Getting back to our roots as everyday scientists: Permaculture.
Terrie Miller is an amateur naturalist, citizen scientist, permaculturist and writer who lives in Northern Calfornia. She’s the publisher of the Citizen Science Projects Weblog. (You can find more of her writing at Grinning Jaguar.)
She’s also our first guest blogger! We asked Terrie to tell us more about permaculture, a fascinating citizen scientist opportunity:
“Permaculture is a design practice and way of life that seeks to establish human settlements that work as natural systems. It combines growing and harvesting food, soil management, natural building, watershed management, forestry, animal systems, intentional community building and other skills, all towards living in a way that’s sustainable.”
You can read Terrie’s full Permaculture article here.
Terrie’s a big fan of this, and other, citizen science projects as cures to ”nature-deficit disorder” (our disconnect from nature):
“Like many of my hawk watching friends, I joined Hawk Watch not for the science, but for the love of hawks. We questioned our own data, and discussed how it was influenced by factors like weather, resident vs. migrating hawks, and different observers. I began to see how citizen science was connecting us to the practice of science, but also helping to connect us back to nature. My experience as a citizen scientist was having a positive impact on my mental and emotional health.”
So how do we get from hawks and citizen science to food and the sustainability of our future? Find out in Terrie’s thoughtful and enlightening article, here. (Let us know if you decide to give permaculture a shot! And, if anyone in Philadelphia is interested in pursuing this with me, let’s talk.)
