How It Looks From Here

This month, Mary had the chance to talk with Traute Parrie, an environmental engineer and conservationist who had a career with the U.S. Forest Service. Traute says she’s at her best in high-mountain pika habitat. The small mammals scampering between boulders with their chirping voices capture her curiosity and have long been teachers. She’s also prone to long walks - often days at a time - including a recent hike through the Yellowstone ecosystem from the Lamar Valley on the east side, to Jackson and the Teatons on the west. Now, on the heels of a long career which culminated in her leading the Custer National Forest Beartooth Ranger District, you can find Traute in ecosystems of every description - wandering and listening to the land. She bikes, hikes, skis, sometimes in dubious weather. And is also known to pound nails as part of fire-lookout restoration projects. Traute knows wild nature from her work and from her lifelong dedication to the world outside. She’s been watching human and more-than-human behavior for a long time and has plenty to share that can offer all of us additional understanding and ideas for being active participants in climate repair.You can learn more about Traute by taking a look at the book she helped edit, Voices of Yellowstone’s Capstone: A Narrative Atlas of the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness. Celebrated as "A riveting history of the areas animals, plants and soaring mountainsides with historical perspective from the Absalooke people, and the first non-native people to enter and engage with the land."   The book: https://shop.abwilderness.org/products/the-atlas Video Interview: https://www.anewanglepodcast.com/p/traute-parrie-and-aaron-teasdale-776 Excerpts: https://books.google.com/books?id=2if1xQEACAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false And these resources that Traute mentioned. The book, The Crazies by Amy Gamermanhttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/214152457-the-crazies The poetry of Montana Poet laureate, Chris LaTreyhttps://www.chrislatray.com/ As Traute says - we’re all related to each other and to all beings in the natural world. Her career in the Forest Service and her retirement illustrate there’s a lot to guide us in that relationship. MUSICInstrumental Acoustic Guitar Music - Music by Viacheslav Starostin from PixabayUpbeat Acoustic Guitar - Music by a...

This month we’re moving into the 6th year of this Podcast. As has been our tradition, Gary and I open the season with an episode to catch up on Full Ecology and our work in the world. What an amazing thing to take stock of where we’ve been and to consider where we are and where we’re going.We hope you enjoy this conversation and look forward to having you along for this season of varied and brilliant voices sharing their view on our glorious planet and its precious life.You can learn more about Gary’s book Twilight Forest, and Mary’s work with Inner Elderhood by following these links (blue above). You’re also welcome to inquire about these and all things Full Ecology by writing us at connect@fullecology.com or visiting the Full Ecology website. MUSICAcoustic Nature. Music by Dvir Silverstone from PixabayLovely Day. Music by Dvir Silverstone from PixabayInstrumental Acoustic Guitar. Music by DELOSound from Pixabay

This month Mary had the opportunity to meet up with Dr. Jane Close Conoley, who, since January of 2014 was the first woman appointed as permanent president of California State University Long Beach. After nearly 50 years in higher education, we caught Jane on the cusp of her retirement.Just prior to coming to Cal State Long Beach, Jane served as dean of the Gevirtz Graduate School of Education at the University of California Santa Barbara. Along with serving as dean, she was professor of counseling, clinical and school psychology.Before Santa Barbara, Jane served as dean and professor of educational psychology at Texas A&M University (1996-2005) and associate dean for research at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Teachers College (1989-94). In addition, she held faculty positions at Texas Woman's University and Syracuse University. Jane is the author or editor of 22 books and has written more than 100 chapters, refereed journal articles and technical reports. Her areas of primary interest are interventions with families, and with children with disabilities - especially children with serious emotional disturbance and aggressive children and youth. Her most recent work investigates the application of the science of positive psychology in educational settings.By the time you're the president of a major University, you've got plenty of credibility. Jane is at the same time a person of great integrity, creativity and heart. You'll hear all of that in their conversation.[Note from MMC - This was an especially gratifying episode for me. Back when I was in my early 20's, Jane recognized me as someone she could mentor. Because of her confidence in and encouragement of me, I've moved through my own academic career and into the work I do now, here on this good Earth, with all of you. I am forever grateful to and for Jane Conoley.]You can learn more about Jane by checking out the Cal State University Long Beach website. Especially this link focused on her generous service to CSULB. And here's a link to a pdf on positive psychology in educational settings that Jane co-authored with her husband, Collie W. Conoley.And make sure to consider how you can identify approach goals for your own action in support of climate repair. The initiatives of Jane’s University and the city of Long Beach are inspiring. Acting locally - even as locally as our home and family, makes a difference. Thanks to each of you for refusing to give up. Our choices to do what we can where we can come together with those of people around the globe to truly matter.MUSICRolled Ankles. Music by Nicholas Panek from PixabayJazz Background 333352. Music by Ievgen Poltavskyi from PixabayRomantic Jazz. Music by a...

