Coffee & Geography

In the second part of this Coffee & Geography special from GroundEd, Kit returns to the Homestead in Northumberland as the gathering moves from connection and ecological understanding into practice, action, resilience and reflection. If Part 1 asked what regenerative CPD might feel like, Part 2 asks what educators can actually take back into classrooms, school grounds, communities — and themselves.

Through live recordings from the event, this episode explores climate education through theatre and embodied learning, zine-making and the National Education Nature Park, pupil agency, Climate Friendly Schools, big questions with the Ministry of Eco Education, future-school imagination inspired by Rob Hopkins, and the challenge of turning concern into meaningful action without deepening climate anxiety.

The episode then turns inward, with Kerry Trevett’s session on burnout, boundaries, resilience and human sustainability, before Meryl Batchelder closes GroundEd with her final Big Green Hug: a joyful, honest, funny and deeply grounded reflection on community, imperfection, play, music, courage, and why educators need each other to keep going. The episode ends with Emily Lawler’s “Note to Self,” recorded live at GroundEd, as a gentler alternative to the usual Coffee & Geography theme tune.

A practical, hopeful and human conclusion to the GroundEd story — about doing the work, sustaining the people who do it, and remembering that there are still so many reasons to keep going.

🔗 GroundEd — Regenerative and Transformative CPD for Educators: https://terraligo.com/grounded/

🔗 Cap-A-Pie Theatre Company: https://www.cap-a-pie.co.uk/

🔗 National Education Nature Park: https://www.educationnaturepark.org.uk/

🔗 OASES — Outdoor and Sustainability Education Specialists: https://oases.org.uk/

🔗 Climate Friendly Schools: https://www.climatefriendlyschools.org.uk/

🔗 Ministry of Eco Education: https://www.ministryofeco.org

🔗 Rob Hopkins — How to Fall in Love with the Future: https://www.robhopkins.net/the-book/

🔗 'Green Herts and Minds' initiative (Green Solutions Group) https://www.greensolutionsgroupltd.co.uk/

🔗 Emily Lawler — musician: https://emilylawlermusician.com/

#CoffeeGeogPod #GroundEd #RegenerativeEducation #TeacherCPD #ClimateEducation #ClimateAction #YoungRegenerators #OutdoorLearning #SustainabilityEducation #EducationForSustainability #TeacherWellbeing #NationalEducationNaturePark #ClimateFriendlySchools #MinistryOfEcoEducation #EnvironmentalEducation #GeographyEducation #BurnoutToResilience

Also contains music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/sensho/forgiveness & https://uppbeat.io/t/luminbird/nothing-like-home

In this first part of a two-part Coffee & Geography special, Kit Marie travels to GroundEd, a regenerative education gathering hosted by Meryl Batchelder at the Homestead in Northumberland. Over two days, educators came together for something deliberately different from conventional CPD: outdoor, embodied, communal, playful, reflective, and rooted in climate, nature, education and wellbeing.

Part 1 explores the foundations of that experience: nature connection, ecological thinking, deep questions, more-than-human perspectives, and community. Through live recordings from GroundEd, we hear from Liz Knapper on awe, wonder and children’s connection with nature; Hannah on early years outdoor learning; Katharine Burke on ecological education and entanglement; Geoff Norman on Philosophy for Children and the power of questioning; and Annabel and Ruth’s Messages from the Wild, which invites participants to speak from the perspective of other species.

The episode closes with Ladies of the Midnight Blue, whose music and spoken-word energy capture the point where GroundEd begins to feel less like a conference and more like a community in motion. A warm, thoughtful, field-recorded episode about what happens when CPD doesn’t just inform teachers — but helps them breathe.

🔗 GroundEd — Regenerative and Transformative CPD for Educators: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/terraligo/1864041

🔗 Global Action Plan: https://www.globalactionplan.org.uk/

🔗 Earthwards: Transformative Ecological Education — Katharine Burke: https://www.hawthornpress.com/books/changemaking/social-ecology-change/earthwards/

🔗 Thoughtful / Philosophy for Children: https://www.thoughtful.org.uk/

🔗 Paths2Learning & P4C: https://www.paths2learning.eu/index.php/en/home/

🔗 Messages from the Wild — Annabel Ross: https://www.messagesfromthewild.com/

🔗 Ladies of Midnight Blue: https://www.hannabiell.com/ladies-of-midnight-blue.html

#CoffeeGeogPod #GroundEd #RegenerativeEducation #TeacherCPD #ClimateEducation #NatureConnection #OutdoorLearning #EcologicalEducation #SustainabilityEducation #EnvironmentalEducation #TeacherWellbeing #PhilosophyForChildren #MoreThanHuman #EducationForSustainability #GeographyEducation

Also music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/albert-behar/puzzle-pieces, https://uppbeat.io/t/gray-north/arcane & https://uppbeat.io/t/avbe/yellowstone-at-sunrise

‘Espresso’ & Geography is a #MiniGeogs #podcast short where Kit Marie and special guests talk current geographical affairs for a maximum of 15 minutes. Except this one was so much of a hot topic, it became a full-length episode.

This quadruple shot of geography-laden caffeine welcomes the wonderful Alistair Hamill back to the #CoffeeGeogPod coffeehouse. Earlier today, Alistair and I reviewed some of the talking points from Thursday's Teacher's Talk Radio (TTR) Points of View discussion on heatwaves and schools through a geographical-lens.

Please do take the time to listen to the full discussion over on TTR: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGMu6LF4VCs / https://www.facebook.com/ttradioofficial/videos/27147212734938414/ and offer your thoughts.

Links/references:

🔗 We recreated the legendary heatwave summer of 1976 in today’s climate – here’s what we found (Ed Hawkins & Hayley Fowler, writing for The Conversation): https://theconversation.com/we-recreated-the-legendary-heatwave-summer-of-1976-in-todays-climate-heres-what-we-found-285303

🔗 A previous special #CoffeeGeogPod where Alistair talks about his school's tree project in Lurgan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9RuM_AVmhU

🔗 ‘Standing back’ or ‘stepping up’? Exploring climate change education policy influence in England (Greer, King & Glackin) https://bera-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/berj.3888

### About Coffee & Geography

The aim of ‘Coffee & Geography’ is to get to know, explore and celebrate the diverse & intersectional range of people and their love for the world. If you're interested in being a guest or want to find out more, then visit https://geogramblings.com/coffee-geography-podcast. There you will also find an interactive map to explore the locations of guests and the brews that they drink!

Music: 'Spark of Inspiration' by Shane Ivers (www.silvermansound.com/)

### How you can support the podcast and continue the conversation

- Follow us on Bluesky at bsky.app/profile/geogramblings.com and the hashtag #CoffeeGeogPod

- Post a listener question for guests using #GeogQOverABrew

- Rate, review (ratethispodcast.com/coffeegeogpod) and subscribe to the podcast via your preferred platform.

- Support Geogramblings education efforts by donating at ko-fi.com/kitrackley

- Switch your energy provider to Octopus Energy via this link: https://share.octopus.energy/reed-foal-15. Any referral rewards will go towards Geogramblings education efforts.

In this episode, Kit Marie is joined by Dr Anjana Khatwa — award-winning earth scientist, geologist, science communicator, TV presenter, and author of The Whispers of Rock. Their conversation begins with family, migration, and identity, tracing Anjana’s story from Slough to Rajasthan, Kenya, India, Dorset, and the Jurassic Coast. She reflects on how colonial histories, family upheaval, and community shaped her understanding of place and belonging.

The episode then turns to the rock that changed everything: a piece of basalt Anjana picked up as a child at the Shaitani lava flows in Kenya, the moment she now sees as the beginning of “Jurassic Girl.” From there, she and Kit Marie talk about geology as story, about why rocks are so often overlooked in public conversations about nature, and about how The Whispers of Rock asks readers to see rocks not as dead matter but as part of the living world.

They also discuss accessibility to nature, rural space, and belonging, including Anjana’s work at the National Trust on inclusion and equity, and why the issue is not a lack of connection to nature in global majority communities, but often a lack of access.

