TALATERRA

Today my guest is Dr. Kathayoon Khalil, conservation and education professional and the Conservation Impact Manager at the Oregon Zoo. Dr. Kahlil is all the co-author of "Practical Evaluation for Conservation Education and Outreach: Assessing Impacts and Enhancing Effectiveness." In my conversation with Dr. Khalil, we discuss why conservation is a people problem and not an animal problem. We talk...

Rayma Peterson is a botanist, artist, and author. Her new book, "Very Fine Art Projects for Artists and Educators," features 29 projects perfect for classroom teachers, educators working in informal learning environments, and parents leading homeschool programs. Why did Rayma create this book of projects? How did she establish herself as a freelance artist and educator? How does she hope to guide...

Sometimes I have the good fortune to visit with a past guest to find out how they are doing. Recently I had the opportunity to visit with Bethan Burton. Bethan and I spoke earlier this year when she was busy preparing for International Nature Journaling Week. It was March and global state-at-home orders were just beginning to be implemented. I reached out to Bethan to find out how things were goin...

Today, my guest is Darrel Griffin. Darrel is a LinkedIn strategist who helps business owners and freelance professionals attract new clients. I had the opportunity to learn from Darrel last year and reached out to him to see if he had time to discuss how freelance environmental educators can use LinkedIn during this time.  How should environmental education professionals present themselves on Link...

Kathryn Owen is an independent evaluator who helps zoos, aquariums, nature centers, and conservation groups assess the effectiveness of their exhibitions, programs, and initiatives. She has worked in the nonprofit sector for more than 20 years. I reached out to Kathryn because I wanted to speak with her about doing evaluation in the kind of community settings where freelance educators often work —...

Alastair Duncan is an award-winning artist and educator who uses sound to interpret place. As founder and director of StillWalks he develops interactive projects that promote understanding of place and the outdoors. How does Alastair create StillWalks projects? What has he learned about sound? How does he work with schools, community organizations, a local prison, and immigration services? Let’s f...

Katura Reynolds is an Interpretive Content Developer and scientific illustrator. She has worked in exhibit design since 1997 and has created learning environments at museums such as The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Garden, the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, and most recently Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, WA. She is especially interested in bilingual and bi-cultural content...

Kate Field is a co-founder of Leap Farm, a 300-acre award-winning family farm in Tasmania. Together with her husband, Kate implements regenerative farming techniques to produce their signature cheese and to raise goats and cattle. Kate is also the host and producer of “The Curious Farmer” podcast in which she explores the topic of regenerative agriculture. How did Kate and her husband come to own...

Next week Talaterra Cowork will host Breakthrough! - Purpose of Environmental Education . This Breakthrough! session will be the first of many monthly conversations to encourage dialogue between independent professionals working in fields related to environmental education and their colleagues. This month’s topic was inspired by papers I read by Dr. Rupu Gupta and her colleagues. Last year I had t...

The future of work is uncertain.  What does this mean to independent professionals like you and me? We can talk about it if you want. How? Let’s find out.   LINKS Talaterra When Every Aspect of Your Museum Job Has Changed, How Do You Move Forward? International Nature Journaling Week _______________ CREDITS: Producer : Tania Marien Music : So Far So Close by Jahzzar is licensed under a Attribution...

Last week I had the opportunity to meet with a group of environmental educators. Participants logged in from California, Oregon, Wisconsin, Maine, Mexico, and Costa Rica. What did I learn? What is Talaterra’s next initiative for freelance environmental professionals? Let’s find out.   LINKS Register for Breakthrough! - Purpose of EE Practitioners’ perspectives on the purpose of environmental educa...

“(A) lack of environmental education opportunities in our daughters’ elementary school.” “Through work I was doing with scientific journals and museum publications.” “(An) internship with an organic farm through school.” These are only a few of the responses I received to the question: How did you start working in the field of informal education? I included this question in the survey I used in th...

This week we meet up with Mark and Crystal Mandica, founders of The Amphibian Foundation. When Mark and Crystal launched the Foundation in 2016, they had to get creative when it came to funding because a federal startup grant they were counting on did not come through. They hit the ground running and turned their Foundation into what it is today. Because of the current COVID-19 pandemic, they once...

