Jon Waterman is a former park ranger, wilderness guide, and a prolific author of books on adventure, exploration, and the environment. In this episode of Nature Revisited, Jon recounts his decades-long history of explorations of the Alaskan Arctic. Having returned to the Noatak headwaters after 30 years in 2021, Waterman was shocked by the environmental and cultural changes wrought by the climate crisis. As in his book 'Into the Thaw', Waterman paints for our listeners an intimate portrait of bo...
Feb 25, 2025•28 min
Sara Gagné is an author and associate professor of landscape ecology in the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences at the University of North Carolina. Her research, teaching, and writing is dedicated to understanding and communicating how people and nature interact in cities. In this episode of Nature Revisited, Stefan and Sara discuss her book 'Nature at Your Door: Connecting with the Wild', which explores how what we do in our yards matters just as much as the way our local parks and natu...
Feb 22, 2025•32 min
Ellen Zachos is a Harvard graduate, former Broadway actor, professional gardener and the author of eleven books including, most recently, Mythic Plants: Potions and Poisons from the Gardens of the Gods. In this episode of Nature Revisited, Ellen shares her varied personal background and takes us back to revisit the Greek myths anew by focusing on the fascinating roles plants play in the stories. Many of the mythic plants were real and still exist today, and Ellen colorfully describes how the anc...
Feb 12, 2025•33 min
Tony Hiss is the author of fifteen books, including the award-winning The Experience of Place. He was a staff writer at The New Yorker for more than thirty years, was a visiting scholar at New York University for twenty-five years, and has lectured around the world. In this episode of Nature Revisited, Tony discusses his latest work Rescuing The Planet - Protecting Half The Land To Heal The Earth. Covering topics including the vast Boreal Forest, global animal tracking, the origin of the Appalac...
Feb 11, 2025•39 min
Christopher J. Preston is a writer, public speaker, and environmental philosopher based in Missoula, Montana. His new book Tenacious Beasts takes an inspiring look at wildlife species that are defying the odds and teaching important lessons about how to share a planet. In this episode of Nature Revisited, Christopher talks about an optimistic future with wildlife, envisioning a fresh way to live alongside the natural world in the Anthropocene age. Touching on different facets of ecological resto...
Feb 03, 2025•51 min
The author of more than 20 books, Dr. Vandana Shiva is an Indian scholar, environmental activist, food sovereignty advocate, ecofeminist and anti-globalization writer. In this episode of Nature Revisited, Dr. Shiva lays out the emergency we all face: extinction, climate havoc and the global food crisis. Our future, Shiva argues, lies in following the ecological laws of the earth by de-colonising, decreasing food miles, de-industrialising and de-globalizing food systems. A future sustained by bio...
Jan 28, 2025•30 min
Eiren Caffall is an award-winning writer and musician whose writing on loss and nature, oceans and extinction has appeared in numerous publications. In this episode of Nature Revisited, Caffall talks about her recent first novel The Mourner’s Bestiary, a literary memoir on loss and chronic illness, as well as a meditation on grief and survival told through the stories of animals in collapsing marine ecosystems. Caffall carries a family legacy of two hundred years of genetic kidney disease, raisi...
Jan 20, 2025•29 min
Steven Hawley is an environmental journalist who writes about rivers, dams, and the ecological impacts they have on salmonids in the American West. He is the author of Cracked: The Future of Dams in a Hot, Chaotic World (2023), Recovering a Lost River (2011), and the writer and co-producer of an award-winning documentary, Dammed to Extinction (2019). In this 100th episode of Nature Revisited, Steven walks us through the history of extensive, misguided dam building in the United States and the re...
Jan 20, 2025•43 min
Founded in 1995, The Wildlands Conservancy is dedicated to preserving the beauty and biodiversity of the earth and providing programs so that children may know the wonder and joy of nature. TWC has established the largest nonprofit nature preserve system on the US West Coast, open to the public, and encompassing nearly 200,000 acres of diverse landscapes. In this episode of Nature Revisited we meet Executive Director Frazier Haney who explains the founding and mission of TWC, as well as its core...
Jan 13, 2025•38 min
Amy Tan is an American author best known for her novel The Joy Luck Club (1989) as well as other novels, short story collections, children's books, and a memoir. Tan is the recipient of the National Humanities Medal, among other awards, and her writing has been praised for its bravery in exploring both the personal struggles and triumphs of immigrant families. In this episode of Nature Revisited, Tan discusses her latest work The Backyard Bird Chronicles. What initially began as a way to find re...
