Intro to Environmental Studies Fall 2025

The escalating crisis of endangered species forces us to confront our role as the dominant ecological agent on the planet. In order to do this, first we need to be clear that most modern extinctions are driven by human activity. Habitat destruction for agriculture and development, pollution, climate change, and the introduction of invasive species are all results of our societal choices. The sheer number of species heading toward extinction, like rhinos facing relentless poaching or amphibians succumbing to habitat loss, shows we are acting as a force of geological change. Second, this causation creates a profound moral and pragmatic obligation. Morally, many argue that since we created the problem, we have a duty to fix it, following principles of environmental justice applied to nonhuman life. Pragmatically, every species lost weakens the overall resilience of the ecosystem. Losing keystone species, like sea otters maintaining kelp forests, can trigger a trophic cascade that destabil...

The intersection of water rights and healthy ecology is a central challenge in environmental governance. Historically, water rights systems, particularly in the Western US focused heavily on maximizing human consumptive use, agriculture, industry, and municipal supply. This legal framing treats water as a commodity to be diverted, often failing to account for its essential role in maintaining the integrity of the natural environment. The problem arises when human allocated rights leave insufficient instream flow. A healthy ecology requires minimum flows in rivers and streams to support aquatic life, dilute pollutants, maintain riparian habitat, and connect floodplains. When too much water is legally pulled out, rivers dry up, fish populations crash, and the entire riparian ecosystem is degraded. This isn't just an aesthetic loss; it represents a loss of critical ecosystem services like natural filtration and flood control. Modern environmental policy needs to integrate ecological f...

The distinction between a landscape and an ecosystem is fundamental in understanding the environment fully. A landscape is primarily a visual and aesthetic concept. It refers to the visible features of an area, the hills, fields, and forests, as they are perceived by an observer. Historically, this perspective was central to conservation movements focused on preserving scenic beauty or sublime wilderness, often treating nature as an aesthetic object to be viewed. In contrast, an ecosystem is a functional concept. It encompasses all the living organisms (biotic components) and their physical environment (abiotic components) and describes the complex web of interactions, energy flows, and nutrient cycles that bind them together. When we look at a mountain range as a landscape, we see peaks and trees. When we analyze it as an ecosystem, we understand the soil chemistry, the hydrologic cycle, and the predator prey dynamics that make the forest function. For environmentalism, embracing the ...

We often rely on highly technical or utilitarian language, terms like "resource extraction," "biodiversity index," or "recreational land", to talk about nature. The book suggests that the pilgrimage experience on the Appalachian Trail challenges this reductive vocabulary. The intense, solitary immersion forces hikers to develop a more intimate and experiential language for the wild. Instead of just speaking about "forests" abstractly, the hiker names specific features, recognizes the distinct sounds of different winds, or develops personal metaphors for the challenge of the climb. This move away from generalized scientific or economic terminology toward a personalized, sensory vocabulary is crucial. This shift in language signals a change in perception and valuation. When we are forced to find new, non standard ways to describe our direct interactions with the environment, we acknowledge its complexity and inherent value outside of human use. The...

When hikers treat the Appalachian Trail purely as a goal, a checklist item to conquer, or a background for social media posts, they risk objectifying it. The landscape becomes reduced to an aesthetic object for personal consumption, rather than an interconnected, living subject demanding respect. However, the book suggests that the aesthetic experience in isolation works against this shallow form of objectification. The prolonged solitude and physical commitment strip away the hiker’s societal frame of reference. Without the need to perform or share the experience immediately, the appreciation becomes intensely personal and unmediated. This focused, isolated encounter compels the hiker to move beyond simply seeing the trail as an object for them and instead allows them to perceive its intrinsic value. The book implies that this isolation refines the aesthetic sense. It moves from surface level appreciation to a deeper engagement where the hiker recognizes their vulnerability and depend...

The Aesthetic of Solitude discussed in American Camino isn't just about being alone; it's about the unique beauty and clarity that emerge when the hiker is fundamentally separated from society's noise and demands, the aesthetic experience on the Appalachian Trail is shaped by this solitude. Without the constant interruptions of technology and social life, the hiker’s attention turns inward and outward simultaneously. This intense focus allows the sublime, overwhelming beauty of the wilderness, the patterns of light, the vastness of the mountains, to be perceived without distraction. The raw physicality of the walk, combined with the quiet contemplation, transforms mundane sensory input into something profoundly aesthetic and spiritual. This aesthetic of solitude is crucial because it links personal well-being to conservation. Kip implies that the value of the wilderness isn't just in its biodiversity or resources, but in its ability to offer this necessary human experie...

The book essentially treats the experience of hiking the "American Camino" as a slow-motion, immersive artistic encounter, blurring the lines between the subject, the medium, and the observer. Historically, artists sought to capture the sublime, overwhelming beauty of the American wilderness. Kip's experience mirrors this, but shifts the canvas from a framed painting to the lived environment itself. The trail becomes a moving gallery where the art isn't an image of nature, but the sensory experience of nature - the texture of the moss, the sound of the stream, the shifting light through the canopy. The hiker, therefore, isn't just a viewer but a participant in the creation of a transient, personal work of art. This relates to contemporary environmental art, which often emphasizes ephemeral, site-specific installations. The thru-hike itself can be seen as an ephemeral performance piece or earthwork. The trail experience cultivates an appreciation for the intrinsic ...

