Fall Reflections from NatureBridge Yosemite
NatureBridge Yosemite Environmental Science Educator Larissa Biette provided these thoughts as a reflection on her experience teaching in the field this fall.
As an environmental science educator, I spend a lot of time teaching about nature, but this season I’ve been finding that as it turns out, nature has a lot to teach us, too. Sometimes I can let the trees, the meadow, and the lichen teach for me. They show us how to respect each other’s boundaries, how to celebrate differences, how to work together, and how to lean on each other’s strengths in order to exist in a new place.
These lessons felt incredibly relevant to me heading into the first week of November, a notoriously busy time at NatureBridge Yosemite. I wanted to focus on messages of kindness and inclusivity with my students, I wanted them to feel a sense of belonging in this new space, and I also hoped that they would share those messages with others.
We spent the week uncovering the story of the landscape—noticing the animal tracks on the ground, wondering what clues were left behind to tell us what was here before us. We collected dogwood seeds that would later be planted in the park to encourage forest diversity, and talked about how we could encourage each other’s differences, too. We marveled at the beauty of El Capitan and learned the Southern Sierra Miwok story of how it came to be, and we talked about the importance of spaces like national parks that are dedicated to protecting nature and all of the wisdom that it holds.
As we were walking back to Curry Village on our last day of the program, a student asked if the day was over. Their chaperone answered “Yes,” and reminded him that they were going to stop at the gift shop before they left. Disappointed, he proclaimed, “Shopping is [not as fun] compared to this.”
One of the interesting parts about being an environmental science educator is that sometimes you just don’t get to see the impact you have on the students. Sometimes you just have to trust that you’re planting the seeds—and even if they don’t know it now—some day down the line these students might be influenced by the week we had together. Every once in a while, you do get to see the difference; you'll see the ways in which they’ve grown and changed throughout the week and believe that when you send them out into the world again, they’ll enter it with a new mindset: one of kindness, compassion for others, and appreciation for the world around them. And maybe, just maybe, when they go back home they’ll still think that playing outside is more fun than shopping.
Stories
Fall Reflections from NatureBridge Yosemite
As an environmental science educator, I spend a lot of time teaching about nature, but this season I’ve been finding that as it turns out, nature has a lot to teach us, too. Sometimes I can let the trees, the meadow, and the lichen teach for me. They show us how to respect each other’s boundaries, how to celebrate differences, how to work together, and how to lean on each other’s strengths in order to exist in a new place. These lessons felt incredibly relevant to me heading into the first week of November, a notoriously busy time at NatureBridge Yosemite. I wanted to focus on messages of kindness and inclusivity with my students, I wanted them to feel a sense of belonging in this new space, and I also hoped that they would share those messages with others.
An Incredible 10th Anniversary of Evening on the Lake
On October 25, the Amazon Meeting Center in downtown Seattle buzzed with celebratory energy as over 300 NatureBridge guests and supporters gathered for the 10th anniversary of "Evening on the Lake," our signature Pacific Northwest fundraising event for our Olympic campus.
"Science became fun" at NatureBridge for Alum Laura Lomeli Russert
Laura Lomeli Russert is a NatureBridge alum who grew up in Groveland, CA and now calls Washington, D.C. home. Laura’s journey with NatureBridge began when she attended the Golden Gate campus as a young student with her class from Tenaya Elementary. Laura credits NatureBridge with shaping not only her love for nature but also her passion for education and science. "Science became fun,” she recalls. “You weren’t learning from a textbook anymore, and it became so much more real." Her hands-on, scientific experiences at NatureBridge laid the foundation for her eventual pursuit of a Ph.D. in psychology. “I feel like I owe a lot to NatureBridge."