Practicing Curiosity: the Season 5 Preview

Abigail: 00:06

Welcome to another episode of the Everyday Environment Podcast, where we explore the environment we see every day. And the whole team is here today, so we'll go around a little bit introducing ourselves. Amy, you go first.

Amy: 00:17

Woo hoo. Hopefully, you guys know me, but I'm Amy Lefringhouse. And, of course, you guys know I'm over here on the West side of the state on right on the Mississippi River, but our unit is between the Mississippi and the Illinois Rivers. Natural resources educator, unit based over here, do all kinds of fun programming. I do have a master naturalist group over here.

Amy: 00:41

I just got done doing a couple weeks of junior master naturalist over here on this side of the state. Yeah. Fun times. It's been a busy summer.

Erin: 00:53

Yes. Alright, Erin. Alright. Hi, everyone. Garrett, also a natural resource educator down in Southern Illinois.

Erin: 01:03

Right now, I feel like I have my grass lady hat on so folks may also know me from my grass programs and I'm getting ready for those coming up end of July so it'll be passed when this podcast episode comes out but also in August and then at the Master Naturalist conference so lots of grass ID things coming up that's my world right now. So fun fun times.

Abigail: 01:28

Yes. Erin's our grass lady across the state. Anybody comes in with a grass question, we're just like, don't don't no. Just hand it to Erin. Don't I don't even know what that is.

Amy: 01:41

Absolutely. Wonderful. What about you, Abigail? Who are you?

Abigail: 01:46

Yeah. I'm Abigail Garofalo. I'm the state Master Naturalist coordinator, so I do all things master naturalist. I support the local coordinators who run their local Master Naturalist chapters. And my summer has been fully consumed by the manual, and working on the curriculum, and and rewriting, and and recruiting authors, and things like that.

Abigail: 02:09

And it's been really, really great, and I got to talk to a lot of Master Naturalists this summer about their experience in the program and things. And so, yeah, it's been a joy and a pleasure, and I'm excited to continue on with this season with my Everyday Environment world. So

Amy: 02:25

Absolutely. And we've been doing a lot of Everyday Environment stuff this summer. Yes. So excited.

Abigail: 02:32

Yeah. We've all felt a bit stressed and disjointed, but we've all been doing it. I feel like if we need, like, to write a list of the things we've been doing because this season, I feel like is a little bit our bread and butter, and so it feels like we don't know what we're doing because we've done it for so long. I don't know if that makes sense. Right?

Abigail: 02:51

I've been answering questions about these topics for years in my previous role in Cook County. But anyways, we'll get into that in a few minutes. We're back. Your three favorite natural resource podcasters are here to talk about a new season of Everyday Environment. We kind of already talked about what we've been doing this summer.

Abigail: 03:10

We've all been probably gardening, hopefully slowing down, although I don't think that's the case for all of us.

Erin: 03:17

What is that?

Abigail: 03:19

Yeah. Kinda slow, trying to stay cool, things like that. But we are now in season five of this podcast. Everyday Environment has covered so many different aspects of the natural world. We've learned about specific natural areas.

Abigail: 03:34

We've learned about the wildlife around us. We've addressed different ecological challenges that we're facing like climate change, water shortages, too much water. And so we have a new thing we're talking about this season. So Amy, why don't you tell us a little bit about what we're covering this season?

Amy: 03:53

Yeah. So this season, we are each episode, we are talking about how nature provides us with many solutions to the challenges that we face in our yards, in our backyards, in our front yards, maybe even in our communities, and we just wanted to focus in on solving some of our problems. So you might have, you know, some issue in your yard like a bird's building a nest, you know, in a in a spot where you might not want it, and or, you know, maybe you have too much water in specific areas or whatever. But we really focused in and targeted in on some of the challenges that we have in our yards and kind of explored how how nature has been forever. Right?

Amy: 04:48

Lots and lots of years have been providing solutions that we can maybe look to solve these problems. So it was kind of fun. I mean, yeah, a lot of the times, like Abigail said, we talk about, challenges that we have and kind of spread it out over a whole season, but this time we kind of went like one by one and just dressed an issue and talked about how do we how do we solve these problems and and work with nature instead of working against nature?

Abigail: 05:20

Yeah. It's been really, really neat. I feel like I've learned a lot, and just different ways that we're and this is coming up as a theme throughout the season that we're practicing curiosity. Right? Like, we're being like, okay.

Abigail: 05:34

So this is the problem, but like, why? I believe in like engineering, it's like five why's or something. Like, you don't like, you have a problem, you ask, okay. Well, why is that a problem? Well, it's because of x, y, and z.

Abigail: 05:45

Well, why is x, y, and z happening? Right? And so it just kind of getting to that why deeper and deeper, I think, has been really, really cool to see. So It's kind

Erin: 05:55

of been like taking our everyday observation concept into like a whole season. Right? We talk about something cool, and then sometimes we've looked up what's happening in the background, right, and kind of share that. And so I feel like that theme of curiosity has kinda carried through a little bit more through this season than than usual. We're always curious, right?

Amy: 06:17

Yeah, absolutely. I think we we took those observations, and then we like brought people on that were like experts in some of those different areas. And so we got to ask them even more deeper questions too, like you were saying, the whys about, well, why does that happen this way? Or why does this bird do this? Or why does this so yeah, it was kind of neat to explore and flush those out with some of the experts that we have within our system and around the state.

Abigail: 06:49

We've kind of previewed a like, so we've talked to a lot of those experts. What are some of the things that you all are most excited about when it comes to the upcoming season?

Erin: 06:59

We talked a lot about when we were trying to figure out what topic to focus on this season and we've kind of had on a sticky note for a long time like "native plants". Right? Because we love native plants. We talk about them all the time, but we were like that is more of a topic rather than, like, a theme for a podcast. I don't know.

Erin: 07:19

It wasn't necessarily, like, a problem to address. But what ended up happening, I feel like in this season, is a lot of the answers were native plants, which is great. But we just kind of wrapped it into solutions that we have for a lot of the different challenges. So I think it's kind of cool. Again, I feel like a lot of the time we talk about plant native plants for pollinators.

Erin: 07:41

Right? But there's so many other uses that they have and good things that they do. Like, we talk about lowering your energy bills. Right? And, like, native plants can help with that.

Erin: 07:52

Who would have thought? You know, just all these different things that might not come to mind when you first think about it. So I just thought it was cool because we get to talk about something we love and how it works in a lot of different ways. So that's been fun for me this this season.

Abigail: 08:09

I was just thinking about that one, the energy one that we interview some experts on, like, plantings for energy efficiency and, like, how that's, like, such an interesting concept, and like an idea that we almost have like lost over time. And and he you know, Jay talks about throughout the podcast, it it kind of like ebbs and flows. It's like trendy, and then it's not trendy, and people forget about it. But that one is really, really neat and I think has a lot of practical applications for something that we don't often think about when it comes to planting and then plantings on your landscape in general. It's like, we're not just planting to help and, you know, do other things, we're planting because also it reduces your heating bill or like, so, which was really that was cool.

Abigail: 08:58

I actually think I called my sister after and was like, I need to tell you these things I just learned.

Erin: 09:05

That's how you know it was good.

Abigail: 09:06

That's how I know. So alright, Amy, what are you excited about?

Amy: 09:11

Well, I have one that, like, was really fun to record. We talked with Kim Rohling, one of our horticulture educators this season about birds and just about oh, we talked a lot about nesting. So ways that, you know, this fall that you can get get like, make some observations in your yard before you go into, like, the nesting period in the spring. And we just she knows so much about birds, and I think, you know, the three of us around are little b"" birders and she's like the big B birder as Abigail usually birder, as Abigail usually says, so she just knows a lot about birds. And so we just we talked about bird behavior, we talked about their territorial behavior that happens when they have nests around, we talked about what do we do when we have nests in places that we don't want them, or maybe you know, what is the, like, health concerns or are there health concerns about having nests and maybe bird droppings and things like that.

Amy: 10:19

It just was a cool episode, especially for our listeners that love backyard birds and love having birds in your yard and and they're providing habitat for birds in their yard, but there might be some times where there's, like, maybe some conflict, I guess, if you will, with those birds. So that was a really fun episode just because Kim knows so much about birds, and it was super fun. We had a great time in that episode.

Abigail: 10:43

I, you know, I was pointing out birds the other day, and I turned to my husband and I go, oh, no. Am I a lowercase b birder now? Because I famously will say I'm even, like, not even a lowercase b birder. I'm like, that burger is not that. And I think I've become this season just because try you know, you try and get your everyday observations.

Abigail: 11:03

I'm like trying to gather and be more observant, and I just think I'm I think I've become a lowercase b birder. I'm like, look at that cormorant. Oh, look at the killdeer. Oh, look. I'm pointing out great blue herons every morning to my kids on our little pond drive.

Abigail: 11:16

So I'm just like, I think it's happened. You hit your 30, that's what you do.

Amy: 11:20

It sneaks up on you.

Erin: 11:23

It did. It snuck up

Abigail: 11:25

I'm not appreciating that, but, you know, we're living life. So okay. So for me, we got to talk to a lot of different fields of, quote, nature people, and that was really neat to see the different aspects of it. We talked to an influencer, which was really fun. We talked to, like, a lot of horticulturalists and the different specialties that they have in their fields.

Abigail: 11:49

And one of our horticulturalists in Extension is has a background in hydrology. And so talking with him, he nerds out hardcore, and I love everything about it, and just talks about, like, the way in our erosion episode, thinking about, like, erosion of streams. A lot of people have, like, you know, waterways butting up against their property or through their property. I even have like a little erosion or a little like ditch area that's like not really officially a waterway, but I'm like, that's definitely eroding because I can see my fence falling into it. So it's like it's it we were like, this is something that we should address, but I love the way he talked about it because I always think about the biology of water, and he talks about the physics of water, which is like a different type of science.

Abigail: 12:42

And so it was just like really neat to think about that aspect of the natural world and how that affects all of the different natural elements that go with it. And so, yeah, I just really like talking to him in our erosion episode.

Amy: 12:56

Yeah. It was kind of a mix between with biology and hydrology. Right? It was kind of like, how do we again, back to that nature based solution, how do we work with what's going on naturally in this stream, but also like what have we done on the land that has maybe changed the flow or of that of that stream, and what can we do? How can we use natural elements to maybe bring it back to a more natural state?

Amy: 13:25

I loved his talks about we go into like the zones, the different zones of, you know, on the banks of the streams and the different plants that need to be need to go in each of those different zones. It was a really cool yeah. That was a great episode, Abigail.

Abigail: 13:39

Well, Erin referenced this when she was talking about what she was most excited about. We wanted to talk about, like, native plants. That's always been a sticky note on our board for years about what to talk about. And at one point, we were like, okay. But, like, what would that look like?

Abigail: 13:53

And so we made, like, a hit list of, like, all of the people that we would love to invite on ours, like, a dream board of who could be guests. And so I think there's one guest that we're all really excited about that we were able to actually get for our Nature Based Solutions season. And Erin, I'll let you introduce that.

Erin: 14:12

Okay. So again, listeners, you've heard us talk about natives a lot. You've heard us talk about people who talk about natives and study native plants. So I'm just gonna give a pause while you all think of the name of who we're probably gonna say. And it's Doug Tallamy, folks.

Erin: 14:28

We had Doug Tallamy. Woo hoo. Come on the pod. We just kind of put it out there. We're like, can always ask.

Erin: 14:37

We never know. And he said, yes. So really excited to kind of just chat with him in general about nature based solutions, native plants, insects, all that fun stuff. So that's gonna be our wrap up episode of the season. So you'll have to stick around with us and come back at the end of season five to hear from Doug, but it was really, really fun to chat with him and just kind of our bucket list moment.

Erin: 15:04

So that was a good episode.

Abigail: 15:06

He truly is like I was trying to explain it to other people who don't know who he is, and I was like, he's a niche celebrity. He's definitely somebody that we were like so excited to get. So I hope you all will enjoy it. So well, folks, I think we're kinda wrapping up. But is there anything else that we should know about this season?