I think Kip's take on the Appalachian Trail in American Camino really nails the idea of wilderness as a sacred space. It's not just a nice view; it’s where real transformation happens. He argues that by committing to the long walk, the hiker enters a kind of pilgrimage, moving beyond typical sightseeing into a deeper spiritual practice. In an environmental studies context, this is huge. When you treat the AT as a sacred site, like a cathedral or temple, it automatically elevates the moral conversation. It's no longer just a piece of federal land for recreation or resource extraction; it becomes a place deserving of profound reverence and protection. The physical grind and the solitude inherent in the thru-hike strip away the noise of modern consumer culture. This forced encounter with the raw, non-human world is what sparks that existential realization: that we are fundamentally connected to, and dependent on, the ecosystem. Ultimately, the book suggests that the personal, ...

 During my time at CNU I stumbled upon a study focused on the human response to hitting an animal with one's car. Unfortunately, I believe this is something we can all relate to. Early in my driving career I turned a corner on a dark country backroad and completely smoked a poor fawn, who was totally unaware of the danger I posed. It upset me, but at the same time there was little I could do. Since then, I believe I may have hit a groundhog, a bird, and a squirrel or two. The only taxa I can confidently say I've never hit is the herpetofauna. Ever since I was a kid in my parent's car, I've been dead set on getting the turtle or snake out of the road.  Frustratingly, the aforementioned study by Crawford and Andrews found that the general public, at least the visitors to a state park in GA, seem significantly less considered about reptilian collisions. In fact, out of the 10 animals included in their survey, snakes scored the lowest concern rating by far. Next in line was...

Earlier in the course, we had discussed ecotherapy and forest bathing. These are ways in which a person can use environmental interaction as a legitimate method of therapy. I'm fond of this topic, as I have experienced a lot of improvement in my own mental well-being from being outside.  I myself am an experienced SCUBA diver, and I often take note of how practicing the sport of diving almost forces me into a state of relaxation. When I'm underwater, I usually begin to assess my own body, like by breathing. As I descend in water depth,  I take note of the increased water pressure that pushes down on my wetsuit, tightening my joints. My breathing naturally slows, and in turn, my heartbeat lowers to a calm and collected pace. The ambient sounds that become warped by water appear to come from all directions, like white noise. With this mindset, I feel more confident in my ability to embrace the sublime of the infinite blue abyss below me.  With these symptoms, my body is alm...

The Sand County Almanac is a compilation of short essays by conservationist Aldo Leopold. The essays usually discuss a certain niche trait or a cool fact about nature, and Leopold does an excellent job with creative writing to describe the beauty of the American outdoors in the early 20th century. My personal favorite excerpt, from the portion of the book that I have read, was a history lesson given to the reader by Leopold. He writes of a time when he had to cut down a tree that had been struck by lightning. And so he and some other people sawed away at the tree, and as they sliced through the tree's rings, Leopold gave a history lesson of events that happened in whatever year they had been slicing through. I thought this was a spectacular way to put the scale of time into perspective, and a super unique way of describing what this tree had seen in its lifetime.    

In the final pages of American Camino, Dr. Redick discusses the challenge of the trail, and how the physical, mental, and emotional turmoil hinge so heavily on the completion of one's goal (p. 247). The longest I've hiked at this stage of my life is 9 days, although there was a time where I swore I'd complete the AT one day. Nowadays, that goal is less of a priority, although I still think it'd be pretty neat. The part of Dr. Redick's thought that got my gears turning the most was his comparison against day hiking and the relative ease of that activity. To that I offer: searching for highly venomous serpents in mosquito-ridden, thigh-high, black-stained swamp water.  All jokes aside, I do understand the sentiment of easy day hiking. In the same places I partake in the ridiculous pastime of "field herping," others are engaging in relaxing dog walks and picnics. That is where I think the element of having a relatively difficult objective on a day hike-style ...

 Many of us today find it hard to understand why we as a species appear to be so driven to consume everything around us. It certainly defies logic; destroying the only thing that keeps us alive. I think we have this way of romanticizing a time that came before, suggesting that "we used to be better than this" or "things aren't the way they used to be." A very curious version of this sentiment can be seen in the way we talk about the prehistoric populations that settled America. Before I get into it, I want to make it clear that many Native populations absolutely did have a respect for nature and the world around them that would be extremely welcome today. There is no doubt that their philosophies seem to be a lot more sound than ours.  That said, the human urge to "leave our mark" is profound. In Anthropology we discussed many different forms of human settlement and artwork, in many cases with their meaning long forgotten. I think the true meaning was ...

  A new UC Berkeley study highlights something that many people do not think of often. Some neighborhoods are breathing far dirtier air than others. Using a detailed mapping method that tracks pollution almost block by block, researchers found that low-income communities and neighborhoods with more people of color consistently face higher levels of harmful pollution. Even though overall air quality in California has improved over the last decade, these areas are still getting hit hardest simply because of where they’re located, often next to highways, ports, rail lines, or industrial sites. The study makes it clear that clean air isn’t something everyone gets equally, and these differences can have real impacts on people’s health and everyday life. By showing exactly where the worst pollution is happening, the research gives communities and policymakers a clearer picture of where help and attention are needed most. 

In a particular guest speaker event during class we were able to earn more about the forestry profession from Dr. Redick's own son. One of my questions at the end of the event had to do with wolf populations. Before this I knew that deer populations were disproportionate to where they needed to be, but when faced with the numbers I really was taken aback. Deer overpopulation directly affects the healthy cycle of a forest. They end up eating all the good saplings and stunt the healthy growth of a forest. Foresters in the midwest try and do what they can to maintain the health of these areas which I find commendable. Prescribed burns, artificial regeneration, and the removal of all types of invasives all help in this process. I didn't know how deep the forestry industry went in their efforts in protecting wilderness spaces. This also correlated to another speaker event we had during class with Mr. Atkinson, the proprietor of fear2hope. In particular he talked about how the state ...

