EPR Minisode 20: Environmental Professionals Day

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Music Credits
Intro: Givin Me Eyes by Grace Mesa
Outro: Never Ending Soul Groove by Mattijs Muller

Transcript

Hello and welcome to EPR with your favorite environmental enthusiasts, Nic and Laura. On today's episode, we're going to talk about Environmental Professionals Day, which is coming up on April 15th by highlighting some of our favorite hashtag field note stories from the show.

What is Environmental Professionals Day, Nic?

I'm so glad you asked, Laura. Environmental Professionals Day has been established worldwide on April 15th to recognize all of the hard work that these individuals do every day to create a more just and sustainable world for all living things. Environmental professionals include social and environmental scientists, engineers, planners, public and environmental health specialists, and anyone who spends their precious working hours making a difference.

I think that this is an important day. I think we started, when did this start, like maybe 5 years ago? Something like that, yeah, yeah, I think this is, uh, really important because it gives people an opportunity to appreciate each other, give some kudos to people who are putting in the hard work, you know, this is difficult, a lot of times fun, but difficult work to do every day. And so I, I think the concept of this day is really great, and so I'm glad to be talking about this today.

And so people may be wondering, what are some ways that they can actually participate in Environmental Professionals Day.

Another great question, just so many today. Um, here are some ideas that you can show appreciation for what environmental professionals do. Share a post on your social media accounts or send a post to other organizations where environmental professionals work. Share the work of someone you know on social media and tag them using hashtag #EnvironmentalProfessionalsDay or thank you EPs. Share a short bio of someone you know who works to protect our environment and tag them with #EnvironmentalProfessionalsDay or hashtag thank you EPs. Share an article written by or about the environmental profession.

Yep, I think, uh, you know, just think about like the people that you appreciate you whether you are an environmental professional yourself or you have friends or someone you just think is like doing killer work. Put something out there that just says, hey, April 15th is the day we're supposed to celebrate this, and this person. You know, I can say, oh my gosh, Marley is doing an awesome job putting the EPR podcast together and, you know, give her a shout out. So, um, it's the perfect day to do that.

It's kind of like Valentine's Day, but for environmental professionals.

There you go. I like that. Yeah, yeah, maybe we'll we'll start seeing cards in Hallmark or whatever. Right, right. Do people still go to stores these days? I don't know, but you know what I mean. That actually, that would be really cool. We do need to get some, some cards in Hallmark. Maybe we could get Shannon Ochers to make some designs, uh, or paint some pictures and then we can just do our own.

There we go. I love it. I love it. Ideas. Uh, all right, so if you are new to the hashtag field notes, what do we call that segment, thank you, where we ask our guests to share memorable moments from doing their work in the field. And we say memorable, we mean something funny, challenging, uh, everything in between. Scary is one of our favorites. And if you have a story of your own, you can send it to info@environmentalprofessionalsradio.com. And I think there's actually a form on the website. You don't even have to type it up. You just go answer some questions and then we would love to read it on a future episode.

Yes, that'd be great. Yeah, and, you know, speaking of Marley, we want to bring her in on the minisodes, and so she is going to take over from here and asking us some questions.

Hey guys, OK, I wanted to ask you guys about some of your favorite field notes stories. So I know we have a countless amount, but Laura, I want you to go first. What is one that has stood out to you? Could be recent, could be from a few, few years back.

You wanna know. Funny enough, the, I have a, you know, I think if anyone listening to this over and over, you know, I have a horrible memory. Um, so this is like my worst nightmare, um, when you come on and ask me, I think it's what my favorites are, yeah, it's, it's a good exercise, you know, maybe in the hot timer's away, uh, so I, I, I immediately go to one of the most recent, and I think like the first, um, so the first one, Marie Campbell was on, she was the president of NAP at the time, I think, and she was talking about giving a presentation.

So like when we say field, it's not necessarily like, Boots on the ground in the muck, you, your field could be, you know, depending on your job, could be outside or it could be in boardrooms. So, Marie was giving a presentation and she had, uh, written something about thought she had written something about public engagement, but on the slide. Loud and clear above her on the stage, it said pubic involvement.

Oh no.

I think it was just her delivery of the story, so I highly recommend going back and listening to that again, but just her delivery of that story just stuck in my brain and I cannot stop laughing about it. Um, and then Nic, you said something about her comment about it.

Oh yeah, she said like, uh, if you want to know about that, you have to talk to my husband, which I just, it killed us. It was hilarious. It's just right off, right off the cuff, you know, that's. That's a, that's a hard thing to do to be that funny and vulnerable, really, cause, yeah, which I also admire because not only do I have a horrible horrible memory, I also am not very good like off the cuff like that, so I think uh that was awesome.

And then most recently, um, back to names, Marley, Nic, do you remember who was the person who was pulling the baby bears out of the tree?

Kimberly Chambers. That was, that's my guess, um.

Yes, Kimberly. So, Kimberly Chambers had was doing bear surveys and had was like the smallest person on the team and had to go in and pull bears out of a tree, and she got to literally just like hug a real life teddy bear and that just It's like life goals.

Yeah, yeah, safe. The animal stories always make me so jealous. I always want to experience that so many baby animals. Yeah, gosh, we, we remember like even like there was a 11 guest was uh doing zodiac tours and uh in like the Arctic or whatever and Uh, came around a corner of the Antarctic, actually, I think it was, and I came around a corner and there was like, all these whales just shoot up out of the ground, you know, out of the ocean and, uh, you know, swallow up fish, and she had to like swerve to miss them. What a day that is, you know, it's just like unbelievable, uh, you know, and then it's like, OK, cool, I, uh, I saw a raccoon digging through garbage yesterday, you know, it's kind of like not the same, you know.

So those are always wonderful. I love those. It is interesting how many animals I've only seen in photos. It's crazy.

Um, OK, now we're turning to you, Nic. I know you must have a few on your mind as well. Any that stick out?

Well, I mean, like, you know, we talk about like things that go wrong, you know, sometimes those are really, uh, they can be really amusing, sometimes they're dangerous, and sometimes they're frustrating. Uh, but, you know, I remember like, Fred, of course, has great stories, and, you know, he told a story about Uh, his first experience in the field going to a military base and tripping over a, a wire that unplugged from a missile, and then the, uh, the commander's like, oh no, you know, he pretends to be scared, and then Fred's like, how do I get out of here? What do I do? And the guy's like, do you really think it's that easy? We could we just, you just unplug the missile and it blows up. Come on, we're not that bad, you know.

Um, and, you know, and it's kind of funny, it's, you know, a moment of being out of your element and in a new and scary situation, and sometimes it goes well, sometimes it doesn't, uh, but you always have to have good humor, right? It's, it's, uh, Fred could have been mad about that, but he wasn't, he thought it was funny. And he's like, right, of course, I'm an idiot.

But it's easy to say sometimes that, you know, instead of it, but when you live it, it's much different, you know, I know, I know some things. I'm a smart person.

Well, everyone has dumb moments. Right? And I think that's why we like to share these because we, we all have had a moment like this. And You're gonna live through it You know, a lot of times it's a rookie mistake, and sometimes it's not, sometimes you're, like you said, completely seasoned, but you still like, whoops, I was not thinking there, or just circumstances, crazy stuff happens, um, you know, like the one with the Murder in front of someone, like, yeah, oh my gosh, yeah, that was terrible. But very memorable. Yes, very especially for them, uh, but then there's other, I remember somebody, there was a shooting in another one, no one got hurt, um, it was like, They were, they pulled up to a property and they, I think they just had to sample something or get something, but the property owner started shooting and like hiding behind the car.

I mean, gosh, even, even, you know, my story about knocking myself out is kind of one where it's like, I, I should have known better. Yeah, thanks, Marley. Like it's a funny story. It's just, I shouldn't love it when Nic knocks himself out. It's hilarious. It's like a cartoon moment. It really, it must have been. I'm I'm thankful no one else saw it, but it was, it was really truly embarrassing. It looked, it looked, the ground looked level. Did I check? No. And that's the problem, you know, I, I have from that point forward, I have not done it again. So, you know, hey, we live and learn.

But yeah, it's kind of like the joy of those stories is kind of. You know, why we like hearing them, and there's so many, there's so many, like, uh, even like the ones we share on the show, we have so many more. There's always new, new stories, new shows, um, to look forward to, and I mean, you talk about another board, uh, you know, one in the boardroom, so to speak, where it was Shell Gunterman, where she Uh, I was trying to pull up her presentation, forgot she was mic'd up and said, you know. Uh, and so it's like, uh, but that became like the way people, everybody laughed. And, um, everybody knew who she was from that point forward in that conference.

