Kurt here—once upon a time (1998) I was invited by Ricardo Rozzi and Francisca Massardo to visit Navarino Island, where they were conducting conservation biology research. I am not a scientist, so while they were busy I freewalked the Dientes Range. In 2000, they invited me to be a co-founder of the Omora Ethnobotanical Park....Continue Reading
Our Place Summer School Scholarship Program 2019 Our Place Summer School is designed to “unplug” children by bringing them into direct contact with the creatures, geologies, hydrologies and infrastructures of the Nonotuck biome and the Westfield River watershed. (Click to read the Daily Gazette article about Our Place.) Thanks to the generosity of people who...Continue Reading
Salamanders, newts and wood frogs depend upon the vernal pools that appear during snow melt and vanish as the summer arrives. If you’ve wondered where these neighbors are born, and where they return to make babies, this video is a perfect introduction: Without these havens, our amphibian friends will disappear. In Massachusetts, we can certify...Continue Reading
Phoebe Gelbard has been building our school of Field Environmental Philosophy since 2015, when she was a junior at Northampton High School. Biocitizen is grateful for her service to the hundreds of students she’s taught. She’s grown with us as we experiment with and codify FEP curricula and itineraries, and is ready to become one...Continue Reading
“Eco” means inhabition. “Semiotics” is the study of signs and symbols. Ecosemiotics is the study of how our inhabitations are constructed by signs and symbols—which is to say: the study of how we construct our “place” with signs and symbols. — Ecosemiotic study is a central activity of Field Environmental Philosophy. FEP “reads” the signs...Continue Reading
Biocitizen is so pleased to welcome Sabrina Moore to the Living Rivers School senior staff! Sabrina is a graduate student at the University of North Texas pursuing a PhD degree in Biology. Her main research area involves the aquatic ecology of the Robalo River and the effect of invasive rainbow trout on the phenology of invertebrate...Continue Reading
Weaving Beauty A few days ago, I had the privilege of walking with Julia Gonzalez, Yagán artisan, and one of the last direct descendants of her people, who is dedicated to the ancestral art of traditional basket weaving. We met with her, and students and professors involved in Tracing Darwin’s Path, at the mouth of the...Continue Reading
Craig Ruberti brings the insights of both an environmental engineer, and of a parent of students, to the Biocitizen board of directors. Having walked with us twice above tree line in the Presidential Range, he’s a core Claws member. Always alert to the needs of our wandering alpinists, always ready to assist in making good things happen, a...Continue Reading
Over the Winter Break, Biocitizen Los Angeles had 18 students for their New Year’s classes! Lead Teacher Michael Galano welcomed students grades K-5 for a three day session. Read about what the Biocitizen students’ learned on their walks in Michael’s Field Notes below: “This group of Biocitizens was unique and energetic! We had 5 first-time...Continue Reading
Nationally-recognized ceramic artist Sam Taylor has been with Biocitizen since 2009, when its seedling grew alongside a monthly permaculture meeting he and Kurt organized and kept going called Grown In Westhampton that has taken on further life in the hands of their neighbors. Sam’s son Emmett was the “testpilot” for Now Voyager 2017 in Pichilemu Chile,...Continue Reading
