to know the land byron

The Eramosa River Valley is the place where I live, play and work. Having spent roughly the last 20 years along the banks of the river, sitting, running, riding, and learning about the lives lived along the shores and walls, there are many days where I just sit back and realize how much I love this place.

When I heard about a group of folks who were working to conserve the land as a national urban park, I admit I got a little wary. Who were they? Do they care about this place as much as I do? What is their motive? How will this change my relationship with this place? Will it change the landscape of the valley? How will the river be affected?

I ended up doing some research into the campaign and decided the best thing to do would be to just reach out and ask about an interview… and nearly right away, Brian Skerrett, spokesperson for National Urban Park Guelph got back to me, and we made the plan.

Brian enthusiastically answered my questions and helped me understand the hope and scope of the proposed park and taught me a lot about the land I love. I realized that he too really appreciates this place and wants to see the valley cared for and protected. The National Urban Park Guelph folks are really focused on building community awareness and community participation in developing this park idea, and doing so in a good way.

I asked a lot of questions throughout our interview, including some I had never thought about before.. How do you build a national park located in the middle of the growing city? How can a park be a tool for healing and reconciliation? How can an old prison become a tool for social change and the protection of a beloved of a river valley?

Hopefully this episode helps build the possibility of a healing place to visit, sit and learn to fall deeper in love with the river I long to know more.

To learn more : UrbanParkGuelph.comUrban Park Guelph on InstagramUrban Park Guelph on Facebook

This past weekend I got to participate in my second track and sign evaluation with Tracker Certification North America and one of the most interesting things I learned was some new Earthworm sign which triggered the thought… I really don’t know much about Earthworms (class Oligochaeta), but I want to start digging in.

I ended up crawling through all of my books to see what I had on the topic, but there wasn’t much. A couple paragraphs here, a photo or two there, but there was enough to tickle my curiosity. They are a slippery group of species to distinguish but there are at least some common characteristics across them.

Really this is a good reminder that we often take some of the more common species for granted, ignoring the usual, rather than deepening that already accessible and immediately present relationship.

Listen to the show if you want to learn more, too. These worms have a lot of interesting things going for them.

Some resources I used include:Peterson Field Guide to Eastern Forests by John C. Kricher and Gordon Morrison. Houghton Mifflin, 1988.Nature’s Year by Drew Monkman. Dundurn 2012.Tracks and Sign of Insect and Other Invertebrates by Charley Eiseman and Noah Charney. Stackpole Books, 2010. A Guide to Common Freshwater Invertebrates of North America by J. Reese Vashell, Jr.

I have been thinking a lot about the diversity of sexuality and gender in nature. Wondering about how different animals, plants, and fungi present sexually. How do different species mate? What characteristics are considered belonging to one sex, but in reality, may be shared by many sexes? Many sexes? How many are there? Why do some species have thousands of sexes, and some species only have one?

Maxwell Matchim (they/them) has been asking some similar questions but through a different lens, thinking “about the ways in which Trans people exist between worlds, much like amphibians. The way in which Trans people change their bodies over time as means of survival.” And with these questions, they have been making a documentary. When my pal Miki told me about this, my first thought was “this is a conversation I am looking for”. When I reached out, Maxwell was game and we set up the interview.

We talked about Maxwell’s experience so far in producing the documentary, unisexual Ambystoma salamanders, gynandromorphism (having characteristics of two sexes) in birds, classification of species which might not actually make sense, and so many other queer natural histories and how we might relate to them in the context of the present social political world.

This is a conversation I would love to be having all of the time, looking at the parts of life which just don’t abide by the dominant narratives. If you’re into that, you’ll like the show.



To learn more:Understanding Myself as an Amphibian gofundmeMaxwell Matchim’s instagramQueer Forest Club instagramFeminist Bird Club instagramBiological Exuberance by Bruce BagemihlQueer Ducks (and Other Animals) by Eliot SchreferEvolution's Rainbow Diversity, Gender, and Sexuality in Nature and People by Joan RoughgardenHow Far the Light Reaches : A Life in Ten Sea Creatures by Sabrina Imbler

When I look into the authors who wrote most of the naturalist, ecology, natural history books on my shelves, I mostly see white people, especially the older books. When I do interviews with folks in the field, I still find a majority of those who I am talking with are white folks. I wholly recognize that is on me in a lot of ways, but I also recognize that historically, access to these fields has been gatekept by and for white folks, mostly men.