Learning about commercial fishing in New Bedford, MA really opened my eyes to the realities of the commercial fishing industry. I like to fish recreationally and enjoy it quit a bit. The area I grew up gave plenty access to the water and I come from a family of fishers so I go out to the beach or other bodies of water regularly. A lot of the time I'll even bring back fish to eat.  I don't like to think about it but when I do buy fish from the store I know theres a lot more behind it that most people like to admit. Watching a documentary in class showcasing the economic and environmental abuses of the fishing industry made me think about all the seafood people eat and all the seafood derived products we consume. Its a lot. Not to mention the rise of international commercial fishing pushing smaller companies out the water. Whole ecosystems can be destroyed by these large fishing boats which adds another element to their effect on the environment. The EPA tried to step in and help...

In class we discussed the ways the water industry has taken advantage of water markets around the world. Bottled water in particular is sneakily harmful not only to sustainability efforts but to the accessibility of water to areas where it is not readily available. I drew a lot of connections with the use of bottled water to how people in my own life consume water. For many, bottled water is the way to go and it's bought in bulk. This concerns me because we learned that water in the bottle is often the same kind that comes out the tap. Though, I can see why some are accustomed to having water purifiers or supplied of water jugs and bottles because certain areas' water supply are questionable for my taste.  When I visit my cousin in Georgia I have a real thing against drinking from their faucet. Even taking a shower or brushing my teeth can be a daunting task because when I smell that water it reeks of sulfur. The area he lives in is built on top of a swamp in a rural county so ...

I used to work at an exotic pet store and it was awesome. I worked with reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates everyday tending to their needs and this was something of a hobby more so than a job, but there were definitely some more nasty parts of the job. I had two managers over the course of my time there. Myles was my first manager and the one who hired me and he had a lot of clout in the local herpetological community. He left soon after I was hired to go work for the Virginia Department of Wildlife. Now Chris was the manager after him and he was serious about his inverts. Tarantulas, centipedes, millipedes, isopods were all up for game and I ended up learning a lot about keeping these guys. He tells me this one day behind the store at the company Christmas party, "You know Justice you're a weird kid." I don't necessarily disagree most people would find cleaning rat feces deplorable but it was part of the deal. I always thought though while scooping dustpans of d...

While reading towards the end of Chapter 5 in American Camino I found the interpretations of wilderness as sacred to be insightful. Redick incorporates the written experiences of hikers on the AT I feel offer a glimpse into the way we perceive time. Sometimes my mind wanders while studying and oftentimes I catch myself spending hours caught in a flow state. When I used to play football a similar phenomenon would occur; I would find myself in an ultra focused frame of mind unconscious of the passage of time. Each play itself would only last about 10 seconds on average but It was hard to actively think about that when you had to worry about the task at hand you were assigned to do. Again a common theme in the book being the exploration of wilderness and how it manifests for individuals I feel can connect to my experience. One hiker named Siren states in one of their journal entries on the trail, "There's suddenly so much time to think and so much to think about!" (American ...

Wilderness is brought up numerous times in American Camino and In Chapter 4 is where I find some interesting conceptions of the word. Redick states, "Defining wilderness, therefore, erases the very thing we attempt to understand."(American Camino pg.160) Continuing this thought multiple interpretations of wilderness are engaged with. Also taking away from Nash, an elusive understanding of the term is further explicated. the -ness of wilderness implies a state of being or concept of feeling applied to a person.  Though why is it that people can interpret wilderness as a physical place or object or group of objects? Redick expands on this by introducing Michael Frome's interpretation of wilderness as a dream then turning to an explanation of dream as a personal mythology. I see how this line of thinking can disrupt contemporary understandings of the wilderness. When confronted with depictions of nature in our media there is an objectification of wild spaces. Few have the co...

Growing up in an urban environment and traveling frequently to dense population centers has brought me to think about the contrasts with rural or countryside living. Cities shape not only how we move through spaces, but how we conceptualize nature's beginning. In a concrete jungle it becomes easy to see the nonhuman world to be distant or out of reach---somewhere you have to go out of your way to go to. So when Dr. Redick states, "A turn to the wild is also a gesture of opening oneself to the world of things that exist beyond the conceptual framing imposed by human beings" (American Camino pg. 44) it resonates. Urban environments indoctrinate seeing the world as intentional layerings of human architecture. Even public parks are designed in a way to mimic a perception of nature. Gardens are curated and managed in away which humans design they ought to. They function less as wilderness spaces and more as controlled areas which are within the main urban structure.  Redick...

Exploring CNU's Zero-Waste Football Initiative One of the new bin stations As part of my graduation requirements in the Communication department, I spent this past semester working with three other group members on a qualitative research study about CNU’s Zero-Wast Football Initiative. If you’ve ever been to a tailgate or football game, you know chaotic things can get… crowds everywhere, high energy, and trash piling up in places it shouldn’t be. What a lot of people don't realize is that CNU started placing recycling stations throughout the TowneBank Stadium as part of a larger push to reduce improper waste disposal. The initiative is a subset of CNU’s Going Greener Campaign, and its goal is to “reduce CNU’s reliance on landfills and promote sustainability on campus.” Although the initiative has seen some success, with a current diversion rate of around 75%, it doesn't seem to reach the campus community with the same impact. We were curious about what may be limiting awar...

