in Ángela and the plastic problem, she embarks on a journey to discover what her local community and communities across her country are doing to increase sustainability by combating plastic waste. learning about intiatives in other cities and even going on a trip to the marvelous galápagos islands, she is helped and inspired along the way by her best friend, julia, and her mamá.

Ángela meets new friends like pedro and his mother to continue her exploration of ecuador, facing her fears to discover how community can tackle plastic pollution together.

in this children’s book, youth will hopefully be inspired to take action after learning about what other people are doing to combat plastic waste. 

Ángela and the plastic problem was written as an original story by first-time and emerging authors maria zaharatos & shelby atherton, edited and published with support from elena negrón, and illustrated by ruby walker.

the following two page spreads are an excerpt from the book. 

the book is made available through the texas-based educational nonprofit organization, faro: projects for global education, which writes educational curricula and children’s books on global issues.

for interested readers who liked this excerpt, you can check out the full book available on amazon, and keep an eye out for our kindle version coming soon! 

for teachers or others who want to use the book for educational purposes – please contact faro at info@faropge.org

candace clark is a ph.d. candidate at tuskegee university and an impressive voice in the environmental justice space. learn how she built climate-sustainable housing out of recycled trash, why her community-given name is kandeaux the farm plug, and why she cares about climate change in the first place.

sometimes, before a call to action, we need a call to inspiration. come get inspired!

learn more about candace’s mission by visiting her website.

full transcript:

krantz: hi there, i’m hannah krantz.

fayaz: and i’m aleena fayaz. we are two students at the george washington university who care about the environment. but we know how easy it can be to fall into a negative doom spiral when reading the news about climate change, trust me, i’ve been there.

krantz: when we think about our futures we worry about access to clean water, food, climate resilient homes, combating the excessive heat and extreme weather and so, so much more. so we wonder: what’s being done about this, what real changes are being made so that we can have a safe future? and most importantly, how can we solve these issues through the lens of environmental justice, acknowledging what groups are disproportionately affected by these disastrous effects of climate change?

fayaz: our generation needs a flood of innovative ideas and new mindsets for surviving and thriving in the climate crisis. we can ground ourselves and hope for the future by looking at young people who are not only making a difference in their communities right now, but also whose ideas truly have the potential to 2022年卡塔尔世界杯官网 .

krantz: in this episode, we bring you one outstanding voice in the climate space: candace clark. candace is going to teach us about the importance of black voices in climate solutions, how she learned to build climate sustainable housing out of recycled trash, and why she even cares about climate change in the first place. let’s get inspired.

fayaz: candace, thank you so much for coming to the show. if you wanna give us a brief intro just about who you are, what you do.

clark: for sure. so i’m candace clark, better known throughout the hood as kandeaux the farm plug. i am a beautiful black woman from the south side of chicago. i’m now currently a phd student at tuskegee university and my research specifically is anchored in agricultural policy, and even more specific than that, land use policy around the intersections of land use policy and sustainable, affordable and efficient housing.

krantz: that is outstanding! when were you first aware of the climate crisis, to get on the really specific path of education that you’re on?

clark: almost immediately i’m called to, you know, pay homage to my ancestors. there was also a really beautiful natural space, called the japanese garden, and it’s inspired by yoko ono. and it’s one of the places that makes chicago a sister city to osaka, japan, and it’s a place that you know, my father and my brother and i, we would ride our bikes and we would just spend a lot of time at this garden. and i know one year i came back and you know, of course i’m trying to walk around, i went to the garden and it was like totally flooded. you know, i’m saying like the little waterfall was damaged, algae blooms all over the place, the fish and aquatic life was not as vibrant. it was just a moment that was really shocking for me, because i’m like, oh my god, these are my real childhood memories. and i think about all the young people on the south side or the east side, who you know, may want to go to the beach or may want to relax or may find a sense of meditation and rejuvenation by going to the water, but what are they going to be seeing when they get there?

fayaz: so candace, you mentioned this term “farm plug,” and that you’ve been bestowed this name? what does that mean? what is the farm plug?

