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Why Education for Nature Lovers Sucks
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 ก.ย. 2024
- As kids, we love nature, and yet as adults, we're more disconnected from nature than we ever have been before. So what is it that lies between a four year old's love of wildlife and a twenty-four year old's depression as they spend day in, day out, indoors? Well, the education system - and a sprinkling of capitalism, of course.
Timestamps:
0:00: Introduction
0:50 Curbing the Wild Out of the Kid
5:52 Higher Education is a Hot Mess
11:29 The State of Conservation Careers
14:19 A Solarpunk Education
Sources:
School education:
www.rewildingb...
application.sy...
www.researchga...
repository.der...
Braiding Sweetgrass - Robin Wall-Kimmerer
Further education:
ourworldindata...
assets.publish...
Biophilic design in schools:
sites.research...
www.ncbi.nlm.n...
Other:
www.sciencedir...
My experiences
+ More
This video was made in collaboration with Andrewism. If you want to find out more about how the entire education system needs an overhaul, watch his video on education here: th-cam.com/video/9ZGYtHPtZwM/w-d-xo.html
My human parents are more like aliens. Mom bought land in the woods to leave sterile instead of to farm. Our education system is wild. It’s a CIA esque mass isolation experiment.
Thank you for your informed condolences. I hope we can find a place for people like us in the Midwest. Is all agricultural land and no individual really gross for themselves. There are some communities in Indianapolis. Anyone reading this comment if you have the power start a community garden!
Fantastic video! It's unfortunate that even folks in the ecology field have to limit themselves to the whims of capital.
andrew must have a good nose
finding the good hidden stuff
First thing I did was go to comments to see if Andrewism was tuned in
We live in an capitalist word, so everyone have to, not only folks in the ecology field.
@@lubricustheslippery5028there is also that we have t learn more about statistics than actually studying plants and animals when studying ecology
Thanks to you both! So happy to discover another creator in this area :)
‘Communicating about climate change needed to be softened to appeal to people who didn’t believe in climate crisis’ ... what a world we live in. I just want to say I really appreciate you creating these videos. Not too many people are covering these topics and especially not with the insight that you have. Please keep them coming.
Thank you!
Brainwashed robots constantly inventing post hoc rationalizations for completely unreasonable societal systems may actually be what is contributing to making everyone a bit wacko… That and the immediate assumed impossibility of uniting humanity with anything other than greed.
I think another consequence of this is it allows for misunderstandings to persist from climate crisis deniers. They’ll reference different changes to climates over Earth’s history and chalk it up to some kind of natural cyclical process but completely ignore the damage to ecosystems, habitats and other environments that will have lasting consequences. They’ll compare the human scale we are analyzing the situation at with a planetary scale. George Carlin said it best, “the planet will be fine. It’s people who will be fucked.”
The ironic part is the deniers will site this perspective as if it reinforces their beliefs instead of challenging which it actually does.
Industry has spent vast sums to make sure that there are enough climate change deniers to keep pro-industry candidates in power. It's only going to get worse once techno-feudalism empowered by AI sets in.
I've watched ecologically-minded conservatives get more and more disconnected from reality over the years. Bipartisan support helped address acid rain and the hole in the ozone. Now those same people are voting for a candidate who put an oil baron in charge of the EPA.
"Ecology without class strugle is gardening" _ Chico Mendes
I love that quote
Ecology without book learning is tip toeing through the tulips
Gardening is actually still just a word for an eternal war on the most life dense species in existence: bugs. I went out there tried to dig a hole and fucking bumblebees started flying out of it so now I have to move the damn hole!
Gardening is now also a class struggle. Go & try to find the land, at this point.
@@whatabouttheearth That's half of the truth, yeah. Here's the other half: Ecology without experimentation in situ is the inverse of missing the forest for the trees: You're so focussed on the forest that your model doesn't even include trees. Not as pithy as yours, but important none-the-less.
There was a large tree that once stood tallest in the forest that slept not too far from my house. I used to go there, and read on the lake’s edge. The tree standing proudly on the other side, waving to me from afar. It was especially pretty in the fall, when it shone a bright orange amongst the reds and browns. The wind would blow strong across the water, carrying the tree’s leaves to me.
That tree isn’t there anymore. Nor does the forest sleep. A restless highway works there now. Cars constantly fly through it like screaming insects. Polluting the air with fumes and noise. Their synthetic hearts pop and chirp then quickly explode into great mechanical lion's roars. The trees never spoke so violently. The birds and beetles never hated so boldly.
I still remember that tree. From time to time. Grieve its loss in a way not too dissimilar to that of an old friend passed away far too early.
I use that highway all the time now. I've gained a quicker route to my work and favorite restaurants. Still, I can never seem to shake the all too real feeling that I had lost something that day. Something convenient routes and paths could never atone for.
Somehow I feel crazed to think such things. Somehow I know I'm right. Somewhere in the heart of hearts there cries something real and breathing. Something big, yet grieving.
my favourite climbing tree has fallen years ago. It was not by nature, but by the hand of some strangers that decided it had to die. I still miss that tree, almost ten years later.
Beautiful poetry
This is a beautiful comment.
wow! Were you J.R.R. Tolkien in your past life?
@@KetsuekiRose bro, idk but that would be fugg'n dope.
i study biology in Poland and our campus is located at the outskirts of the city, near a forest. many elective classes took place in there - looking under fallen trees, searching for underwater invertebrates in the streams and identifying plants with our professors. From what I understand some of these classes are old as the profesors themselves and some are newer, recently added as electives.
we would also later learn how to use programs for ecosystem analysis on the data we all collected together and compare this to the data from previous years students
our entry to ecology classes were mostly standard but during the discussion seminar we made presentations about different extinct or near extinct species and were incouraged to discuss the root of the problem In an open talk amongst ourselves. we often came to the conclusion that colonialism or capitalism overall was to blame because if profit is the highest good in our society there is very little power in protecting specific patches of land from deforestation or even harder, overfishing. our profesor usually sat at the back of the class (and occasionally corrected a factual error if he heard one)
That sounds like an awesome approach!
Now I'm curious which city you are in... ^ ^
(Btw. greetings from your neighbour to the west. I got the chance to visit Poland last August and enjoyed my stay a lot.)
