Observations: April 25th 2017

Observations: April 15th-16th 2017 (Olympic Peninsula)

Observations April 12th 2017

Observations: April 5th 2017

Introduction

Taking Natural History at the University of Washington seems like a natural and needed end to my time at UW. I am in the last ten weeks of my degree in Environmental Studies with an emphasis in education. Much of my time during the last four years has been spent outside with children learning and playing in nature.

My love for nature began at an early age. I spent my elementary and middle school years living on a cattle ranch in Northern California. The woods, rivers, small valley, pond, and grazing fields were my brother's and mine to explore. Every morning in the summer we left the house with lunches and a dog in toe (and sometimes a cat or two) and didn't return home until the evening. Those days were filled with equal parts magic, curiosity, and bewildered fear at the wildness of the world.

Looking back, I can see that we were naturally cataloging the changes of the land. Many days were spent measuring the heights of the river, swollen with the chilly rush of spring melt. We passed the hours of the setting sun by catching pollywogs and watching them grow into frogs as the days became longer. We rejoiced in the warm, sticky mud that became exposed along the edge of the river as the summer grew warmer. All of these seasonal and ecological changes were experienced fully and simply through play.

These experiences set the tone for my adult life in which I have continued to pursue the magic and mystery of nature through art, science, and education.

Photos of the ranch we lived on growing up: