I've spent 35-odd years or so encouraging people to learn about plants and nature. The first incarnation was as a TA in graduate school, for classes in General Biology, Plant Ecology, California Flora, and Evolutionary (Plant) Ecology. As a young college professor, I taught General Biology, General Botany, and People and the Environment.
But for the last 15 years or so, I've been a botanical garden educator, which means that I get to encourage folks (of all ages) to learn more broadly about plants, gardening, gardens, natural history, nature, birds, etc. etc. It's been a gift to be able to have as 'work' the mission of educating folks about the natural world. (There are PLENTY of non-idyllic aspects, to be sure, but I won't list them here.)
I've thought about this recently in the context of blogging, as I'm planning on going to the Garden Bloggers Buffa10 gathering this summer (the third of these informal gatherings). It sounds like it will be great fun.
Several years ago, two wise gardening friends (excellent garden writers and communicators, both) encouraged me to join the national Garden Writers Association. I've now been to two annual meetings and been inspired by both. I read posts about the first two Garden Bloggers gatherings, and they sounded great, too.
Because what I've realized is that as an educator, I'm actually a communicator and a coach, and thinking about what I do in that context is both invigorating and inspiring. GWA now defines their profession as garden communication, which is apt, since most of us write, speak, post web pieces, do radio spots, do video, podcast, etc., etc.
But it's also been a distinct pleasure to write about my own garden, gardening experiences, and observations. The medium of blogging has been a delightful way to keep track of what I've been doing, thinking about, and observing and it's been encouraging, too, with whomever drops by to read a post.
Thanks for dropping by.
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