@@elionl1299that sounds amazing!! I’m glad you had such a positive experience 😊
I grew up in regional Australia, and was privileged enough to live on a small property with some bushland which I regularly played in as a kid. Then when I reached adolescence, schoolwork and extracurricular activities left me too busy and exhausted to spend time in nature. After leaving school, I wanted to find a qualification that would facilitate that intimate connection with nature I’d had as a child but never fully realised or appreciated. But I found that most of the “environmental” jobs were focused on the biology side of things; it’s like you said - everything is micro-analysed and often detached from the overarching context of nature. I did about 18 months of units relating to Sustainable Development, but again it all felt too clinical and focused on being hyper-technical than what I really wanted which was to explore the more emotional and philosophical aspects of the environment. I ended up dropping out of higher education altogether, since I realised what I was looking for was not compatible with the current education systems. More recently, I’ve gotten more fulfilment out of exploring witchcraft and solarpunk than any of my academic endeavours.
The closest I’ve heard of anyone getting that fulfilment in an academic context is through “Arts” like philosophy or sociology rather than the sciences. Unfortunately, the “Arts” are often the most underfunded qualifications in academia and not taken very seriously, for being “too emotional” and “not requiring much skill or intelligence”. There’s a whole classism conversation to be had around that, but I think it’s important to foster passion in education, not as a means to profit and/or acclaim but for the fulfilment in itself. I wish education wasn’t so divided between “technical” and “emotional” subjects and methods - ideally, there’d be a blend of both which are tailored to the needs and interests of each student. Contrary to what the education system would have us believe, those who are passionate and emotional can ALSO be very smart and informed on their subjects. Stoicism is not apolitical and is not necessarily synonymous with logic and reason
I do think the sciences’ focus on creating individual niche scientists is another example of that detachment, there doesn’t seem to be much collaboration between them in order to build up a quilt of big picture context. Even when there is, it’s usually based on hyper-specific topics which the layperson often can’t apply to their everyday experiences. Their spineless appeasement of forces that are fundamentally incompatible with their teachings and supposed values doesn’t help either.
Thank you for commenting about your experiences. I've definitely experienced the same with using the arts to reconnect with nature after education - and I guess this channel is a part of that!
You might enjoy gender studies, Indigenous studies, or something similar! Those fields of study encourage the exploration of such things as witchcraft, solarpunk, and the environment, all with the goals of deconstructing oppressive systems (including academia, itself!). It's so validating to explore other ontologies and epistemologies, and so incredibly healing to realize how valid these concerns you raise are. I'll never forget how moved I was when I first learned that western science is not the only science, and how wrong it often is, because of many of the reasons you mention here. I mean, for starters, any true science wouldn't be ignorant to the value of emotion, spirituality, and philosophy, and would instead study their wisdom and see them as methods of study inherent to the field. But it's rare that anyone is ever meaningfully exposed to possibilities beyond that of western colonial, eurocentric capitalism, so I'm relieved when I see people like yourself recognizing these issues out in the open.
In Germany, environmental science and ecology is counted as a part of geography called landscape ecology. Most jobs in the environmental field prefer you to have training in landscape ecology over biology. They study animals, plants, soil, rocks, water, climate, and humans all as parts of a big system and put a lot of emphasis on honoring social needs and cultural practices. It was very surprising to me coming from the very rigid structures of biology as an overly detail-oriented field, but I really appreciate their way of thinking!
@@Kabbaway this is a recommendation that a university teacher told me but he said that fields like herbology and ethnobotany (the relation between plants and different peoples and cultures) might be of your interest, you won't find any jobs about it sadly
@@Sarah-hm2pe absolutely, I wish our higher education was more holistic. That’s very true that almost all of Western science is by white/Eurocentric standards and values its sterility above the more interconnected methods of other cultures. Of course specificity has its place in education, it’s important to learn and acknowledge the value of each part, but ideally there should be a balance 💚
Learning about nature should be a staple in the classroom like English and Math. Its bizarre that we arent taught anything about the intricate world we LIVE in.
i went the opposite way. wasn't outdoorsy as a kid and enjoyed school, read during recess. but then i got scared about climate change and studied environmental science and ended up largely working outside and vibing with ecology. i guess i lucked out!
well by lucked out i mean systemically privileged... it wasn't all luck i guess lol
@@mollywillo Eh, in a way privilege is a form of luck.
@@mollywillo not completely related but I am studying environmental science and I am a bit confused about what career to aspire to, what did you end up working on? If you can answer
I wish these videos got more views. Your ideas are very important for the world's future.
Thanks!
Damn, you said exactly what I've been thinking for a while!
Why are most school playgrounds are paved with goddamn asphalt?
I wanted a degree in "Bioecology" to oppose forestry monocultures, but first year in, and I find out my job is actually to make these monocultures possible!
I started with reverence for pollinators, now I gotta catch them all for a pointless collection.
I feel my mind shifting under these constraints, and I hope I won't loose track of the goal by the time I'm done.
I think school should teach about the systems that govern us, teach us ways to feed ourselves and encourage discussions about our feelings.
For a good while, I was thinking about what you said at the beginning. I wasn't particularly interested in nature as a kid. Surely you must have missed something. Then, I finally remember. Of course I loved nature. I loved it a ton. It's just not something that the whole compartmentalized system called nature. I was in love with astronomy, which really is as much about nature as oceans or mountains.
We desperately need to incorporate social ecology and systems thinking into our education system but as this video shows even those of us who get to study ecology and natural science aren't getting taught about the true nature of the ecological crisis. Fuck capitalism - a solarpunk future is possible! 🌱🌻☀️Great video as always!
Yes! ❤
Better yet if the education system were to start from social ecology, and build everything else from there.
Hell yeah!!
As a person who's studying marine ecology, I totally agree. More people need to be taught this, social ecology is key!
Coming from a Wildlife Ecology background and with a Master's Degree in Ecological Restoration and Wildlife Policy, I feel very seen by this video. Now that I work regularly with Zoos, National Parks, and Museums, I'm seeing the exact same problem with fields having to do with Paleontology and Animal Care based careers. The fear of accidentally being seen by the public and by higher up managers as "Too Political" is a massive problem. Furthermore, the field itself is inundated with managerial class professionals who've taken the only "profitable" jobs bossing around folks with an actual expertise in the animal/ecology/biology side of the issues.