When I come across initiatives that challenge that dynamic, I get stoked. When I find out they are taking students out to some of the places I have and continue to go to to learn about the natural world, I get really stoked, so much so, that I reached out to see about an interview.

Alannah Grant and Jonathan Chu are graduate students in Integrative Biology at Guelph. They are also the University of Guelph liaisons for FREED where they lead the organization and fund-raising (amongst other things) for UoG students to participate in FREED excursions. I wanted to ask them about recent movements to bring awareness to and correct the lack of representation of Black, Indigenous, and people of colour in environmental sciences, how they organize themselves, what is working and what they do on these excursions?

I am always excited when the things I love are made more accessible, so more folks can appreciate, participate, teach and learn. We all live on this wild planet and we should all be able to take part in the profound experiences of exploring, examining and connecting with the land, on the land. This is what FREED helps folks do.



To learn more : FREED websiteFREED instagram

Ok, so this is weird, but I love death.

Dying, decay, decomposition, breakdown.. synonyms that sort of warm my heart in a strange kinda way. When I think of death I think of nutrients breaking down into small parts, making it easier for other things to consume and to continue to grow and live. I think of how death makes all life possible. How without consuming things like veggies, grains, fruits, mushrooms, and maybe even meats, all things which were once alive, we could never live. I am grateful to death so that I may live. I too am grateful to those things which help break things down. The decomposers which turn trees into soil and enable all the plants to grow, soil bacteria to thrive and create suitable substrates to all the fungal bodies in the dirt.

Today’s show is all about those fungal forms which help breakdown trees into consumable soil nutrients; white rot and brown rot. I have talked about them before on the show, but I wanted to dig in a little bit more. I hope you enjoy it!



To Learn More : Field Guide to Tree Diseases of Ontario (pdf)Polypores and Similar Fungi of Eastern and Central North America by Alan E. Bessette, Dianna G. Smith, and Arleen R Bessette. University of Texas Press, 2021.Plant Pathology by George N. Agrios. Harcourt Academic Press, 1997. Disgustipated by Tool

This passed weekend I was able to go out tracking with folks at Wiijindamaan where I once again notice the Poplar Vagabond Aphid Gall. And last week, I was having another conversation with folks about the Spruce Pineapple Adelgid Gall. Galls persist through the Winter and into Spring when many of the insects which have created them will begin to emerge.

Since now is the time to be keeping an eye out for the insect emergences, I figured I would share my excitement for these two galls. Not only are they beautiful and unusual, but they also highlight my growing feelings on what I call “biology 202”, a deep appreciation for the complexity of life beyond our cultural assumptions. It’ll make more sense when you hear it.



To Learn More : Petiolegall Aphids : Swollen or disfigured leaves of poplars (pdf)First record of antipredator behavior in the gall-forming aphid Mordwilkoja vagabundaPoplar Vagabond Gall Aphid (Aphididae: Mordwilkoja) video on youtube.com by Carl BarrentineInfluentialPoints.com entry on Mordwilkoja vagabundaLife History and Gall Development of Mordwilkoja vagabunda (Homoptera: Aphidae) on Populus deltoidesLife History and Gall Development of Mordwilkoja vagabunda (Homoptera: Aphidae) on Populus deltoides. Part II—Gall DevelopmentThe Insects and Arachnids of Canada part 22 : The Genera of the Aphids of Canada - Homoptera : Aphidoidea and Phylloxeroidea : pg 472 (pdf)Influential Points entry on Adelges abietisINTRA- AND INTER-CROWN DISTRIBUTION OF THE EASTERN SPRUCE GALL ADELGID, ADELGES ABIETIS (L.), ON YOUNG WHITE SPRUCE