A Deep Dive

Diving into Mark Ruffalo's Dark Waters left me gasping for breath at times, but ultimately, I appreciated its depth and forceful current.

The movie, which covers the case of DuPont using and dumping toxic chemicals in the process of making Teflon, hits hard at both the chemical company and the audience. A strong emotional current runs through the story, and the fact that it's based on real events makes it even sadder. Seeing Ruffalo's character struggle for justice was difficult because of the awful things DuPont had done. Watch the trailer below:

Despite not being a "feel good" movie, Dark Waters deserves a viewing. The subject matter, while emotionally jarring, has great importance and vital information people should know. It is also a well-constructed, well-acted movie. 

Following a theatrical release in November 2019, the film is now available for home viewing, so check it out because these dark waters are deep and need to be explored.

So Many, So Close

Some of the most rewarding journeys don't take us far from home.

Yesterday, I sighted a willow flycatcher. It was about 200 yards from my house, and it was my 70th bird species of the year.

Under normal circumstances, that number probably wouldn't be a big deal. In fact, it might have even disappointed me. After all, last year, I sighted my 70th bird on April 30, and by June 4, 2019, I had logged 98 species.

A Wilson's warbler, one of my reliable locals.

The COVID-19 coronavirus changed things this year though. With social distancing restrictions and the cancelation of group-birding events, my focus shifted to local birds. Those 70 species have all been sighted within a four-mile radius.

I have found different kinds of satisfaction in my 2020 approach to birding. First, it is relaxing to let the birds come to me. Second, some unexpected sightings (like a northern saw-whet owl and a hermit warbler) sparkled with additional specialness. Third, growing my species list with such constraints became at least as fun as the usual challenge of going out and finding as many species as possible. Finally, the local focus has helped increase my sense of home and place. All of the species I have seen this year are ones I've seen in the past. They are familiar faces because most are frequent visitors, so they help give my immediate area its character. Constraining my birding boundaries helps clarify what birds I can expect here, and in turn, those birds better define what home is. That's a very nice result.

Understanding home and our place in the world is a journey in and of itself.

Ex-cite-ing News

Having the chance to say something is one thing, but when someone else uses what you said to help advance the conversation, that's really special.

Two years ago, I blogged about the publication of the paper that I wrote with Dr. Michael Salvador. That was a pretty special moment, particularly after the many years of work that went into writing it. However, the newest development in the history of that article might be even more exciting because I recently discovered that for the first time, a paper citing our article has been published.

Dr. Lawrence R. Frey and Dr. Joshua S. Hanan teamed up to write a paper calling for critical rhetoricians to use their work more for direct social activism, and that piece, titled "Toward Social Justice Activism Critical Rhetoric Scholarship," has now been published in the International Journal of Communication. As they make their case, the authors cite the paper Dr. Salvador and I wrote, saying:

"Recent scholarship reveals that rhetoricians—working in conversation with the ideological, critical, and decolonial turns in rhetorical studies—are poised to engage in social justice activism research. For example, during the past two decades, rhetoricians have studied oppressed communities’ social justice struggles; in part, to “interrogat[e] the underlying impulses of rhetorics that appear to be advocating for freedom” (Hartzell, 2018, p. 13). Using primarily textual methods, that scholarship has offered important insights into intersectional and (neo)colonial workings of power, as well as how discourses of freedom, liberation, and emancipation subtly can reproduce hierarchy and inequality (e.g., DeLaurier & Salvador, 2018; Discenna, 2010; Enck-Wanzer, 2011; Hartzell, 2018; Hasian & Delgado, 1998; Hurt, 2007; Kearl, 2015, 2018; Middleton, 2014b)."

To be honest, it's a very cool feeling to know that someone else thought enough of our work to incorporate it in their own. It certainly provides validation and a nice shot of confidence. What's even more encouraging is the objective of Frey and Hanan's article. The idea of using rhetorical scholarship for social activism is a crucial aspect of the foundation for our article, and to see someone taking it further is very heartening. I think this is an important development for rhetorical analysis, academic scholarship in general, and society as a whole, and I am so happy that I was included in it. To read the entire article by Frey and Hanan, click here.

Building on ideas represents the essence of scholarship to me, so I am very pleased I could play a role in developing these ideas, and I am eager to see where critical rhetoric goes from here.

Reflecting on 10 Years of Blogging

What do you do after you have to create a blog for a class assignment and that class ends? If you're a tree-hugger with Finnish heritage, the obvious answer is to retitle it envirofinn and write about the environment for at least 10 years.

For the 2010 spring semester of my Ph.D. studies, I had to start a blog in my rhetoric class. It was simply a blog about assigned readings. Since I didn't have any more of those after the class ended, I decided to take the blog in a new direction on May 19, 2010. I thought it could become a good place to collect and share information about the environment.