My background in the field comes from Western US, specifically Montana/Idaho/Oregon and to this day I remember the State Wildlife Biologist for Idaho coming to our program to tell us to fudge our numbers and not be "too alarmist" on Sage Grouse decline in order to try and avoid ESA listing. I spent about 9 years of my life in field work positions (which I was very privileged to be able to take temporary jobs that only lasted a 4-6 month term) and while it did pay off I Currently work in the only wildlife job that seems secure right now in a Wildlife Law "Enforcement" capacity. but that has completely removed me from the physical side of the work and I'm relegated to an office building in the middle of Seattle. I don't hate it, but it's a morale hit.
As far as my actual education, perhaps it is the fact that I went to a small college in the Interior West, I did get to be very hands on with soil ecology and restoration work (My biggest project was Beaver Dam Analogues for trout habitat restoration in the Hell's Canyon Region of Washington/Idaho) but I know many of my colleagues from larger cities never got that chance with any regularity
Thank you for sharing your experience, super interesting!
I think a couple things that could be instantly done to improve our school systems are one, increase modes of instruction immediately (make more multi sensory), reasonably increase outdoor time, and limit the mandated week to four days instead of five, even if that means slightly longer school days.
A rethinking of the grading system would be lovely as well but just those two changes alone would yield wonderful results imo.
Those are great ideas, especially increasing outdoor time and taking a multi sensory approach!
@@solarpunkalana I think all alternative instruction models are really great and the Montessori model really hit it on the head and it would be nice to see at least some of that be brought into the standard public school k-12 model. We could do it it just takes those at the top being willing to be more open-minded!
We have 6 days school ToT but good thing my school life will end in a few months.
If school is limited to 5 days a week, who will watch the children on the 5th day?
Not to harsh the vibe, but a core function of school is essentially babysitting. School is five days a week because work is five days a week. Their isn’t anything inherently special about than number (I homeschool four days a week, China does school six days) besides roughly matching their parents schedule.
Now you can argue you shouldn’t go to work five days a week, but we are getting away from improving education and into restructuring society itself.
Even longer school days? I don't think anyone would want classes into the evening just to have a longer weekend, especially since that wouldn't work out with all the homework due the next day. No time for homework, electives, or free time during the school week? Never.
Yes ive spent about 14-15 years now in school and just the last 6 months feel SO HEAVY! Ive been able to keep my love and curiosity of nature alive, but the kind of nature i come across feels very artificial. I greatly appreciate your video! Didn't know i needed someone to say this.
the fact that this video is so niche is only further proof of your point..
ty algorithm for bringing me here tho!
Thank you for watching! Hopefully the algorithm bestows more videos of mine upon you in the future ;)
I went to school for an agricultural sciences degree that was supposed to allow me to choose my own path. It was only once I was already in the school that they told me I would have to spend the last two years of my degree taking required classes. I would have to retake a year of biology simply because my previous classes didn't fit their program. I would also have to take multiple indoor science classes and indoor science labs I had no interest in. Most of my degree had nothing to do with plants or their care. The "economics" class I had to take was an anti-science and poverty-blind horror that killed my fragile love of academia forever. Now I will never get a degree, because I've seen how completely useless it is to anyone with a genuine interest in anything. On top of all of this, my poverty and disabilities were never accommodated, rarely acknowledged with anything other than skepticism or distaste. In the USA you have to go to school full time if you want scholarships, grants, assistance, or consideration in the school. Part time is seen as not taking your education seriously and thus you are not eligible for any sort of help. The fact that people could give more of themselves over a longer period doesn't matter. They just don't care about their less privileged students at all, or following through on any promises, or actually make degrees that function outside of getting a high paying industrial job.
Unsolicited advice so feel free to ignore:
If you aren't concerned about the degree then FutureLearn and Coursera are resources that offer online college classes in pretty much anything you could be interested in, and it's free as long as you don't care about getting college credit or a completion certificate out of it. That might be a good fit for you to keep learning more, but on your own terms
Thank you for validating my choice to not study Ecology in HE in the UK. I am currently training to become a Forest School leader though! I want to help people connect with nature, explore their curiousity and hopefully remediate some of the mental health struggles people face. I think this is one of the most solarpunk avenues for nature lovers, without having to endure a soul sucking corporation or hold out for an elusive NGO/non-profit post. I had the privilege to meet some kids from some of the most deprived parts of town and see their joy as they were able to explore a new aspect of nature, whether it was paddling in the sea or swinging from a tyre swing under an old oak. Nothing beats that. It may only be a little thing and may not change their material conditions, but I hope they can hold on to it all their lives. Also RWK comes up a lot at training, and she was in my personal statement when I applied to uni. I only just found your channel, but it's nice to know there are solarpunk Brits
@@luciferin_ that sounds great, I wish the forest school model was exported to my country, that way I wouldn't have to do mental gymnastics to get into the closest thing (environmental educator, in a national park or public organisation)
As a nature-loving kid, thank you for speaking on this. I haven’t gone outside as often as I wish I feel I could in years, and the work you do really renews my determination to try harder! :D
I just discovered you and I feel you so strongly that I subscribed immediately. I studied geography and geology... I have seen and felt everything you've touched on. Now I'm desperately pushing myself in this highly capitalist society just to get myself into a position where I can quit and start a homestead. I'm so burnt out that I just wanna cry constantly, but force myself to smile and play my role until I can finally gain my freedom. I brought this on myself because I'm trying to change my citizenship... but I'm so close to that goal that I can taste it! Knowing there are people like you who see what I see is a blessing. Thank you for giving me hope that the future will be different and that future generations won't have to face what I've faced. Keep doing what you do! ❤
I finished higher education with a masters in biology, with a focus on aquatic ecology and conservation. Like you said, there was almost no connection to nature itself during those five years except for a couple of field trips. It was only when I finished my degree that I had the time and energy to go visit and reconnect with nature, but after a year of looking for a job I had to settle for something in the industry, below my pay grade. I like the job enough that I keep doing it, and often I work next to nature, but in essence there is little I use my degree for now. Still, I have no regrets or anything, just dissapointed in both the educational system and society for not giving a damn about the natural environment and only thinking about profit motives.