This month Mary had the chance to spend time with Lucas Black, an environmental economist who currently serves as a staff member for World Wildlife Fund - US. In his work and across the whole of his life, Lucas is an energetically devoted champion of the environment. He can often be found in the wilderness of his current home in Oregon, and is also known to be tucked into a corner at a desk writing essays and longer pieces - odes to the beauty, strength and expanse of the natural world. Earlier in his life, Lucas was a Peace Corps Volunteer - living for two years in a village in Guinea-Bissau. In his early career, he worked as a financial advisor on Wall Street but elected to pivot into making a career out of developing financial tools and business models to solve environmental problems. In keeping with that focus, Lucas served for 13 years as a staff member for the United Nations. While there, he designed projects in the areas of climate change and biodiversity conservation for some of the world's major environmental trust funds and donors. Lucas has worked in more than 80 countries and lived on four continents. In his walk and his talk, Lucas is healing climate action. We think you'll enjoy what he has to share.You can learn more about Lucas on the World Wildlife Fund US website. https://www.worldwildlife.org/experts/lucas-blackOr go to this link to read the recent interview with Lucas and his WWF project partner, Josephina Brana Varella, Laying the Groundwork: WWF's Nature-Based Solutions Origination Platform Marks a Year of Progress. As Lucas mentioned, the Nature-Based Solutions Platform team is just back from powerful economic and environmental development work in Madagascar.MUSICMiddle East in Motion. Music by Dvir Silverstone from PixabayAsian Wonders. Music by Dvir Silverstone from PixabayWorld Vision-273608. Music by Dvir Silverstone from Pixabay

This month, Mary got to spend time with Alexis Marie Adams, a freelance writer and journalist. When we recorded, Lexy was in the last few weeks of spending half her year in a remote village in Southern Greece. This is her annual rhythm, with the summer and fall stretch spent in another small community at the edge of Montana's Beartooth Mountain Range. In these places, Lexy writes. Her focus is cultural and sustainable travel and environmental issues. Her articles and essays explore history and culture in the eastern Meditarranean, traditional and sustainable agriculture and, more recently, old-growth forests and other imperiled ecosystems globally. Lexy's work has appeared in the New York Times, National Geographic, The Guardian, Scientific American, Orion Magazine and The Boston Globe among other outlets.In their conversation, Mary and Lexy explored the influence of place on various forms of climate activism and the role of journalism in climate repair. They also turned attention to the underlying meaning humans know in relationship with the natural world.You can learn more about Lexy on her website.  There you’ll find access to a great selection of her writing. And, as promised, here's her article on Albania’s wild nature published by the NYT in April 2025. Don’t miss the chance to take a deeper dive into Lexy’s observations of and inspiration from this magnificent planet. As she says - it’s all about attunement - and that’s all about interdependence and love.MUSICGood Morning Café Jazz. Music by Sleep Volume from PixabayRolled Ankles: Smooth Jazz Flute Instrumental. Music by Nicholas Panek from PixabayPiano Jazz-324015. Music by Mircea Iancu from Pixabay

This month, Mary had the chance to speak with career environmental activist, Scotty Johnson. Scotty has spent the last forty years working in conservation, climate education, and as a Permaculture design specialist. During his time, he's lectured extensively for former Vice-President Al Gore's Climate Reality Project, served as National Outreach representative for Defenders of Wildlife and founded the Lanai Permaculture Institute.Through it all, Scotty has retained a passion for healing inherited from his father who worked as a country doctor in rural Arizona. Tending social ecologies, Scotty studied integrative medicine and Transpersonal psychology with pioneers like Andrew Weil and Stanislav Grof, investigating ancient healing methods practiced by the Tibetan Bon, Celtic, and other cross-cultural traditions. These explorations revealed that the Earth, like the human body, has an innate intelligence, keeping all functions healthy and balanced. Scotty believes that integrating different perspectives to engage this intelligence is uncharted territory with tremendous potential to hasten global restoration. He founded Taproot, a nonprofit effort based in Tucson, AZ, to further this awareness. You can learn more about Scotty Johnson by visiting the Taproot website https://taprootcollaborative.org/ . For exploring the integration of social ecological work, Scotty suggests the readings listed below. And remember, as Scotty emphasized, take precious care of yourselves and don’t give up.Readings:"Dream of the Earth." Thomas Berry."The Secret Teachings of Plants." Harold Buhner."Braiding Sweetgrass." Robin Wall Kimmerer"Entangled Earth." Merlin Sheldrake."Cosmos and Psyche." Richard Tamas.MUSICGuitar 5 - Music by Johnson Cherian from PixabayClassic Guitar World Music Ajonnah - Music by Jonathan Dube Tembo from PixabaySlow Emotion - Music by Rodolphe Rakotomalala from Pixabay

