Take Me Outside

Episode 08: Climate- and culture-friendly ecotourism

With Roy Jantzen and Laura Choo of the School of Tourism Management, Capilano University

How do wildlife-viewing guidelines differ from one place to the next? What can ecotourism companies do to be more climate responsible? What role do consumers play in this? Roy and Laura discuss these matters as well as share their insights about equitable engagement with local Indigenous communities. Also hear some stories about whales, sea-otters, and dippers!

Guests:

Roy Jantzen is a professor of Natural History, Ecotourism, Tourism and Climate Change, and Environmental Stewardship in the Faculty of Global and Community Studies at Capilano University. He teaches students in Tourism Management, Outdoor Recreation Management, and Global Stewardship. For over two decades, Roy has helped educate the public about the importance of biodiversity and our human place within it. Though he has a passion for local ecosystems and the species that inhabit them, he also has a strong desire to relate the environment to our lives and to larger planetary issues. Roy recently published a book entitled, Active Vancouver: A Year-Round Guide to Outdoor Recreation in the City's Natural Environments. He also leads an ecotourism and consulting company that he began 24 years ago. Roy holds a Master of Environmental Education and Communication from Royal Roads University and asks, “shouldn’t all education be environmental education?"

Laura Choo is a 4^th-year student at Capilano University in the Bachelors of Tourism Management Program. She is also an alumna of the Outdoor Recreation Management Program, which she graduated from with Distinction in 2018. She is passionate about outdoor education, natural history, adventure sports, and especially environmental sustainability. She has worked as an outdoor educator, tour guide, naturalist, and tourism researcher. In December 2020, one of her qualitative research projects, which explored the success of COVID recovery strategies for tourism in the City of North Vancouver, won first place in a city-wide showcase! In 2021, along with completing her undergrad, she is looking forward to working as a research assistant for a project exploring and advocating for diversity and inclusion within tourism restart plans across Canada. If listeners want to connect with Laura with ideas for future projects or collaborations, she would be happy to network through her LinkedIn account.

Episode 07: The role of non-profits in the climate change response

With San Patten of the College of Sustainability, Dalhousie University and San Patten and Associates

How can non-profits fill in the gaps that public and private bodies can't address in our local, national, and international response to climate change? What can we learn from how NGOs helped shift the conversation around HIV and AIDS? How does this apply to the climate crisis? San Patten addresses all this and more, while sharing one of the many impactful stories from her two decades of on-the-ground experience.

Guest:

San Patten teaches at the College of Sustainability at Dalhousie University. San also teaches Social Policy (by distance) at Mount Allison University’s Department of Sociology. With a background in health promotion, specifically focusing on HIV, she brings a human health and social justice perspective to her teaching. San puts heavy emphasis on real-world learning about the role of non-profit organizations in driving social, political, economic, and environmental change. San also runs her own consulting practice, San Patten and Associates, which specializes in HIV policy development, facilitation, program evaluation, and community-based research. 

Episode 06: Using art and storytelling to protect marine life

With Aria Luna of Aria Luna Art

Artist Aria Luna chats about the origins of Bogo Mogo, how the story can be used to help protect oceans from plastic pollution, and why coloring books are such great tools for drawing readers into the creative process. She also tells us about a particularly unique Oregon Junco, her paintings for social justice, and the upcoming Amazonas exhibit.

Guest:

Aria Luna is one of the world’s youngest exhibiting artists. Her traveling exhibit Fusion Tide tells the story of Bogo Mogo. This terrifying plastic monster is the antagonist of the free coloring book story, The Quest to Defeat Bogo Mogo, which was written by Aria Luna’s mom, Birgitte Rasine, with coloring book page illustrations by Luba Rasine-Ortoleva. Aria Luna is a nature-lover and changemaker passionate about marine life, ocean health, and other issues impacting local and global communities. 

Episode 05: Responding to environmental racism

With Dr. Ingrid Waldron of Dalhousie University and The ENRICH Project

We sat down with Dr. Ingrid Waldron to discuss how environmental racism manifests on the ground, specifically in Mi’kmaq and African Nova Scotian communities. Dr. Waldron also discusses the importance of getting community members involved in research from the very beginning, while touching on the role educators play in responding to environmental racism.

Guest:

Dr. Ingrid Waldron is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Health at Dalhousie University and the Director of the Environmental Noxiousness, Racial Inequities & Community Health Project (The ENRICH Project). As the Director of the ENRICH Project, Dr. Waldron has been investigating the socio-economic, political, and health effects of environmental racism in Mi’kmaq and African Nova Scotian communities. The ENRICH Project formed the basis to Dr. Waldron’s first book There’s Something in the Water: Environmental Racism in Indigenous and Black Communities, as well as the 2020 Netflix documentary There’s Something in the Water, which was co-produced by Waldron, actor Elliot Page, Ian Daniel, and Julia Sanderson.