clark: so every time i try to say what it is, the next time i say that it changes a little bit. i’m not gonna lie. because it’s as real and true as i’m sitting here in front of you. it is a living thing and it’s dynamic. on a foundational standpoint, a farm plug is an intersectional advocate of the environment, of the community, and of earth, that sees agriculture and farming in like everything that you may do. it’s kind of wild right, but people call me farm plug because i will be outside and i would hear people talking about things and i would almost always connect it back to agriculture, right? so when i say outside, i mean in places like, for example, when trayvon martin happened, everyone’s protests and everyone’s marching, and i’m sitting here. i remember being outside, i remember feeling all of these feelings and looking around. i’m like, man, all these people are marching and we’ve been marching, and we’ve been doing this, and it’s not i’m not seeing the type of change that i would like to see. right. so i started doing more research and i’m like, well, every single form of discrimination in the history of discrimination was always connected to a natural resource, no matter what it always comes back down to the land. if we want to be free, right, if liberation is our end goal, then our liberation as humans is deeply deeply invested in the liberation of earth as an entity.

clark: okay, well, what is the history of black people in agriculture? so when i started to uncover more and more research, it became clear to me that during the freedom rides in the south when people were going to try and register all these black people to vote, that these black people were not welcome in the south. they couldn’t stay in hotels. they didn’t have diamonds that they could go to. the green book, there were only specific places that they could stop and be safe. it was the farmers and the land owners, the black land owners who had the capacity to support the civil rights foot soldiers as they matriculated through the south. and so literally, if we did not have black people who own land, there would not be a civil rights movement. if there was no civil rights movement, there would be no environmental movement, which was deeply deeply based on the civil rights movement, the decade right before it. when i started to see what it really meant to be a black person, let alone a black woman in agriculture, it just became everything that i talked about, everywhere that i went, to the point where people are like, “alright, i farm plug we heard you.” 

fayaz: when you say farm plug, your primary role is connecting, then? what is that problem you’re trying to solve, or who are the people, moreso, that you’re trying to serve?

clark: farm plug has three main pillars, right? and those three main pillars are educate, thrive and connect. each one of those pillars is deeply inspired by a theory or a person. i’m really really really deeply invested in this idea of not settling for survival, because that’s something that we’re going to do anyway. we should be fighting and advocating for the opportunity to thrive as black people in this place.

krantz: that is a really important reframing.

clark: if you are committed to a thriving lifestyle, your next goal, the next thing you really got to do, your charge, is to go out and connect with other people to make these things a reality. we need to make science cool. we need people to care about the information that is going into the policy that are deciding the fate of everybody on the face of the planet. and what farm plug is doing, what i’m doing as a farm plug is, i’m really kind of just living my life really, really loud. and i am telling stories of other people who are earth cultivators, earth workers, who are in policy and all these things doing things that black people don’t typically see. my solution is: nothing is really cool without black people. so we need to get more of us in these spaces, telling these stories and bringing our culture into the solutions that people are vying for in the face of climate change.

fayaz: so, i saw that statistic from the food and agriculture organization that states by 2050 we’ll need to produce 60% more food to feed a world population of around 9.3 billion. that’s a lot of people. so how does your role as a farm plug help us reach that goal? what are your thoughts on at that point? i mean, it’s pretty stark.

clark: we educate, we drive and we connect shawty, that’s what we do! right? so another kind of scary and wild statistic to add on to that is that it’s been projected that the united states only has about 60 harvests left. so the state of our soil is so depleted that if we continue doing what we’re doing, we will only be able to quite literally grow food across the country for the next maybe 55 to 60 years. to combat all of these things— education is the key to everything. if a person does not know, they will not do right. you can’t inspire someone if you can’t connect with them, right? and so for me, when we think about regenerative agriculture or sustainable agriculture, my job is to first of all remind all of my white allies in the space that they’re not the first people who said these things, right? you have the whole indigenous native american population who were in the united states for hundreds of 1000s of years. we don’t know how long. but they managed, quite literally managed and stewarded in this place in a way that maintained a form of harmony and balance that we have totally obliterated. and not only just indigenous people here, but really indigenous people all over the world. for black and indigenous people to really see ourselves in that and to enter this space, unapologetically, by reclaiming our culture.

krantz: so you said science needs to become cooler. i am very blown away by the coolness of earthships.

fayaz: it sounds utopian, almost like it’s part of some alien jetson you know, futuristic model. so please tell us everything we need to know about an earthship and how your role in the earthship makes it possible.

clark: so earthships are essentially, what i call a 21st century post apocalyptic dwelling that is made from upcycled tires, cans, and bottles. it is a house that is fully sustainable and self-sufficient on its own made from trash! this super cool dude, his name is michael reynolds, he saw an article that was talking about aluminum cans and how you know, as we enter the microwave age, more single use items, trash is gonna be a bigger issue. so he shifted his entire architecture model to figuring out, well, if this is going to be an issue in the future, how do i capitalize on this to make it not an issue? in april of 2021 with all of the uprisings and george floyd and black lives matter, they decided to roll out a bipoc scholarship, which was basically: if you’re a black indigenous person of color, if you could get to new mexico, and you’ve received the scholarship, you don’t have to pay for anything. typically it’s around like 2500 to $3,000 to participate in the academy. and so i had the privilege to be the first recipient of that scholarship.