Jan 06, 2025•33 min
John Perlin is a lecturer, consultant, and the author of several scientific/historical books including 'A Forest Journey: Wood and Civilization', published by Harvard University press as one of its "One-Hundred Great Books" and a "Classic in Science and World History." In this episode of Nature Revisited, John takes us back in time to discover how wood was the foundation upon which most societies were built. With wood serving as the basis of metallurgy, ceramics, architecture, the construction o...
Dec 30, 2024•26 min
Patrick Dougherty is an award-winning American environmental artist best known for his sculptures and installations constructed with sticks and saplings. Over his decades-long career he has constructed over 300 works across the United States and abroad. In this episode of Nature Revisited, Patrick describes his works and the personal history of his artistic career, his sources of inspiration, as well as the unusual large-scale, temporary characteristics of his outdoor installations which invite ...
Dec 23, 2024•26 min
Jared Rosenbaum is a botanist, native plant grower, certified ecological restoration practitioner, and co-owner of Wild Ridge Plants LLC in New Jersey. He has extensive experience in stewardship of natural communities and is known for his lively workshops on plant ecology, restoration, and the cultural uses of wild plant foods and medicines. In this episode of Nature Revisited, Jared talks about discovering the wonders of nature after moving to rural New Jersey and committing himself to the stud...
Dec 16, 2024•34 min
Mark J. Easter is an ecologist, researcher, and author of more than fifty scientific papers and reports related to carbon cycling and the carbon footprint of agriculture, forestry, and other land uses. In this episode of Nature Revisited, Mark offers us a picture of the impact the foods we eat every day have on the earth. From the soil that grows our crops, to the farmers who steward the land, to the workers and grocers who bring the food to our table, the compounding social and environmental im...
Dec 09, 2024•33 min
Lorraine Johnson is a Toronto-based writer, editor, community advocate and cultivation activist. Her work focuses on people and communities growing plants, ecological health, and connection to nature and to each other. Her recent series of talks entitled 'Unsettling The Garden' addresses arguments raised by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission report (of Canada) and is the topic of this episode. As the report emphasizes, "Reconciliation between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Canadians, from an...
Dec 02, 2024•34 min
Leigh Ann Henion is the bestselling author of Phenomenal + Night Magic: Adventures Among Glowworms, Moon Gardens, and other Marvels of the Dark. Her writing has appeared in Smithsonian, The Washington Post, and Oxford American, among other publications. In this episode of Nature Revisited, Leigh Ann invites us to reset our relationship with the night and open our eyes and minds to a parallel world that comes alive in darkness. From the physiological effects of the absence of light itself, to the...
Nov 22, 2024•29 min
Camille T. Dungy is an award-winning poet, author and professor with an interest in the intersections between literature, environmental action, history, and culture. Her latest book, 'Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden' recounts the seven-year odyssey to diversify her garden in the predominantly white community of Fort Collins, Colorado. In this episode of Nature Revisited, Camille discusses a range of topics including the origins of her unusual nature book, influences on her relationshi...
Nov 07, 2024•37 min
Jeffrey H Ryan is an author, adventurer, photographer, and historian. He has written several books about his outdoor exploits, his fascination with hiking trails, and the people and places found just off the beaten path. In this episode of Nature Revisited, Jeffrey returns once again to share his 'Ode To An Old Pine' - an autobiographical recounting of formative experiences within (and about) nature, with a massive ancient pine tree acting as a symbolic pillar and centerpiece of those experience...
Nov 04, 2024•22 min
John Navazio was a breeder of genetically-resilient, open-pollinated leafy greens and root crops for regenerative farming practices. He also authored The Organic Seed Grower, a comprehensive manual for the serious vegetable grower. His work focused on developing varieties with robust growth, broad resistance to disease and environmental stress, and superior culinary quality. In this episode of Nature Revisited, those who knew John best pay tribute to the life of a truly passionate and inspiring ...
Nov 04, 2024•33 min
Yolonda Youngs is an Associate Professor of Geography and Environmental Studies at CSU San Bernardino and a dedicated scholar, teacher, researcher, and leader. Her expertise lies within national parks and protected areas, environmental policy, conservation of natural resources, and cultural landscapes. In this episode of Nature Revisited, Yolonda traces the idea of the Grand Canyon as an icon and the ways people came to know it through popular imagery and visual media. She reminds us of the shif...