Another captivating episode! This month Mary had the chance to be in conversation with Dr. Peter Whitehouse. With MD and PhD degrees from Johns Hopkins, Peter has filled roles as Professor of Cognitive Science, Psychiatry, Neuroscience, Psychology, Nursing, Organizational Behavior, Bioethics and History. He's also deeply involved with public education as President of Intergenerational Schools International, and can be found portraying "The Tree Doctor," a metaphorical tree being who shares what trees and forests have to teach humans about being healthy.In 1986, after filling positions at Harvard and Boston University, Peter established the department of Neurology at Case Western Reserve in Cleveland, OH, where he continues on faculty. He is coauthor of The Myth of Alzheimer's: What You Aren't Being Told about Today's Most Dreaded Diagnosis and hundreds of academic papers and book chapters. He is also part of the reimagine aging movement personally and culturally. In 2000, Peter and his wife, Catherine Whitehouse, a developmental psychologist, began opening what are now 3 public schools in Cleveland focused on connecting seniors with school-age children. From the beginning, a key focus of the curricula in these schools has been the wellbeing of the climate.From dignity across the lifespan to ecological interdependence and quantum entanglement, Mary and Peter had plenty to talk about.  You can learn more about Dr. Peter Whitehouse by checking out any of his many publications. In particular, The Myth of Alzehimer’s. Also check out these videos.HAPI - People, Planet and Profit: Health in a Time of Polycrisis (2024)TEDx - Alzheimer's and the Value of Inter-Generational Schools (2012)Gerontology Society of America - The Gerontologist Podcast: ”American Dementia” with Drs. Daniel George and Peter Whitehouse (2024). Audio only.And find a way to take the opportunity Peter offers, to tend deeply to the lessons of trees and all of the natural world. See how wellness and aging are as diverse in people as they are in the wide world of which we are part.  MUSICJazz Café Background Music - Music by Maksym Malko from PixabayEasy Listening Jazz - Music by Krzysztof Szymanski from Pixabaynhac-jazz - Music by Zazz Bossa from a...

This month we're sharing a conversation on the implications of climate change in an aging society. HR (Rick) Moody, a scholar of philosophy and career-long leader in positive aging, pulled together a group of people on Zoom, asking neurologist, educator and creative Peter Whitehouse to join Full Ecology's Mary M Clare in leading a discussion focused on Elders and Climate Change.Dr. Moody is deeply committed to climate repair and has recently released a new book entitled, CLIMATE CHANGE IN AN AGING SOCIETY, published by Routledge Press. He also edits the weekly newsletter by the same name.Peter Whitehouse is a leader in Alzheimer’s research, having established that the diagnosis cannot represent a stand-alone disease, but rather a complex combination of challenges that vary from person to person. He is also deeply involved in education. He and his wife have, for 25 years, been champions of three charter elementary schools in Cleveland, Ohio focused on bringing young learners and seniors together to enhance the learning of both. Central to the curricula of these schools is attention to the environment and climate challenges. Rick then invited Mary M Clare, the host of HOW IT LOOKS FROM HERE, to join as a second primary speaker. Rick was interested in Mary's work with Gary Ferguson on Full Ecology, together with her current work with what she calls “Inner Elderhood.” .Rick, Peter and Mary join with others who attended the Zoom session to discuss the salience and nuance of Elderhood in times of climate change. You'll hear new links between Elder years and the environment, as well as an enlivened exchange on the intersection of Climate degradation and ageism.You can learn more about Elderhood and Climate Change by checking out Rick Moody’s newly released book, CLIMATE CHANGE IN AN AGING SOCIETY. If you’re interested in receiving the weekly newsletter by the same name by going to this newsletter link. Learn more about Peter Whitehouse by tapping into a few interviews with him recorded on you tube videos. These, of course, are also in the show notes.And, keep listening to HILFH for more from Mary - you can also stay current by subscribing to the Full Ecology newsletter through the link on the Full Ecology website - www.fullecology.com.The bottom line here - there’s always more to learn toward doing our parts as good stewards of the planet, no matter our age.RESOURCESDavid mentioned the veteran's organization that advocates for environmental justice and policies that protect communities, Common Defense.Tara mentioned the book about indigenous people of the Amazon entitled:

To begin this month of love in all its guises, we reached out to a person who teaches the kind of love that makes communities thrive. Courtney Gambrell brings a long and rich background in behavioral health and spiritual care to wellness work. She’s is a licensed clinical social worker in Texas and practiced psychotherapy there for many years. More recently, with an additional graduate degree she’s served as a board certified spiritual care provider and staff wellness coordinator at Boulder Community Health in Boulder, Colorado. Most of her work has been in high acuity settings like the Emergency Department and Intensive Care Unit. Over the years, Courtney has developed rituals with the wild just outside the hospital door, using it to support humans as nature in life shifting changes for patients, their family members and healthcare staff. Throughout, Courtney continues awed by self-inquiry processes, humbled and heartened by the benefits of gathering in mutuality and shared purpose. You’ll hear this awe throughout our conversation. Listen closely and you’ll also hear echoes of the breeze, the songs of contented birds and perhaps a whisper of what might be a gentle brook. This is the vibe Courtney brings to things. Courtney shares her work as one way to affirm the power of community. She honors the connection of human and beyond human community as a source of health, and a source of healing. Our conversation today stands as an invitation to all of us to give abundant attention to the unity that is the living world of which we are a part.If you're interested in more on how our social ecologies can be tended in ways that are good for all ecologies, Courtney suggests you consider the work of Richard Schwartz on Internal Family Systems. Most recently, Schwartz has teamed up with Melissa Gilbert to produce this audio series. MUSIC ~This episode includes music by Gary Ferguson and these other fine artists.Wave - Music by Tomomi Kato from PixabayExcuse Me Cat - Music by Geoff Harvey from PixabayClose to Closing - Music by Restum Anoush from Pixabay

Dr. Carma Corcoran is an Elder and enrolled member of the Chippewa Cree Nation. She lives in Portland, Oregon where she’s a longstanding public leader in response to social justice concerns. Professionally, she directs the Indian Law Program at Lewis & Clark College Law School. She also serves as an adjunct professor of Indigenous Nations studies at Portland State University and of Native American studies at Salish Kootenai College. She’s holds membership on several boards of directors for organizations focused on the interests and concerns of Native American people.Carma’s devotion to indigenous people and community led her to pursue her PhD with Pacifica University where she studied Gentle Action Theory with Dr. David Peet and applied this set of understandings in working directly with incarcerated Native American women. Her book The Incarceration of Native American Women: Creating Pathways to Wellness and Recovery through Gentle Action Theory is a summary of her original research and was recently published by University of Nebraska Press.In this episode, Carma shares implications of Gentle Action Theory for climate repair. She speaks specifically of the application of traditional ways for coming into right relationship with ourselves, each other and the natural world.To learn more about Dr. Corcoran, read the article featuring her in Underscore Native News. Watch Carma’s facebook and instagram pages for where in the country Carma is speaking next and the chance to listen in on more about her work and insights. Finally, as we step into this New Year, bring along Carma’s suggestion that, to be of service in this weary world, we must start by going within - daily - to know and grow ourselves.MUSIC ~This episode includes music by Gary Ferguson and these other fine artists.Flute/Guitar Classical Instrumental Oqu by Creative Freedom from PixabayTabla Flute 102. Music by Johnson Cherian from Pixabay Flute Drums 106. Music by Johnson Cherian from Pixabay

This month – following the recent U.S. presidential election - we wanted to speak to our listeners who may be feeling challenged to be at peace right now, while at the same time staying responsive to right action. In the face of that challenge, we’re thrilled to have as our guest. Alison is an activist and public leader in New Haven, CT. Most recently she's been deeply involved with volunteer work for the Harris/Walz ticket.Mary and Alison have spoken before - nearly 2 years ago in February of 2023. In the time since, Alison has continued in her role as Director of Professional Formation for Yale University's Divinity School. For two decades prior to that post, she was Chief Executive Officer for Columbus House, a nonprofit organization devoted to providing homes and shelter for people who need them. Still before that, she had a good run as owner of a New Haven women's bookstore.In their conversation, Alison and Mary considered ways for going forward into this uncertain future ina a way that will contribute to social and environmental justice. Given Alison's involvement in the Harris/Walz campaign, we realize we can't fairly represent thoughts, experiences and anticipations of people who voted otherwise; nonetheless, we trust the listener will recognize that limitation and find something helpful here.You can learn more about Alison at this link describing her current work with Yale Divinity School, and at this link about her previous role with Columbus House as an advocate and activist for people without houses.Now, here in this season of darkness turning back toward light, we wish each of you only well. And we know that, no matter the votes we cast, each of us will experience joys and sorrows, big and small triumphs and profound disappointments and losses in the coming days, weeks and years. In times like ours the opportunities are countless for learning ever more about how to live present and with love and kindness - to ourselves, to other people and to all beings. Thank you for listening in and for taking care of yourselves and each other.MUSIC ~This episode includes music by Gary Ferguson and these other fine artists.Relaxing Piano Music Music by Clavier Clavier from PixabaySad Violin Music by Restum Anoush from PixabayInspirational Calm Relaxing Piano Music by Josef Surikov from Pixabay

