TALATERRA

Sarah R. Johnson is a landscape-based environmental educator. As a freelance science educator, she is focused on climate change, public lands, watershed science, civics, and geography, and teaching and learning through her business,  Wild Rose Education. She designs and facilitates educator professional development workshops, teaches public lands courses, teaches International Arctic Buoy Program STEM programs, and facilitates a Colorado cohort of climate change educators. Sarah has created and facilitated numerous environmental education programs including the award-winning Youth Water Leadership Program. 

Sarah is currently a  PolarTREC educator,  Spirituality and EE eePro Group Moderator,  Guidelines for Excellence eePro Group Moderator, and also a student of the  Living School  at the Center for Action and Contemplation. Sarah has been based in western Colorado working to protect rivers and public lands through education since 2004 where she enjoys playing outside during all seasons, gardening, and making music.

Follow Sarah’s  Arctic Expeditions

Learn more about and join the  U.S. ACE Coalition

Read more about  Sarah’s UNFCCC COP26 experience through her blog.

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

More about Sarah and how she founded Wild Rose Education

____________________________________________________________________________________

UPDATE:

On September 2, 2026, the TALATERRA website merged with Transferable Solutions. Conversations can be accessed through the interactive map. You can also explore the podcast's catalog of episodes on Simplecast, Apple Podcasts, Pandora, Spotify, and wherever you listen to podcasts.

CREDITS:

• Producer: Tania Marien
• Music: So Far So Close by Jahzzar is licensed under a Attribution-ShareAlike License;
• SOLO ACOUSTIC GUITAR by Jason Shaw is licensed under a Attribution 3.0 United States License.
• Subscribe to Transferable Solutions, a newsletter about reimagining environmental skills
• Contact Us
• Talaterra is an affiliate of Bookshop.org. Learn More
• © 2019 - 2026 Talaterra Inc

ABOUT:

TALATERRA combines "tala" (Icelandic for "to speak" and "to talk") with "terra" (Earth)—because speaking for our planet and telling its stories is what environmental educators do.

TALATERRA: to speak Earth.

Rebecca Rolnick is a naturalist, writer, and educator. She is the founder of Forest School-to-You and leads in-person and online programs for both K-12 students and adults. Rebecca also leads conversations about neurodiversity in environmental education.

What is neurodiversity?

Why is Rebecca inviting environmental educators to conversations about this topic?

Let’s find out.

LINKS

About me 

Rebecca Rolnick: Naturalist | Writer | Educator 

www.rebeccarolnick.com 

IG: @forestschooltoyou

Youtube: Forest School-to-You

Recordings of Nature Journal Writing Workshops; other Nature Journaling videos 

John Muir Law's Nature Journal Community Calendar

Includes my free class, Nature Journal “Writing Workshop Wednesdays” 

Free mini-ebook “Science & Imagination: Exploring Words in Your Nature Journal” 

Get notified when registration opens soon for “Nature Journaling for Re-STORY-ation Course, and free class coming soon “A World Full of Stories”:

Join the waitlist

_____________________________________________

Other Resources That I Like

Panel Discussion “Supporting Neurodivergent Students & Educators” NAAEE 2021

With Rebecca Rolnick, John Muir Laws, Sylvia Collazo, Katrina Thomas 

Books mentioned in the podcast

• The Dyslexia Empowerment Plan by Ben Foss
• Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Kimmerer
• Coyote's Guide to Connecting with Nature by Jon Young, Ellen Haas, Evan McGown (forward by Richard Louv)

Autism Resources 

Youtube Channels 

Yo Samdy Sam 

Chloe Haydn 

Aspergers from the Inside 

Mottron, Laurent. 2011. “The Power of Autism.” Nature 479 (7371): 33–35. https://doi.org/10.1038/479033a.

“...people with autism need opportunities and support more than they need treatment. As a result, my research group and others believe that autism should be described and investigated as a variant within the human species.….By emphasizing the abilities and strengths of people with autism, deciphering how autistics learn and succeed in natural settings, and avoiding language that frames autism as a defect to be corrected, [scientists] can help shape the entire discussion.”

ADHD

Youtube Channel: How to ADHD

ADHD “Under the Sea” Parody by The Holderness Family  

Dyslexia

ARM Reports "Hard to Read: How American Schools Fail Kids with Dyslexia"

Scientific American: The Advantages of Dyslexia

_____________________________________________

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

What is neurodiversity?