Ecology is a core standard in our science education here in NY and NJ, and where I grew up in California. Plenty of trips out to parks and wild places too. I'm so glad I got that experience and get to be a part of bringing that to kids too
I studied biology in new york and one of my labs was researching local wild grape species to find their resistance genes to add to the commercial grapes in the area
This video said so many things I’ve been feeling since I got my degree in Ecology. I have a master’s degree and while it sounds like I may have spent a little more time out in the woods during it (probably not by much though), I came away deeply disappointed with the experience and, like you said, the lack of attention to the real issues affecting the environment. Came back home to put everything I’ve learned to use and there are all of zero jobs. As you pointed out, most are consulting jobs for developers and it would absolutely destroy me to be on that side of the equation. All I want to do is dedicate my life to saving the biodiversity that is so threatened by anthropogenic climate change and yet I can’t do that and also pay my rent. Trying to get together a presentation to give my local government about why it’s important to put money into this sort of thing but I have a strong feeling it will fall on deaf ears. Wish I had something more to contribute to the conversation but unfortunately I spend a good deal of my time slack jawed at the inaction of those in charge. Great video and thanks for getting this perspective out into the world! We’re in desperate need of it 🙏🏼
Hey man I think the presentation is a great idea, but idk maybe even inviting them outside and making it more real would have a greater effect yk? Also if you gather support in your community, it is possible! Don’t give up my friend
@@chasebell1414 definitely would love to get them outdoors and I've mulled over the idea - I've got a small patch of woods where I've cleared away the invasive plant species and the before and after is mind blowing so maybe that is the best approach. Thanks for the encouragement!
@@FullDieselHug yes great idea! And ofc, I’d loved to hear it go well
Excellent video, it's genuinely sad how nature is slowly sucked from us turning us into working machines, designed for useless office work, and I always enjoyed outings while I was in school and most classmates retained that info better, the current system just seems to want biological computers.
I am now studying an environmental science degree and oh god it hasn't gotten better, the fact that it's an environmental carreer helps and even with that we only had like four outings(i am in Spain, valencia may vary in other countries) along the whole year and even then it had to be justified by some kind of job, I love earning knowledge of the natural world and the teachers have been mostly great and dne their best but it straight up sounds like the system is broken and it falls on professors to teach how economy has an effect and what perpetual growth means for the climate, instead the pure subject was more bland the only thing I really got out of it is that I wanted to become an environmental educator and teach about the environment, and there are barely any jobs about it of course and half of them are dreadful most of the ecologist and biologists I've talked to have just given up, and even a bad alternative like volunteering emds up being more office work than anything the system is just rotten to the core and grat at rotting everything
Sorry for the rant and thank you for so expertly putting the thoughts I've been having about my chosen career and giving a bit of optimism, I wish most people would aspire to a solarpunk world instead of a technoutopic one
On a sidenote it would be nice to have a video about what can one do if they have an environmental related degree and don't want to sell their soul to a consultation companies
Thanks for watching! Yes environmental education is definitely an interesting career path that I forgot to include in my summary. Best of luck in finding a job! I'll have a think about how I could fit more career paths into upcoming videos 😊
not an ecology major nor in a related field but i felt a similar kind of disillusionment when i realized just how integral of a role the profit motive plays in maintaining and exacerbating climate change and ecological destruction. even when i try to soften it all to talk to people i'm close to about how something is harmful and prioritizing profit and the interests of the rich over the climate i get everyone telling me i'm ruining the vibe. it's so disheartening
Same
Unfortunately, money makes the world turn.
Yay capitalism
Thoughtful video topic. I spend most of my day in nature, for work, and at home. One way I expose my children to the outdoors, is to share nature photos with them, of which I take dozens each day. I’ve witnessed the absolute destruction of hundreds of acres of forest, for the construction of housing/strip malls, etc. It hurts to watch as every living organism is being killed, or displaced. Think about that scene from “Watership Down”. It happens every day.
amazing video c: ..also, to think that even just more freedom of movement could change the atmosphere of classrooms so much, it would be so easy too ..always pitch ideas for a better living environment to your local councils, you never know if they can do sth. even though most times they dont :c
I thought this video would have like 200k views. Its needs that or more! Great video, i loved hearing your insight on the topic!
Awww thank you! Maybe one day :)
It is so strange to me how so many people lack a wonder of the world, not just of nature (mostly that), but also of everything else. So many people seem to have no curiosity nor fascination with the world in any aspect. And that is... terrible.
But, i guess it makes more sense when you are actively encouraged not to your whole life.
Agree, but it's even weirder to me people that see no wonder outside of human-made stuff... Like, if it's not something related to humans, it simply does not interest them. It's SO STRANGE... Like dude, we're not the only living being in this universe!! And there are other amazing things and beings beside us!!
Great video! Awesome to see more and more thoughtful and staunch solarpunks
Thank you!
I've been reading Tristan Gooley's work, The Natural Navigator, How to Read Water, etc. And his entire point can really be boiled down to "Go out and actually look around, not just straight along the path toward your destination." He doesn't take quite the same tack as Kimmerer, but does frequently mention indigenous knowledge. Particularly how, while some specialized areas like nautical navigation are explicitly taught over years, a lot of the nature knowledge is simply acquired by being out in it and is so automatic that many couldn't even easily articulate HOW they know there's a river in that direction or there's likely to be a storm tonight. Humans just fall into tune with our environments, and that makes it very important to select your surroundings carefully and choose to engage actively with new surroundings.
All the while recognizing the irony of me sitting here reading this in a book while it's 41°C outside. XD My eyeless-cave-newt self managed to burn in the shade the other day.
Loved the video!!
When I was young, maybe 7-8 years old or so, I remember my science classes at school having units focusing on local flora and fauna. We had projects where we would make compost bins and fill them with worms to see how they broke down organic material, homework assignments where we would go out in nature and take sample leaves from trees and identify them, talk about local birds that could be found in our area and what their behaviors were, things like that. It was my favorite thing I’d ever learned in school back then; I’m in my mid twenties, now, and I still take so much joy in getting to grab my friends’ attention and say, “look over there, that’s a female cardinal!” or “those white flowers, that’s wild carrot!”
I’ve always had a fascination with nature, but those lessons in my childhood really solidified that interest. I ended up going into the arts for my studies, but I still do my best to help with conservation efforts and caring for the environment around me. The right lessons at a young age can have a great impact when it comes to respect and love for nature!!
Ooft this s was a hard watch. As someone who studied ecology through to post graduate level many years ago this is absolutely accurate.
You only need to compare the salaries of jobs that aim to protect and repair nature vs those that destroy nature for profit and you can clearly society’s values.
The jobs the irk me the most are the very well paid ‘sustainability’ roles that are clearly mostly green washing and the policies/recommendations of which continue the wrecking of the world.