This month, Mary had the opportunity to meet with artist and scholar, Neal Aronowitz. They spoke in Neal’s studio in Portland, Oregon - a place where he works with concrete and wood, aluminum, marble, glass and electricity. Neal applies his artistic sensibilities to furniture design - specifically consoles, coffee tables and light fixtures. His style is profoundly affected by his kinship with the natural world. Born and raised in Brooklyn, Neal came to know wild nature in adventures his family would take into the woodlands and mountains of New York State. He studied art and architecture at City University of NY and Massachusetts College of Art exploring the disciplines of metalwork, glassmaking, woodworking, ceramics, photography, and multimedia sculpture. Then, to keep his young family cared for, he developed a construction business. All along, however, he remained powerfully interested and invested in the plant world - expressing his devotion through urban gardens of fruit and vegetables - and gardens of water. Now he’s essentially finished with construction and spends his time pursuing his life’s love of artistic expression in design. In the short time he’s been giving the majority of his attention to this work, he’s received great acclaim, including being the subject of an award winning documentary, HOW TO BEND CONCRETE IN 108 EASY STEPS. He’s been featured in Interiors Magazine, Luxe, Spaces, Elle, and Kaza - a magazine in Sao Paulo. He won the 2017 Gray Award and was named Best of the Year in 2018 by Interior Design. He was also recognized by Artisan Design and was a finalist in the 2024 NYC by Design Awards. In this episode Neal shares the story of his artistic pursuits and then weaves that tale directly into ways that we can all be part of climate repair.You can learn more about Neal and see examples of his designs by visiting his website @nealaronowitz.com. And, in case you missed the link above, here's access to the documentary, HOW TO BEND CONCRETE IN 108 EASY STEPS. For those who are interested, we asked Neal for his recommendations on what to read to learn more about Vedanta and include those with other resources he mentioned during our conversation. We list those below.Throughout our time  Neal emphasized how nothing happens separate from the physical world - from nature, its atomic and subatomic activity and order. The whole world is here and in relationship with each and all. As Neal reminds us, we’re in good company. Vedanta: You can learn more here about Vedanta and Neal’s spiritual path and sangha for the last 28 years.  www.SRV.orgOther resources: Carl Jung. Man and His Symbols. Nathan Cabot Hale. Abstraction in Art and Nature. Frank Lloyd Wright. A Testament.MUSIC ~This episode includes music by Gary Ferguson and these other fine artists.Smooth Jazz Saxophone Solo with a LoFi Vibe Music by Nicholas Panek from PixabayPodcast Jazz Waltz Cozy Relaxing Vibes Music by a...

For this episode, Mary spoke with Katja Biesanz, Katja says of herself, "I help people like you to discover and to integrate different parts of themselves." She provides this service as a professional counselor, drawing on her experience as a dancer, poet, masseuse, and forest farmer.By the time she was 12, Katja and her family had livied in four different countries. Several of these countries, and ones they traveled through, were dictatorships; the things she saw through her child's eyes have stayed with her. She routinely draws on them. including using them to help shape how she thinks about climate change and climate action.Katja is also profoundly skilled in dance and movement. She draws on this knowledge in her therapeutic work. That service is also significantly influenced by her immersion in Latin American cultures, experience she credits with seeding in her the capacity to sense the energy people carry.Finally, it's important to mention Katja's commitment to land stewardship and restoration. As you can imagine, ours was a wide-ranging and rich conversation, entirely in keeping with the suggestion that each of us is our own wilderness. You can learn more about Katja by visiting her website at katjabiesanz.com. You can also check out this facebook link to - The Land - TEMENOS where Katja and her partner practice forest farming - tending and harvesting only the plants that grow in the ocean-front rainforest ecosystem. Below you’ll find references for the three books authored by Joanna Macy that Katja mentioned early in our conversation. You’ll also find the list of characteristics shared by dictators that Katja has compiled as a diagnostic tool and as a warning. Perhaps most powerful in our time talking together were Katja’s offers of ways for considering our energy fields in relation to those of each other and all of the natural world. Let’s take what she suggests and open to the possibilities.Joanna Macy (2012). Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We’re In Without Going Crazy.Joanna Macy (2007). World as Lover, World as Self.Joanna Macy (1991). Mutual Causality in Buddhism and General Systems Theory.Distilled List Dictator Traits (in progress)Admires “Strongmen”Showmanship — Entertainment — DisplayEmphasizes Masculinity & Denigrates WomenViolence - Instigating and ThreateningUses Military DomesticallyUses Plausible Deniability to Instigate ChaosSpecial Clothing of Followers - CultDemagoguery - Becoming what the Crowd WantsEmotion - Anger, Fear, Mean Humor and HateDesensitization, Numbing, DehumanizingUses Religion, Usually CynicallyJingoistic Nationalism vs. PatriotismScapegoating/Playing the VictimSelf Enriching, Feeding Plutocracy (if Loyal)Cultivates “True Believers”Creates DivisionLies Repeatedly & Discredits Reliable SourcesProjects Unowned Parts of selfGovernment is Self Serving — Retribution, Money & PowerHarms Minorities, Women and Ultimately the CountryDrains Resources, Steals Wealth, Harms the Natural World,...Not taken seriously until too lateMUSIC ~This episode includes music by Gary Ferguson and these other fine artists.Jazz Waltz - Music by Denis Pavlov from a...

