I awoke to another sparkling early summer day, cool and cloudless. By mid afternoon the temperature had risen into the mid-eighties, and a lake cooled breeze was blowing from the west. Lake Chaplain remains cold for late June and the wind cools as it blows across the chilly water’s surface. On a low humidity day like today, the net effect is a sort of natural air conditioning. Continue reading
Author Archives: michaelwatsonvt
The Persistence of Repetition
I awoke at 4:30 this morning. My cell was demanding to be charged and the birds were greeting the world in full song. (This was an instant reply of yesterday morning.) I awoke a second time to bright sunlight and … Continue reading
“Witnessing: Against Our Vanishing”, Revisited
Today is one of those perfect early summer Vermont days, complete with warm breezes, bright sunlight, and dazzling blue skies. Our yard is a profusion of color as the perennials all burst wildly into bloom at once. The woods are … Continue reading
Diversifying Conservation
Such a crucial conversation! This is a topic I often think about as the fate of humanity and much of the natural world depends on how we navigate the issues of resource fairness and environmental justice. Ecological education is a most complex arena now.
As strongly focused as we are on biological diversity, conservationists have done a pretty poor job of focusing on diversity within our own ranks. Quick – think of a famous conservationist. Got one? Chances are good the person you just visualized is a white male, or at least white. If you want to explore this topic further, take a look at Wikipedia’s List of Prominent Conservationists.
This is an issue I have long been aware of, but a workshop I
recently attended helped crystalize some things for me. As a straight, cisgender, white man in an
affluent country, my perspective on this topic is clearly limited, but I’ve
also been granted some advantages I feel obligated to take advantage of. At the end of this post, I’m sharing a few
strategies I’m personally hoping to employ toward diversifying conservation. I’m hoping others will chime in with
additional ideas and…
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