Very interesting videos! Thank you for this absolute gem of a channel!
Also, thanks to Andrew for another great introduction.
@@jakob642 thank you for watching! ☺️
You have spoken to some of my deeper inner feelings I had during my childhood. I felt so stifled as a child in middle school and high school, stuck inside and desperate to get out.
Thanks for making this
I clicked on this video right away, because of the title and your username. I was not disappointed.
I was homeschooled under the Charlotte Mason method, which incorporated as much about nature and the natural world as regular "science." If you are really serious about brainstorming ideas on how to reform the crappy education system, I would definitely look into it. It was started by an English school teacher: Charlotte Mason, with a direct emphasis on the Natural World and "living books" instead of dry textbooks.
I have always been an animal-lover; and this style of teaching really helped me in appreciating nature more: we would regularly go on nature walks, write about and draw what we saw. I naturally read every book on any animal we had in the house.
Now, as an adult, I still love nature, but regularly struggle to interact with it in the day-to-day, as do my peers. I have been looking for a career to be in said Nature. Over here in the US, we have our National Parks, which are run by Big Government (which is part of the problem) but also pay better than my other options. And I would also get health benefits.
Very recently, came across the solarpunk movement, and became very excited about it. I hope to see this become a big movement, and to help it along, but also not exactly sure where to start.
@@returnoftheromans6726 don't feel shame in working for the government it's got many problems but at least it isn't a corporation, it's (allegedly) chosen by the people in a national park you can plant the seeds so that people will care more for the natural environment and hopefully vote appropriately so that it is protected
I spent k-12 going to a school that aimed for almost everything you described at the end of the video. I spent high school learning how to garden, build boats and take them out on the water, sitting in the woods with friends, and even learning archery and sword fighting. Nature has always been embedded in my education, and there’s an interconnectedness to the earth that lets me know I’m alive. I can always fall back on it. Now as a freshman in college entering a regular university, the change is so drastic that I wonder how anyone survives public school in America at all. I find myself wondering how on earth it’s acceptable for humans to learn in these environments so devoid of organic matter. It drains the life out of me to be boxed up under fluorescent lights and separated from the outside world :| that’s why I’m dropping so many classes lol. I hope you know that places like you described are absolutely possible and already exist, so if you ever lose hope for the education system, know that there’s communities actively working to change that 💚 (sorry this is so long)
You should have a conversation with the headmistress/founder of Liberty Woodland School, in SW London. There's a lot to do in this area and working with others to help spread the message can only be to the good.
I took a climate and atmosphere course for a year and had a couple of modules there on climate. I'd say my experience was slightly different to yours. Both modules focused on macro effects so although it was unspoken it was clear that our industrial capitalist society was having all of these damning effects on the earth. In a course on pollution it was made very clear that industry is killing people with the poisons it releases, and that in the current day this has a socioeconomic bias for poorer nations in the global south. They were still limited in outlook, the only solutions explicitly address were studies of regulation policies.
Climate science really is a mess though endless money funneled into making predictions and no opportunity to get anything done because of our current political and capitalist system. Although most climate scientists are not happy about this and would prefer to work on solutions its clear that academia molds people into the thought process of good proposals = policy = change. ie politics isnt changing cos the science isn't realiable enough!/s
Thank you for commenting your experiences, I think that if I'd studied something more akin to climate science rather than ecology I might have also had a similar experience. For sure, the predictions to policies pipeline is a bit of a mess and wayyyyy too slow for the speed we need to be moving at to prevent the worst impacts of climate change
thank you for expressing what i feel so deeply, amazing video!
Thank you for watching!
You speak out of my core, thank you a lot for making this video, it is healing to come across people who think, know, feel this
This video is SO important! I wish everyone had the opportunity to watch it. Thank you!
Thank you!
I'm a environmental studies student who actually did a literature review on the effects spending more time in nature has on children last year. Lovely to see this topic covered on youtube, you did a fantastic job!
Thanks!
I was fortunate to be born in Chile, in a small town where wherever I looked, the white mountain range watched over the east. I always had nature close by, whether it was the sclerophyllous forest or the countless streams that originate from the mountain range. Sitting in the garden watching the clouds while dragonflies flutter around, I always had nature close to me. I always wanted to talk about trees, birds, mushrooms. So, during those 12 years I spent in school, I tried to pursue biology. I enjoyed talking about cells and metabolic cycles, but it wasn't what I wanted. For many years, I tried to get my high school to offer a course on "Ecology and Ecosystem Science". Every time I approached teachers or the administration about it, nobody took up that class. Everyone would say, "What's the use of knowing about ecology if I want to study...". I realized that despite the beautiful place where we live, few people have truly been in nature, and even fewer are genuinely interested in it. Perhaps because we were all made to believe that biology is only useful if you want to be a doctor or if you want to research how to do things more efficiently. When I finally finished school and managed to study a career in what I always wanted (Ecological Engineering), I was struck by the number of math and economics courses. I remember saying, "Why so many math and economics courses?" Although I have courses where we talk about ecology and others where we visit natural places, it still seems like people view my career and future profession as something "hippie and communist" and look down on it when one talks about nature. It's hard to change the world, but you have to start somewhere, right? We are running a reforestation campaign within the campus with some friends, and even if people don't take us seriously, we want to do this because when you love nature and it loves you back, it fills you with love for yourself and everything around you.
Very poetic and beautiful! I think people need to start working for what they think is right and listen to feedback (sometimes). I’m quite young out of school but I’m trying to rewild my garden. Just as a little beacon for life where I live. A flicker of light in the west
Great video! You are very brave to communicate your experience and share it with the world. Your message resonates with me. The education (and overall) system in the US is quite the same. I left high school and higher ed for a hands on education. I work on farms now (one is regenerative) and I read, do my own research. The teachers are out there, including you and I. The more we talk openly about our experience, we are seen and heard and felt. Take steps forward to realize that symbiotic, wonderful, playful, healthy relationship with nature is easy, entertaining, fun. Be courageous, wilderness is our nature. We’re all free to claim that for ourselves. Wishing you well on your journey back home 🌱🌿🌳 ✌️
I have a little story to tell.
I grew up in a household of zookeepers, together with my younger sister. (I am extremely against zoos from today's pov btw)
When I was little, my parents took me to the forest almost every day, they teached me to identify all kinds of animals and awoke the love for nature and everything out there.