With this episode, we begin our 5th season of How it Looks from Here - Life in the time of Climate Change. As we've done in the past, we're launching into year 5 with an episode involving the two of us - co-creators of the Full Ecology programs. Ten years ago, we began creating the programs and ideas we hold under the canopy of Full Ecology. Among those initiatives is this podcast. In this episode, we look back together over the past four years and share our sense of where we've come, where we are now, and where we're going. We also interview each other to learn how the world is looking to each of us these days.Listen in to hear about our extension of Full Ecology into each of our current projects, our continuation of programs from the past, and what we're seeing going forward. Gary shares updates from his writing on the Ponderosa pine forests of the American Southwest. And Mary speaks about her new work on Elderhood and wilderness. Finally, with the opening of this HILFH season, we take a step toward keeping our programming real and growing by introducing a way you can help support our work (see below).   You can learn more about our work by visiting our website, www.fullecology.com. We also invite you to drop us a note. As I said in the podcast - Do Not Be Shy! We truly want to hear from you and welcome you as part of the Full Ecology community. Write us about Elderhood or aging. Write us about Ponderosa pine.  Share your stories. Ask for a recent newsletter and join us on the second Tuesday of each month for a Deep Dive into topics linking all ecologies. The thing we can guarantee is lively conversation about trees and wilderness, about devoted hearts, and about wild Elderhood.Finally, do check out the two friends Mary mentioned. Listen to Paris Mullen speak of his experience in two early HILFH episodes [Episode #3, and Episode #4], and dive into the profound work of Dr. Carma Corcoran, Chippewa Cree scholar and Elder. Dr Corcoran's book, published by University of Nebraska Press is entitled: The Incarceration of Native American Women: Creating Pathways to Wellness and Recovery through Gentle Action Theory You can also learn about Carma in this recent Underscore Native News article.HOW YOU CAN HELP~If you like what you’re hearing on HILFH, make sure to subscribe. Let’s get these perspectives out there. Tell your friends and family. Share a link right now with someone you know would enjoy learning how it looks from another viewpoint. As you know, you can find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you find your podcasts.And remember, there’s a new way to support us by going to VENMO and sharing a donation of $5, $10, heck $25 with How It Looks from Here and Full Ecology. Go to @FullEcology. And thanks for helping us keep it all real and growing.MUSIC~This episode includes music by Gary Ferguson and these other fine artists.Good Morning Café Jazz - Music by Sleep...

