Summer Naturalist Series

Ripples presents a Naturalist Blog Series for the summer!

As a young girl, I became a traveler.  I wanted to experience the world in the way some people experience their first love, and sought to explore islands with no cars, forest waterfalls, new cultures, vegetarian cuisine, other languages, and mountains that brought me closer to a simple version of God.  As a woman, however, I have matured into a problem with traveling and exploring the world, much like the way children outgrow tiny playhouses and discover one day that their elementary classrooms seem inexplicably tiny after years away.  A traveler can develop the habit of discovery, overturning rocks and societal expectations, rustling around in leaves and layers of place.  Discovery alludes to an audience the way writing does: true, it can be a private experience just as joyful as a public ceremony transitioning us from one stage of life or state of being to another, but the discovery of something which is so tantamount to its salvation is an experience cloaked in morality. No sooner can I discover an abandoned child without telling someone than I could explore the world and encounter nature, knowing its peril, and keep it a secret.

Being a naturalist is like being Edge Habitat, a conglomeration of science, art, spirituality, philosophy, and love, never just one place but stepping into many at once.

Our summer naturalist series is composed of short blog posts spread throughout July and August, covering environmental science topics including:

1. Water (Hydrology)
2. Insects (Entomology)
3. Mammals (Mammalogy)
4. Fish (Ichthyology)
5. Birds (Ornithology)
6. Stars (Astronomy)
7. Mushrooms (Mycology)
8. Rocks (Geology)
9. Plants (Botany)
10. Amphibians and Reptiles (Herpetology)

Each topic will contain trivia, interesting websites, online games, relevant organizations you can get involved with, upcoming classes and events, and more.  These blog posts won’t be exclusively science, though – Amanda will be sharing related artwork and sketches from her journal*, and each post will be written “creative non-fiction” style. We hope it’ll be interesting and informative summer reading, and that you’ll join us as we explore the many adventures and wonders Earth has to offer.

*Did you notice there haven’t been any sketches posted? Well, the process went a LOT farther than a few sketches…starting Fall 2014 I’ll be selling naturalist-themed greeting cards locally and online, to support the Ripples project. Follow our blog to be the first to know when these designs are available! 🙂