Neurodiversity: On the neurological underpinnings of geekdom (Harvey Blume, The Atlantic)

Episode 33: John Muir Laws, Community Building

Braiding Sweetgrass and other resources are available at Talaterra’s bookshop. Talaterra is a Bookshop.org affiliate and ten percent of each purchase goes towards the production of this podcast.

____________________________________________________________________________________

UPDATE:

On September 2, 2026, the TALATERRA website merged with Transferable Solutions. Conversations can be accessed through the interactive map. You can also explore the podcast's catalog of episodes on Simplecast, Apple Podcasts, Pandora, Spotify, and wherever you listen to podcasts.

CREDITS:

• Producer: Tania Marien
• Music: So Far So Close by Jahzzar is licensed under a Attribution-ShareAlike License;
• SOLO ACOUSTIC GUITAR by Jason Shaw is licensed under a Attribution 3.0 United States License.
• Subscribe to Transferable Solutions, a newsletter about reimagining environmental skills
• Contact Us
• Talaterra is an affiliate of Bookshop.org. Learn More
• © 2019 - 2026 Talaterra Inc

ABOUT:

TALATERRA combines "tala" (Icelandic for "to speak" and "to talk") with "terra" (Earth)—because speaking for our planet and telling its stories is what environmental educators do.

TALATERRA: to speak Earth.

Today my guest is Mindi Rosser.

Mindi helps business owners and subject matter experts have conversations with their LinkedIn audience, peers, and prospects.

Mindi helps people establish a presence based on trust, authenticity, and consistency. I invited Mindi to talk about how independent professionals can establish credibility in their respective fields.

Joining us today is a panel of independent professionals representing STEM fields, photography, and storytelling.

You will hear from Mindi and me first. Then you will begin to hear from the guest panel.

Let’s join the conversation.

LINKS

Mindi Rosser helps B2B business owners, thought leaders, and subject matter experts to start having great conversations with their audience, prospects, and peers based on trust, authenticity, and consistency on LinkedIn. She's worked within the agency world, with startups, and then decided to branch out to work directly with business leaders on their social presence, building thought leadership and working with them to fill their pipelines with ideal clients using LinkedIn. As an entrepreneur, she values freedom and coloring outside the lines. She loves building systems that work on LinkedIn and testing them to generate results for her clients.

Mindi on LinkedIn

Mindi's LinkedIn Accelerator Waitlist

Mindi Rosser Marketing on Facebook

Mindi Rosser Marketing on YouTube

Mindi on Instagram

Mindi on TikTok

Special Thanks:

Maria Kauffman, Kauffman Institute

Maria is a Women’s Leadership Coach who helps women progress through successful career and business advancements with empowerment programs. Her signature Leadership Mastery Makeover coaching program uses the '5 Natural Steps to Advancement' to help women quickly go from Imposter to Impressive.

Maria on LinkedIn

Strategies Course for Empowered Women (free)

Laeti Golden, Laeti Photography

Laeti is a lifestyle photographer in Minneapolis who helps couples celebrate their love. With over 20 years of experience and a background in various types of photography, she enjoys helping people save their precious memories with each click of the camera's shutter. Her relaxed approach to each session places people at ease, allowing them to focus on their special moments. Her ability to recognize the uniqueness of her client's emotions, energy,  approach to life, and their special occasion- ensures they will be comfortable and feel cared for during a photography session. 

Laeti on LinkedIn

Laeti on Alignable

Laeti on Instagram

Diane Wyzga, Quarter Moon Story Arts

Diane coaches professional women who are ready to confidently convey their stories to be seen, heard, and understood. Diane is a story strategizer and founder of the Engaged Storyism Method. 

What if you could discover your one true authentic voice to shape your personal or professional story, mission, or vision so you are seen, heard, understood, and listened to?

What if, indeed! If you have a desire to say what you mean and mean what you say, come as you are and change inside Quarter Moon Story Arts.

Stories From Women Who Walk

Diane on LinkedIn

Direct message Diane on LinkedIn

Contact Diane

____________________________________________________________________________________

UPDATE:

On September 2, 2026, the TALATERRA website merged with Transferable Solutions. Conversations can be accessed through the interactive map. You can also explore the podcast's catalog of episodes on Simplecast, Apple Podcasts, Pandora, Spotify, and wherever you listen to podcasts.