Jacqueline Courteau, Ph.D. is an ecologist, consultant and writer. She's also a teacher of university ecology courses in the field, and focused on restoration, sense of place, natural history and environmental writing.Most recently, Jacqueline has established NatureWrite, LLC to provide ecological assessment and monitoring, and to measure forest regeneration, deer impacts on vegetation, and other interactions between plants and animals. Earlier in her career, she worked as a science and environmental policy analyst in Washington, DC contributing to an early 1990's report to Congress on how federal agencies could plan for an uncertain climateIn this episode, Mary and Jacqueline  consider plant ecology, medicinal plants and love - all in exploration of avenues into climate repair.You can learn more about Jacqueline by checking out her articles in Feb/Mar and Apr/May issues of Rural Heritage magazine where she offers a two-part series on herbal remedies. Throughout our talk, Jacqueline continued to call our attention back to relationship with nature - no matter the ecosystem and no matter how urban. Her contention is that paying attention in this way helps us rediscover the love we have for the natural world - a world of which we are and have always been a part.Jacqueline also mentioned these resources including books on observing plant life, and apps for Citizen Science. BOOKS:Kimmerer, Robin Wall (2015). Braiding sweetgrass. Milkweed Editions.David Haskell, David. (2012). The Forest Unseen: A Year’s Watch in Nature. Viking Books.CITIZEN SCIENCE:Spring phenology Budburst: https://budburst.org Nature’s Notebook: https://www.usanpn.org/nnOthers Firefly Atlas: https://www.fireflyatlas.org/get-involved/how-to-participateSpecies identification iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org This is a species ID app, but if you allow your location to be used, every time you look up a species (and the community confirms it), your finding is mapped, so there’s a great collection of what species have been found nearby. eBird: https://ebird.org/homeFor those of you interested in birds. And a recent compilation from the Smithsonian, which might list a few additional apps: https://ssec.si.edu/stemvisions-blog/mobile-apps-citizen-scienceAdditional Citizen Science Efforts focused on weather: Community Collaborative Rain, Hail & Snow Networkcocorahs.org Skywarn Storm Spotter Programhttps://www.weather.gov/skywarn/MUSIC~This episode includes music by Gary Ferguson and these other fine artists.Peaceful Guitar - Music by Tung Lam from a...

Jeanne Cuff is a Director with the Information Services Group in Chicago. In that role, she does what she likes best - tackling thorny tech problems by applying her superpower of making sense of chaos, and doing what she describes as interpreting IT speak for the masses. At 50, Jeanne returned to school to earn her Masters of Science in Technology Management from Columbia University in New York City. With that credential, she burst onto the scene unknotting tech tangles left and right while, at the same time, advocating energetically and constantly for advancement of women and girls in IT. In the conversation Mary and Jeanne had this month, they looked together at the way Jeanne's passion for supporting women in tech, and for encouraging girls into the sector, links with climate repair. Listen and catch the inspiration.Jeanne mentioned Tech Equity for All, the nonprofit she’s established to support girls moving into IT. You can find that organization here. Jeanne also spoke of other tech focused organizations supporting women and girls - Chick Tech, Girls4Science, Girls Inc and We are BGC (Black Girls Coding). You can learn more about Jeanne and her initiatives by catching up with her on the podcast she hosts - ISG Digital Dash. Finally, she recommends a recent discussion on LinkedIn featuring women in tech and entitled: Clean Tech - The Future of Sustainable Technology.  Get inspired! Join Jeanne in supporting girls and women in tech roles. It’s good for everybody - and everything! MUSIC ~This episode includes music by Gary Ferguson and these other fine artists.Jazz by Denis Pavlov from PixabayJazz Easy Listening Music by Denis Pavlov from PixabayJazz Streets by Michael Daniel from Pixabay

Hilary Zaranek is a wildlife biologist, a ranch woman, and a horse woman. A woman who both learns from and is constantly inspired by animals.Riding the range, Hilary spends a good deal of time watching and listening to the predators who share the lands of her family cattle ranch at the doorstep of Yellowstone National Park.The quality, focus of her attention has led to her becoming internationally recognized for her pioneering work in predator-livestock conflict reduction.Together with her husband, Hilary is committed to ranch resiliency through regenerative agriculture. She's also a mother of four children who learn every day from the land and its wild beings.This month Mary had the chance to spend time with Hilary to learn about how we can reclaim our kinship with both animals and the land that holds them. As you'll hear, there’s much to be learned about how to live well, simply by opening fully to our relationship with all beings. You can learn more about Hilary and her family in these articles. This inspiring look into Hilary’s life on the land from National Geographic entitled: Discovering Hope on the Range. Also Bugs, Bovine and Beavers, Oh My! - from Western Sustainability Exchange, and Field notes: An Entire Ecosystem of Conservation on the JbarL Ranch - from Vital Ground Foundation Each is fascinating and, like Hilary herself, provides generous insight into the natural world that is, in the end, who each of us is. We are nature and Hilary shows us how both to remember and to revel in that.  MUSIC ~This episode includes music by Gary Ferguson and these other fine artists.Forest LullabyMusic by Oleksii Kaplunskyi from PixabayRiver TramMusic by Olexy from Pixabay Relaxing and Calming Acoustic GuitarMusic by Premankur Adhikary

