5 Questions for Maggie BrenenstuhlMaggie Brenenstuhl is an environmental studies major at Russell Sage College in Troy NY. Maggie is president of the Pre-Law Club, part of RSC Dance Ensemble and on the Women's Varsity Volleyball. A member of the college's Honors Society, she will earn her Bachelors Degree in 2016. Living so close to home allows her to be very active in her hometown of Melrose, NY. She is a substitute teacher at her local high school, and volunteers in assisting both the elementary and high school musicals. In her spare time she enjoys dancing, playing volleyball and spending time with her family. After she graduates she plans on spending two year in the Peace Corps, after which she will go to law school. Tell us about your experience in Thailand: how did you get to do it? What did you learn?
In early July, with support from the Cynthia Crocco Spector ’74 and Sherman David Spector Fellowship, I traveled to Tha-Tum, a farming community in northeastern Thailand. Tha-Tum is located in Surin, known as “The Elephant Province.” Elephants had helped their owners earn income in the logging industry; when logging was outlawed, the owners struggled to care for their animals and earn a living. I lived and worked near a farm and elephant study center that works with the community to create sustainable economic development and a humane environment for its elephants. What are the most fulfilling and most challenging parts of what you did there? Looking back I really feel like I made a difference in Tha-Tum. Being there a month I was able to develop really special relationships with the people of the village, who were all so grateful for what I was doing. I am still in contact with a lot of the Thai people that I worked with and think part of me will always be in Thailand. The most challenging part of the experience was dealing with the culture shock. Societal norms are so different from what we find in the United States. In Thailand, it is completely normal for a family of four to ride around with no helmets on a motorbike, or for people to walk around the street with no shoes on, but if you point your bare foot at someone or pat their head people will look at you in disgust. You definitely have to be open minded when traveling. I was there for a month, with no hot water, electricity or any idea what kind of meat I was putting in my mouth. It was a very humbling experience that opened my eyes to the challenges people outside of my "first world bubble" face. These people have next to nothing, yet they are always smiling and enjoying life, I wish more people lived like this. What lessons from Eco Practicum did you apply in this new program? Working on the educational farm during my time at Eco Practicum gave me a great advantage in the village and I was able to apply many of the techniques that the Eco Practicum farm educator, Benno, had taught me when I was helping plant and harvest the elephants food. I was also able to share and cook many of the great recipes the kitchen manager, Andrea, taught us to the people I lived with, which they absolutely loved! How have your out-of-the-classroom experiences affected your experience at school? I feel like both my experiences at Eco Practicum and Thailand this past summer have affected me a great deal in the classroom. They were both such unique experiences that have allowed me to contribute to class discussions in a way that my other classmates cannot. No one else at my school can say that they have toured the fracking infrastructure Dimock, PA with an citizen journalist or have gotten to dive head first into a tank full of fish in an aquaculture center. I am constantly referencing the different people we met and the places we went in the Catskills. As for Thailand, I am constantly being asked questions about the country and what I was doing there. I think I will forever be remembered at Sage as “The Elephant Girl”. What’s one thing you think everyone should know how to do? There is something to be said about knowing how to travel by yourself. When I first told people I was hopping a plane to Thailand and staying there for a month, they thought I was insane. Sure I was a bit scared at first, but once I met up with my group and started volunteering, I was glad I had gone on my own. I was able to learn a lot more about myself, force myself to meet new people and I am confident that I could successfully travel somewhere else in the future on my own and be fine. Another great life skill that can be very valuable is the ability to assimilate. I found that the foreigners who tried to adapt to the Thai culture were much more welcomed than those who refused to give up their home countries' ways. The Thai people are so friendly and more than willing to share their culture and my experience became so much more meaningful when I started acting more native and speaking their language. 5 Questions for Jeff BresslerJeff Bressler is from York, PA and graduated from Temple University with a major in environmental studies, and a minor in anthropology. His experiences during his collegiate career inspired him to learn about the processes and resources required to grow food. His research was dedicated to analyzing how human culture and society impacts nature. Jeff has a passion for growing organic food, and he now runs the CSA at Spoutwood Farm. His current interests include: decreasing reliance on disposable products, fermentation, canning, cooking, reduced till growing, integrated pest management, composting, and farm-to-table initiatives. What work do you do and what lessons from Eco Practicum do you apply at your job?