🔗 Anjana Khatwa – The Whispers of Rock / author website: https://www.anjanakhatwa.com/writing

🔗 Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site: https://www.jurassiccoast.org/what-is-the-jurassic-coast/

🔗 The Geological Society of London – R H Worth Award: https://www.geolsoc.org.uk/about-us/society-awards/r-h-worth-award/

🔗 National Trust – commitment to inclusion and diversity: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/who-we-are/about-us/our-commitment-to-inclusion-and-diversity

🔗 Celestial Seasonings – Bengal Spice Herbal Tea: https://celestialseasonings.com/products/bengal-spice

#CoffeeGeogPod #Geology #EarthScience #ScienceCommunication #JurassicCoast #WhispersOfRock #NatureWriting #InclusionInNature #NationalTrust #RockStories #GeographyEducation #PublicEngagement #DeepTime #ClimateCommunication

Kit Marie is joined by Nava Khorram Ahmad, Executive Director of the Climate Education Centre, a newly established non‑profit developing holistic, action‑orientated climate education for young people globally. Nava shares how the organisation began (co‑founded with her mum) and why their curriculum aims to go beyond climate science to include climate justice, Indigenous ways of knowing, practical action, and emotional support for young people who feel overwhelmed.

The conversation explores Nava’s geographic identity—growing up in the Mariana Islands (Saipan), moving to Czechia at 15, and living in Latvia—and how that shaped her values, priorities, and connection to nature. Nava reflects on community life on a small island, the region’s complex colonial history, and early experiences of environmental action through Beautify CNMI, including a childhood initiative to restore a neglected lighthouse.

Listener questions take the discussion into climate education in different contexts (Pacific vs Europe vs US), how to foster climate awareness during geopolitical conflict, and the values underpinning climate concern. Nava also shares examples of young people driving climate resilience, including a Pacific‑islands‑led legal effort at the ICJ and youth action in Hawai‘i.

🔗 Climate Education Centre: https://climateducation.org

🔗 European Climate Pact: https://climate-pact.europa.eu/

🔗 ICJ to Deliver Advisory Opinion on Climate Change: https://sdg.iisd.org/news/icj-to-deliver-advisory-opinion-on-climate-change/

🔗 Beautify CNMI: https://www.facebook.com/beautifycnmi/

🔗 Marianas Eye (March 28, 2008) Nava Khorram: Environmental Champion: https://marianaseye.blogspot.com/2008/03/nava-khorram-environmental-champion.html

🔗 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) overview: https://www.doi.gov/oia/islands/cnmi

Connect with Nava via LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/nava-khorram/

#CoffeeGeogPod #ClimateEducation #ClimateJustice #YouthClimateAction

#IndigenousKnowledge #ClimateResilience #PacificIslands #Saipan

#EducationReform #ClimateAnxiety #CommunityAction #ClimateCommunication #ICJ

Theme music: "Spark of Inspiration" by Silvermansounds.com

Kit Marie is joined by Aparna Bamzai‑Dodson, Assistant Regional Administrator at the North Central Climate Adaptation Science Center (CASC) within the US Geological Survey (USGS). Aparna explains how the USGS functions as the science arm of the US Department of the Interior and how the CASC network supports climate adaptation across public lands and resources.

The conversation focuses on what “actionable science” looks like in practice: building partnerships, designing research questions with end‑users, avoiding stakeholder fatigue, and ensuring science is accessible in the format decision‑makers actually need. Aparna shares how she changed direction from physical climate modelling toward work that helps people do something with climate knowledge, and how she built her PhD research around improving stakeholder engagement processes—work that fed directly back into how her team operates.

Kit and Aparna discuss why place matters in adaptation, how to “meet people where they’re at,” and the practical realities of balancing priorities across legislation, gateway communities, visitors, and Indigenous partners. A particularly strong example explores difficult decisions around protecting cultural artefacts threatened by future flooding, and how early science‑informed conversations can create time for communities to decide what they want.

