Center for Environmental Research Lunchtime Lecture by Kevin M. Anderson

2018 Lunchtime Lectures theme -

Nature and the American Mind

 

February 2018 Lunchtime Lecture -

Pastoral Nature: Agrarianism and Rural America

In 1785, Thomas Jefferson famously asserted that, “Cultivators of the earth are the most valuable citizens. They are the most vigorous, the most independent, the most virtuous, & they are tied to their country & wedded to its liberty & interests by the most lasting bands,” and he wanted to see America transformed into a democratic pastoral arcadia of farms and ranches. This pastoral nature is the competing concept of American nature focused on farmland and ranchland in contrast to wilderness. Moreover, as American cities grew, rural life and nature in the countryside were seen as a cure for over-urbanized Americans who needed a weekend in the country to recover from the stress of city life. Today, the American small family farm is still an idealized place of encounter and engagement with rural nature, best championed by Wendell Berry, who, like Jefferson, sees small farms as a cure for social problems and modern society’s mismanagement of nature. Thus, there is great cultural tension and a historic divide in the geography of the American mind between wilderness and pastoral nature. Join us as we explore the history of this idea of pastoral nature and its role in shaping contemporary agrarianism in America.

Presented four times in February:

Feb 14 Wednesday NOON to 1pm at PARD Senior Activity Center
Lamar+29^th St at 2874 Shoal Crest Ave, South Room
 

Feb 15 Thursday NOON to 1pm at One Texas Center

505 Barton Springs Road + South First Street, Room 325

Feb 20 Tuesday NOON to 1pm at the Center for Environmental Research – Hornsby Bend - 2210 South FM 973

Feb 28 Wednesday NOON to 1pm at University of Texas

Norman Hackerman Building (NHB). 100 E 24th St, Austin TX, 78712 Room 1.720

 

So much better than the High Line, the Parisian Gem

More at Slate This Hidden Parisian Gem Is 20 Miles Long, and Mostly Off-Limits

The CER Lunchtime Lectures 2018

By Dr. Kevin M. Anderson, AW Center for Environmental Research

Nature and the American Mind

 

In 1967, the historian Roderick Nash published a foundational book about the American idea of wilderness entitled Wilderness and the American Mind. However, the American Mind contains more concepts of nature than just wilderness, and so, in 2018, we will explore the many aspects of Nature and the American Mind. This is a complex story that threads through our history and shapes beliefs, policies, science, and management practices today. We will begin the year by exploring four main Concepts of American Nature – wild nature, pastoral nature, urban nature, and the newly emerging concept of resilient nature. Through the summer, we will look at Science and American Nature – how the development of American natural history, biology, ecology, and environmental science has been shaped by these concepts of nature and the unique context of the New World. We will finish 2018 by exploring the history of the Management of American Nature - the early battle between preservationists and conservationists, the past and future of American agriculture, new ecological ideas about cities and urban design, and the future of nature…or its demise.

 

Concepts of American Nature
January                Wild Nature: The New World and Wilderness
February              Pastoral Nature: Agrarianism and Rural America
March                   Urban Nature: Perspectives on Nature and the City
April                       Resilient Nature: Discordant Harmony and New Ecology
 
Science and American Nature
May                       American Natural History: Thoreau and New World Nature
June                      American Biology: Natives, Immigrants, and Humboldt’s Children
July                        American Ecology: Stability, Integrity, and Leopold’s Legacy
August                  American Environmental Science: Carson and the Politics of Nature
 
Management of American Nature          
September         Saving American Nature: Preservation, Conservation, and the Wild
October               Farming with Nature: Sustainable Agriculture and the American Family Farm
November          The Ecological City: Sustainability, Ecology, and Urban Metabolism
December           The End of Nature: Prospective Ecology, Environmental Ethics, and the Anthropocene

Time: Noon to 1pm 

Free and Open to the Public – bring a lunch and learn

Locations and Day of the Month –

Every 2^nd Wednesday – Senior Activity Center-Lamar (SAC-Lamar) at 2874 Shoal Crest Ave, South Room

Every 3^rd Tuesday - Austin Water Center for Environmental Research (CER) at Hornsby Bend

Every 4^th Wednesday- University of Texas Norman Hackerman Building (NHB). 100 E 24th St

Various Thursdays - One Texas Center (OTC) at 505 Barton Springs Road and South First Street, Room 325

Full Schedule online at Austin Water CER website

Urban beasts: how wild animals have moved into cities

An article in the Guardian today, but, of course, "wild" animals have long inhabited cities. They mean the new comers...big beasts, predators that might eat us. Making the city a new wilderness.


