On this edition of “The Secrets of Mastery,” a production of Craftsmanship Magazine: why is entomologist Doug Tallamy on a national crusade to get private landowners to tear their lawns?

As a wildlife ecology professor at the University of Delaware, Dr. Tallamy sees the world from a bug’s point of view. He’s also a co-founder of an organization called Homegrown National Park. The organization is trying to convince Americans to grow native plants — not ornamental, non-natives — in order to increase biodiversity. Tallamy says rewilding approximately 44 million acres of lawn is critical to restoring the natural order of insects of animals that keep our food webs strong and help alleviate the climate crisis. 

We interviewed Doug Tallamy about how he’s rewilded his own land in Pennsylvania and the steps landowners can take to be craftspeople of biodiversity in their own yards. 

The “Secrets of Mastery” podcast series is a production of Craftsmanship Magazine. It's a series of conversations with artisans and innovators about what it takes to master their craft, and what their journey has taught them.

Craftsmanship Magazine is a multimedia publication about artisans and innovators who are creating a world built to last. For more Secrets of Mastery episodes, or more stories about craft, check out Craftsmanship.net. 

Music in this series is from Blue Dot Sessions. Pauline Bartolone is Senior Audio Editor for Craftsmanship.net. Managing Editor for the magazine is Laurie Weed, and Todd Oppenheimer is the founding editor and executive director. 

LINKS: 

Homegrown National Park: HomegrownNationalPark.org

Craftsmanship Magazine's podcast page: https://craftsmanship.net/podcasts/

Sign up for Craftsmanship Magazine on Substack: https://craftsmanship.substack.com/