Alice Merry is a co-founder of Museo Wak'a, a pop-up participatory museum delighting communities in Lima, Peru. I spoke with Alice to learn more about Museo Wak'a and how it contributes to lifelong learning in communities. Alice and co-founder Gustavo Florez Salcedo and team member Rolando Flores Vega launched Museo Wak'a three years ago in a garage after a flood. Since then, they received a grant...

Janice Kelley is an author and the founder of an afterschool program called Nature Detectives. This week we revisit my conversation with Janice because she recently launched a podcast series based on her book, Mornings on Fair Oaks Bridge . Today's episode begins with our discussion about her new podcast, followed by an in-depth conversation about her book and afterschool program. Our in-depth int...

Tina Demirdjian is a poet, author, and teacher. Tina uses poetry and creative strategies to build sustainable partnerships. In this episode, Tina helps us see how poetry can be used to view the world in new and creative ways. How does Tina use poetry as a tool for community building? How does she work with multi-generational audiences?   Let's find out.    LINKS Poetry Consults Tina on Instagram T...

While reviewing survey results collected in the early stage of The Freelance Project, I was struck by the questions about place and responses educators provided. I know it is our current challenge with the coronavirus that made them stand out. The world was different back then.  I did read something in the survey that encouraged me, though.   LINKS Talaterra _______________ CREDITS: Producer : Tan...

Donna Cravotta is the founder and CEO of Social Pivot PR. Donna's passion is to inspire people to rethink their approach to social media. I invited Donna to the show today because she achieved the impossible. She got me to see that social media isn't just junk and noise. It is possible to engage with social media thoughtfully and purposefully, and with generosity. I had one question on my mind whe...

Bethan Burton is a teacher, avid nature journaler, and founder of International Nature Journaling Week, an online global celebration occurring June 1-7, 2020. When did Bethan decide to make journaling her career? How does she teach nature journaling to toddlers? What is International Nature Journaling Week all about? Let's find out.   LINKS Journaling with Nature (Bethan's website) Bethan on Insta...

As some of you already know, last week I opened the doors to Talaterra Cowork, the coworking space that was established for independent professionals working in our field. If you are an independent professional working in environmental education, natural resource fields, nature, and heritage interpretation or in really any field, where through your work, you connect people with nature, this cowork...

How do you find "the others?"  This question was the focus of a conversation I had earlier this morning.  Today I had the opportunity to participate in the Ruckus Makers Roundtable, hosted by Scott Perry, Chief Difference Maker at Creative on Purpose. Scott is currently hosting a series of conversations with individuals from ForwardLink, the alumni community created by Seth Godin. Joining me on th...

Kathryn Parsley is a Ph. D. candidate whose specialty is plant blindness and botanical literacy. She is creating tools to asses plant blindness in students and hopes to make her tools available to teachers for use in any learning environment. Why did Kathryn choose to study plant blindness? What are her tools about? Let's find out.   LINKS Kathryn's website Validity and Reliability of the Plant Bl...

Erica Fielder is the owner of Erica Fielder Studio, an interpretive studio that creates interpretive displays for parks and visitor centers. Erica has worked with over 50 creative partners during the studio’s 30-year history and has guided the production of almost 1,400 interpretive displays. How did Erica become a designer of interpretive panels? How does she prepare watercolor paintings for her...

Episode 45: Introducing Freelance EE February 20, 2020   Tania Marien  0:00  Freelance environmental education? That's a thing? Yes, it is. I've had more than one conversation with people who weren't aware that freelance environmental educators existed. And this is one of the handful of reasons why I started the freelance project, this podcast and the coworking space. Today I'm introducing a new e...

Today’s episode addresses this question: How can freelance educators learn to engage with diverse audiences and develop intercultural competence? This question kicked off my conversation with Claudia Diaz-Carrasco. This episode is one of the most listened to episodes to date. It first aired in March 2019. Make sure you stick around until the very end so you don’t miss the special announcement.   L...