For many years Kate Marianchild has been deeply involved in observing and studying the flora and fauna of her local landscape. She's trained herself as an amateur naturalist watching wildlife, leading nature walks, and giving slide presentations. Here she shares the delight that comes from walking slowly or sitting quietly in nature and describes how we can each become a citizen scientist. When asked how we might go about discovering our local eco-system she says, "If there's something that you already love and enjoy about [the land where you live] but don't know anything about it, ask yourself some questions and then try to answer them either through observation or research.
And, another approach would be to set yourself a goal of learning to identify ten species that are native to your area and learn at least two or three web-of-life facts about them. If it is a plant, you ask yourself such questions as 'I wonder who depends on this plant for food? I wonder how this plant is pollinated? I wonder who disperses its seeds?' These would be three “really” great starter questions, and if you try to get the answers to them you'll be amazed at what else you learn in the process.
Marianchild fills us with enthusiasm for going out into our “own” local habitat to start our first-hand observations and shares how exciting that can be. She also encourages us to join with others in our community to share our explorations.
