interbeing of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, and in recognition of her dedication in carrying out the Earth Treasure Vase practice, she was made an honorary lama in the Vajrayana tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. In this episode of Nature Revisited, Cynthia recounts a fateful meeting with a venerated Lama in Nepal whose formidable assignment sent her on a thirty year pilgrimage into diverse communities and ecosystems with holy vessels to bring healing and protection to the earth.
Episode 131: Obi Kaufmann - The State of Fire
Obi Kaufmann is an American naturalist, writer, and illustrator. Among the books he has authored are The California Field Atlas, a guide to the state's ecology and geography, and most recently The State Of Fire - Why California Burns. In this episode of Nature Revisited, Kaufmann describes the ancient relationship between humans and fire as part of California's natural history, dispelling the widespread misinformation surrounding the nature and effects of large-scale wildfires, and placing them within a greater context as just one phase of the necessary natural cycles of ecosystems.
Episode 130: Alex Matthiessen - My Father and His Legacy
Peter Matthiessen (1927 – 2014) was an American novelist, naturalist, wilderness writer, environmental activist, and zen teacher whose works dealt with the destructive effects of encroaching technology on preindustrial cultures and the natural environment. He is the only American writer to win The National Book Award in both nonfiction (The Snow Leopard) and fiction (Shadow Country). In this episode of Nature Revisited we meet Peter's son Alex Matthiessen – a distinguished environmentalist in his own right – who offers rare insights into the well-traveled life, prolific works, and nature-steeped pursuits of one of the true "literary lions" of 20th Century American literature.
Episode 129: Gary Paul Nabhan - Desert Earth
Gary Paul Nabhan is an agricultural ecologist, ethnobotanist, and award-winning author whose work focuses primarily on the plants and cultures of the desert American Southwest, including the book The Nature of Desert Nature. In this episode of Nature Revisited, Gary re-introduces us to the possibilities of what a desert is and can be, challenging our traditional notions. Filled with sights, sounds, scents, and wildlife systems one wouldn't think possible, Gary reveals how the desert contains wisdom and teachings that are invaluable to humanity in the midst of our changing climate.
The Sonoran Desert
Episode 128: Paul Bierman - When The Ice Is Gone
Paul Bierman is professor of environmental science at the University of Vermont, where he develops methods to understand ice and date rocks. His findings have been published in Science and Nature and in his recent book When The Ice Is Gone. In this episode of Nature Revisited, Bierman reveals a startling discovery about Greenland's rapidly melting ice sheet - it has melted naturally before, hundreds of thousands of years ago... Changes in Greenland due to a warming earth are already reverberating around the world, and Bierman explains how losing Greenland's ice will catalyze devastating events if we don't change course and address climate change now.
Episode 127: Basil Camu - From Wasteland To Wonder
Basil Camu is the author of From Wasteland to Wonder and the co-founder of Leaf & Limb, a North Carolina tree care service founded by Basil's father in 1997. In this episode of Nature Revisited, Basil recounts how what began as a traditional blue collar tree removal business transformed- through hard work, research, and dedication- into a tree care and consulting enterprise with a mission to preserve, plant, and promote trees in a way that maximizes positive benefits for members of all ecosystems. By implementing ways to work with natural systems instead of against them, Leaf & Limb has developed a blueprint to increase the health and population of trees, and thus help address pressing environmental issues and begin restoring the balance of life on Earth.
Episode 126: Ben Goldfarb - Crossings
Ben Goldfarb is an independent conservation journalist and award-winning author of books that include Crossings: How Road Ecology Is Shaping the Future of Our Planet. In this episode of Nature Revisited, Ben describes how roads have transformed our planet and disrupted the natural order of wildlife throughout the United States and around the world. As our planet’s road network continues to grow exponentially, the science of road ecology has become increasingly vital to the future of all living beings.
Episode 125: Boyce Upholt - The Great River
Boyce Upholt is a “nature critic” and author whose writing explores the relationship between humans and the natural world, especially in the U.S. South. Originally from Connecticut, Upholt moved to the Mississippi Delta in 2009, where he discovered an unexpected wilderness amid an agricultural empire: the Mississippi River. In this episode of Nature Revisited, Boyce describes the natural and human histories of the wild and unruly Mississippi River and the centuries of human efforts to control it. Ambitious and sometimes contentious programs of engineering -- government-built levees, jetties, dikes, and dams -- has not only damaged once-vibrant ecosystems but may not work much longer.