In the book, African American Environmental Thought, the black tradition of environmental thought is not the only intellectual tradition of environmental discourse, but one that offers valuable insight into questions of the interrelations between race and the environment. The black tradition rejects the idea that the natural environment is determinant of the value of culture challenging the environmental determinism embedded in mainstream American environmental thought. African American thinkers like Du Bois have referenced the realities of enslavement, segregation, dispossession, and environmental racism as leading elements guiding how Black communities engage with the land. This approach reframes the discourse as a socially and politically constructed experience. The benefits I see in pursuing this perspective are deep because I feel that we need to interrogate how inequalities in land access, labor, and environmental risk have structured Black life and American ecology. However, thi...

In Bolivia, indigenous movements heavily advocated and accomplished the establishment of ecocentric laws. The Bolivian Constitution as well as the the Rights of Mother Earth both recognize that Nature has seven specific rights: the right to live, diversity of life, clean water and air, maintenance of her components in a balanced way, preservation from pollution, and right to be restored” (Villaciencio-Calzadilla). Doctor Paola Villavicencio Calzadilla studied environmental law and she quotes the law, “Mother Earth is a dynamic living system”, personifying our planet for the sake of providing protection. In practice, the rights are entirely theoretical. The Bolivian government parades these beautiful eco-centric, philosophical ideas while still heavily promoting extractive activities necessary to industrially develop. The hypocrisy makes it evident that environmental protection is nowhere near as prioritized as it is portrayed for the sake of prevailing economic interests. The legislat...

Doctors Mark Fafard and Rob Haley from the University of Florida have coined a term to describe the Peruvian extractivism revenue distribution. Peru's Canon distribution system was “designed to collect a percentage of taxed profits from the country's natural resource industries and redistribute these funds into communities that are important to the natural resource extraction process” (Fafard and Haley). The intent is a form of compensation for any negative social/environmental impacts, yet it fails to address crucial needs that occur in extraction communities. For example, public health facilities are needed to help with the previously mentioned contamination and pollution in water. The mechanism, Canon system, fails to cover these basic needs due to an inadequate framework in the local administration. Scientists from the National University of Moquegua, Peru, found that while regional governments distributing central resources will decrease local conflict, fiscal decentrali...

Peter Dauvergne delves into the microplastic pandemic in the article The Power of Environmental Norms: Plastic Pollution and Microbeads. He argues that environmental norms are strengthened and diffused quicker when there is scientific data showing that it causes harm. Especially when political/corporational resistance is relatively non-existent and there is an increase in activism, there tends to be an effective resolution of the problem, as seen with microbeads. However, regardless of the obvious progress to eliminate the dangerous microplastics, the process has been unequal among different parties. Firms look for loopholes, miss deadlines, and also limit the possibility for reform. Comparing the situation to the logic of collective action, it is clear that local and even larger communities have been creating regulations to tackle the microplastic problem without attempting to assert complete control. However, the fact that companies specifically try to find ways around said regulati...

Saad Gulzar delves into forest conservation in India in the article Representation and Forest Conservation in India. He specifically tackles Ostrom's work on governing the commons, where people should be involved in changing the rules of operation, the very foundation of the need of representation in governance. Specifically how local communities should be in charge of managing common-pool resources and not the government of privatized companies. Gulzar explores the theory specifically looking at forest coverage in India and the existing policy on deforestation. In India, roughly 275 - million people are dependent on the forest, a good portion being part of Scheduled Tribes (ST). STs are similar to global indigenous communities in the sense of reliance on nature and constantly practicing sustainable agriculture. In 1996, a law was passed that made government councils that included representatives of Scheduled Tribes, and although their appearance in policy led to an increase of f...

Claire W. Armstrong and Sybille van de Hove delve into the process of protection via policy for cold-water coral reefs in The Formation of Policy for Protection of Cold-Water Coral off the Coast of Norway. They both elaborate on the measures taken to implement conservation, especially against bottom trawl free areas. Bottom trawling fishing is a heavy net that sweeps against the ocean floor, destroying the natural coral reefs . Interestingly, there has been no struggles when implementing policy which is what the focus of the paper is on. Interestingly, it was easier for corporations to not disrupt the coral reefs. In 1990, when installing a new oil pipeline, the original plan would have installed it through the coral reef. After extensive analysis, it was revealed that new reef growth in the upcoming decades would add more costs than benefits, hence the change of the pipeline to go around the cold-water coral. As for small-fishing, cold-water corals provided excellent fishing spots f...

 I struggle to find the time to be outdoors. Especially in these miserable couple of months where all the cold seeps into my coat, I still find it immensely important for my mental health that I indulge in the outdoors. For vitamin D, but also as a way to reset for my day. And although it sounds like an excuse, I genuinely can not find the time in my schedule to take advantage of the sun (when it is out) which makes me ever so slightly displeased. 

 As the holidays come closer, I am stuck browsing my favorite spots looking for the perfect gift. However, everything is so freaking synthetic, cheaply made, and overall made for one-time use. SO then I resort to going in stores, and look at that, more terrible quality, but now with an egregious price tag associated with it. My biggest gripe currently with how sustainability is looking is that there is such a huge cost coming with investing in quality pieces for the rest of your life. The unfortunate reality is that a majority can only afford the cheaper items, which tend to wear out after a few wears. This just creates a vicious cycle of evil holiday shopping so I will be resorting to my DIY picture frames. 