CREDITS:

• Producer: Tania Marien
• Music: So Far So Close by Jahzzar is licensed under a Attribution-ShareAlike License;
• SOLO ACOUSTIC GUITAR by Jason Shaw is licensed under a Attribution 3.0 United States License.
• Subscribe to Transferable Solutions, a newsletter about reimagining environmental skills
• Contact Us
• Talaterra is an affiliate of Bookshop.org. Learn More
• © 2019 - 2026 Talaterra Inc

ABOUT:

TALATERRA combines "tala" (Icelandic for "to speak" and "to talk") with "terra" (Earth)—because speaking for our planet and telling its stories is what environmental educators do.

TALATERRA: to speak Earth.

Jim Folsom is the creator and host of @BotanyInContext, a fun and fascinating channel on TikTok about the plants we engage with and see in our daily lives. Jim is a teacher, a gardener, a botanist, and a cook who enjoys talking about plants. He is also Director Emeritus of the botanical gardens at The Huntington, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens in Southern California. In this episode, Jim tells us about his TikTok channel, the 1,000-page botanical book he wrote, and what he would like the public to understand about plants.

LINKS

Botany In Context (website)

@BotanyInContext (TikTok)

A Botanical Reader (Apple Books)

Orthosiphon aristarus

Obedient Plant

Nesocodon (Gecko-pollinated flower)

Edward Lum

Tale of the Bean (TikTok)

Tale of the Bean (PDF download)

Glass Flowers at Harvard University

Why Plants and Gardens Matter

____________________________________________________________________________________

UPDATE:

On September 2, 2026, the TALATERRA website merged with Transferable Solutions. Conversations can be accessed through the interactive map. You can also explore the podcast's catalog of episodes on Simplecast, Apple Podcasts, Pandora, Spotify, and wherever you listen to podcasts.

CREDITS:

• Producer: Tania Marien
• Music: So Far So Close by Jahzzar is licensed under a Attribution-ShareAlike License;
• SOLO ACOUSTIC GUITAR by Jason Shaw is licensed under a Attribution 3.0 United States License.
• Subscribe to Transferable Solutions, a newsletter about reimagining environmental skills
• Contact Us
• Talaterra is an affiliate of Bookshop.org. Learn More
• © 2019 - 2026 Talaterra Inc

ABOUT:

TALATERRA combines "tala" (Icelandic for "to speak" and "to talk") with "terra" (Earth)—because speaking for our planet and telling its stories is what environmental educators do.

TALATERRA: to speak Earth.

Dr. Marijke Hecht is an Assistant Professor at Penn State whose research of urban greenspaces involves the interaction between humans and more-than-human nature. In 2019 I read Dr. Hecht's paper about cultivating 21st-century naturalists. When I sat down with Dr. Hecht to discuss her research, she was then a doctoral candidate at the University of Pittsburgh. I am excited to share that Dr. Hecht's dissertation is now complete and has been published. 

If you have an interest in identity development, out-of-school learning, informal science education, or curriculum design, consider reading Marijke’s dissertation. You’ll find a link in the show notes.

Before you dig in, listen to our conversation first. This will give you a solid introduction to Dr. Hecht's research.

LINKS

Marijke Hecht (Faculty Profile at Penn State)

Dr. Hecht's Dissertation (2020)

____________________________________________________________________________________

UPDATE:

On September 2, 2026, the TALATERRA website merged with Transferable Solutions. Conversations can be accessed through the interactive map. You can also explore the podcast's catalog of episodes on Simplecast, Apple Podcasts, Pandora, Spotify, and wherever you listen to podcasts.

CREDITS:

• Producer: Tania Marien
• Music: So Far So Close by Jahzzar is licensed under a Attribution-ShareAlike License;
• SOLO ACOUSTIC GUITAR by Jason Shaw is licensed under a Attribution 3.0 United States License.
• Subscribe to Transferable Solutions, a newsletter about reimagining environmental skills
• Contact Us
• Talaterra is an affiliate of Bookshop.org. Learn More
• © 2019 - 2026 Talaterra Inc

ABOUT:

TALATERRA combines "tala" (Icelandic for "to speak" and "to talk") with "terra" (Earth)—because speaking for our planet and telling its stories is what environmental educators do.

TALATERRA: to speak Earth.

Dr. Brad McLain is a social scientist interested in the nature and psychology of identity development, learning, and leadership.