When I was 7 years old, my mother passed away.
I continued growing up with my father and sister.
As time went by, my father made weird, arrogant comments, when I told him about anything that I liked, that was connected to nature. He always told me, how much more he knew at my age, that my animal drawings didn't look like the animals at all and stuff.
He threw away animal drawings that I had gifted him.
This really hurt me and lead to me trying to get other interests, like videogames and anime.
Although it was never really my thing.
When I did art in a non realistic way and didn't draw animals, my father gave me compliments for that.
It hurt me so bad, because it still was stuff that I did not want to draw and I only did it for attention. I got decently good at it, but hated my own art and artstyle.
Someday, I gave up and got into zoology and ecology again. It felt so much better to spend my time with that.
I still live with my father today and it truly scarred me for life, that I never got any positive feedback from either him or anyone else close to me, for a thing that I was so passionate about my whole life.
To this day, I can't take any compliments for anything that I do, because I hear the voice of my father, telling me that he will always be better than me and everything I do is wrong.
I hear him saying, that I should give up doing this and do something else.
This is how you should not treat your child.
Another thing: He was always extremely bad at giving gifts. It really showed, how little he was interested in his children. It's not a even a problem with money or anything: He would buy unnecessary expensive items for us that had no use whatsoever, even though we were literally telling him about small items, that we would really appreciate to get.
He did it for his own ego.
He has a new wife now, it's a far distance relationship. So only sometimes, me and my sister meet her.
And I kid you not: She has been kinder about our interests, she has given us more compliments and small useful gifts than our father EVER has. (For example: she gave each of us a small set of pencils, as we both do art)
In this very short time period of two years.
She even framed a picture I have drawn of her dog and placed it on her shelf. Even her three sons gave me compliments about my drawing.
And not just throwing it away...
It's amazing, how different this family functions from ours and how much more healthy it seems.
I never thought I’d find the words to describe this feeling! Thank you for making this video ❤
Thank you for watching!
I majored in business information technology, and we did talk about clean energy, how it was becoming a cheaper option, and how younger people were demanding or leading the change. That did give me some hope, at least. I have earned my Master's degree in Data Analytics and aspire to work as a data scientist, identifying trends that could benefit the environment, among other things.
Seeing more folks referencing Kimmerer’s work warms my heart 😊
😊I love Braiding Sweetgrass!
9:02 to my surprise, from the very beginning in my environmental sciences course one of our sustainable development professors always told us that. one thing i noticed is that it's actually a general consensus between the teachers in this university that climate change is also deeply linked with social justice, capitalism, etc.
where i live usually the options people have are:
1. pursuing a phd and/or being researcher in some university or private company
2. non profit: which I havent really heard about many
3. government agency: the most common, I know of a LOT of people who land internships while studying and after graduation, they're offered a permanent position
so all in all i think i have it a little better than you in terms of finding a fulfilling job(?)
I'm glad you had that experience! Whoops, I completely missed out governmental work. It's definitely also a category of nature work people go into here, though I don't think it's as popular
My school grounds were bordered by meadow/farmland to one side, forest to the back, and a tree-lined stream to the other side. Older kids stop having recess, but we'd have gym class outside whenever the weather was nice.
One of the benefits of being in a small town I suppose (though there were certainly downside)
Great video! As one of the first people to go through the UK's higher education system after the introduction of tuition fees I noticed a marked change over my four years as the university caught up to the new reality. Obviously there were previously degrees like medicine and engineering that were always very tightly coupled to employment, but all the other courses suddenly found that they had to justify themselves to students and administrators. They had to prove that they were a sound investment in a future career, rather than something you did to better yourself and explore your passion.
Within the UK system I obviously think that abolishing tuition fees would be a great start to improve things, and add more diverse courses to the curriculum like American liberal arts, rather than sticking students on a fixed track for 3-4 years. It's not much, but it's things we can do right now that would help get education back to serving students and not the capitalist extraction machine.
At a young age I came to the realization that school isn’t even about learning and obtaining knowledge, it’s just about remembering as much as you can so you can pass your classes and graduate and not be seen as a failure to others. That’s why I’m not in college now. When I was a kid, I wanted to be an artist and go to a college but then I realized that I could just teach myself and not stress about teachers putting a grade on my work.
But anyways, I live in the countryside and have been for all my life. I loved climbing trees and running around in the grass, collecting rocks from school for my rock collection, hearing the birds in the morning. I love it (except for the bugs biting me lol) but it pains me to see trees being cut down here. All it leaves behind are dead trees and the ground trampled and dug up by machinery; a wasteland. I get it if they did it for more land but still. What also pains me is seeing kids not going outside anymore, not getting to experience the same joy of being in nature like I did. They’re always inside or their eyes are glued to a screen. That’s how I was after TikTok came out; even when I was outside I was on my phone scrolling through it or Instagram. And since social media is getting so popular (more kids are hopping on it which is just insane) that’s all you see people doing, staring down at their screens.
I studied sustainable development at a university here in the U.S. They had (in my opinion) a great program examining what you discussed: how social systems interact with the environment, and vice versa - with a focus on making them more just. I feel like "sustainable development" and similar programs elsewhere are an excellent opportunity to explore this field in higher ed, sort of like "applied ecology."
I find it funny that I come across this video just days when I came back from my visit to Vermont. I live in the US and in the Northern Indiana region and there is just towns and agriculture everywhere with a noticeable lack of woodlands. While I was in Vermont, I got to experience the wildlife (36 species of birds lived around the house I was staying in for the month!) and I got to experience the ecosystems in lower and higher elevations of the Appalachians. Overall, I have left my heart there because when I came back home, it did not feel like I was home. I have one more semester to go before I can't be at the community college that I am in. I hope that I can make it.
When I entered university to study science I wanted to be an ecologist, specifically a botanist, that until I got to an ecology class, where the teacher said during a conversation that the only incentive to study a certain topic in the area is to make a profit out of it. It was very frustrating, to the point of making me go to nanoscience in chemistry, which I hope to one day use to work on environmental solutions, even if it means making some rich guy even richer. Nowadays I have friends doing masters in ecology, and I can see them having the same struggles you mention.
Nevertheless, videos like the one ls you make help bring back the hope that a change is possible and that we can make a positive impact.