Forests are carbon funnels and, therefore, help mitigate the emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Tropical forests alone hold more than 228 to 247 gigatons of carbon, more than seven times the amount emitted by human activities annually. But when forests are cut, burned, or otherwise removed, they emit carbon instead of absorbing carbon. In 2022, deforestation accounted for about 7% of global emissions. In some parts of the Amazon from 2010 to 2018, emissions from deforestation and forest fires exceeded how much carbon forests sequestered, turning them into a net source of carbon emissions rather than a carbon sink. These greenhouse gas emissions contribute to rising temperatures, changes in weather and water patterns, and an increased frequency of extreme weather events. For example, in Sumatra, rainforests on deep peatlands are being cleared, drained, and converted to pulp plantations, contributing to Indonesia’s high greenhouse gas emissions. Climate change can als...

Not having enough water is a huge problem. It means lots of people, especially kids, don't get clean water or proper sanitation. Even when there's plenty of water around, things like bad management, fighting, or broken pipes can make the problem worse – and climate change just makes it even harder. This lack of water means people can't get clean drinking water or stay clean, which causes problems with toilets and increases gross diseases like cholera. It's often women and kids who have to go get the water, so they miss out on school and aren't as safe. Things could get really bad: UNICEF says that by 2025, half the world might live in places without enough water. By 2040, about 25% of the world's children will live where there's almost no water. To deal with it, we have to come up with plans that work. We need to find new water sources, get better at distributing water, and use tech that can handle climate change.  

 Deforestation is seriously bad news for the planet and people. Forests cover about a third of the Earth and are home to most animals and plants. They also clean our air and water, help a lot of people make a living, and fight climate change. Forests soak up carbon dioxide, which helps keep the planet from getting too hot. The biggest reason for deforestation is that we're clearing way for farms. Badly planned roads and buildings are another cause. A lot of rainforests are destroyed every minute. This is especially bad because rainforests have tons of species. When we chop down forests, animals lose their homes and can die out. Besides, dead forsts release the carbon they've been storing which makes climate change even worse. If forests disappear, it messes things up for everyone, locally and worldwide.

A nation is mostly about people sharing a culture and feeling like they belong together. What brings them together can be things like the same language, ethnic background, faith, background, where they came from, or thinking they have a shared future. Feeling like you're part of a nation is key. Not every nation has its own land or government. For example, the Kurds are a nation spread across different countries. A country, on the other hand, is about land and politics. It's a specific area with clear borders. It could be its own independent state with its own government, like France. Or it could be part of a bigger country. What's most important for a country is its land, its government, and the control it has over that land. We call it a nation-state when a nation's culture and a country's borders line up pretty well, you can see examples of this phenomenon in countries like Iceland or Japan.

 Recently, I have adopted the practice of removing brand, logos, or corporate names from my everyday life. Whether it be my makeup containers, clothes, or even my shampoo bottle. It is astonishing how constantly we are surrounded by what seems like unimportant names, but instead make up our whole lives. Even my plastic folder that holds all my lab reports has an obvious logo, so by decluttering what I can, it has given myself immense mental clarity. It is a small change that can be very impactful. I recommend it!

Before 1492, the world's two halves had very different plants and animals; they were like separate ecological zones (Mann). Historian Alfred W. Crosby named the Columbian Exchange to describe what happened when these ecosystems collided and mixed. European ships moved tons of species across the ocean on purpose, and by accident (Mann). This huge transfer of living things gave us the crops and goods we know worldwide now, like tomatoes in Italy, oranges in the U.S., and chili peppers in Thailand (Mann). Some ecologists even think the Columbian Exchange was arguably the most important thing to happen since the dinosaurs died, because it totally changed the world's ecology.

The first time I heard about The Appalachain Trail was in "A Walk In The Woods" by Bill Bryson. Since then, I've had many opportunities to familiarize myself with the trail in two different spots across its long 2,200 mile expanse (Camino). During my time working as a Forester in Adirondack State Park in northern New York, me and my team would often work on trail restoration along parts of the AT, camping anywhere from 5 to 10 days at a time in its wilderness. In my time during this program, I came to understand the elevation changes Dr. Redick talks about on page 11. Four-man teams would have to carry some of the heavier equipment we would take with us. By the time I started working in the Blue Ridge Mountains at Wintergreen Resort in Virginia, I would also have to clean up some of the sprawling trail from Stinging Nettle, along with other vines and shrubs. 

Endemic species are species that are only found in a specific place. Endemic species usually fit really well into their homes. They have special jobs there you can't just replace. If they die out, it can mess things up big time, like toppling the food chain or stopping important stuff like plants getting pollinated or seeds spread around. Plus, these species carry unique DNA. Once they're gone, that's it, that DNA is lost forever, which shrinks the planet's gene pool and chances to adapt to for changes later. Because they only live in one place and have specific needs, they're really in danger because of habitat loss, invasive species, and climate change. This also means they're like an early warning system for the place where they live. If they start disappearing, it tells people that there's a problem with the area which can let scientists fix the issues before other species or humans are impacted. Looking out for them is to protect the natural systems.

American Camino: 100-107 My favorite line from this section is, “as hikers walk together, or pass one another multiple times each day, their bond of mutual suffering and comradeship of wilderness sojourning grows stronger” (101). Although I do not plan to hike the entirety of the Appalachian trial, I enjoyed reading about the specific sections and how hikers made their way to towns and hostels. I would assume this must be an incredibly challenging but freeing experience. As an introvert, I could not imagine being so open to strangers especially in such an isolated environment. Additionally, I think to enjoy this intense journey, you must have a love for nature. The veteran hiker called her surroundings “a bunch of boring trees”, but I’m curious to know if others, more in awe of nature, would have a better experience. More so, I wonder if this young veteran hiker disliked trees more after the AT or had an appreciation for them. I agree with “interacting with the great variety of extra-h...