He is the Director of the Center for STEM Learning at the University of Colorado Boulder, and a Senior Researcher and Director of Corporate Research at the National Center for Women in Information Technology,

I reached out to Dr. McLain after reading a chapter he wrote about identity construction in informal science educators.

In this episode, we discuss identity theory. We discuss what informal science educators have in common with independent environmental education professionals, Dr. McLain’s work as chair of Dr. Jane Goodall’s US Roots & Shoots program, and his current research dedicated to the design of transformative experiences.

What is identity theory?

How do transformative experiences work?

Let’s find out.

LINKS

Preparing Informal Science Educators (Book)

Informal Science Educator Identity Construction

Inspire Me: Dr. Brad McLain at TEDx Lincoln

Center for STEM Learning, University of Colorado Boulder

National Center for Women and Information Technology

Roots and Shoots

David Whyte, Poet

____________________________________________________________________________________

UPDATE:

On September 2, 2026, the TALATERRA website merged with Transferable Solutions. Conversations can be accessed through the interactive map. You can also explore the podcast's catalog of episodes on Simplecast, Apple Podcasts, Pandora, Spotify, and wherever you listen to podcasts.

CREDITS:

• Producer: Tania Marien
• Music: So Far So Close by Jahzzar is licensed under a Attribution-ShareAlike License;
• SOLO ACOUSTIC GUITAR by Jason Shaw is licensed under a Attribution 3.0 United States License.
• Subscribe to Transferable Solutions, a newsletter about reimagining environmental skills
• Contact Us
• Talaterra is an affiliate of Bookshop.org. Learn More
• © 2019 - 2026 Talaterra Inc

ABOUT:

TALATERRA combines "tala" (Icelandic for "to speak" and "to talk") with "terra" (Earth)—because speaking for our planet and telling its stories is what environmental educators do.

TALATERRA: to speak Earth.

The Friends of Talaterra.

LINKS

Survey - Friends of Talaterra

____________________________________________________________________________________

UPDATE:

On September 2, 2026, the TALATERRA website merged with Transferable Solutions. Conversations can be accessed through the interactive map. You can also explore the podcast's catalog of episodes on Simplecast, Apple Podcasts, Pandora, Spotify, and wherever you listen to podcasts.

CREDITS:

• Producer: Tania Marien
• Music: So Far So Close by Jahzzar is licensed under a Attribution-ShareAlike License;
• SOLO ACOUSTIC GUITAR by Jason Shaw is licensed under a Attribution 3.0 United States License.
• Subscribe to Transferable Solutions, a newsletter about reimagining environmental skills
• Contact Us
• Talaterra is an affiliate of Bookshop.org. Learn More
• © 2019 - 2026 Talaterra Inc

ABOUT:

TALATERRA combines "tala" (Icelandic for "to speak" and "to talk") with "terra" (Earth)—because speaking for our planet and telling its stories is what environmental educators do.

TALATERRA: to speak Earth.

Dina Falconi and Wendy Hollender discuss how they wrote and illustrated their award-winning book, "Foraging and Feasting: A Field Guide to Wild Food Cookbook." They also discuss how they launched a  successful Kickstarter campaign to raise money for their project.

Dina Falconi is a clinical herbalist, author, and teacher. Her specialty areas are food activism and nutritional healing. 

Wendy Hollender is a botanical artist, illustrator, and author. She is one of the world's leading experts in using colored pencils and watercolor in detailed botanical illustrations.

LINKS

Foraging and Feasting: A Field Guide to Wild Food Cookbook (Botanical Arts Press)

Kickstarter Campaign

Foraging and Feasting on Instagram

Foraging and Feasting on Facebook

Dina Falconi on YouTube

WendyHollender.com

DrawBotanical.com

Wendy Hollender on YouTube

Talaterra on YouTube

Theme music for the podcast is provided by:

Jahzzar, So Far So Close, CC By 4.0 US (Episode 16 - onward)

____________________________________________________________________________________

UPDATE:

On September 2, 2026, the TALATERRA website merged with Transferable Solutions. Conversations can be accessed through the interactive map. You can also explore the podcast's catalog of episodes on Simplecast, Apple Podcasts, Pandora, Spotify, and wherever you listen to podcasts.