🔗 Aparna's staff profile at the US Geological Survey (USGS): https://www.usgs.gov/staff-profiles/aparna-bamzai-dodson

🔗 Scientist Spotlight on Aparna: https://www.usgs.gov/programs/climate-adaptation-science-centers/news/scientist-spotlight-finding-yourself-open-world

🔗 USGS Climate Adaptation Science Centers (CASC network): https://www.usgs.gov/programs/climate-adaptation-science-centers

🔗 US National Park Service: https://www.nps.gov/

🔗 Kashmiri “Kahwa / Kaffa” tea background (tea discussed; name varies by spelling): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kahwah

**Disclaimer: Our discussion on specific video games is based on Aparna’s personal views and does not represent a US federal government endorsement***

#CoffeeGeogPod #ClimateAdaptation #USGS #ActionableScience #ScienceCommunication

#StakeholderEngagement #ClimateServices #PublicLands #EnvironmentalManagement

#Geography #AppliedGeography #ClimateRisk #DecisionMaking #CASC

Theme music: "Spark of Inspiration" by Silvermansound.com

In this lively and thoughtful episode, Kit Marie is joined by Pluto Liu, a marine scientist, artist, self‑described nomad, and PhD researcher studying kelp and Antarctic ecosystems from their home in Aotearoa (colonially “New Zealand”). The conversation ranges across identity, geography, creativity, capitalism, and the slippery boundaries between disciplines.

Pluto reflects on growing up in China, moving through Hong Kong and Thailand, and eventually settling in Aotearoa, describing how each place has shaped their sense of self. They speak about linguistic belonging, their deep affinity with Latin America after spending time in Chile, and how identity becomes a patchwork: “a mixture of all different places I’ve been to.”

Together, Kit Marie and Pluto discuss the limitations of Western scientific labels, the unnecessary separation of arts and sciences, and the importance of Indigenous and relational understandings of nature. Pluto shares insights into Antarctic policy, the tourism debate, and the realities of capitalism’s encroachment into polar seas. There are stories too — of tattoo artistry, surfing, learning to swim, nearly falling asleep during tattoos, and getting a diving certificate before being able to swim properly!

Weblinks for Listeners:

🔗 Pluto's BlueSky account: https://bsky.app/profile/plutoxliu.bsky.social

🔗 Trade Aid Aotearoa: https://www.tradeaid.org.nz/

🔗 Antarctic Treaty Secretariat: https://www.ats.aq/

🔗 Baldwin Street – Dunedin: https://www.dunedinnz.com/insiders/baldwin-street2

Theme music: "Spark of Inspiration" by Silvermansound.com

In this rich and expansive conversation, Kit Marie is joined by Dr. Niiyokamigaabaw Deondre Smiles, an Ojibwe geographer based in Victoria, British Columbia. Together, they explore identity, movement, Indigenous geographies, the meaning of place, and how our relationships with land — and sky — shape who we become.

Deondre shares how his Black, Swedish, and Ojibwe heritage, together with his moves across Minneapolis, Ohio, and now Canada, have influenced his sense of self. He discusses the migration history of Ojibwe peoples and explains how Western cartographic boundaries differ deeply from Indigenous understandings of territory, kinship, and relational land connections.

The conversation journeys through NativeLand.ca, the role of stars and constellations in Ojibwe governance, the creation story of Turtle Island, and the responsibilities humans carry as “the least important part of the ecosystem.” Kit Marie and Deondre also bond over the cold of Minnesota versus the wet cold of Victoria, Brexit, decolonisation, nationalism, and the Prime Directive in Star Trek, and discussions about music, memories, and joy — from viola to percussion to the household’s many tarantulas.

A thoughtful, gentle, humorous episode that blends Indigenous knowledge, personal geography, and cosmic belonging.

Weblinks for Listeners:

🔗 Dr. Deondre Smiles – personal website: https://deondresmiles.com/

🔗 Native Land Digital / Native-Land.ca: https://native-land.ca/

🔗 Anishinaabe Astronomy and Identity: https://ojibwe.net/anishinaabe-astronomy-and-identity/

🔗 Star Stories: Ojibwe Indigenous Star Map - An Artist's Rendition: https://www.zhaawanart.com/post/star-stories-part-9-ojibwe-star-map

🔗 Ojibwe People’s Dictionary: https://ojibwe.lib.umn.edu/

🔗 Star Trek's "Prime Directive": https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Prime_Directive

#CoffeeGeogPod #IndigenousGeographies #Ojibwe #DecolonisingGeography #HumanGeography #PlaceIdentity #TurtleIsland #NativeLand #GeographyEducation #IndigenousKnowledges #Cosmology #StarStories #CulturalGeography #environmentaljustice

Theme music: 'Sparks of Inspiration' by Silvermansound.com

In this on‑location special, Kit Marie travels to the east coast of England to spend a spring morning at East Norfolk Sixth Form College, speaking with Principal Dr Catherine Richards about the intersection of community, place‑identity, and sustainability.

The conversation blends human geography with practical leadership: the real challenges of Great Yarmouth, the spirit of its people, the region’s shift towards renewable offshore wind, and the ways education can anchor a community in hope rather than decline.

Catherine shares how ENSF has become a model for college‑level sustainability — from solar‑panel investment and curriculum change, to innovative food‑chain choices, water‑awareness projects, student‑driven ideas, reprographics reform, composting strategies, and the upcoming near‑net‑zero new building.

But the heart of the episode lies in community pride. In the belief that young people in coastal towns deserve world‑class futures. And in the idea that climate education is not separate from subject teaching — it’s woven into each discipline’s responsibility to the future.

This episode is a love‑letter to Great Yarmouth, a celebration of local leadership, and a blueprint for what educational institutions can be.

Interesting links:

🔗 East Norfolk Sixth Form College: To explore EN’s programmes, ethos, and sustainability work. https://www.eastnorfolk.ac.uk

🔗 Virtual Campus Tour: https://www.eastnorfolk.ac.uk/Applicants-Students-Parents/Virtual-Campus-Tour

🔗 Water Resources East (WRE): Referenced in Catherine’s discussion of water security and the region’s future challenges. https://wre.org.uk

🔗 Peel Ports – Port of East Anglia (Great Yarmouth): Relevant to Catherine’s comments about port redevelopment and regional economic strategy. https://www.peelports.com/marine/our-ports/port-of-east-anglia/

🔗 Scroby Sands offshore wind farm https://uk.rwe.com/locations/scroby-sands-offshore-wind-farm/

🔗 Norfolk FWAG (Farming & Wildlife Advisory Group): Referenced regarding sustainable food choices, deer management, and local ecology. https://www.norfolkfwag.co.uk

#CoffeeGeogPod #Sustainability #EducationLeadership #FurtherEducation

#ClimateEducation #GreatYarmouth #RenewableEnergy #OffshoreWind

#CommunityEmpowerment #PlaceBasedGeography #NetZeroColleges #ukcoast

Theme music: "Spark of Inspiration" by Shane Ivers (silvermansound.com)

In this joyful, wide‑ranging conversation, forest ecologist and science communicator Dr Robin Hayward joins Kit Marie for a celebration of trees, identity, science, and storytelling.

Robin shares how growing up on Dartmoor shaped their love of horizons, how Malaysian rainforests revealed the long‑term impact of selective logging, and why hugging trees is both a scientific method and a source of soul‑level joy.

Other themes include:

• Measuring rainforests, from canopy lizards to multi‑decade seedling studies

• How restoration succeeds (or doesn’t) across generations

• Whether tropical or boreal forests should be prioritised — a playful debate

• Star Trek, Thunderbirds, and the magic of weaving sci‑fi into teaching

• The social camouflage queer scientists navigate in fieldwork

• Creative science communication: live shows, art, code, and cake

• Building inclusive fieldwork environments and resources for LGBTQ+ geographers

Find Robin everywhere online via https://canopyrobin.com/links, including Bluesky, Instagram, Threads, Mastodon and LinkedIn.

🔗 Leeds Ecosystem, Atmosphere & Forest (LEAF) Centre: https://leaf.leeds.ac.uk/gairwood

🔗 Inclusive Fieldwork at University of Leeds: https://inclusivefieldwork.leeds.ac.uk

🔗 ESC (Ecological Site Classification) for UK Tree Suitability GIS tool: http://www.forestdss.org.uk/geoforestdss/

🔗 South East Asia Rainforest Research Partnership (SEARRP): https://www.searrp.org/

🔗 SAFE Project, Malaysia: https://atlas.smartforests.net/en/logbooks/safe-project/

Theme music: "Spark of Inspiration" by Shane Ivers (silvermansound.com)