User:EmSkib/sandbox

=Key Readings=

Component I: Overview of the Sonoran Desert
Many people are misguided in their perceptions of the natural world, or have no regard for it at all. It has become increasingly apparent that many are ignorant to their impact on the environment. Every day humans consume and produce waste at an alarmingly high rate. Without an understanding and willingness to improve the way we think about consumption, waste, and the environment, our beloved biomes and communities are sure to deteriorate completely. /Emily

Component II: Developing a Sense of Place
It is easy to write off the diminishing of plants and animals or the multiplication of pests as feats of the evolutionary process; however, there is an explanation to this phenomenon. The fascination humans have with curing something sick, especially the land, has counterproductive consequences. Our efforts to fix nature is indicative of our misunderstanding of the interconnectedness and reliance one thing in nature has on another. Ultimately, we lack an understanding of why pests multiply or why plants and animals diminish and we must look past what appear to be obvious explanations and look deeper. To create a land that is healthy, we must focus less on doctoring certain areas of the land and look to how we can encourage land health—long term solutions not temporary fixes. /Emily

Component III: Geology/Geography
If the geologic history of the Sonoran Desert did not occur the way it did, we might not have the settlement patterns we do today. Changing one part of geological history has effects on other aspects such as species survival and settlement patterns. /Emily

Component IV: Water (Gregory McNamee and the Gila River)
Despite cultural, societal, and environmental differences, the ancient human experience tells a story that is clear and leaves modern humans with much to think about in terms of our connection to each other and in maintaining a connection to the environment, a closeness and respect for the land, to survive the whims of nature. /Emily

Component IV: Water (McNamee & the Gila cont.)
Most human intervention into nature does not work or help in the way we think it does; in fact, we do more harm than good most of the time. Unless we figure out how to stop intervening where it is not necessary, our wrong actions will lead to the extinction of environments and ourselves. /Emily

Component IV: Water (Sevigny and the Rights of Rivers)
The movement toward local water and community focused living is the way Sevigny proposes we may be able to sustain the water we have. We have industrialized so much that there will come a point when it is too much to sustain (as history has proven time and time again). We have been trying to thrive on the false idea of “new” water when these policies have made the environmental situation worse. The more people who unsubscribe from the lifestyle we are currently living, the more we can change our mindsets and (hopefully) the environment for the better. /Emily

Component V: Human Ecology of the Sonoran Desert
Through continual domination and ownership humans have proved that it is an integral part of our existence and survival; however, it is not really necessary, we have just made it so. There are ways to survive, while maintaining and cultivating a relationship with what we find beautiful, specifically in nature. We know there are ways to survive without this domination and ownership because humans of centuries past were successful at it. Our over-eagerness and abundance of technologies to broaden our survival to areas we could not survive otherwise has resulted in a larger population, in turn, weakening our ability to sustain ourselves in the long run. If we lived as the humans of the past did, with little material possessions, smaller communities, and respect for nature, we might be better off than we are now. /Emily

Component V: Conservation Practices
It is surprising to learn that there is “no place left on Earth that the activities of humans fail to touch, in one way or another.” I would have never thought this statement to be true, but the more I think about it, the more I see why it is true. Honestly, it is a disappointing truth because while we are small and insignificant in comparison to the universe, we have such a large impact on our only source of life. So far, there is no other place we know of where it would be possible for humans to live, yet we continue to disrespect the Earth to serve our superficial needs. The most important thing we need to learn in regard to conservation is not restoration or preservation because there is nothing untouched to be preserved or restored. Rather, it is imperative that our solutions to this global problem “assure a healthy landscape that maintains biological diversity and functioning ecosystems.” Our current efforts to restore and preserve are often counterproductive and there are healthier, more efficient ways to help our planet. /Emily

Component IV: Water, redux (Salton Sea/Colorado River articles)
While the Salton Sea has been dangerous for many years, not much has been done about this environmental problem. The ball was going to get rolling in 2020; however, we had to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic instead of environmental issues. This is just one more thing COVID-19 has taken from us. Growing global population and climate change are two issues that exist and will only cause more problems in the future; if we recognize this, we must recognize that we must stop simply planning and debating what to do, we have to actually do. Over the last twenty years, the problems with the Salton Sea have been vaguely planned; however, no major progress has been made towards solving the problem. /Emily

Component VI: History & Culture (from McNamee's "Desert Reader")
There is definitely a major difference in how Native Americans viewed the land in which they lived versus how Europeans viewed that same land when they initially colonized it and not much has changed in how modern Western Civilization views the land either. It is evident from our readings and discussions that Native Americans have a reverence for their land and although they used it to survive (because no living person or thing could survive without using the land), they respected it and did not really take more than they needed and they had patience when they did not have what they needed, hoping that a higher power would provide it for them. /Emily

=Local Luminaries=

Jan. 28, 2021: Professor Brad Pease on the photography of the Baja Peninsula
[insert text here]

Feb. 2, 2021: Professor Emerita Nancy Meister on Environmental Day at the capitol
[insert text here]

Mar. 2, 2021: Dr. Joel Diamond on Bats and Conservation Issues of the Sonoran Desert
[insert text here]

Mar. 11, 2021: Professor Monica Ketchum on the Columbian Exchange in the Sonoran Desert
[insert text here]

Mar. 18, 2021: Cary Meister on Water Issues in Arizona
[insert text here]

Mar. 23, 2021: Dr. Ellen Riek on "Sense of Place" in education
[insert text here]

Apr. 8, 2021: Cary Meister on Water Issues in Arizona (pt. 2)
[insert text here]

Apr. 13, 2021: Gregory McNamee on The Gila: The History of a Southwestern River
[insert text here]

Apr. 22, 2021: Morgan Moore of Audubon SW
[insert text here]

Additional Thoughts
[insert text here]