I went to the university of Montana and there was so much hands on in the field class work. But that was because we were in Montana which has more cows than people in numbers. In the US there are lots of government jobs with the forest service and fish and wildlife service. But the jobs are still quite competitive.
My joy for nature never disappeared, the education system is outdated the only way to learn about the environment is through self education
I've found great well paying work in landscaping. Most landscaping companies are horrible for this honestly, but I lucked out with a company that uses 0 pesticides and herbicides, and uses 90%+ native plants in all their designs.
We basically get rich people to pay us to restore their yards ecologically
Damn that sounds very similar to my experience with an Ecology degree. That softening language bit resonated with me a lot. By the end I was so disillusioned I ended up sending off and finishing my dissertation at a festival and nearly failing xD. I kinda got a job I want now. Woodland management and Conservation with the RSPCA. However its kinda minimum wage and I was volunteering there. Relying on the experience I gained working part time in a friend's tree surgery company when I was in uni on the taking apart of a chainsaw which was a test at the end of an interview.
Falling out of love with your subject is a sad thing indeed. I had the same problem with my palaeontology degree. I’ve been lucky enough to get a break and enter the wildlife filmmaking industry, but most don’t.
Great video!
I'm quite privileged to have access to a plant science and landscaping program at an affordable college. I chose landscaping because I want to make a difference in my neighborhood, rather than allowing typical landscaping businesses to continue destroying the ecosystem (IDK if the lawn culture in the UK is the same, but in the US midwest it is asinine, lawns here are ecologically hostile and artificial, they require a chemical regime to upkeep the aesthetic). And I'm really grateful that my program, while not focused on ecology per se, is much more science driven than "here's how you cut the grass". We learn about botany, native plants, hydrology, tree care, integrated pest management, environmental science electives, etc. With that being said, I feel like I'm gaining all this knowledge but will have my hands tied once I join the industry. I could work for the county parks system doing conservation work, but I'd make a hell of a lot more money working for a classy landscaping company, building patios and cultivating the very same lawns in upscale neighborhoods that I swore to abolish. Yet, It's hard to say no to that opportunity with increasing rent and food prices, healthcare costs, car/gas/insurance expenses; it feels like I'm being crushed unless I comply with the economy.
Very well said, the sad reality is; because of this disconnect, change is unlikely and the care for wildlife is forever decreasing
Incredible video, please continue to make more
Thank you!
as an american i am so grateful for our national/state parks, i think they might be one of the few genuinely amazing things about the states. My high school had an agriscience/horticulture teacher (for some reason?? Most american high schools definitely don’t have that, especially in underprivileged areas like my school) and we even had an operating greenhouse. Idk anything about their nature education because i’m an art student but my collage has 11 acres of woodland right on campus which is super neat.
Great video! I'd add, as a call to action, to join an organization that is fighting (politically) towards the future you want! Getting organized and fighting back are so important!!!
Become aware of the horrifying affects of the propaganda of such phrases as, "follow your dreams", "you can be anything you want", or "you just need to manifest your desires to the universe."
Wisdom is recognizing boundaries. When we study nature we are studying boundaries.
I had a similar experience in the late 70's. I wanted to grow up and build ecologically friendly buildings. Then Reagan decimated the budding interest is such things. My trust of civilization never returned. I've watched the lands I love grow sicker, more crowded, and much less diverse.
A class walking around an open space would be
Love the uplifting vision at the end!
Something that has eternally bothered me is that when we learn about Nature by trying to experience it, high academics often tell us not to. Yes, it is bad to walk in the woods if you’re going to trample stuff or leave plastic behind, but the idea that we should NEVER interact with nature at all, I think, is a HUGE reason so many people hate or don’t care about it.
I am doing a degree in Conservation Biology now (in Uni of Kent), and we've had a few field trips, but not a lot. I do like my teachers and the lectures, and they all have a lot of field experience that they eagerly share with us. We have also touched upon the topic of multiple interests clashing when it comes to conservation, so the accent wasn't about "appealing to capitalism", more about understanding how it's relevant.
My only criticism so far is that I'd love more practical field experience. We talked about survey techniques, but only done one "mock" survey. Which was great, but more would be better!
London is pretty high on the list of green cities! So not sure how accurate it is to say that "especially in the UK" there's too few green spaces. And it's not uncommon to have a little garden. Yes, it's tiny, but how many big cities do you know where people have gardens???
Absolutely agree on the nature education though. I managed to keep my connection to nature, possibly in spite of education...
@@annadushenkina3512 because gardens tend to be lawns and a lot of the UK is dedicated to agriculture, the UK is just very nature depleted, hopefully it improves though, as you pointed out the amount of gardens means that individuals can make a lot to help wildlife
When I was a child, i only interested in dinosaurs. Now in my 20s i like to learn ecology too much, go camping, play Monster hunter world or put insects in a big glass because learning about ecosystem is too interesting for me in the future I want to be a Hunter and be more connected to nature
I used to be in ecosystem restoration in the nonprofit sector. I was the person who would physically restore land to a healthier state, removing invasive plants + planting/rescuing natives. You know what I was paid, to do backbreaking labor in wet bulb conditions? Minimum wage. A skilled job, where I actually have to understand the organisms around me, understand how to rescue or remove them depending on the need of the specific environment I was in, where I had to have immense physical endurance to work to the demands of my employer in an area of the American south that regularly hits 100F/95% humidity? Minimum wage.
It was a good learning experience, but I am from generational poverty so it was not financially sustainable, even as I started to get promoted, due to the average low pay of both the field and the nonprofit sector.
Nowadays I am in the ag sector and am trying to position myself into a more agroecological area. The pay will never be good, but at least I can take home food for my family, and there is a smaller-than-ideal yet growing grassroots movement to return agriculture to the commons. My hope is someday to help this happen.
I've been incredibly lucky to get into a job as a field ecologist/botanist, but for the longest time I had no idea that such a job even existed. I initially went into climate science and environmental law, and was unable to find work in either of those things. I managed to finally get a very low paying job in land conservation, but was able to stick it out until my current job came along, because I had the privilege of some financial support from my parents. I almost gave up multiple times, but I'm grateful I kept going.
This is incredible.. thank you!!! 👏🏼👏🏼😻🙏🏼💗🌿🕊️🌸✨
Thank you!
Small mention but there are these things called Forest Schools. Often they are in collaboration with Waldorf preschools, but can be separate. Its preschool outside, and the kids do great! Right now its a privilege for only the wealthiest of kids, but it doesn't have to be. Local communities can come together to create these spaces, and work together in a co-op type strategy so the kids can attend for FREE. I know it sounds idealistic, but with enough coordination it can happen.