They report "Rome has a problem with wild boar; wolves mingle with surburban Germans; mountain lions frequent LA. All around the world, city life seems increasingly conducive to wildlife"


More here: urban beasts

All the CER Lunchtime Lecture power point presentations 2011 to April 2017 - now online

Previous Lunchtime Lectures archive page.

cer-previous-lunchtime-lectures

 

And join us for the May Lunchtime Lecture -

 

May 10 Wednesday NOON to 1pm at The PARD Senior Activity Center-Lamar 29^th St + 2874 Shoal Crest Ave, South Room

• Center for Environmental Research Lunchtime Lecture by Kevin M. Anderson
• 2017 Lunchtime Lectures – Understanding Urban Nature: Ecology, Culture, and the American City
• May 2017 Lunchtime Lecture - Nature in the City: Urban Habitats and the Degradation Myth
• Since the 19th century, books about urban natural history have documented the richness of habitats and diversity of species to be found in American cities. However, traditionally in America, biologists and ecologists study nature in “wildlands” and so view urban nature as degraded and disturbed in comparison. Urban nature worthy of professional study and protection is whatever remnant habitats remain from before the city was built, and the rest is a problem to correct. However, in recent decades, the rapid growth of urban ecology in America has begun to rewrite this simplistic degradation myth into a more complex story of urban biodiversity across a wide range of urban habitats and to rediscover historical books of urban natural history that add more texture to the story.  Join us for a lecture about the past, present, and future of urban natural history.
   
  Repeated twice more in May:
   
  May 16  Tuesday NOON to 1pm at the Center for Environmental Research – Hornsby Bend
• Center for Environmental Research Lunchtime Lecture by Kevin M. Anderson
• May 2017 Lunchtime Lecture - Nature in the City: Urban Habitats and the Degradation Myth
   
  May 18 Thursday NOON to 1pm at One Texas Center 505 Barton Springs Road + South First Street, Room 325
• Center for Environmental Research Lunchtime Lecture by Kevin M. Anderson
• May 2017 Lunchtime Lecture - Nature in the City: Urban Habitats and the Degradation Myth

CER Events May 2017

Austin Water Center for Environmental Research

Austin Water – The University of Texas – Texas A&M University

A Partnership for Urban Ecology and Sustainability: Community, Ecology, Research

located at the Hornsby Bend Biosolids Management Plant

2210 South FM 973, Austin, Texas 78725

Facebook CER Human Events and Activities:  click here for CER on Facebook

May 6  Saturday 8am meet at the CER

• Austin-Bastrop River Corridor Partnership - River Monitoring Trip
• Join Claude Morris and the Travis County Colorado River Monitoring trip for a day on the river monitoring birds and more, and help the Austin-Bastrop River Corridor Partnership learn more about the ecology of the Colorado River.
• Meet at the CER parking lot at 8:00AM
• A river trip to monitor birds and vegetation along the river and you MUST provide your own boat.
• Contact Claude Morris at cgmorris@flash.net to participate
• More about the Austin-Bastrop River Corridor Partnership at the CER website Research, Programs, Partnerships page http://www.austintexas.gov/page/research-projects-partnerships-and-programs
• Check out the Austin-Bastrop River Corridor Partnership Facebook Page for updates and photos from the river monitoring trips www.facebook.com/austinbastroprivercorridor
   
  May 10  Wednesday NOON to 1pm at The PARD Senior Activity Center-Lamar 29^th St + 2874 Shoal Crest Ave, South Room

• Center for Environmental Research Lunchtime Lecture by Kevin M. Anderson
• 2017 Lunchtime Lectures – Understanding Urban Nature: Ecology, Culture, and the American City
• May 2017 Lunchtime Lecture - Nature in the City: Urban Habitats and the Degradation Myth
• Since the 19th century, books about urban natural history have documented the richness of habitats and diversity of species to be found in American cities. However, traditionally in America, biologists and ecologists study nature in “wildlands” and so view urban nature as degraded and disturbed in comparison. Urban nature worthy of professional study and protection is whatever remnant habitats remain from before the city was built, and the rest is a problem to correct. However, in recent decades, the rapid growth of urban ecology in America has begun to rewrite this simplistic degradation myth into a more complex story of urban biodiversity across a wide range of urban habitats and to rediscover historical books of urban natural history that add more texture to the story.  Join us for a lecture about the past, present, and future of urban natural history.
   