CREDITS:

• Producer: Tania Marien
• Music: So Far So Close by Jahzzar is licensed under a Attribution-ShareAlike License;
• SOLO ACOUSTIC GUITAR by Jason Shaw is licensed under a Attribution 3.0 United States License.
• Subscribe to Transferable Solutions, a newsletter about reimagining environmental skills
• Contact Us
• Talaterra is an affiliate of Bookshop.org. Learn More
• © 2019 - 2026 Talaterra Inc

ABOUT:

TALATERRA combines "tala" (Icelandic for "to speak" and "to talk") with "terra" (Earth)—because speaking for our planet and telling its stories is what environmental educators do.

TALATERRA: to speak Earth.

Eleanor Chaney is a freelance artist and educator. She is also the founder and creative director of The Library of Nature, an online resource for children. In this episode, Eleanor and I discuss how her experience as a contemporary artist has informed her approach to art, nature, teaching, and learning. We also talk about Eleanor's exquisite paper sculptures, her enthusiasm for natural history books, and how she secured enough funding to launch her project.

LINKS

Eleanor's website

Sign up for Eleanor's free five-day mini-course

Facebook

Instagram

YouTube

The Library Of Nature:

Library of Nature Website

Library of Nature on Facebook

Library of Nature on Instagram

Special Thanks

Janice Benson for supporting Eleanor with her application for The Library Of Nature; Neil Mather for his help and support on the project, and Tullie House Museum and Gallery for their support on Eleanor's recent Hidden Natural Histories project.

Theme music for the podcast is provided by:

Jahzzar, So Far So Close, CC By 4.0 US (Episode 16 - onward)

____________________________________________________________________________________

UPDATE:

On September 2, 2026, the TALATERRA website merged with Transferable Solutions. Conversations can be accessed through the interactive map. You can also explore the podcast's catalog of episodes on Simplecast, Apple Podcasts, Pandora, Spotify, and wherever you listen to podcasts.

CREDITS:

• Producer: Tania Marien
• Music: So Far So Close by Jahzzar is licensed under a Attribution-ShareAlike License;
• SOLO ACOUSTIC GUITAR by Jason Shaw is licensed under a Attribution 3.0 United States License.
• Subscribe to Transferable Solutions, a newsletter about reimagining environmental skills
• Contact Us
• Talaterra is an affiliate of Bookshop.org. Learn More
• © 2019 - 2026 Talaterra Inc

ABOUT:

TALATERRA combines "tala" (Icelandic for "to speak" and "to talk") with "terra" (Earth)—because speaking for our planet and telling its stories is what environmental educators do.

TALATERRA: to speak Earth.

Today my guest is Rebecca Kling.

Rebecca is an educator, performer, community organizer, storyteller, and advocate for social change.

Rebecca is also an advocate for transgender rights, is involved in the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign, and is the co-founder of Better World Collaborative, a trans, woman, and Latinx-owned consultancy rooted in social justice and the creative arts.

I met Rebecca in the pilot of the Earth Stories workshop that was hosted by StoryCenter. We learned about Earth Stories in the last episode.

The workshop was my introduction to her advocacy work, and how storytelling is a tool she uses throughout her work with individuals and organizations.

It is this aspect of her work that we will focus on today.

LINKS

RebeccaKling.com

Rebecca on Twitter (@RebeccaKling)

Better World Collaborative

Beyond Coal Initiative, Sierra Club

"Not Permanent" - A short film by Rebecca Kling, featured in the Earth Stories playlist by StoryCenter.

NEW! Storytelling for Advocacy, an interactive workshop with Rebecca Kling. (Learn More)

____________________________________________________________________________________

UPDATE:

On September 2, 2026, the TALATERRA website merged with Transferable Solutions. Conversations can be accessed through the interactive map. You can also explore the podcast's catalog of episodes on Simplecast, Apple Podcasts, Pandora, Spotify, and wherever you listen to podcasts.

CREDITS:

• Producer: Tania Marien
• Music: So Far So Close by Jahzzar is licensed under a Attribution-ShareAlike License;
• SOLO ACOUSTIC GUITAR by Jason Shaw is licensed under a Attribution 3.0 United States License.
• Subscribe to Transferable Solutions, a newsletter about reimagining environmental skills
• Contact Us
• Talaterra is an affiliate of Bookshop.org. Learn More
• © 2019 - 2026 Talaterra Inc

ABOUT:

TALATERRA combines "tala" (Icelandic for "to speak" and "to talk") with "terra" (Earth)—because speaking for our planet and telling its stories is what environmental educators do.

TALATERRA: to speak Earth.