American Camino: Wilderness As It Appears in Opposition to Mythology  I never realized “Rather than receiving the hospitality of the constituents of the particular environmental milieu, the survivalist imposes technique and masters the other who is already there (162). I admire this perspective. Even in the most basic sense, humans have the tendency to look at nature as something to use or be taken. I think if we looked closely at our relationship with nature, many of us would see we are simply takers. Very rarely, especially in this age of technology, do we find ourselves giving back. Even some who say they admire nature “use” it, going on hikes, taking aesthetic pictures for their social media feed, etc. But how many people actually give back? How many people pick up litter? Or would that be considered fixing human mistakes? I find this to be the same in the 19th century with accepting “wild” scenery. If it wasn’t aesthetic, then it was strange and spooky. Throughout all of histo...

American Camino: Nature in Art  I was delighted to discover that romantic artists gave nature the definition we use today: “a noun that names spaces, places, and personae” (169). Of course, nature can be thought of as many things, but only those who are philosophical think about it deeper. Subconsciously I think I was aware that, “nature as being composed of all that humans have not made, yet, if made long enough ago, may be included as natural” (169). However, I did not realize this idea also came from romantic artists. I adore the word sublime, as well as what it is in relation to nature. I recently went on a study abroad trip to England, where we looked at gothic architecture, much of which was barely standing. I found the buildings themself to be sublime, but also part of nature. There was one monastery that had the most sublime view, looking over the sea. It must have felt much more sublime when it was being used, without lights or protection, knowing that any time it could be...

American Camino: Wilderness as Sacred Space. I agree that while in what we think of as nature, there is, “sometimes search for a connection to the sacred, engage in embodied prayer, meditation, and contemplation” (188). I do not identify with any particular religion, but I do participate in the practices of meditation and contemplation. As we discussed throughout this course, being in nature can have healing and calming effects. If I were to align myself with any religion, it would be one that highly prioritizes oneself with nature. I think it can be quite scary to think, while outside among other beings, that we were simply lucky enough to end up as a soul inside of a human body. Not only does this connect the idea of sublimity, but it also makes nature a sacred place, in my opinion. The trees we see have been here much longer than we have and many will outlive us, both on an individual level and the human race as a whole. Without trees, plants, water, etc., we would not exist, we abs...

American Camino: Objectification, Experiencing the Aesthetic Object in Isolation I admired John Muir’s story. I wonder what others thought of his description of “interplay between various co-constituents of a wild ecosystem” (49). Nature was viewed differently then, less as what it can do for us than it probably is now. I’m deeply curious as to why he decided to get up and walk 1000 miles, but I’m sure I could discover that if I decided to read more about him. I find it inspiring that after he made that journey, his actions were “consistent with the shifting cultural valuation of wild spaces” (49). I think if more people went out and decided to walk 1000 miles, maybe even 20, their views on nature would change. Furthermore, I believe if we disconnect ourselves from the internet and see the natural world, we would feel more free and spirited. Art makes us feel things, just like it did in Muir’s time, so maybe there is also a need for a stronger connection to art as well.

 The unfortunate nature of the Environmental sciences and environmental studies fields is that there is a lot of pessimism. Every new article or "fun fact" about how our planet is slowly eating itself out thanks to humans is a lot for new people in the field, including myself. There are so many efforts being put in, yet it almost seems inevitable that there is not really a healthy future for me or even future generations. Much less for the poor species of our planet, who truly are the ones suffering from our stupid human creations. But for me at least, I find beauty in the developing technologies that we can somehow, impossibly, repair what we (and the people before us) have done. Especially to creatively redesign what is to create what it will be now, it is just sad how many people won't pursue the field due to freaking polluting huge corporations who ruined the planet for all of us.

Amphibians like salamanders, frogs, and toads are super important because they're really sensitive to changes in the environment. What happens to them can tell scientists a lot about how healthy an ecosystem is. They also affect other animal populations since they're both predators and prey. The US has the most different kinds of salamanders in the world, but many of them are already in trouble because they're losing their homes, facing pollution and cities are growing. Some people are even worried about an amphibian apocalypse. There are easy things we can do to help these creatures. Try not to touch them unless you have to move them out of harm’s way. Stuff on our hands, like oils and lotions, can hurt them (Defenders). Don't use those chemical bug killers, weed killers, or rat poisons, because they can wash into amphibian habitats and could possibly kill them. When you're outside, skip the DEET bug spray and wear long sleeves and pants. In the winter, use sand in...

 I have always loved the rain since I was little. I'd have on my little pink boots and yellow raincoat, eager to splash puddles and ruin my poor parents' jeans. Part of why I think I loved it so much at the beginning was that it was the world being messy. I was a terribly messy child. I ate dirt, my shoes were covered in muck, and I loved to find worms to put in the vegetable garden. All of these things were generally frowned upon, especially once I started school, but when it started to pour outside, everything was imperfect. The once clear sidewalk now had a little lake for me to jump in; no longer were the grass clippings contained in the lawn; they moved freely to their next location, and it was a perfect reminder that the messy must happen for growth to occur. As corny as it sounds, it is something that I still carry, especially with all the puddles on campus. 

 As we have had multiple in-class discussions regarding the importance of language, I think it is particularly fitting when reading the novel. As it stands, our class text is written in English, which is originally derived from Latin. Latin comes from the Renaissance, which only came about due to Viking/Norman invasions. My point is that language is shaped by those before us, and as argued in the book, it is crucial when defining our surrounding environment. Additionally, English as a language and Christianity as a religion have always been closely tied, which begs the question that had the book or the author been in a different language, would the religious explanations differ too? More importantly, the different perspectives that the book is valued on would also be different, which I would find very interesting if there could be a case-by-case study. No complaints here by the way, Dr. Redick, I am merely observing. 

