COVID-19 presents us with a quite a challenge. May we and those we love make it through safely. And those we don’t love, may they make it through safely, too. They are us. We are them. This is a species event. Biology is founded on the principle that we share the same body with creation...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
Alan Lightman, of the physics & creative writing departments at MIT, has published an essay in the NYTs that expresses his fear of “nature” and of dying. It is wonderfully naive, and a perfect example of the collapsing epistemology of industrial capitalism (that MIT has for its entire existence promulgated with brownfield, cancercluster and bankrupt-economy...Continue Reading
Neoliberalism will destroy everything including itself, but that doesn’t mean the human species will become extinct. I write this, prematurely, to the survivors (& please, may our grandkids be among you). In a few weeks, food prices will skyrocket. They’ve already started to. If there has ever been a time for us to grow a...Continue Reading
Today, our Supreme Court (SCOTUS) decided 5 to 4 that there’s no limit to the $$ consumers of politicians can spend to buy them. I don’t think the word has been invented that describes our present form of national government, but it’s quite clear that Jimmy Carter is correct: we no longer have a functioning...Continue Reading
Yesterday I had the pleasure of visiting Warm Colors Apiary in So. Deerfield with the lively & smart 7th graders who attend Jane Lucia’s science classes at the Williston Northampton School. I jumped at the invite not only b/c Jane is a talented educator who likes to get her kids out into the field; but...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 […]
Day 1 – CITs in MA vs LA This is the first summer of Biocitizen LA’s CIT program and I am so excited to have the opportunity to take the lead in their training. Today I met the two girls who are there this week and I am very impressed by their maturity and initiative […]
Adia’s Perspective 2019 – MA to LA! Adia Bennett is joining us in Los Angeles again this summer for Our Place Summer School – and we are so grateful to have her strong, sweet, graceful guidance in the field, as our first Counselor in Training program launches this week, July 8th-12th. Adia has walked as a […]
Biocitizen is so pleased to welcome Tamar Cox Rubien as an assistant Our Place Summerschool teacher! Tamar is a seeker of wisdom, cultural and ecological, and is looking forward to exploring New York City with students with our special focus on how it is placed in the Hudson River estuary biome! Personal Statement My name […]
Biocitizen is so pleased to welcome Blaze McClurkan—of Gowanus—as an Our Place Summerschool teachers’ assistant! Blaze was a counselor in training in 2019 who put on her walking shoes and helped us get kids off the screen and into the marine biome that is NYC. She returns brimming with energy and ideas, and professional experience […]
En la sabiduría antigua, tanto en sociedades orientales, occidentales e indígenas, existe como concepción compartida la importancia del vivir el día a día, y de como esta práctica da forma […]
Westhampton, MA