Jackie Canterbury talks with Brittaney Drake about her work at The Pearl Remote Democratic High School in Seattle, Washington where she teaches about nature using a visual arts curriculum. Her teaching style follows the fundamentals of Dr. Art Pearl who developed the Democratic classroom in Eugene, Oregon. He inspired the words Democracy and Education. "His message was about the primacy of democracy, the fragility of it, the assaults against it, how far we are from a nation that truly cherishes it and practices it — and the essential role of public education in any chance for a healthy democracy in the future." The founder and director of the Seattle Democratic school is Dr. Robin Harwick who has served as a mentor to Brittaney. In this program we talk about the importance of using the democratic process as a backdrop to teaching about art and nature. Globally and as a nation, we are now realizing the fragility of democracy. In this program Brittaney discusses how she uses a visual arts curriculum, particularly bird illustration, as a way to teach about nature and science (part 1 of a two-part program). (Airdate: February 5, 2025)

Learn more:
The Pearl Remote Democratic High School
Brittaney Drake's artwork on instagram
The Democratic Classroom: Theory to Inform Practice (Understanding Education and Policy)
Art Pearl, Democracy and Education: Remembering a Legend
Bird sound recordings: Donald R. Gunn, ML57586, and John Patterson, ML93401111, courtesy of Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library

Nature Now is created by a dedicated team of volunteers. If you enjoy this episode and want to support the work that goes into making Nature Now, we invite you to go to kptz.org/donate to make a contribution. Thank you for your support!

Join Debaran Kelso and guest wildlife biologist Betsy Howell of the US Forest Service, as they review recent wildlife research projects being conducted in the Olympic National Forest. (Airdate: January 15, 2025)

Learn more:
Betsy Howell
Wild Forest Home: Stories of Conservation in the Pacific Northwest by Betsy L. Howell
Three Cool Ways USGS is Studying Bats in National Parks
2022 Marmot Monitoring Results
Marmot Monitoring
Bird sound recordings: Geoffrey A. Keller courtesy of Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library

Nature Now is created by a dedicated team of volunteers. If you enjoy this episode and want to support the work that goes into making Nature Now, we invite you to go to kptz.org/donate to make a contribution. Thank you for your support!

Host Debaran Kelso speaks with author Betsy Howell about her recently published book of essays, Wild Forest Home: Stories of Conservation in the Pacific Northwest. Betsy is a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Forest Service and has been on our program several times over the years speaking about her work on the Olympic National Forest, but this interview focuses on her personal experiences as a writer working in the forests she's come to love. (Airdate: December 11, 2024)

Learn more:
Betsy Howell
Wild Forest Home: Stories of Conservation in the Pacific Northwest by Betsy L. Howell
Bird sound recordings: Nora Petrich; Gregory Budney, ML74563211, courtesy of Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library

Nature Now is created by a dedicated team of volunteers. If you enjoy this episode and want to support the work that goes into making Nature Now, we invite you to go to kptz.org/donate to make a contribution. Thank you for your support!

Jackie Canterbury talks with Dr. Steve Hampton from the local Rainshadow Bird Alliance, formerly Admiralty Audubon, about the oldest citizen science program of its kind, the Audubon Christmas Bird Count or CBC. The CBC began on Christmas Day 1900 as a way to count birds rather than shoot them as people began to become visibly concerned about declining bird populations. The Port Townsend CBC occurs on December 14, relying on volunteer birders and encompassing much of the Quimper Peninsula. The Rainshadow Alliance administers our local CBC and submits data to National Audubon where Audubon and other organizations use the data to guide conservation efforts for birds, including the greatest challenge of all, climate change. "There is nothing else like the CBC in terms of geographic coverage and time," says Geoff LaBaron of National Audubon. And none of it would happen without dedicated volunteers. (Airdate: November 27, 2024)

Learn more:
Rainshadow Bird Alliance
Rainshadow Bird Alliance's 2024 Port Townsend Christmas Bird Count
Audubon Christmas Bird Count
Christmas Bird Count bibliography of studies
2024 Seattle Christmas Bird Count
Bird sound recording: Thomas Magarian, XC524805, accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/524805. License CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Nature Now is created by a dedicated team of volunteers. If you enjoy this episode and want to support the work that goes into making Nature Now, we invite you to go to kptz.org/donate to make a contribution. Thank you for your support!