During my time in Adirondack Park in New York, me my team were responsible for White Tailed Deer surveying. White-tailed deer are super important for ecosystems. They change the environment by eating plants, which controls what grows. They also feed predators like coyotes and wolves. Deer eat lots of various things like grass, fruit, even trees. This stops some plants from taking over. But if there are too many deer, native plants can disappear, and invasive plants might take over. This study was initiated to make sure the White Tailed Deer population was under control. Not too many, not too few. Continuing to monitor your local ecosystem can be helpful for determining the health of your area.

 Chapter four of the American Camino states that there is no physicality to nature and that the concept itself is solely a concept. Nature is a product of culture. What it means to be human is creation; it is what the anthropologists grasp on, whether it be the fire, the wheel, the stone tools, etc., it is what inherently has set us so far apart from other species. With creation comes norms, derived from normal, and it is normal for humans to create. All of our creations come from nature, yet when I sit in my dorm room writing this blog, I wouldn't say I am surrounded by it. Nature in my world means the wilderness and outdoors, but the word nature isn't equivalent to the other two words, proving how it is a concept and not necessarily a reality. 

 In Chapter 2 of the American Camino, the beauty of solitude is brought up. One could think of being alone as them being the only living being in a room. However, solitude is so much more; it is through the mind as well. To be alone, there can not be ties or concerns, such as people's worries or responsibilities that they must attend. There has to be total isolation from those things around you and life to fully understand what it means to be alone. Only then could there be total understanding of you and what life is. Which is a whole other tangent since life is so personable, it can very from person to person but the point is that by erasing the history of what others imprinted, to truly view yourself undeniably is powerful and creates a discovery unlike any other. 

On page 45 of the American Camino, the description of the emergence of landscape artists is given. There is the notion that the paintings aren't a view but rather conceptual. It is not our eye looking but the artist's eye that we get the honor to witness. The artist has the power to emphasize or to change, maybe not consciously, but in the importance of aesthetics.  Art is subjective, and maybe our world is too, but not to the extent that art is. As a self-taught painter myself, the length of detail and mathematics required to create realism is absolutely astonishing. At least I can have a photograph for reference, but in order to compare the artist's rendition to the real thing, one must find the exact spot at the exact time on the exact day, making it almost impossible for others to experience what was, hence why it has become conceptual.

 In the American Camino, the argument is made that, "environment manifests as we interact with it both our language practices, which vary from rational, scientific to poetic and artistic, and through our senses and other embodied practices" (Redick 8). Although it has validity, I also think that the environment comes from expectation. Nowadays, we are surrounded by media throughout our day-to-day lives, and arguably, it has become an integral part of our natural environment. Environment, as defined by Oxford Languages, is the surroundings or conditions in which a person, animal, or plant lives or operates. Well, as humans, we are constantly surrounded by technology, advertisements, words, and not as much earth. And due to being raised in such an environment, we have created expectations on what it should be. Now, whether one would consider media to be language is a whole other thing, but it doesn't erase how dependent we as a society are on it. Part of it is media, but th...

Over the course of human history, individual cultures have referred to the nature around them by giving them names or by describing them with terms. Martin Heidegger argues that language beckons us towards a thing’s nature. Over the course of human history, language has developed a complex relationship to the nature of things as well as the environment. One of these stories was t he introduction of the word planet in ancient Greece. When the term of planet was introduced, it meant “wanderer”. This was because the ancient Greeks understood planets as wanderers roaming the night sky. With this definition, we would not consider earth as a “planet”. However, since then language has changed and with that, the meanings of certain things. What once was defined as a wanderer, now means a huge floating rock in space. Though these defitinitions are similar, it would also mean that todays definition of Earth being a planet would not fit the ancient Greek definition. In this situation, the use...

Throughout the ages, humans have relied on verbal communication to communicate with one another. Through this, language was born, one of man’s most important tools. Humans have assigned specific names to certain things and used terms to describe specific characteristics. When the native Puget Sound Natives lived freely around the mountain, they used the word “Tacoma” to refer to the mountain peak, meaning “The Mountain That Was God”. The reasoning behind this was that the mountain was, and still is, massive and served as a hunting ground and a place for spiritual practices. The mountain had become cultural for these people. When British explorers came to the west coast of the United States, they renamed the mountain to Rainier after Rear Admiral Peter Rainier, erasing the name given to it previously. In this specific example, the environment impacted language. The Puget Sound Natives saw this mountain as something greater than them and as a result, used language to transform the mounta...

  Ever since I was young, I have loved anything on wheels. This began when I was probably four or five years old, and I began noticing heavy equipment on construction sites, trains, big rigs, and everything in between. The passion for these machines has continued to snowball into more than just an appreciation for them, but a hobby. Since the acquisition of my driver's license, I've made a substantial effort to get as much experience and knowledge as I can. From doing things as simple as changing my brakes for the first time to my first suspension rebuild, and even dropping and rebuilding the 6-speed in my first car a few years ago. Now, I am driving my dream truck that was luckily passed down to me from my dad - a 1996 7.3L Powerstroke. For those who are unaware, Powerstrokes are Ford’s line of diesel pickups. Going from a small gas-fueled manual coupe to a ¾ ton diesel guzzling brute of a truck. With such an interest in the automotive industry and experience with both gasolin...

