This past week has been a whirlwind of chaos and new faces and constant movement, so I honestly do appreciate this blog as an opportunity to reflect and sit and let my thoughts flow for a while. I have appreciated the proximity to nature that this experience has
afforded me so far, the sheer number of pictures of animals on my phone is insane, 100s of species that I will probably never see again in my life unless I come back here. And it really has sparked my wonder for nature, but that wonder never really went away over the course of my life. I am having the same reactions to these animals that I would in Bloomington if I saw a new or cool bug. I am not afforded the time nor ability to dive deeply into these organisms as I would like to, which would make me probably more engaged than I am right now. As I continue to grow older and more experienced in how human x environmental interactions function, it only seems like we are destined to move away from nature as much as possible. We are to leave all that we can as untouched as possible, and this is reflected by the rules of the research station, which I would categorize as “Look, don’t touch,” with touching only restricted to those undergoing advanced research. There is a distinct separation between human and nature on a conceptual level that I do not know how much I agree with. I do not hunt (I would like to at some point), but the idea of being an active participant in the cycles of nature is a tempting one for raising
genuine concern about the state of nature’s degradation. The only reason we have pheasant and deer and ducks as common as they are in the U.S. is because conservation groups, primarily hunters, have protected them diligently and set quotas for maintaining healthy populations over time. I would argue those people care far more about their local woods and environment directly than someone that has been raised in a city all their life and wants to protect the environment because it is something that is correct and right, or logically good for the planet. There is a disconnection that is important to break before we can even start protecting the beautiful biodiversity of nature.
Nature involves death and cycling and messiness and constant wars for survival that people, I think, simply don’t get close enough to. This experience is a very helpful reminder of what nature is physically, but the conceptual separation reminds me that there are those that don’t ever get the physical reminder of nature, and can easily forget why nature is important. And this is so hard to do; urbanization is so prevalent and people
can make their entire livings ignoring the existence of any kind of external environment from the concrete that surrounds them. Why would a real estate broker realistically need to care about the environment? Or a tenured mathematician at a university, or a rapper, or a construction worker. I think that having real green spaces around us in cities are incredibly important, but they are sanitized so heavily. There is an inherent discomfort that comes with being in real contact with nature, since it does not want you there. Every part of nature is trying to win for itself, and if you are not directly benefiting it, then there is hardly a chance it will directly benefit you. On the other hand, the feeling of understanding this and moving alongside nature and within it, despite the biting flies or venomous snakes, gives you an idea of the ultra-competitive system that creates so much beautiful variation and important ecosystem services. Here especially we have been experiencing this firsthand, ticks are common, venomous snakes and insects are seen with regularity, and there is a non 0% chance of getting a botfly implanted under your skin. We are forced to remain focused and diligent and aware of nature around us, and we are forced to participate within it.
Back to how this goes back to the program itself, we have spent a lot of time getting to know each other and the various hikes and outdoor experiences, especially the night hike, have cumulatively gotten us exposed to nature in an uncomfortable way. Despite this, I still feel people are not exposed enough, and people have focused a lot on each other and the interactions they have built with each other rather than their interactions with nature. This is not a bad thing, socialization makes us more comfortable and allows us to approach things in a more open way, since we feel more secure even when we take risks. On the pineapple farm trip, I and a couple
others cracked open a coconut to have a snack for the trip, and more people than I expected wanted to try the coconut and ate it despite it not coming from a store. I feel that the social bond formed between all of us allowed people to go out of their comfort zone a bit and do something that would be considered strange somewhere else. Same thing at the banana plantation, we smelled and tasted strange plants, and helped cut down a banana tree. It’s just that at the preserve itself, there is such a commitment to watching nature that direct interaction is almost taboo. That being said, the involvement in watching nature is as close and intimate as it can be. The ability of the guides to mimic bird calls or spot things I would never in a million years see is insane, and shows a lot of harmony and understanding of nature. Just for those who aren’t constantly around and learning about nature, experiences like this need to leave an impact. We are about to start our research projects, so that should help a lot as well. I am excited to get out there and start seeing what kind of organisms there are in the leaf litter. I hope I don’t get stung by a bullet ant or bitten by a snake, but I’m open to just about anything else.
To uncomfortable experiences,
-Kieran
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