Intro to Environmental Studies Fall 2025

    Growing up in the boonies, aka the middle of butt-fuck nowhere, you are exposed to a lot of woods and fields. Growing up Indigenous, I got the wonderful blend of the country-bumpkin desire to be enveloped in the mud and the Indigenous connection to the land around us. With the county I grew up in being at the split in the York River and being surrounded by the Pamunkey and Mattaponi Rivers, I've had a great deal of experience being in or on the river. The river that my family and ancestors relied on and still rely on, slowly became--and is becoming--polluted (#fuckyouWestRockWestPoint). Growing up, we were told more and more "do NOT drink the water," "the water is nasty," "there are so many dead people in that river," etc. With a number of contributing factors adding to the pollution of the river, agricultural runoff, West Rock, and the large amount of dead things in the river (you don't understand how many people die in the river or how many a...

                  One day while siting at my desk, occupied by the constant stream of  new assignments and  upcomeing test I have to study for. I start to slowly drift away from the task at hand and day dream to myself how different my life is from my ancestors who lived only a couple generations prior to my own.  In some ways these lifestyle changes are postive includeing an increased standard of liveing, increased access to information and increased convenience. In other ways these differences are hugely determinatal to our physical, emotional and even cogentive health. Some of these negative difference in our lifestyles include increased sedentariness, decreased soical interaction and increased stress. In many ways the built landscapes many of us surround ourselves in on a daily basis contrubute to these negative differences in lifestyle for instance the constant sound of construction, cars honking or airplanes fly...

       Yesterday I saw the news that Green sea turtles have been taken off the endangered classification and set to “least concern”, which is definitely a major achievement when it comes to conservation work. I think that for some people, they have this mindset that when it comes to changing their ways to try and support conservation efforts it doesn’t matter because in the end what do their small actions do to a bigger problem- but I feel like in a way the revival of the Green Sea Turtle is something that completely contradicts that mindset. The only reason why the animal was able to have a second chance was because of many people doing small things to try and help in their own way, and when you put it all together it causes big change. I recently found an article talking about how researchers and local fishermen have joined together and created nets that have solar powered LED lights. By using the nets, it was stated that they “reduced sea turtle bycatch by 63%”, w...

  Acequia’s Impact on Native Americans Suppose you wander over yonder, to the desert plains of Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico. You may come across members of the Navajo or Pueblo nations and other First Nations people who live there. You’re first thought might be. Why are people living in a desert? There's no water here. Well, that's where the ingenuity of the Native Americans comes in. Acequias, mother ditch, is a technique of irrigation developed in multiple parts of the world. In North America, Acequia were invented and first used by the Pueblo people as a way to transfer water from their cisterns or the nearby Colorado River to their farms. Thus allowing for an arid landscape to become a lush, highly productive agricultural zone rich with food. Some of the crops grown by the local tribes of this region were the three sister crops and medical herbs. The tribes would also hunt wild game of the area, such as elk, deer, bighorn sheep, and rabbits. One of the sites inhabited by...

      After going to the Garden Atrium's little village and having discussions with  Dr. Rose and Ms. Duncan, who fostered the project, Dr. Rose brought up the idea that there is less community because of cul-de-sacs. The lack of sidewalks prevents to formation of a community and collectiveness. I'd like to take it a step further and discuss how, especially in my generation, there is a lack of third spaces for kids, teenagers, and even adults. Think about it, when you were a teenager, what did you do for fun? Go to the library, the mall with friends, or go to the park, etc. Now we are seeing a decline in these locations--maybe from Covid-19 or maybe that's just the way the cookie crumbles. In my hometown, King William County, the middle of butt-fuck nowhere, the only things to do as a kid were to go to the library or our local park. The closest Walmart is 20 minutes away, to put it into perspective. Now, my county just passed a bill to remove funding to the local lib...

  Recently, I’ve been reflecting on my personal relationship with the environment. I figured that I would need to constantly be outside and away from the bustle of life to have one. But maybe my efforts don’t need to be so grand. What if we all have a relationship with the environment? We are in and a part of it, so maybe a relationship is inescapable. In some way, I’m sure my daily habits already reinforce and build this connection.  Lately, I’ve been spending more time outside, and it has opened up a seemingly new world. It all started when I moved into my new home, where I “adopted” several outdoor cats that had been living under the porch for years. When I first arrived, they were nowhere to be found, but I put food out anyway. Two days went by before I saw the mother, Pepper. For several days she remained distant, only eating the food after I went back inside.  With patience, she grew braver, eventually eating dinner with me nearby. Then she brought a kitten with her...