This month we're rebroadcasting one of our favorites from 2022. Here, Mary talks with Petra Kuppers, a disability culture activist and community performance artist who lives in delighted concert with the natural world, sharing in powerful intelligence, adapdibility and love of True Nature. Petra holds the Anita Gonzalez Professor of Performance Studies and Disability Culture chair in English and Women's & Gender studies departments at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She also teaches on the low-residency MFA Interdisciplinary Arts faculty at Goddard College. In her work, Petra uses somatic and speculative writing as well as performance practice to engage audiences toward more socially just and enjoyable futures. She has written academic books on disability arts and culture, medicine and performance, and community performance.In their conversation, Mary and Petra explore the natural world and its diversity, alongside the political, spiritual and activist considerations that arise from being embodied.Learn more about Petra Kuppers’ art, writing and activism by visiting her website at https://www.petrakuppers.comCheck out Petra’s poetry books like Gut Botany, her speculative fiction like Ice Bar and her scholarship, most recently in her book Eco Soma with the University of Minnesota Press in the Art After Nature series. You can find more on disability culture in the anthology, Disability Visibility edited by Alice Wong, available as a pdf at the link. And, in the meantime, Petra has been awarded and is currently a Guggenheime Fellow spending recent months at the Camargo Foundation in Southern France. You can check out the video work she's completed there - Crip/Mad Archive Dances project: a final 35 min video documentary.She's also completed a new poetry collection, Diver Beneath the Street -- true crime meets eco poetry at the level of the soil, out May 2024.

This month, Mary had the chance to meet up with Cyreena BostonAshby, CEO of Girls' Inc of the Pacific Northwest, an organization that serves girls and gender nonconforming and trnas youth in Portland, SW Washington and Seattle.Cyreena grew up in Portland, raised in a family focused on social justice and business leadership. She's an alumna of Spelman College, the Historical Black College for Women in Atlanta, Georgia.For 19 years, Cyreena has been a leader for high-profile public affairs campaigns focused on health care access, youth development and non-profit leadership. She was the first director of the Portland African American Leadership Forum, Imagine Black, and led the Oregon Public Health Institute as that organization's CEO. More recently, she's co-directed the Oregon office of D.C.-based Hilltop Public Solutions as a Partner in providing strategic solutions for non-profit and private sector clientele. Cyreena is also an International Women's Forum Global Leadership Fellow.In our conversation, Cyreena and Mary take a close and loving look at the climate interests and concerns of girls, young women, and gender nonconforming, gender non-binary and trans youth. You'll also hear Cyreena's insights at the intersection of Black Feminism and environmental thought.You can learn more about Cyreena BostonAshby by taking a look at the Girls Inc. PNW website. Also, check out her OpEd on STEAM in eschool news and her recent interview on the podcast, At the Core entitled, “Unapologetic Leadership.” Cyreena is so worth learning from and with. Keep your eye on this radiant and generous leader for inspiration and sisterhood into the future. MUSIC ~This episode includes music by Gary Ferguson and these other fine artists.Sensual Jazz Medium 2Music by Grand_Project from PixabayBackground Acoustic CalmMusic by Yevhen Onoychenko from PixabayJazz Lounge Street FoodMusic by Alex Cristoforetti from Pixabay

This month, Mary had the chance to meet up with Michael Zellner, a career journalist and business owner, a leader in local and international commu nity-based conversation and an all around agent of positive change. Since October of 2020, Mike has served as chief executive officer for the Arizona-based Sonoran Institute.  Mike has 30 years of experience building award-winning collaboratrions for global organizations, including The Nature Conservancy, Dow Jones & Co., and Euromoney. He has helped regional and local stakeholders to conserve more than 450,000 acres and mobilize more than $30 million foer conservation in the Americas.As a business journalist in Mexico and the Americas, Mike played a leading role in the lalunch of the editorial operations of AmericaEconomia (a Dow Jones & Co. publication) in Mexico City, Sao Paulo, and Miami. He also served as editor-in-chief and owner of the Miami based business magazine LatinTrade.In our conversation, you'll hear Mike speak of the power of community-based conservation and share perspectives from across his career.To learn more about Michael Zellner, check out the Sonoran Institute. And while you're on the site, take a look at the informative and inspiring blogs Mike has written over his time as CEO of that organization. Finally, take Mike's invitation to look around your community for how you, too can become involved in community-based conservation initiatives. It’s good for the land, for your neighbors, for you - it's for all beings.MUSIC ~This episode includes music by Gary Ferguson and these other fine artists.Wind Troubles the WaterMusic by Aleksey Chistilin from Pixabay VigilanceMusic by Roman Senyk from Pixabay Touch and SoundMusic by Juan Sanchez from Pixabay