clark: i was like, i shouldn’t have to pay rent. i shouldn’t have to struggle, nobody should have to struggle when we have this technology, right? they (earthships) are the embodiment of six key main points. it’s water, food, electricity, waste, comfort and garbage. the house catches water, so it catches rainwater, it has a greenhouse in the front of it where you can grow your own food. it does waste management. so every time you flush the toilet, it literally runs through the botanical beds and your boo boo is basically feeding your plants. 

fayaz: woah!

clark: yeah! it embodies it utilizes geothermal dynamic heat. it’s an earthship, it’s a home that’s basically in the ground. so you don’t have to worry about, you know, paying for an h-vac system because quite literally the warmth of the earth is what will support you. it also talks about solar energy. so we have solar panels on it. and again, with food, you can grow your own food in those in that greenhouse in the front and then garbage right garbage is a problem. but it’s a house made from garbage. so you’re turning that problem into a very, very real solution.

krantz: earthships are one of the coolest things i have ever heard of in my entire life. only 21 years of life so far, but i feel that few things will beat it. what did these look like? when you walked in there, what did you see?

clark: i mean, they are gorgeous, you know what i’m saying? so imagine, you know, you got different color bottles. if you got a don julior or a bombay bottle, you know, it’s that sapphire gives you that blue hue. well imagine that, in a wall at times, with the sun blasting behind the siding behind it into your living room. you know what i’m saying? like that’s what it looks like. that’s why i say 21st century post apocalyptic, because it can definitely go anywhere from super luxurious or to super super rookie. there is an earthship on every continent except antarctica. you can build it yourself, but if no one from earthship biotecture academy is present and guiding you through that build, you can’t legally call it an earthship. so my dissertation will be building one in tuskegee, but i will be doing the first all black cohort.

fayaz: well, how much does this cost? how long does it take? can you kind of dig into the timeline and the process of making an earthship?

clark: i mean you it’s either one of two things: you either got a bunch of friends and a bunch of time, or a bunch of money. and even if you got a bunch of money, it’s still gonna cost more because of the labor. earthships can be anywhere from as cheap as $2,000 and majority recycled, upcycled and reclaimed materials to anywhere from anywhere to a hundred thousand to a million dollars. it can be beautiful, and you can use brand new everything if you want to. so as we started to face more issues with feeding ourselves, getting water, having electricity, a home that already has a rainwater catchment as a greenhouse in it, and has solar panel electricity hooked up to it is wanting to do nothing but increase in value. that’s why i say post apocalyptic because they can truly withhold these challenges that we’re about to start seeing more and more.

krantz: so you’re building the first ever earthship with an all black cohort, and you’re doing it in tuskegee. so, what black specific issues do you hope to combat by creating this community?

clark: i mean, so many things. but basically by the time i finished the earthship academy, i understood how my house was built. i understood how my water worked, i understood my plumbing. i understood electric loads, how to calculate them. i understood so much about building a house and owning the house, that i’m like everybody needs to know about this. everyone needs to know these basic principles. and then when i learned about how much wealth can be generated from your bare hands, it’s almost like you know, black people, we can afford to not know this information, especially when you have gentrification, people being pushed out of their communities left and right. you know, it’s real out here. nobody’s saving us, so we need to be equipping ourselves with the skills to build whatever new community, whatever new society, whatever new utopia, you know, we want to actually see. we have to be the ones who know how to work the drills, work the hammers, use those nails to build it.

fayaz: i’m a young person, hannah’s young person, and you are a young person too, working in this field, really pioneering this solution that inspires us to carry it forward. why should young people care?

clark: i think a lot of the time, we make it too much of an individual thing. this is collective. so if you care about your — even if you want to be selfish, and you want other people to care about you, you should care about climate. like in every regard. whatever you think is important, imagine it existing without clean water, food, or fresh air. if it can still exist, you’re in outer space and you are hella rich and i’m probably not talking to you.

krantz: sometimes before a call to action, people need a call to inspiration. you have just illustrated that so excellently. i want to go build an earthship.

fayaz: yeah, me too. we’re off!