Looking back on the last decade of envirofinn, I realize how much I put into its development and maintenance. It turned into a lot more than an information hub. I liked the template I chose so much, I haven't changed it once despite having many new options. The fall theme is just too me. Plus, I think it still looks nice. Besides, I spent a great deal of time trying to find the perfect color scheme for the text, and when I finally found it, I didn't want to let it go. I'm also quite fond of the envirofinn flag I created by adding the green of the blog to the Finnish flag.

A lake in Repovesi National Park reflects
a partly cloudy sky over Finland.

Yes, a lot of myself went into this blog. Eventually, the posts evolved from sharing resources, tips, and events to covering some of my personal experiences and growth as well. A few highlights included going to Finland in 2012 and coming back with material for several posts and the series from summer 2015 that chronicled my coming to terms with the age of global warming.

Some posts also recorded professional accomplishments and development. For instance, I used the blog to announce that I had published a journal article about environmental communication. In addition, I covered my work with Initiative 1631, Carbon Washington, The Nature Conservancy in Washington, and the Black Hills Audubon Society. In short, envirofinn contains some major pieces of my life even though it continues to be a place where I share resources, tips, and events. It probably helped me further my understanding of the environment as much as it helped anyone else learn where to recycle something or how to buy reusable shopping bags.

One thing I take extra pride in is the fact that I have made at least one post in each of the last 120 months. I may not post as often as I once did, but it remains important to me to keep the streak going.

A lot has happened since its inception, but looking toward the future, envirofinn will continue exploring our connection with the environment.

Watch for Wolves

As an acclaimed documentary about wolves nears release on iTunes, we have the opportunity to support Wolf Haven International, an organization that advocates and cares for wolves.

Produced in 2018, The Trouble With Wolves won awards from numerous film festivals and earned praise as "one of the rare documentaries that transcends its own subject" by Visit Seattle. The film investigates the history of wolves in the United States, focusing on the political conflicts that have occurred since their reintroduction to the lower 48.

At its heart, the documentary serves as an exploration of coexistence. Wolves give us the chance to question and improve our relationship with the rest of the planet, so it's really about what our future will look like. For more information, visit the film's Web site. You can also check out the trailer below:



The Trouble With Wolves hits iTunes on May 12, 2020, and pre-orders are open now. It costs $6.99. If it has at least 250 pre-orders by May 11, Wolf Haven receives half of the proceeds, so we can both reserve an important documentary and support one of the organizations working to make our relationship with wolves better.

This documentary is definitely worth a look.

Cooped Up? Learn from the Birds

Since the COVID-19 coronavirus has limited our movements these days, it's a good time to look to the birds for lessons and inspiration, and that goes double for children and their parents.

Juvenile tree swallow.

An innovative idea from the National Audubon Society has perfectly responded to this new stay-at-home world, giving children and parents wonderful tools for learning and staying connected to the environment. Titled Audubon for Kids!, the program provides online access to lessons, activities, and a wealth of information about birds.

Audubon for Kids! is a science-based approach to learning with an emphasis on engagement that puts the world of birds within reach of the Internet. Of the program, the National Audubon Society says, "We’ve adapted classroom science curriculum for at-home learning and created lots of birdy DIY projects to stir your family’s curiosity and bring the joy and wonder of the natural world to your home."

This is an important time for everyone, especially children, to stay engaged with the environment. Nature has a lot of enrichment it can provide to our lives, and birds are among its best ambassadors. Check out Audubon for Kids! here.

When our wings are clipped, we look to those who fly free.

A Big Leap Day

What's one more day? This year, it means February sightings of violet-green swallows and a northern saw-whet owl.

If this had been a normal year, my last February addition to my yearly birding list would have been a pine siskin on February 27. Not too bad. Pine siskins are an understated bird with a fun song and a flash of color for those who look closely enough. This being a leap year though, last month ended in an unusually spectacular fashion.

A violet-green sighting in February would have been enough to merit recognition for February 29, 2020. I was shocked to see the birds on my jog. They were two weeks earlier than I have ever seen their species before. That alone made the day a major birding moment. It even seemed fitting because earlier in the month, I marked the very rare universal calendar palindrome of 02//02/2020 with an addition to my yearly birding list. That day, I saw a big group of bushtits (also on my jog), forever commemorating a calendar event that hadn't happened in more than 900 years.

A northern saw-whet owl I sighted in June 2014.

Leap day apparently wanted to make sure it went down in history too though. Sitting at my desk around 9:30 p.m., I heard a long series of low "too" sounds like a faraway, old train whistle. At first, I thought it came from some alarm, machine, or device in the distance. After considering it a while longer, I thought it might be a northern saw-whet owl, so I went outside and tried to call it in with recorded saw-whet sounds from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Within a few minutes, an owl flew over my head, eventually landing in a tree in the yard. It was my first sighting of the species since 2014. While watching the bird in the yard, I also heard another farther away. What an exhilarating end to an unusual month!

