Phoebe Gelbard has been building our school of Field Environmental Philosophy since 2015, when she was a junior at Northampton High School. Biocitizen is grateful for her service to the hundreds of students she’s taught. She’s grown with us as we experiment with and codify FEP curricula and itineraries, and is ready to become one...Continue Reading
Biocitizen is so pleased to welcome Sabrina Moore to the Living Rivers School senior staff! Sabrina is a graduate student at the University of North Texas pursuing a PhD degree in Biology. Her main research area involves the aquatic ecology of the Robalo River and the effect of invasive rainbow trout on the phenology of invertebrate...Continue Reading
Weaving Beauty A few days ago, I had the privilege of walking with Julia Gonzalez, Yagán artisan, and one of the last direct descendants of her people, who is dedicated to the ancestral art of traditional basket weaving. We met with her, and students and professors involved in Tracing Darwin’s Path, at the mouth of the...Continue Reading
A path makes decisions for us. Walking off path forces us to us make decisions (strengthening our decision-making powers). Freewalk: to walk off path, without (feeling anxiety about) getting lost or hurt, or being disrupted. Freewalkers use whole terrains as paths, creating the path most interesting and delightful, without being destructive (by crushing delicate lives)...Continue Reading
Now Voyager Four Corners is a field environmental philosophy expedition that prepares students to be environmental protection action leaders. Early announcements did not make this clear, so Biocitizen is adding a subtitle to the course: Now Voyager Four Corners: Escalante- and Bears Ears- National Monuments Campaign of Witness DETAILED INFO Sometimes bad things happen that...Continue Reading
After weeks of freezing, our river ice is melting—and it’s time to witness the tumult and power of FLOOD! 1000’s of tons of car-sized bergs are beginning to dislodge and tumble down watercourses, hitting boulders like bowling pins, slamming into trees, shuddering the earth, and re-arranging entire valleys. Imagine a runaway freight train crashing down...Continue Reading
After several weeks of unusually cold weather our biome has become unusually beautiful—especially in the Westfield River watershed. The river has frozen over, allowing us to go places we are normally prevented from going. Our non-hibernating mammal neighbors are crossing rivers and brooks, moreover, giving us a chance to gauge the vitality of the biome,...Continue Reading
New Year’s Day Ice Walk— 12:30 to 3 pm The arctic cold delivers a bonus point that is seldom redeemed—we get to walk on rivers and brooks! A very rare treat— Few walking experiences are as fun and defamiliarizing as walking river ice, first because the ice shapes are weird and magical, second because...Continue Reading
Now Voyager Four Corners Sun.-Sun. March 11-18 and Sun.-Sun. March 18-25 Expeditions to Utah’s Grand Staircase and Bears Ears National Monuments Explore a wilderness that might vanish— More information. Continue Reading
1) The problem: what invasives are, botanically and culturally Weeds are plants that grow where we don’t want them to, and invasives are weeds we spread without control, altering ecosystems to such an extent that, sometimes, native species are crowded out and go extinct. Invasives are expressions of our colonial culture; we bring them—and cats,...Continue Reading
WHAT IS BIOCITIZEN? The word “biocitizen” is a contraction of “biotic citizen,” a term and idea conceived by Aldo Leopold (1887–1948) who is widely celebrated for conceiving the “land ethic.” A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise. A […]
Charlie is a recent graduate from Wesleyan University who is just beginning to get his footing in the big wide world and figure out where he’s going. Although he majored in music, his studies always seemed to circle around environmentalism and the more-than-human world, a cross pollination which began the summer after his freshman year […]
Lugar son historias en las que vivimos. Y algunos lugares nos gustan más que otros. ¿Por qué? Ricardo Rozzi nos cuenta una historia sobre un lugar que ama. —secundo de […]
Lugar son historias en las que vivimos. Y algunos lugares nos gustan más que otros. ¿Por qué? Yubitza Bermúdez nos cuenta una historia sobre un lugar que ama. —primero de […]
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