The bad news – losses of bird and wildlife populations, extinction of species, and destruction of habitats. The good news – find hope and empowerment in your own home through the Backyard Wildlife Certification Program. Join host Nan Evans and Christie Lassen, co-owner of Wild Birds Unlimited in Gardiner, as they explore both the good and the bad news. (Airdate: November 20, 2024)

Learn more:
National Wildlife Federation's Backyard Wildlife Certification Program
Wild Birds Unlimited in Gardiner, WA
State of the Birds 2022 from the North American Bird Conservation Initiative
Steve Hampton's The Cottonwood Post
Doug Tallamay
Bird sound recordings: Nora Petrich; William R. Fish, ML22874, courtesy of Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library

Nature Now is created by a dedicated team of volunteers. If you enjoy this episode and want to support the work that goes into making Nature Now, we invite you to go to kptz.org/donate to make a contribution. Thank you for your support!

Join us as we explore new perspectives on the critical topic of climate change! Host Debaran Kelso speaks with celebrated author David Lipsky on the subject of his latest book, The Parrot and the Igloo: Climate and the Science of Denial. (Airdate: November 13, 2024)

Learn more:
The Parrot and The Igloo by David Lipsky
Bird sound recording: Robert Dobbs, ML200282711, courtesy of Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library

Nature Now is created by a dedicated team of volunteers. If you enjoy this episode and want to support the work that goes into making Nature Now, we invite you to go to kptz.org/donate to make a contribution. Thank you for your support!

Jackie Canterbury talks with Malloree Weinheimer, founder of Chickadee Forestry, a female owned and operated small business she started in 2018. Malloree works to find solutions in forest management to support the land and its people in a new and different way. Join Jackie as she talks with Malloree about Chickadee Forestry which serves Jefferson County and the greater Pacific Northwest. Malloree answers questions about forest health, climate change, and the resources and strategies available to small forest landowners who want to conserve their forest lands. (Airdate: November 6, 2024)

Learn more:
Chickadee Forestry
Why Keeping Mature Forests Intact Is Key to the Climate Fight
Bird song recordings: Jackie Canterbury; Thomas Magarian, XC464517, accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/464517. License CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Nature Now is created by a dedicated team of volunteers. If you enjoy this episode and want to support the work that goes into making Nature Now, we invite you to go to kptz.org/donate to make a contribution. Thank you for your support!

Community forestry? What is that? Find out as Nan Evans meets up with Jefferson Land Trust staff and advisors on Chimacum Ridge to explore what is happening there now that the Land Trust owns the property. (part 2 of a two-part program). (Airdate: October 23, 2024)

Learn more:
Chimacum Ridge Forest
Community Forests: A path to prosperity and connection
Community forests in the Pacific Northwest

Nature Now is created by a dedicated team of volunteers. If you enjoy this episode and want to support the work that goes into making Nature Now, we invite you to go to kptz.org/donate to make a contribution. Thank you for your support!

Community forestry? What is that? Find out as Nan Evans meets up with Jefferson Land Trust staff and advisors on Chimacum Ridge to explore what is happening there now that the Land Trust owns the property. (part 1 of a two-part program). (Airdate: October 9, 2024)

Learn more:
Chimacum Ridge Forest
Community Forests: A path to prosperity and connection
Community forests in the Pacific Northwest

Nature Now is created by a dedicated team of volunteers. If you enjoy this episode and want to support the work that goes into making Nature Now, we invite you to go to kptz.org/donate to make a contribution. Thank you for your support!

Join Nan Evans as she heads into a local forest with another Nature Now host, Jackie Canterbury. Jackie will help Nan and listeners learn to better identify birds by ear and understand some of their special behavior (part 1 of a two-part program). (Airdate: September 25, 2024)

Learn more:
Red Crossbill
Winter Wren
Valley View Forest
What The Robin Knows
Backyard Bird Chronicles

Nature Now is created by a dedicated team of volunteers. If you enjoy this episode and want to support the work that goes into making Nature Now, we invite you to go to kptz.org/donate to make a contribution. Thank you for your support!