Oct 28, 2024•32 min
Ursula Goodenough is a Professor of Biology Emerita at Washington University in St. Louis, and serves as president of the Religious Naturalist Association. She authored the textbook Genetics and the best-selling book The Sacred Depths of Nature. She has presented the paradigm of the Religious Naturalist Orientation and the Epic of Evolution in numerous venues around the world. In this episode of Nature Revisited, Ursula describes what it means to be a Religious Naturalist. By first establishing ...
Oct 21, 2024•32 min
Cynthia Jurs is a dharma teacher (Dharmacharya) in the Order of Interbeing of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, and in recognition of her dedication in carrying out the Earth Treasure Vase practice, she was made an honorary lama in the Vajrayana tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. In this episode of Nature Revisited, Cynthia recounts a fateful meeting with a venerated Lama in Nepal whose formidable assignment sent her on a thirty year pilgrimage into diverse communities and ecosystems with holy vessels to ...
Oct 14, 2024•29 min
After graduating college, Jackson Newman discovered and read 'A Sand County Almanac' by Aldo Leopold, and immediately felt compelled to join the Aldo Leopold Foundation. He was awarded a fellowship, and spent a year in Sand County, Wisconsin's 'Slough', writing two articles for the Foundation about land ethics and conservation. These two articles, titled 'The Backwash of the River Progress' and 'The Guiding Virtues of the Land Ethic' are the basis of this episode's discussion on land conservatio...
Oct 07, 2024•26 min
Obi Kaufmann is an American naturalist, writer, and illustrator. Among the books he has authored are The California Field Atlas, a guide to the state's ecology and geography, and most recently The State Of Fire - Why California Burns. In this episode of Nature Revisited, Kaufmann describes the ancient relationship between humans and fire as part of California's natural history, dispelling the widespread misinformation surrounding the nature and effects of large-scale wildfires, and placing them ...
Sep 30, 2024•33 min
Vítor da Silva is an indigenous-rights researcher, ethnographer and storyteller. He has a background in anthropology, human rights, and is a trained criminal investigator. He has conducted fieldwork with different indigenous communities around the world including: the Maasai tribe in Kenya, the nomadic Changpa people in the Indian Himalayas, and the Noke Kuin people in the Brazilian Amazon. In this episode of Nature Revisited, Vítor recounts pivotal childhood events that led him to reject the st...
Sep 23, 2024•45 min
Peter Matthiessen (1927 – 2014) was an American novelist, naturalist, wilderness writer, environmental activist, and zen teacher whose works dealt with the destructive effects of encroaching technology on preindustrial cultures and the natural environment. He is the only American writer to win The National Book Award in both nonfiction (The Snow Leopard) and fiction (Shadow Country). In this episode of Nature Revisited we meet Peter's son Alex Matthiessen – a distinguished environmentalist in hi...
Sep 16, 2024•36 min
Sara Dykman made history when she became the first person to bicycle alongside monarch butterflies on their storied annual migration—a round-trip adventure through three countries and over 10,000 miles. Her book Bicycling with Butterflies recounts this incredible, nearly nine-month odyssey. In this episode of Nature Revisited, Sara talks about being drawn to animals as a child into adulthood, how she became enchanted by monarchs, the evolution of her experiences into a book, and how all of us ca...
Sep 09, 2024•32 min
Gary Paul Nabhan is an agricultural ecologist, ethnobotanist, and award-winning author whose work focuses primarily on the plants and cultures of the desert American Southwest, including the book The Nature of Desert Nature. In this episode of Nature Revisited, Gary re-introduces us to the possibilities of what a desert is and can be, challenging our traditional notions. Filled with sights, sounds, scents, and wildlife systems one wouldn't think possible, Gary reveals how the desert contains wis...
Sep 02, 2024•33 min
Benjamin Vogt is an award-winning author and garden designer based in Lincoln, Nebraska. He owns Monarch Gardens LLC, a prairie garden design company, and speaks nationally on garden design and landscape ethics. His new book 'Prairie Up: An Introduction to Natural Garden Design' is an actionable guide for gardeners and homeowners who wish to not only support wildlife but please the eye. In this episode of Nature Revisited, Ben talks about his passion for prairie, why prairie is so important, and...
Aug 26, 2024•30 min
Paul Bierman is professor of environmental science at the University of Vermont, where he develops methods to understand ice and date rocks. His findings have been published in Science and Nature and in his recent book When The Ice Is Gone. In this episode of Nature Revisited, Bierman reveals a startling discovery about Greenland's rapidly melting ice sheet - it has melted naturally before, hundreds of thousands of years ago... Changes in Greenland due to a warming earth are already reverberatin...
Aug 19, 2024•32 min