Amy: 15:26

Well, we do have two webinars, like we do each season. We have a couple live webinars where you can you can register. Abigail is gonna talk a little bit about just ecology in your landscaping and how to work with the ecology in your landscaping. Again, that's live, so that's cool. You guys can ask questions and talk to her about that.

Amy: 15:47

Erin and I are gonna talk about community science projects, and we're just going to highlight a few of those projects and hopefully encourage folks to participate in some of those community science projects that you can do in your backyard and get you, it doesn't force you, but it encourages you to be more curious and to document some of those observations that you have around your yard.

Erin: 16:12

Yeah. You'll also get to see our faces again with our videos on social media. So we kinda took on a lot of the extra pieces of this season, and Abigail was like, we could do it. Let's do it. And we're like, okay.

Erin: 16:26

So you'll see us at webinars and videos and that fun stuff too. Mhmm.

Abigail: 16:32

And I think I mentioned this earlier. I feel like this is like our bread and butter. Right? Like, we are very used to like people call into Extension with questions about the world, typically around their world, right, like in their yard, what they see in their community, and we, our job, as extension professionals is to answer them or research them or direct them to people who can find those answers. And so I felt like the webinars and the videos in my encouragement of our team was really what we are primed to do when it comes to these topic areas.

Abigail: 17:08

I worked personally in Conservation@Home and managed that program in Cook County for about five years, and so, like, this was, you know, nature on your landscape and encouraging ecology on your landscape was really, like, what I developed an expertise in. And I'm no by no means, like, the expert or I would even consider myself an expert on it, but I just because I lean heavily on Erin and Amy as well for, like, questions. People ask me questions about what grasses to plant, I'm like, I don't know. Ask Erin.

Erin: 17:36

Mhmm.

Abigail: 17:37

So I just feel like yeah. I felt like we really could shine. In addition as well, just so people know, if you're like, but when do all these things come out? I need to know right away. I need something that's gonna tell me right when that Doug Tallamy interview comes out, or when the videos are gonna be out, or when that webinar is.

Abigail: 17:55

You can join our email newsletter, like subscription or, like, listserv. So you can go on our website, just like Google Everyday Environment Illinois Extension. You can hop on that, and just get notified every week in the months of August through October, for when our newsletter is. And in the off season, we also send, like, monthly things sometimes that are like, hey, here's some, like, cool extension stuff around this topic, from the archives or whatever, featuring other cool things that you might wanna know. So if you're a lifelong learner just like us, it might be kinda cool to get that or at least just to have it in case you want it.

Abigail: 18:31

You don't have to read it every week or every month or whenever it comes in. So definitely check that out. And then as always, our podcast always come with a complimenting blog that was usually written by the guest of that particular podcast topic. So definitely, if you're somebody who's like, oh, man, what was that species they talked about? Or I want the, you know, the quick and dirty of what that was about, the blog is a great option for that.

Abigail: 18:57

Or if you you can't convince your friends to listen to the podcast, but maybe you can send them the blog. Right? You hear something, you're like, yeah. I want you to not add as many chemicals on your lawn. Send that blog to your parents, right, who are adding stuff every holiday, to their lawn, and maybe that'll get through a little bit better than a podcast.

Abigail: 19:16

Lots of options here, lots of ways to interact with our content, and we really, really appreciate you all doing so.

Abigail: 19:22

Well, I think that's all that we have to talk about this season or for this season to introduce it. So thanks Erin and Amy for taking the time to chat about the new season. It's been really fun. I always enjoy just chit chatting with you all.

Erin: 19:36

That is a good time when the three of us get to be on an episode together. It doesn't happen very often. Mhmm.

Abigail: 19:41

Truly, truly. Well, this has been another episode of the Everyday Environment Podcast. Check us out next week for our first episode of season five where we talk with Amy Powers about gardening with nature.

Abigail: 19:55

This podcast is University of Illinois Extension production, hosted and edited by Abigail Garofalo, Erin Garrett, and Amy Lefringhouse. Marketing and communications are by Emily Steele.