I am the CSA and farm manager at Spoutwood Farm which includes a wide variety of responsibilities with the main focus on organic growing practices and distributing to members and local buyers. Eco Practicum fueled my passion in a way that empowered me to continue learning about how to grow my own food while challenging myself to develop a more holistic and eco-friendly lifestyle. The lessons and experiences I enjoyed with Eco Practicum have helped to guide my journey to working here at Spoutwood. I still apply the information I learned, the realities I witnessed, and the emotions that surrounded all of it. What are the most fulfilling and most challenging parts of what you do? The most fulfilling part is the access to local, fresh, and Certified Naturally Grown produce that we provide to surrounding communities through our CSA, stores, and restaurants. The thought of providing nutritious food, while also preserving and improving the health of our soil and ecosystem is refreshing in a world where agriculture can be so damaging to our environment. The most challenging parts are relying on lots of manual labor, finding ways to keep our products as fresh as possible for our customers, preserving the harvests, and finding the right markets for our products. Describe a moment or situation that helped you realize your passion? After leaving the Catskills having experienced a whole lot in three weeks, I immediately immersed myself in actions and interests that were sparked in my mind and heart. I remember digging my first garden ever the morning after I returned home. I felt this new connection with nature that I had to be a part of because of how attached I had become to its positive energy and wonderful possibilities. I realized my passion was to continue developing this cultural and spiritual relationship with the natural world that connects all of us in many ways. What advice do you have for people looking for meaningful work? Anyone looking for meaningful work should do just that; find something meaningful that matters to you. Follow your dreams and imagine the person you strive to be. Think about the possibilities of your lifestyle changes and how your career might play a role in determining those. I interviewed a wise professor from England once during a project for an anthropology class on the culture of work in America. I will never forget how she mentioned that most students she was contacted by after graduation having trouble finding work were the ones that were too picky about finding their perfect "dream job." She gave me great advice when mentioning that there are so many gateways into your desired field. You have to accept that flexibility is essential, and if you do not make sacrifices you may even miss out on those special paths and journeys that could lead to ideal positions later in life. What’s one thing you think everyone should know how to do? I think everyone should know how to acquire some type of food, or at least know how to preserve food, by themselves, and for themselves and other families throughout their communities. Any aspect of the skills required to grow and raise our own food, harvest wild edible and/or medicinal plants, hunt or fish, and preserving by fermentation, canning, dehydrating, drying, etc. are so important for developing a lifestyle that is deeply connected to food. This passion for me is essential to developing a better lifestyle because it provides a connection to nature in a way that demonstrates how connected your health and survival is to the health of your food and surrounding environment. 5 Questions for Bridget JohnsonBridget Johnson participated in Eco Practicum Catskills in its pilot summer. After graduating from Rutgers University with a degree in ecology and natural resources, she worked as a plant biology field technician in South Carolina. Today, Bridget is an Americorps volunteer in Montana where she's working on community garden projects in neighborhoods struggling with poverty. What do you do and what lessons from Eco Practicum do you apply?