Co-op forest schools sound amazing!
Thank you for this video. I live in the Netherlands but totally agree with your criticism. I dropped out for a while of an ecology study because of mental. Am only now getting back on my feet to make a choice to either return to academia or choose a physical work field and I just cant see a road to take me to a ecological centered job. My history and lack of volunteer stuff, extra subjects etc probably excludes me from ever being considered for a job in this part of the field anyway. I think a lot of people must feel disguirished as well.
How did you get that non-profit going though? That seems super inspiring and rewarding to have a positive impact!
This might be an unpopular opinion but I think that the neglect of nature in our societies isn't necessarily because of capitalism though... It happens within the system and thus manifests in capitalistic mechanisms but the degradation of nature was rampant in times before capitalism (feudal europe WRECKED almost all the forsests on the continent) and currect other systems like communism has done enormous damage too with pollution, unsustainable harvesting and giant megaprojects damming rivers and draining entire oceans! I think its an inherent oversight/ undervalueing of nature in societies that just adapt and manifest according to the mechanisms of the system it functions in. So in capitalism it mainly happens through financial incentives, but I think without changing focus and awareness it would happen either way.
I got my bachelors degree in entomology. Only two classes in my entire courseload involved spending any significant time in nature. I concluded as I finished my degree that I wouldn't bother pursuing a masters degree as I had up to that point found the collegiate environment an ineffective setting for learning what actually fascinated me about insects and nature more generally.
What I wanted to learn was not mechanistic and reductive. I wanted to be instructed by its beauty. By its being. I want to know what it would mean to become a part of its harmony. How might it transform me?
I still don't entirely know how to learn like this, but I get the sense I am on the right path when I spend time quietly walking through nature wantonly wondering at the audacious vivacity all around me.
All i wanted was to farm. I know so much about botany, mycology and ichthyology there is no reason i should be doing small scale grows with my resources. But turnips don't pay the bills. Not at my scale.
I dig what you're talking about.
A world not being killed. A world being renewed. A world with more wild salmon each year than the year before. A world with more wild humans each year than the year before. - Derrick Jenson, Endgame
Thanks for making a video about this!
Keep pushing the messages that need to be heard because it all starts with us.
If you do wanna study ecology in the uk, I recommend UWE Bristol. Just finishing up my degree there and everyone in the dept is passionate and up to date, there are weekly field practicals, yearly weeklong trips and good networking opportunities🙏
I generally resonate with your video but thought it's worth saying that studying it isn't that bad everywhere
Don't be so focused on the negative parts of education. Aside from all that, it has influenced your thinking and given you insights you might otherwise have missed - even if it's only in recognising aspects of the education system that you find problematic.
Because all of that has contributed to a key understanding that we're living in an interconnected and interdependent system of systems. The more that people can promote this knowledge the better as it is crucial for people to understand the complexity and vulnerabilities of the biosphere.
When you said about dissection, I hope that no animals were intentionally killed for it and that all of them were ones that had died of natural causes…
i always felt strong drive to biology, just as it appeared in our curriculum. So after school i wanted to continue this path, i wanted something "biological". So i choosed medicine, even so i didnt want to do healing, didnt want to limit myself to humans. But beacouse of the pressure from parents, society my focus hugely shifted to something more "useful and profitable" than just common biology, where you even cant be sure as whom you will be working. in our country anyway...
Brilliant video! As someone whose looking to get into the environmental sector & is currently looking at unis, I was wondering whether the uni you went to was Exeter? Completely fine if you don't want to say! Thanks for the video (and the references to Braiding Sweetgrass haha). 😊
Another job option is to work for federal and state governments in various conservation roles (at least under labour or left leaning governments). While it's underpaid, the hours are usually set, so you won't get overworked. And of course, there's teaching.
It can really get me down sometimes. I've been trying to support the natural world and make a difference for years, and it just feels like my efforts are negated, outvoted, or rubbished by the older generations. It's so frustrating. Now I'm a jaded millennial wondering when the tide of change can finally overturn the entrenched establishment views. UK Cornwall here too, and solarpunk enthusiast. Any advice, Alana?
I would suggest starting with getting involved with local grassroots climate groups! There are loads in Cornwall that need active members and volunteers. I recommend looking at the Cornwall Climate Action Network, we’re a network with loads of grassroots community climate groups and we have a map on the website: cornwallclimateactionnetwork.earth/ - you can look there for your nearest group and get in contact!
Thank you for this great video!
2:32 Something to be cautious about here. There is almost certainly correlations at play here. Children from lower income families will be less likely to have access to nature experiences, so you might expect a positive correlation love of nature and resources that would make a student perform better as some other subject.
You've nailed it. "We must re-ensoul the world."
So I can say as someone with graduate degrees in biology/ecology, the turning off is from the clinical part of learning genetics/systematics/ethology/biogeography/ecology/biochemistry etc. Science is a lot of math, and science education mostly trains academic work. But, some schools have degrees for natural resources, degrees in water, soil, fisheries, wildlife ecology, forestry, etc. And that is more practical to nature jobs and it also gets you out in the field working all the time. So if you love nature but you feel the academic way is not for you, go to a school that has natural resources programs. Also you will be surrounded by other people who love to be outside in nature and feel the same way you do about a lot of things.
I sorta disagree with the premise, its not school but also parents. These days kids arent playing out as much because the parents want them safe and a ps5 is a safer option for the parents. Kids used to find their own fun in nature making and breaking and climbing etc. Now its made for them in 1080p. It doesnt help school isnt more outdoorsy.
In fairness what has caused parents to desrisk childhood? How wasn’t that the case in the past?
I think the system of education and a general interest in improving safety across society has pushed parents to be more protective. Added to that the increase in amount and rapidity of news means you’re much more likely to see how a child died while swimming or another severely injured from a fall are much more common
9-4!! I wish I had a schooling schedule that late! Where I've taught, the closest to that is like 8:30 to 3 for primary/elementary, and it just gets earlier from then on
I was telling my biology teacher about potentially studying either ecology or computer science in university and she told me "study computer science if you want to make money." It's hard because I'm more interested in and passionate about ecology but the job prospects seem a bit miserable (at least with my country's current government who is gutting so much conservation related stuff)