our group consisted of 14 young women. arriving in san jose, we packed our things into a bus and began the journey to pavones, where we would have our first surfing experience. after the five-hour drive, we filed out to meet our surf instructor, andrea, a beautiful, dark olive-skinned woman in her mid-40s. she had long, dark chocolate-colored hair with sun-kissed strands framing her face. she wore a fuchsia body-length surf suit with a black rash guard tied around her waist. tattoos from the top of her shoulder down to her wrist. she gave us our “intro to surfing” lecture, assigned us our boards, and then it was off into the water. 

the ocean was calm. this was a world-famous beach known for its waves. the beach was a combination of sand and palm-sized stones we had to navigate around in order to reach the water. my beginner surfboard was rather large for my small physique. i balanced the board on my head as i stepped into the water making sure not to cut my feet on the rocks.

once i made it far enough into the water, i put both my hands on either side of the board and pushed myself off the sandy floor and onto the board. i managed to flop stomach down on the board and almost immediately slid off. weird, i thought. i tried again. both hands on either side of the board, i pushed off again and this time made sure to pay attention to where i landed. i aimed for the middle and somehow made it on. only then was i met with the battle of balancing myself while paddling out. the board tilted from left to right, my uncoordinated body struggling to maintain stability. this was much more difficult than i thought, and i had not even gotten to the actual surfing part! 

i navigated myself through the channel and to the spot where andrea sat. she positioned each of the girls and gave a push as waves approached. it was my turn. i swam my board over to her and sat stomach down, arms positioned at my rib cage, gripping the board. my heart was racing. i had been waiting for this! the wave approached and i felt andrea’s push sending me a moment ahead of the wave. let’s go, let’s go, let’s go! the ocean water sprayed my face as i propelled myself upwards, planting each of my feet underneath me and doing my best to stand up as quickly as i could. i was up. i was up! 

my left foot behind and my right in front, i lifted my arms to balance. what a feeling! it was short-lived, i soon felt the board tilt and i plunged into the water. i bobbed up to the surface, my adrenaline surging. i could feel everything. my blood pumping, the sounds of the ocean and my fellow surfers cheering for me, the sand on my feet, the water running off my face. i looked all around me, i wanted to take every aspect of this moment in. the ocean had taught me my first lesson. i had so many preconceived notions of how this was going to go and was surprised at how wrong i was. i loved it. i was ready to have the best month of my life.

today, we talk about a fun and tasty way to combat invasive species by putting them on the menu. invasive species are organisms introduced into an environment outside their native range that cause catastrophic economic and environmental damage. controlling invasive species can be costly and time-consuming but including them on your plate could be a viable way to manage and even reduce populations. we share a fun and simple crockpot feral pig pulled pork recipe. 

feral pig pulled pork sliders – recipe courtesy of invasivore.org

ingredients

4lb feral pig shoulder roast

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

½ tablespoon garlic powder

½  cup yellow mustard

brioche slider buns

water as needed

directions

1. coat pork roast in mustard to act as a binder for the dry rub.
2. combine seasonings and spoon over the pork roast, ensuring the rub adheres to the pork.
3. coat the bottom of the slow cooker with vegetable oil.
4. add pork roast to the center of the slow cooker.
5. cook low for 6-7 hours or high for 4-5 hours until meat easily falls off the bone or shreds easily if using boneless. once the internal temperature reaches 195°f-205°f it will be ready to shred and safe to eat. 
6. while still in the slow cooker, use a pair of forks to shred pork meat, removing fat as desired.
7. enjoy on a toasted bun.  optional: top with coleslaw to enjoy your sandwich “southern style!”

**note: if you notice your pork roast getting dry during the cooking process, add water until the roast is halfway submerged and maintain the water level for the rest of the cooking.**

through social gatherings and workshops led by indigenous mentors, the program seeks to build community and communication skills to empower the next generation of indigenous storytellers. planet forward’s lisa palmer recently spoke with cotnoir and lafrance about what inspired them to create the program. 

palmer: can you tell us about your background and what made you want to focus on creating a space for indigenous environmental storytellers? 

cotnoir: kwaï! ndeliwizi alexander. nojiawi mamlawbagok. my name is alexander, and i grew up along the shores of lake memphremagog. i am a citizen of the nulhegan band of the coosuk-abenaki tribe. my family comes from trois-rivières along the saint françois river, as well as coaticook, quebec and vermont’s northeast kingdom. i’m passionate about food systems and understanding how climate change impacts northern forests, including the species and communities that depend upon them, given my experiences growing up in a family and community that makes maple syrup from the woods behind our home each spring, carrying on our community’s long tradition of making local food. i’ve witnessed firsthand how many of our local practices — from ice fishing, snowshoeing, and ash basket making to maple sugaring — are threatened by warmer winters and the associated influx of invasive species brought about by climate change. 