     Species become endangered primarily due to human activities: habitat destruction, pollution, climate change, and overhunting. When a species declines or disappears, entire ecosystems can shift or collapse. The loss of biodiversity reduces resilience among species. This means that protecting endangered species is not just an act of compassion, it is a necessity for ecological stability. However, conservation can be complicated. Protecting one species can require restricting land use, relocating human communities, or changing industries. This raises a variety of different ethical questions: how much should humans sacrifice for the sake of other species? And who gets to make those decisions?      Personally, I believe that humans have a responsibility to protect other species because we are the primary cause of their endangerment. Extinction caused by natural processes is different from extinction caused by human actions. Not only this, but it is our plan...

Cities concentrate population, reducing the amount of land used for housing. In theory, this can be ecological because dense living reduces transportation emissions and infrastructure needs. However, cities also create pollution, heat islands, and high energy demand. The relationship between urbanization and ecology is complex. A key factor seems to typically be an issue of design. Cities that include public transportation, walkable neighborhoods, and green spaces are far more sustainable than cities built around highways and private cars. The problem is that many existing cities were built with the car as the central organizing principle. This makes restructuring them a huge challenge and many resources.  Many different parts of a city feel more or less connected to nature. Tree-lined streets and public parks feel healthier and calmer than concrete-heavy downtown blocks. This suggests that urban ecology is not only a scientific issue but also a psychological one. The question beco...

  Over the summer, I had the opportunity to join Dr. Redick and Dr. Balay in the California National Parks. As a part of the trip, we spent a week in Yosemite National Park and then another week in Sequoia National Park. During this time, we hiked through the trails of the parks and saw all the sublime wonders that they had to offer: Half Dome, Glacier Point, Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite Falls, General Sherman, General Grant, Moro Rock, and Crescent Meadow. Seeing these natural wonders with my own eyes was certainly an experience, and it reminded me that we search for wonder around us but we usually fail to see what is right in front of us. The earth has much to offer us, not in regards to the natural resources we currently exploit it for, but the connection it offers us to our history and the implication that something greater than ourselves exists. We did not create these sublime wonders of the world. They appear on their own or were part of the beautiful design of the world as it...

This past summer my brother and I joined Kip's study abroad class to go hiking on the Appalachian Trail for 2 weeks. I'll be honest I kind of just signed up on a whim and when he agreed to go, my general vibe was f--- it, lets go. The time eventually came, two weeks after the semester ended and I grew increasingly worried about how it would go and how I would manage out there. The first couple days went by, and while absolutely stunning, I was having a rough time. It was a little hard for me to balance taking the environment in while also trying not to die from exhaustion. Eventually though, after a particularly hard day, I started to find my rhythm and almost work together with the trail, becoming more down to earth and peaceful with my decision to throw myself out of life's comforts. I was able to see the stars clearer than I ever had, spent time with wild ponies and a cow that took special interest in my blanket.  This experience helped me appreciate the grandeur of the ...

  As part of one of my classes, I went to the recent speaker event in which someone from the Union of Concerned Scientists came and discussed the climate problems facing the United States currently. It was very interesting to learn about this topic, especially as it relates to the federal and state policies regarding climate change, and I thought that it was profound to note that Americans have a tendency to ignore problems such as climate change as long as it is not personally affecting them. Just this year, our country did not experience a major hurricane and so as hurricane season was coming to an end, many people began to say that climate change and the idea of worsening weather conditions was a hoax because nothing happened this year. But we forget that even if nothing happened this time, it does not go to say that nothing will ever happen in the future, and that weather conditions are improving. Science and data are hardly ever truly linear, as we can see in all fields of stu...

  One of the most interesting pieces of nature to me is the transition of the seasons and how it parallels and explains the changing of time. Each year we are reminded of the passage of time through the change of the seasons; the cyclical nature of the seasons both haunts and helps us. It haunts us because we are constantly reminded of the slow passage of time as each year passes us by, but it is also helpful because it provides the promise of the future to come. In the northeast of the United States, children look forward to the coming of winter and the possibility of snow the same way that they look forward to the coming of summer and its promise of a break from school. Many adults look forward to the change of scenery with the seasons. The seasons also helped us develop our first ideas of time, as well as the expansions. We used the seasonal changes long before we understood the movement of our world around the sun, but our advancements in knowledge have been instrumental in so ...

  Human actions have always affected the environment around us, whether it is issues like climate change and industrialization or even just the spreading of invasive species. We often forget that colonization of new places also introduces new species to that environment, and we have seen the effects of this trend all throughout history. The founding of America for example, introduced invasive species such as horses and cattle as well as the European starling and even peaches. These affected the native species to a huge extent, an effect that was worsened as a result of overharvesting the native species. Exotic trade has also enhanced this introduction of invasives, as has the slow change of the global environment which has reduced the areas in which some native species can survive. Actions such as colonization not only transport new species into an environment, but it also leads to a development of that environment that produces instability for many of the native species living the...

I was born in Newport News, but we moved to Yorktown when I was 2. We live in a one story rancher in a neighborhood with a lot of trees. There are two sides to my neighborhood, the farm and the cove, I live in the former, also known as the original part of our neighborhood. You can tell instantly when looking at the differences between the two sides. Where one side has an HOA, and strict regulations on grass length, the other is a free flowing place where nature can truly be. Our backyard has a ravine, a staple of my childhood. Everyday, we would go in the back yard, to the ravine, and just explore like crazy, walking the length of it, where we would see evidence of beavers. We had a tree we created a fort out of and a small creek to watch the water bugs glide across. It is bittersweet these days, because I don't go out there nearly as much as we used to, but I still cherish the time we spent outside with all the constituents this place had to offer. Over break, I plan to go into t...