Episode 04: A personal intersection of faith and science

With Jared Goodykoontz of Little Adventures, Big Connections

Children’s author Jared Goodykoontz joins us to chat about how his naturalist self and Christian self have gradually converged and informed each other. He also explains how scientific principles like evolution can exist in harmony with Christian faith, while touching on the importance of engaging in thoughtful dialogue with people whose views differ from yours.

Guest:

Jared Goodykoontz loves connecting with all life around him: feathered, furred, scaled, little, big, green, human, etc. He is blessed to be able to help hundreds of families in central Ohio connect with their local nature every week through his Little Adventures, Big Connections nature program. He loves exploring the senses, tracking, bird language, and gardening with his school’s 2–6-year-olds. His main passion is fostering relationships — between him and his students, his students and their parents, and everyone with the plant and animal life around them. In addition to his weekly program, he has also written and illustrated three children’s books using bits of nature from around his own wooded property. He lives with his wife and two daughters in central Ohio.

Episode 03: Outdoor learning during a time of physical distancing

With Colin Harris of Take Me Outside 

Take Me Outside founder and Executive Director Colin Harris discusses the role of outdoor learning during a time of mandated physical distancing, while discussing physical and institutional barriers to moving beyond the four walls of the classroom. He also highlights the importance of connecting with Indigenous communities to gain their insights on nature and ways to learn about it.

Guest:

Colin Harris is the Founder and Executive Director of Take Me Outside. He initiated the organization by running 7,600 km across Canada over nine months, going into 80 schools across the country and engaging 20,000 students in the conversation of their time spent in front of screens compared to their time spent outside, being active and connecting to nature. He has completed a Master’s of Environmental Education and Communication and currently lives in Banff, Alberta, continuing to find ways to engage Canadian students in exploring this country’s incredible backyard.

Episode 02: The role of Social and Emotional Learning at Residential Environmental Learning Centers

With Estrella Risinger of the Association of Environmental and Outdoor Education in California

Children have the opportunity to develop self-awareness and emotional growth while staying overnight at Residential Outdoor Learning Centers (RELCs) like NatureBridge. Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) is a big part of this, and RELCs now have access to a comprehensive and research-backed new tool, Grow-outside.org. Hear the story of how it came to be and the many ways it can enhance nature-based learning at both the individual and organizational levels.

Guest: 

Estrella Risinger is the Executive Director of the Association for Environmental & Outdoor Education (AEOE) where she works to advance the impact of environmental and outdoor education in California. Recently serving as the National Education Manager at NatureBridge, the largest education partner of the National Park Service, Estrella helped to launch the website, Grow-outside.org, a Social and Emotional Learning Toolkit for Residential Environmental Learning Centers. A former classroom teacher and camp counsellor, Estrella has a background in both formal and informal educational settings.

Episode 01: Pivoting to virtual teaching to deliver experiential, outdoor learning

With Trevor Dunlap and Matthew Broda of the Nuhop Center for Experiential Learning in Ohio

In our first full episode, hear the remarkable story of how, in the span of 8 days, an experiential outdoor learning center made a 180-degree shift from in-person to digital teaching without abandoning their organizational goals. We also discuss the role of digital live experiences in environmental ed. now and in the future, the key to maintaining focus amid turmoil, and how llamas and alpacas can ease “Zoom fatigue”!

Guests:

Matthew Broda is a pre-service teacher, experiential facilitator, and environmental educator based in Wooster, Ohio. As an associate professor of education with The College of Wooster, he focuses on the integration of innovative pedagogies (i.e., experiential methodologies, immersive technologies, ecological sensibilities, etc.) into pre-service teacher curricula. As a former middle school science teacher, Matthew holds an MA in Educational Administration from Ashland University and a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from Kent State University. When not teaching his students, Matthew and his wife Kristin can usually be found somewhere outside smiling.

Trevor Dunlap is the Executive Director of The Nuhop Center for Experiential Learning, an Ohio-based non-profit that focuses on environmental and outdoor experiential education and serving children with special needs through residential camping experiences. Trevor is passionate about hands-on learning and loves fostering creative environments where people can succeed through engagement in the natural world. Trevor holds a BA in Elementary Education and Special Education from Wittenberg University. When not managing Nuhop, Trevor and his wife Sarah enjoy taking their three children on adventures, and can often be found trail-running, hiking, and working the soil in their family garden.

Episode 00: Preview

Here's what you can expect from Talking with Green Teachers. Previews of the first three episodes are also included. Welcome to our community!