lafrance: kahay! baalaashe iichiinmaatchileesh huuk. basammalíaxxia biiuuwuutasshiik deelé koon biixúhkaalaxchebaakaatik. binnéesappeele kookakawook. iikooshtakáatbaatchaache kookakawook. hello. my apsáalooke name is fortunate with horses and my english name is joree lafrance. i come from the greasy mouth clan and i am a child of the ties the bundle clan. i come from the river crow band. i am from the mighty few district at the foothills of the big horn mountains on the crow reservation in southeastern montana. 

cotnoir: my passion for environmental storytelling comes from recognizing that, although indigenous communities have contributed little to global carbon emissions, we are disproportionately impacted by the loss of species and habitats brought about by global warming. this disproportionate impact is because our spirituality and identities are formed through interactions with local plants, animals, medicines, land, and waters. thus, anything that threatens the health of local ecosystems threatens our community’s health.

today, my work in science communication is grounded in the recognition that science is but one among several ways of understanding the world. if we are to fully combat and adapt to climate change, we need policymakers and scientists to value other ways of knowing, including indigenous knowledge. indigenous knowledge is powerful because it is imbued with ethics, and it’s time and field-tested. indigenous knowledge teaches us what to look for — so it can help us better predict and adapt to environmental changes. i seek to honor indigenous ways of knowing, as well as the knowledge-bearers that have passed down their experiences to the younger generations through the stories i tell. 

lafrance: i am the 7th generation of chief déaxitchish/pretty eagle, the last principal chief of the apsáalooke nation, and one of the first five apsáalooke delegation members to travel to washington, d.c., on behalf of our people. i am proud to come from families who are known for our horsemanship, horse parade sets, our original red elk tooth dress, kindness, love, and hard work. my ultimate goal is to return to my homelands and continue my heart’s work. i strive to live in a world where my people can be unapologetically apsáalooke and am working hard to be a good ancestor.

palmer: where did the idea for the ilíiaitchik: indigenous correspondents program come from? what are you hoping to accomplish with this program?

cotnoir: we recognized the need for an indigenous space where students interested in sharing their experiences and communicating environmental issues to the general public can gather, form a community, and strengthen their communication skills by learning directly from indigenous leaders in the communication field. 

lafrance: although representation of indigenous writers, podcasters, filmmakers, and storytellers has grown in recent years, reporting about science and the environment has not always been inclusive nor respectful of indigenous communities and knowledge systems. 

cotnoir: in the past, reporting on “native issues” was typically done solely by non-indigenous reporters, with little to no continued connections to the communities they reported on beyond the interview period. today, a lot of work remains to make journalism — a process steeped in colonial ideas about who holds the right to tell stories — more accessible and equitable for native people. 

lafrance: although indigenous communities are disproportionately impacted by climate change and global biodiversity loss, only a very small percentage of scientists, professors, and science journalists at u.s. universities and news organizations are indigenous. despite modest increases in indigenous representation among stem professionals in recent years, recent research from the institute for scientific information shows that between 2010 and 2020, there “was virtually no change in the representation of black, hispanic, and native american researchers among authors of scientific publications” a symptom of structural inequality, including underfunding of bipoc academics. this lack of resources and representation influences the coverage and perspectives around environmental justice, climate adaptation, and environmental policy issues while perpetuating harmful stereotypes about native communities. 

now is the time for indigenous people to write their own stories about their communities. we have the power to tell our own stories, we just need the space and the right tools. as indigenous graduate students working in environmental storytelling, we have worked hard to build the ilíiaitchik: indigenous correspondents program in the hopes that it will create a native space where our voices and perspectives inform and uplift one another.

***

stay tuned to planetfoward.org for an introduction of the incredible indigenous correspondent team and updates from the program!

it is hard to believe there was a time when what was renamed as the c&o canal national historical park was unknown to me and not a part of my life. but once i reached it, there was simply no turning back. that very same place i had avoided because it seemed too far from home, now became a part of my life, requiring hours at a time for wandering the towpath, mountain trails, tunnels, across wetlands, and always taking field notes and pictures. having been a teacher meant that i was always wondering how to convey this sense of exploration and discovery to others, especially the coming generation that was losing its contact with the natural world.

when biodiversity took off

over the next three decades, separately, but soon to be interconnected, came a growing awareness of the world’s biota. in 1986, scientists dr. e.o. wilson and dr. thomas lovejoy led a national forum on biodiversity, which catapulted this subject into prominence. at this particular meeting, the national parks lacked a formal spokesperson regarding the biota within their boundaries.

