About

A Balanced Approach to Nature

Water, soil and air pollution are all symptoms of a toxic approach to nature. How to shift from a toxic worldview of human separation, supremacy and extraction toward an approach of connection, respect and reciprocity is the question behind Reading Nature. The quest is for a balanced approach that values both head and heart, science and art, through multiple ways of knowing. An approach where one way does not dominate the others.

Our quest for connection, respect and reciprocity is rooted in a curiosity about what each of us as humans really need. Deep connections that withstand millennia stem from mutual need. A bird needs berries for food, and a plant needs birds to spread their seeds. What does it look like to meet our needs in a way that also benefits the needs of plants, birds, bugs and fish? At Reading Nature, we explore our connections with nature through the time-tested essentials of shelter, water, fire, food and community.

Meet Rae

As a non-native, 4th generation descendant of immigrants to the Pacific Northwest, my ancestral connections with nature belong to the Carpathian Mountains, Viking north and Celtic Islands. While I was born and raised in present-day Oregon, I believe connecting to a place and growing roots requires an awareness and appreciation for the people who have shaped the land over many, many millennia. The land that feeds, waters and shelters me belongs to the present-day Tribes in the Pacific Northwest.

The mentors who have shaped the way that I experience and teach nature connection are all of the instructors at Two River’s Farm School, Tom Brown Jr’s Tracker School, Wilderness Awareness School, 8 Shields, Schumacher College, School of Storytelling and more recently the Native Plants & Foods Institute.