  May 13 Saturday 7am-11am and 4pm to dark meet at the CER
• Hornsby Bend Bird Observatory Program Monthly Bird Survey – International Migratory Bird Day!
• The HBBO Bird Survey is open to all levels of birder interested in intensive monitoring, although this is not a field trip.  In the morning, we have teams covering different areas of the Hornsby Bend facility, and they count numbers of all birds seen. It is 4 hours of hiking and counting, but lots of fun along the way. We meet again around 11am to tally up the species.  The afternoon involves looking around for species missed that morning, and we go until sundown. More information about the CER HBBO program at www.hornsbybend.org
   
  May 16  Tuesday NOON to 1pm at the Center for Environmental Research – Hornsby Bend
• Center for Environmental Research Lunchtime Lecture by Kevin M. Anderson
• 2017 Lunchtime Lectures – Understanding Urban Nature: Ecology, Culture, and the American City
• May 2017 Lunchtime Lecture - Nature in the City: Urban Habitats and the Degradation Myth
• Since the 19th century, books about urban natural history have documented the richness of habitats and diversity of species to be found in American cities. However, traditionally in America, biologists and ecologists study nature in “wildlands” and so view urban nature as degraded and disturbed in comparison. Urban nature worthy of professional study and protection is whatever remnant habitats remain from before the city was built, and the rest is a problem to correct. However, in recent decades, the rapid growth of urban ecology in America has begun to rewrite this simplistic degradation myth into a more complex story of urban biodiversity across a wide range of urban habitats and to rediscover historical books of urban natural history that add more texture to the story.  Join us for a lecture about the past, present, and future of urban natural history.
   
  May 18  Thursday NOON to 1pm at One Texas Center 505 Barton Springs Road + South First Street, Room 325
• Center for Environmental Research Lunchtime Lecture by Kevin M. Anderson
• 2016 Lunchtime Lectures – The Unity of Nature: The Creation, Discovery, and End of Nature
• May 2017 Lunchtime Lecture - Nature in the City: Urban Habitats and the Degradation Myth
• Since the 19th century, books about urban natural history have documented the richness of habitats and diversity of species to be found in American cities. However, traditionally in America, biologists and ecologists study nature in “wildlands” and so view urban nature as degraded and disturbed in comparison. Urban nature worthy of professional study and protection is whatever remnant habitats remain from before the city was built, and the rest is a problem to correct. However, in recent decades, the rapid growth of urban ecology in America has begun to rewrite this simplistic degradation myth into a more complex story of urban biodiversity across a wide range of urban habitats and to rediscover historical books of urban natural history that add more texture to the story.  Join us for a lecture about the past, present, and future of urban natural history.
   
   May 20   Saturday 730am – 11am at the CER
• HBBO/Travis Audubon Society - Hornsby Bend Monthly Birdwatching Fieldtrip – FREE!
• Meet at the CER 730am, no registration needed – all levels of birder welcomed, an easy morning of walking and learning the birds of Hornsby Bend. Bring binoculars and some water if the weather is warm. More information at www.travisaudubon.org and www.hornsbybend.org
   
  May 27  Saturday 9am – 1pm at the CER
• Ecological Literacy Volunteer Day – Help maintain Hornsby Bend! Did you know that all the Hornsby Bend trails, habitat gardens, and kiosks were built and are maintained by volunteers? If you enjoy birding or walking along the Colorado River here, please join us in maintaining these amenities and supporting public access at Hornsby Bend.
  • Wear work clothes [long pants], hat for shade, and sturdy shoes; bring water and binoculars if interested in birds.
     

In Unlikely Places

Austin’s Hornsby Bend does double duty as a sewage plant and wildlife mecca.

Defying conventional narratives of nature, Hornsby Bend is acclaimed as an award-winning sewage sludge recycling plant and as a mecca for bird-watchers, anglers, river paddlers and nature lovers in general as a Central Texas ecotourism destination on the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Heart of Texas East Wildlife Trail.


Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine has just published an article about my favorite wasteland...




click to link to TPW Magazine article