one goal of this forum was to gain attention to the need for management and attention to our living, global species. as time passed, the concept and meaning of biodiversity grew from a novelty of the 1980s to the subject of global conventions and reports. reflecting on the interconnectedness of life, biodiversity came to stand for the study, discussion, and conservation of the various species that live on our planet. as this message reached out to the public, those crafting educational standards for science in grades k-12 also recognized the significance of biodiversity, albeit in a very truncated form. standards for such were instilled as part of the next generation science standards, a product of the national research council published in 2012.

eventually the national parks were recognized as another location where biodiversity could be found and studied. this recognition came as visitor’s interests were increasing and diversifying. thus, parks had to scale up efforts to meet both the new interests of visitors and programs for the protection and conservation of biodiversity. an early example of such came in 2004 with a report titled, “the potomac gorge conservation plan,” which marked the first set of biodiversity surveys in the c&o canal park. this was done cooperatively between the national park service and the nature conservancy. however, it was not until 2018 that a strategic plan emerged for conservation to enter park planning.

a more recent document, from our national academy of sciences is titled biodiversity at risk, which highlights extinction rates of 10 to 100 times those recorded before human domination. it also finds that at least 1 million species are further threatened with loss of life and concludes by recognizing how such losses cause decline in the world’s functioning ecosystems.

sadly, in late december 2021, these global losses were again brought to our attention, but this time marked by remembrances and obituaries telling of the deaths of two scientists, who, more than any others, pioneered our understanding of the significance of the earth’s green treasures, and whose thinking would come to influence the national parks as well.

first, lovejoy, 80, known as the person who produced the word biodiversity, passed away on saturday, dec. 25, followed just a day later by wilson, who died at age 92 on dec. 26. their lives’ work became synonymous with the practice of understanding the birth, death, and loss of species, and how this understanding would guide conservation.

lovejoy first ventured into the tropics in 1965 and continued to expand his research by opening an educational camp in the tropical forests of brazil. from his forested camp 41, award-winning research on fragmentation of forests was born. it became a place where those most interested in the workings of a rainforest could be housed and informed by lovejoy himself of the often-unseeable entities hiding among the towering canopies.

among things championed by wilson was the bioblitz, an event of citizen science at its best. one such event was held in 2016 to locate and identify species from the chesapeake and ohio canal national historical park.

responsibilities for biodiversity in the c&o canal park became part of its current strategic plan (2018 to 2023), to “maintain and protect wisely, to ensure towpath continuity, and protect and preserve cultural and natural resources.” it is this section that contains a strategic plan to develop and implement resource management by prioritizing critical natural areas and species of special concern. thus, while not yet embracing biodiversity by name, actions that lead to the conservation of species are now part of the park’s strategy.

a world canal conference

all reservoirs of biodiversity are a painting of inter-connectedness. this applies to the c&o canal park as well, along with the possibility to serve as a wildlife and conservation corridor. this suggestion was highlighted at the most recent world canals conference, held in august 2021 in hagerstown, maryland. in my presentation (“the capital’s corridor: from purveyor of goods to conservation corridor,” and two others), the emerging focus of biodiversity alongside the canals was discussed for the first time in this series of annual meetings, and participants could begin to consider this issue in relation to the more traditional history and interpretation and canal infrastructure discussions. a personal questionnaire was also distributed to seek guidance on how these issues should be managed by the c&o canal park.

in this talk, it was mentioned that the c&o canal park offers possibilities for exploring biodiversity and as a wildlife/conservation corridor. to do so, the corridor would take the same route as the canal and towpath, as if a passenger on a train. and as the canal stretches northward, so does the potential for a corridor, cutting through six geologic zones, climbing in altitude over 600 feet, each having different biota. as with all national parks, such diversity, remaining natural formations, historical and engineering artifacts, combined with our new and increasing understanding of biodiversity make the park more than the towpath and locks.

an alphabetized guide to the chesapeake and ohio canal national historical park

in fact, this park can open visitors up to life in nature, something that is getting harder to accomplish this close to major metropolitan areas. complete with great falls, and the kayak riders that dare the rapids, one finds a form of wilderness built of unique parts, sitting, waiting for others like justice douglas to ponder. with this thought in mind, a new guide to the canal park was begun with the intent to help readers rapidly locate those things of greatest interest. 

the question then became how to put this all together with old school and new school; a little bit fun, a little bit learning; a little bit art, a little bit science, and a hint of natural history and american history. it’s all for you, so put it to work. our response to this seemingly immense challenge is to provide excerpts from a book under production, titled, “an alphabetized guide to the chesapeake and ohio canal national historical park.” it is structured and illustrated to provide immergence for what is seen from the towpath and what the viewer knows already. it is like having a guide to ask, “but what is that and what does it do?”