I am currently an Americorps VISTA (Volunteer In Service To America) serving a community garden project for members of the low-income community in Billings, Montana. For the past year, I have been building capacity for the project by strengthening its garden management, volunteer coordination, fundraising efforts, and education programs. From Eco Practicum, I took away a stronger appreciation for small-scale agriculture and a more developed sense of social and environmental responsibility. Eco Practicum contributed to my desire to find a way to link my interests in sustainable food production and community service, which led me to Americorps. What are the most fulfilling and most challenging parts of what you do? The most fulfilling aspects of my Americorps service have been working with wonderful people, helping them grow their own food, and learning about the value of community. Most challenging has been the effort to ensure the sustainability of my project. The goal of VISTA is not only to make a difference in a short amount of time; it also aims to make sure that the difference is lasting and and continues to impact the people it serves. This year of volunteering has given me a deeper appreciation of many of the challenges facing nonprofits, local food production, and service work. Describe a moment or situation that helped you realize your passion. In college, I was fortunate enough to be able to work for a pollination ecology research lab. I helped with a particular study looking at how different agricultural land management practices influence native pollinators, particularly native wild bees. It was inspiring and humbling to learn about the vital role these creatures play in our ecosystems. It was also sobering to realize the ways in which human activity can negatively impact that crucial relationship. This experience solidified my passion for ecology. I love ecology because it forces me to see the world as a web of connections, to be more aware of my role in it, and to try to be a positive influence in that web. I hope to attend graduate school in the near future to further understand ecological connections like these and work to protect them. What advice do you have for people looking to do meaningful work? To some extent, “meaningful work” is subjective. It could mean farming in socially and environmentally sustainable ways. It could mean working for an organization with a mission you strongly believe in. It could mean raising children to care about treating others and their environment well. I would advise people to be curious, be critical, remain open, and discover their own definition of “meaningful” and actively pursue it. As Eleanor Roosevelt said, “Do what you feel in your heart to be right – for you’ll be criticized anyway.” What’s one thing you think everyone should know how to do? I think everyone should know how to connect with his or her local community. Volunteering is one great way to do that. 5 Questions for Dick HenryWe are thrilled to highlight the work of one of the amazing experts that our Catskills practicum participants get to meet. Dick Henry is a retired wildlife biologist who spent much of his career working as a deer and bear specialist for the NYS Department of Conservation. Today, he works with the Quality Deer Management Association and advocates for responsible deer hunting as a critical ecosystem management tool. Here are his thoughts about the ethics and practice of hunting, as well as his take on the changing field of wildlife biology. How would you persuade people to support deer hunting in the Catskills?
White-tailed deer are an integral component of our landscape, and especially so in the Catskill Region. Keep in mind that the Catskill Forest Preserve was created in 1896 in response to the decimation of the forest during the tanning industry. Trees were wantonly cut down for their bark, which was a key component in the tanning process. Old pictures from that era show a decimated forest, and the today’s century old Forest Preserve lacks biodiversity. Old growth forests invariably have little, if any understory, and accordingly there is a lack of food for deer at the ground level. When deer in these areas use up their body fat reserves they suffer from chronic malnutrition, and ultimately an agonizing, lingering death. I have spent many winter days on snowshoes in the Catskills monitoring deer survival; Mother Nature can be a cruel mistress. It is far better to balance deer numbers at a lower level in areas like the Catskills, commensurate with legal hunting, than to have deer suffer a cruel and agonizing death by starvation in hard winters. To do otherwise is poor animal husbandry. How has the field of wildlife biology changed over the past few decades ? Many changes to the science of wildlife management have occurred in the last few decades. Far and away the biggest change has been an evolution from the traditional management of individual species to a greater and broader emphasis on biodiversity at the landscape scale. By having a better understanding of the dynamics of wildlife species, we have a clearer understanding of the interactions within and limitations of the ecosystem. Describe the moment you realized your passion ? I distinctly remember sitting in a 7th grade science class in 1961 and watching a filmstrip about researchers in Wyoming capturing and tagging deer and grizzly bears. As a person whose family lived in the boondocks in NYS, I spent considerable time afield with nature and wildlife species. The realization came to me that this could actually be a one’s life profession. I followed that dream and after high school, I enrolled in the University of Wyoming. It was an excellent school, with a solid program in wildlife management. I’ve never looked back or had any regrets. What advice do you have for people looking for meaningful work in the Wildlife profession ? Find a college program that offers a well-rounded curriculum in wildlife management, and don’t shy away from “grunt jobs” or those often boring opportunities that will expand your repertoire of wildlife management skills. As a wildlife biologist, you need to be adept in the field and have a set of skills that does not limit you or narrowly define your expertise. You will spend time at desk or a laboratory, but you will also have many opportunities to learn things in a classroom that has no roof. What’s one thing you think that everyone should know how to do ? There are two sets of skills that field biologists should have, especially those whose duties include a departure from the beaten paths. 1. GPS and/or compass and map reading skills are paramount. Traveling off the beaten path becomes much simpler when you know your precise location, and even more importantly, where you want to go. 2. Always expect the unexpected when you are in the field. A well-stocked survival kit, sufficient and appropriate clothing, a basic knowledge of First Aid and the ability to communicate are key while you are afield in the great outdoors. |
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