Teresa King

Due to the recent cold weather and my misunderstanding that the 4 pictures of animals was only a challenge, I am a few classes late. My apologies.  I was curious what types of plants there were in my backyard and this is what iNaturium came up with!  A bunch of weeds lol. They are pretty though. & my nosy cat! 

                             On Thursday, we watched the movie Before the Flood , produced by Leonardo DiCaprio. It was a thorough and eye-opening exploration of climate change and its impact on our planet. In the film, DiCaprio embarks on a global journey, visiting locations where the effects of climate change are highly visible, from melting ice caps in the Arctic to deforestation in Indonesia caused by the palm oil industry's expansion. He interviews scientists, world leaders, and activists, emphasizing the urgent need for collective action to combat global warming before it is too late. One part of the documentary that I found the most striking was how it exposes the political and corporate obstacles that prevent meaningful change, like scientists being paid to say climate change is a hoax and name-dropping the Koch family. I was surprised by the film's boldness in calling out the big corporations and oi...

Day 1 at the Fort Worth Nature Center was a success! The drive out there was effortless and we kicked things off with a fascinating meet and greet with Dog, the alligator, followed by a safety lesson on our tools and objectives for the day.  From there, we explored the refuge, spotted bison and fed the prairie dogs, and got to work cutting back brush along a fence line.  An interesting thing I learned was that male bison horns are straighter while female bison horns tend to curve inward more.  I also thought it was interesting that prairie dogs eat sweet potatoes.  Though next time, I will definitely bring more layers because it was chillier than I expected! Overall, I thought it was a very rewarding and exciting start and I can't wait for what's next. 

            On January 23rd, we discussed excerpts from Aldo Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac as an introduction to environmental literature. In the Thinking Like a Mountain section, Leopold explains how a wolf howl carries different meanings for various creatures: fear for the deer it hunts, opportunity for the scavenging coyote, and alarm for the hunter. Yet, as Leopold writes, "only the mountain has lived long enough to listen objectively to the howl of a wolf." Unlike the other actors, only the mountain perceives the broader ecological balance rather than immediate survival concerns.       Leopold recounts a pivotal moment when he assisted in killing a wolf pack and watched "a fierce green fire dying" in the eyes of an old wolf. He initially thought eliminating the wolves would create a hunter's paradise. Instead, he observed the aftermath of extirpating the wolves is deer overgrazing the mountain and e...

  After class, I walked around the Trinity River, pausing at a quiet pond to soak in the beautiful weather.  It was a great way to unwind after a long week.