February 2020 certainly made its extra day count for a lot on my birding list.

Taking Flight

After a few practice flights, my work managing the Black Hills Audubon Society's (BHAS) Facebook page has begun to take off in earnest.

When I started the work for BHAS last May, I blogged about it here. During the course of the ensuing nine months, I tried a few different things to engage and increase the organization's followers. Starting with 364 followers, I saw a small increase initially, but as I fine-tuned my strategies for making posts, the follower totals and the engagements began to soar.

November represented the point at which everything started to come together. The daily reach of posts dwarfed the rate seen earlier, going from 27 on January 1, 2019, to a current high of 377 on February 10, 2020, (see Graph 1). Likewise, the number of people viewing the site jumped up, particularly when it came to people viewing the homepage and scheduled events (see Graph 2). Paralleling these trends, the number of followers saw a marked rise. Currently, the page has 484 followers, an increase of nearly 33 percent in nine months. What's more, all of those growth points coincided with an uptick in people attending the organization's events, and many of those individuals credited the Facebook posts with bringing them there.

The successes on the BHAS Facebook page have also brought two intangible results. First, I have thoroughly enjoyed doing the work. It's a great combination of strategy and fun. Second, because of the measurable results in followers, engagements, and event attendance, managing the page has been very fulfilling. I can see the impact of my work and know that it's helping a great organization.

Stay tuned to see how high this project flies.

In a Flourish, Not a Flash

A lot can happen in nine years; but in the case of Townsend's warbler, a lot more can happen in a couple of months.

My first sighting of a Townsend's warbler occurred on January 1, 2011, an unexpected burst of yellow in the middle of winter. The second sighting did not happen in a flash though. In fact, so much time passed after the first sighting without a recurrence that I began to consider it an accident.

On November 24, 2019, I saw a Townsend's warbler
for the first time in nearly nine years.

When I next saw a Townsend's warbler, the sighting kicked off a flourish of activity. On November 24, 2019--almost nine years after my first sighting--I spotted a Townsend's warbler in the yard. I didn't see it again for a while, so I figured I had just had another flash encounter. Then, on December 19, things started to become extremely interesting. In the middle of a downpour, four Townsend's warblers (at least one adult male, one adult female, and possibly two juveniles) landed in the yard. I've seen at least one on three separate occasions since then, including three birds yesterday. One even registered itself as the seventh species I saw on New Year's Day when I began my yearly bird count afresh. Considering the long wait between my first and second sightings, this feels like a barrage of action.

Once elusive, the Townsend's warbler has turned into a reliable visitor. With its striking color, it has added variety to the usual core of avian yard frequenters. To have the warblers stick around for this long at this time also means that I can count the species on my yearly list for both 2019 and 2020. I am thoroughly enjoying their consistent presence, and I hope they'll stay for a while yet.

Although it took a long time to see another Townsend's warbler after my first brief sighting, the string of encounters since November has supplied enough joy to more than make up for the extended absence.

Close to My Heart

Naturally, we want to protect the things closest to our hearts, so I am asking for help in conserving a piece of nature close to mine.

Wetlands at the Davis Creek Wildlife Area Unit.

Two weeks ago, the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife (WSDFW) announced a set of land-acquisition projects for 2020. Of course, all of these projects are important to expanding the department's conservation and wildlife efforts, and I support each of them, but tucked in amongst the others, you'll find one of special value to me.

The Davis Creek Addition represents the only piece of Grays Harbor County to make the list of possible acquisitions. It would add 416 acres to the existing 535-acre Davis Creek Wildlife Area Unit and would provide key habitat for many bird species. Those are all great reasons to support this proposed acquisition if you have never visited this out-of-the-way pocket of southwest Washington, but I have personal reasons as well.

An old farm provided the land for the existing wildlife area.
Now, WSDFW has an opportunity to add to the unit with the
acquisition of land both north and south of it.

Protecting the land on the Davis Creek Addition feels like protecting a part of myself. I've felt similar feelings for other conservation efforts before, but this part of me resides right in my core because that property sits so close to where I was raised. I've driven by it hundreds of times. Friends from childhood lived within walking distance of it. I remember playing on the prairie just across the road. So when I visited the Davis Creek Unit a few days ago, the importance of protecting and expanding it enveloped me. I felt intimately connected to it, and I realized that conserving it means safeguarding a piece of my heart.

WSDFW will take comments on the 2020 acquisition projects until January 3. You can e-mail your comments to lands@dfw.wa.gov or mail them to: Real Estate Services, PO Box 43158, Olympia, WA 98504.

With all my heart, I hope you'll join me in asking WSDFW to purchase the Davis Creek Addition.