This summer I’ve been teaching a class at the California Institute of Integral Studies. I had the rare privilege of being able to interview two writers, each deeply involved with ecology, conservation and natural resource management in different ways.

I used Obi Kaufmann’s wonderful first book, The California Field Atlas as a text for the class as it was a unique bridge that supported some of the learning outcomes for the class: geography, ecology and art. Here is a link to the interview with Obi Kaufmann. We talk about his work as an artist, how he came to create The California Field Atlas, a deep time perspective on conservation issues for California, books, and ‘how not to panic‘ in these times of fraught concern over the state of the natural world.

I also interviewed Mark Larabee, a Pulitzer prize winning journalist, co-author of the wonderful book The Pacific Crest Trail: Exploring America’s Wilderness Trail. Mark is the Associate Director, Advocacy and Government Relations for the Pacific Crest Trail Association. Our talk centered around the Pacific Crest Trail and legislation such as the Great American Outdoor Act which, as he says, is a game-changer for the Pacific Crest Trail. Link to the interview with Mark Larabee is here.