however, while this book points one in the right direction, this national park and its exiting pools of biodiversity would benefit even more by modifying educational and research approaches conceived by lovejoy and wilson for establishing longer term programs. secondary students could undertake biodiversity studies that are consistent with educational standards from ngss (next generation science standards). in this time of restricted travel, financial pressures, and a virus complex still largely misunderstood, the opportunity to conduct work on populations, species, wetland, and fragmentation would go far in accelerating learning prior to graduate school or employment.

in summary, the book might best thought of as a guide to the constellations. so, think for a moment, how do we learn the constellations in the nighttime sky? at first, you see thousands of stars looking all the same, but as study their brightness and color, you suddenly see the major stars come forward in your eyes and voice in your ears, whispers, “that is the one, now look to your right and above, and there is another.” then slowly one star at a time, and following those clues whispered in your ears, the entire constellation appears in the sky, that very same sky where before there was nothing but he unknown twinkling of a thousand points of light.

except in our book, the night sky becomes an outstretching of green, blues and browns that slowly come into focus, completing a picture of a sycamore leaf swaying, waiting for the sun, and from there, we go inside the leaf, from cells to photosynthesis. you start with what you see or what’s on your mind, and next thing you know, like hearing voices in your ears of lovejoy, wilson, rachel carson, margaret mee, jane goodall, wangari maathai, fred urquhart, and on and on they come, a song that won’t stop and a melody that won’t let your feet stop dancing till the book is closed. you know that feeling, don’t you? so, take a walk on the towpath, any ol’ time of day and be surprised by what you see and learn.

conclusion: camp 41a, an education between the potomac river and the c&o canal

the canal was saved once, by the efforts of many who conceived of it as a national park rather than a parkway. thanks to their foresight, the canal was opened for a second time, only this time for nature not commerce. we hope that the book previewed and excerpted here will help bring together a place and its artifacts; its species and the science behind what is visible, the elements that bind its parts together, and help open eyes once again and fire up the engines of wilson and lovejoy to take us all place still unknown.

it is in lovejoy’s memory that “camp 41a” could be established for the canal where students could undertake much as lovejoy did, field studies on migration, fragmentation, speciation and the effects of corridors, thus enriching their education.

why be concerned about this park in particular? right now, it offers the potential to be the capital’s corridor, meaning that it becomes akin to a strip of “natural” habitat bringing together two or more other habitats, which then counters the effects of fragmentation, enriching the means by which organisms can move, encounter new genetic populations, and migrate. this could be the future of the biodiversity study in c&o canal park.

earth day was cold and rainy this year. but that did not stop the northwestern university student organizers of generations of environmental justice from hosting an all-night teach-out on april 22 and 23.  

generations of environmental justice featured workshops, lectures and discussions about environmental justice issues, including pollution’s health impacts in communities of color and trespassing on indigenous lands and treaty rights. the student-led event began at 5 p.m. on earth day and continued until 7 a.m. the next morning in alice millar chapel and parkes hall.

“the goals of the event are to provide people with a general education about environmental justice and the history of the environmental justice movement and how that is distinct from the white environmentalism narrative that is very pervasive,” said nu junior lucy london. 

london is one of the organizers of the event. she is studying performance studies with a minor in environmental policy and culture.

this event was inspired by project survival, a student-led environmental event held at northwestern on january 23, 1970, before the first ever earth day. project survival was an all-night event that brought together 10,000 people and featured speakers and discussions of crisis level air and water pollution that kicked off the environmental movement.

“i was feeling really inspired by that energy and despaired at how it feels like there’s not really that type of directed energy happening right now towards the climate crisis,” said london.

london added, though, that she hopes the 2022 iteration will be more inclusive than project survival, where she said all the speakers were white men.

the opening statements began around 5:30 p.m. with a land acknowledgement from kadin mills, a northwestern sophomore and member of the ojibwe tribe. the northwestern campus occupies ojibwe (chippewa), potawatomi and odawa (ottawa) lands.  

a main focus of this event was to highlight indigenous voices, which london said have been central to the environmental justice movement long before the mainstream white environmentalist movement began in the mid-20th century.

one breakout session held in the first block of events was called “how indigenous philosophy can save the world.” doug kiel, a northwestern professor of native american history and member of the oneida nation of wisconsin led this session.

kiel opened this session with a traditional oneida opening for meetings and gatherings. the greeting gave thanks for over a dozen aspects of the natural world –– from the sun, to the fish, to the trees. 

