October 2012

Thanks to a whole bunch of remarkable individuals and months of hard work, a very special group of people were able to give some kids in Vancouver the chance to speak about their passions in a TEDx talk at Telus World of Science. I was thrilled to be a presenter at this event and in fact it’s the reason I didn’t write a post here for five months – I was practicing my TED talk! I had watched a lot of TED talks over the years but never imagined having the chance to do one myself. It was an awesome experience. The talks were all broadcast on-line and as soon as an edited version is available it will be posted here. Click on the image below to see all the speakers who attended.

“Wetlands provide a vital link between water and land and important benefits to people and the environment.  Wetlands help regulate water levels within watersheds; improve water quality; reduce flood and storm damage; provide important fish and wildlife habitat; support fishing and other recreational activities; and provide inspiration. Wetlands are natural wonderlands of great value.” (http://wetlandslive.pwnet.org/)

Last month I was part of a distance learning broadcast from Boundary Bay near Vancouver Airport. The program was shown live all over the world and questions from students were sent in and answered on air. It was a fantastic experience and a great education for everyone involved. I never realized how much work goes into making a show like this – it made filmmaking look easy compared to shooting live. If you want to learn more about Wetlands and why they are so important, you can watch the show here

Rehearsal day

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My friend Kenny Ballentine is a documentary filmmaker from Northern California. He is in the process of making a film called Nature Kids. The film is going to be about all the amazing things people are doing to reconnect children to nature. Please visit this website for a sneak peek. He visited me this summer to shoot some footage for the film – take a look!

One of the really cool things about technology is how it gets people connected to others who share things in common. In this case, another blogger who loves nature and art got in touch with me and wanted to feature a piece of my art on her website. The first image is Denise Dahn’s art and the second is my jellyfish that she used in her blog.

Pacific Sea Nettle by Miranda Andersen

My friend Konstantin Dimopoulos, who paints trees blue to bring attention to global deforestation, has been busy setting up his Blue Trees outdoor exhibits in places as close by as Seattle and as far away as New York and Europe. His most recent efforts have centred in Houston, Texas where funds are being raised to help support the project.

I’m sometimes very surprised and very honoured by the people who want to interview me and end up writing wonderfully complementary things.  This is from a Canadian publication called Alternatives Journal, written by Chelsea Gutzman.  Thank you for the kind words Chelsea.

To read Chelsea’s article just click on the picture below.

Alternatives Journal

I have been lucky enough to have been selected as a finalist for a Me to We Award in their search around Canada for six people dedicated to making a difference in the lives of others and thinking we before me! My nomination is in the Youth for Action (12 and under) category. I am the only nominee in B.C. You can go to www.metowe.com/awards to vote. To win I have to get the most on-line votes between May 24th and June 8th. This is an incredible opportunity to win $5,000.00 for the charity of my choice, which would be a local fish hatchery where I started volunteering four years ago. It was at the hatchery that I learned the importance of preserving and protecting nature and the living things that call it home.

This is a chance for me to go from “me to we” by giving back to my community and the environment that I am so passionate about protecting. So don’t delay VOTE TODAY!

If you want to find out more about Me to We and their efforts to make global change visit http://www.metowe.com/

Last month I went on a vacation to one of the Hawaiian Islands. Being there reminded me of how we should try to use more of our free time to get out in nature – even when we’re on holidays – because nature is way more exciting than any kind of technology, amusement ride or hotel room. I snorkeled with fish of every size and colour, I ziplined through the Hawaiian rainforests where sugar plantations used to cover the fields and I watched monk seals sleep on the beaches for hours and hours and hours. Did you know there are only about 1,100 monk seals left – in the world!

We can protect our own local nature but we can also help protect other people’s “backyards” and neighbourhoods when we visit other places and enjoy their plant life and animals.  We are truly a global village and we need to help each other. Any time we support nature, even if it’s nature somewhere else in the world, we are helping to protect nature for everyone. We don’t need to travel hundreds of miles to enjoy nature or spend a bunch of money. You can explore your own backyard, neighbourhood or park.

We shouldn’t have to go on vacation to give up our electronics for awhile. No cellphones, no texts, no emails, no computers and no TV (okay maybe just a little because I’m no allowed to watch TV except on weekends). We can dig in the sand, birdwatch, hike, identify animals and plants we see in front of us with the ones in our guide books and learn about the threats to nature at home and beyond. One of the things technology is good for is spreading the word about things we need to save and protect.  It can educate us. Technology is part of our world now whether we like it or not so let’s find ways to use it to help nature.  I remember going on a bird walk with a naturalist who brought along his ipod with different bird calls on it. He would play the birds’ songs and we’d have to identify them while we walked – how cool is that?! What a great way to use technology and enjoy nature at the same time!

So maybe my Dad had a video camera strapped to his helmet when we zipped through the trees but it didn’t distract us from the experience of ziplining and enjoying the jungle below. The video camera preserved it and will always remind us not just of a forest so different from our own at home but of a time we bonded as a family, facing our fears, laughing, screaming with excitement and sharing time, outdoors and getting educated about nature a world away from us.

A painting of one of my favourite fruits (raspberries) in one of my favourite places (my grandparents’ house in Westbank). It’s starting to feel like Spring.

Youth are uniquely equipped to change the world because they dream. They choose not to accept what is, but to imagine what might be.    Desmond Tutu

Recently I was invited by my friend Ava, to visit her elementary school and talk about coral reefs and the work of Mary Hagedorn at the University of Hawaii. I love to see so much creativity in young minds and see how they are so eager to learn and try to help the environment.  I love to see people like Ava wanting to make a change. She was so enthusiastic about my environmental work that she wants to try things too like visit the hatchery in my neighbourhood. To see her passion at such a young age is really exciting. I think the hatchery is a great place for her to learn more about her local environment and maybe she’ll become even more motivated to help. I hope there are more kids out there like Ava who are taking one step forward to becoming good earth stewards. Sometimes before kids can get in touch with nature, nature has to be brought to them. Once they fall in love with it, they’ll want to discover those things in their own natural habitats and then a whole new world will open up to them. Ava’s classmates seemed to understand how important our environment is and their teacher was definitely a great resource for them. Their next step would be to explore the outdoors in their free time and with their families to find what inspires them.