“european philosophy has ruined the world,” kiel said simply in his lecture. 

he cited the “doctrine of discovery” as the root of european philosophies of ownership and extraction in the americas that had damaged the environment and native communities for centuries. he added, though, that indigenous philosophy may be the antidote.

one example he pointed to was the seven generations philosophy, which asks communities to consider how the decisions they make will affect their descendents seven generations into the future.

at the end of the session kiel asked the audience to form groups and discuss how they felt kinship with the land. when the whole group reconvened, people shared about their favorite places to go to feel connected to nature and how they connected to new places.

this sharing seemed to be at the heart of the event’s original intent: people coming together to share and learn about how they can connect with and contribute to the environmental justice movement.

“this is a very broad and very large movement,” said london. “we need everyone in it in whatever capacity and whatever role they have to fill.”

in this video essay, against a backdrop of coral reefs and mangrove forests, planet 世界杯欧洲预选赛免费直播 kaitlyn copland reflects on her coastal upbringing and connects it to the importance of ocean conservation and education.

scaling up these intimate moments between human and nature, the coasts offer a window into the function of relational ecology in sustainable development: to address the question of how a community’s connection to the ocean impacts the development of aquaculture.

islands and oceans

the interconnected waters of planet earth serve as a bridge between land masses, as well as between humans and the environment. in the context of all ecologies, that of the ocean is the most biodiverse and contains the most that is unknown to humanity. in using this ecosystem for profit, human industry has commodified the ocean and exploited this biodiversity. 

in response to this large-scale degradation, aquaculture industries around the world have been developing methods to pursue these resources in a way that honors the ocean and its invaluable ecosystem. the stewards of such innovations are largely the indigenous groups of coastal communities, who have been thriving in unity, using these “new innovations” for millennia. 

through their cultural tradition and roots in the physical environment, many communities illustrate the expanded parameter of human understanding that is present when society and environment exist in unity. although indigenous communities serve as the most deeply and widely connected communities in communion with the natural environment, there are non-indigenous communities that have developed to share similar values. 

relational ecology

in the discussion of post-human geographies — environmental philosophies that de-center humanity — relational ecology serves as the philosophy that represents the “vitality of non-human actors –– climate, animals, plants, waterways –– and their relationship with humanity and amongst one another.”  developed in this context by tim ingold, relational ecology, as a theory and in practice values all, “who might come to share in each other’s wisdoms.” it is this sharing of wisdom, alongside cosmetological beliefs, that inform indigenous ways of life. their stewardship and comprehensive awareness of the patterns in the natural world give the indigenous populations an opportunity to serve their environment and community. this relational ecology can be carried over into the development of plans for aquaculture, thus encompassing some aspects of the rich connection between the community, especially those who are indigenous, and the environment. 

aquaculture

aquaculture is defined as the “cultivation of ocean-dwelling plants or animals, for human consumption.” ever-growing, aquaculture industries in japan, korea and china have set the stage for developments across the oceans. humans are looking to alternative, sustainable food sources to sustain themselves as the world’s resources dwindle. these processes may require sophisticated systems of machinery, nets and treatments. aquaculture requires specificity and careful planning in order to be successful, and sustainable. 

despite the challenges and potential for degradation, there are innovators pushing forward to promote large-scale production. sustainable use of ocean resources has taken place for millennia by indigenous peoples on island nations and other coastal regions. from a larger-scale perspective, by scaling up their subsistence model there is potential to “consume marine food in a more diverse and insightful manner, including eating from lower trophic levels and limiting bycatch and waste.”

island relational ecology

large-scale aquaculture development is happening, and will continue to do so. it is a large opportunity for a shift in economic and societal perspectives that focus only on industrial endeavors, to the ontological basis of relation ecology, so that aquaculture might be conducted in a more sustainable manner.  their position in the economic and geopolitical shadow of multinational corporations often makes small island nations vulnerable to be exploited and ignored. a broader understanding and awareness of natural processes and patterns give policy makers and industry leaders an opportunity to collaborate with local communities to expand sustainable ocean aquaculture. 

this philosophy of relational ecology, fueled by curiosity and compassion, can be carried out by anyone, anywhere, no matter how small their feet are. 

as we head towards a future of climate catastrophe, collaborative establishments that share cultural values applicable to every human being, such as the skä•noñh center, can help people recognize that we need to start taking care of the land that we live on.

if you would like to learn more about the skä•noñh center visit: https://www.skanonhcenter.org/academic-collaborative