And they're like, oh, yeah, you're the you're the person lady that curses, um, you know. It's a little awkward, a little embarrassing, but it also helped her out. And so it's even, even in those tough moments, you can, uh, you know, good things come of them. So that's also another fun reason to share.

Marley, do you have a story?

It's funny you ask because I actually wanted to mention what I do have a story. If I wasn't doing, it just wasn't me like being hired to do work, but I, um, in high school, I was taking like an environmental science course. And as part of an assignment, we, I, I went to high school in Oregon, we went up to um some part of the woods and we're testing water quality. And it was kind of like, um, just a simple experience experiment to show how like, moving water is like better quality than stagnant water. It was just like, to test the concept.

And we went to this like really like muddy boggy area and we were all in waders like they we luckily our science program was fun enough to give us all a pair of waders and they were like the kind that you had like, I know, pretty cool, um, like overalls and they were like that rubber and I'm in one area like testing the water quality of this little mud bog that's the water quality was really bad in that area.

But you kind of had to like step over this like huge mud pit that was kind of like quicksand-esque. And um one of the other girls in the class. She at some point had gotten like stuck in the mud and like waist deep and she could not get out. And, and she was like started screaming. That's how we all found out that she was in some area by herself. And it was scary.

And so we all came over there. My science teacher was like trying to pull her out, but because Um, like the mud, it was so easy to sink in, like if you were over a certain, like, probably body weight, like you were just going to start sinking. And so we ended up like calling like the staff of this, like, the forest area, the park that we were in, and like, they had to come and try to pull her out. And then like we almost had to call the fire department, but We came to the conclusion, my science teacher did, that I was the lightest in the class, the smallest, and so I had to like walk over this mud area and basically try my hardest to pull her out of the mud.

But like her waiters were like kind of like suction cupping her in and so she had to unclip her waders and I basically like like ripped her out of the mud like straight out of her waders and it was like a human shaped waiters stuck it halfway in the mud but I was basically the the environmental science hero of Oregon that day I felt. I was so proud of myself because I, yeah, no fire department needed. Marley was on the case, but I still think about that, and I actually have photos, but I have to ask her if she, if she wants me to share them.

But it was in the moment it was so funny, but also awesome.

That's a great story. Yeah, it was crazy, but it was really fun. It was a good first experience testing water quality.

Well, it's unexpected things happen. Yeah, and it's, it's actually a great moment for a PSA that if you get stuck in the mud, the thing that, so it is Marley, right? It's suction. Yeah, call first, yeah, first call Marley if she's not available, um, call 911.

It's such a weird thing to say, but I remember like I had to go through this training and they're like, you know, when you get stuck out here in the mud, I'm like, what do you mean when? That was a mistake. And they were like, um, you know, it's going to seem kind of scary, but if you, uh, the, the most of the problem is when you're, you're standing, all of your weight's in your feet. So you have to kind of sit down if you can, like this person, that wouldn't have helped much.

But the other thing you have to do is get air into the hole. So wiggle your foot forward, backwards, try to get to basically release the suction. And that's the trick. It doesn't mean that you get to keep your boot cause sometimes it's gonna be so hard to do. You do have to get pulled out, um, but that's, that's really what's so you just gotta hope you wore nice clean underwear that day.

Yeah, exactly, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, and yeah, no, no, no Garfield underwear. Yeah, you don't wanna, you don't wanna put that out.

Um, uh, to my Nic, um, actually that's a great story. I'm glad I asked. Yeah, I was thinking of how I could segue that in my own story. I thank you for asking. Yeah, that's everyone has a story. That's the other thing, we all have something that has gone wrong or that was funny or that was terrifying, and, uh, you know, everyone can relate to them, so I love this part of the show.

And it's one of the only classes that I can really remember, and I look back fondly on it and it was really, and I remember the test even. I remember what we were doing in class, and that was what's a few years ago now, 78 years ago.

But, OK, so as we're wrapping up, after hearing so many of these stories, what do you think they say about the kind of people who end up in this field? Bit of a reflective question.

It's a great question. Yeah. I think we're all just A little bit of adventurers, yeah, you know, we're seeking not only to, and we're caring people, you know, you care about the environment, you generally care about everything that's on it, including people.

Yeah, I would say it's even broader than that. It's like you're curious, you know, I'm really curious, like, what is the water quality in this area? I love knowing that stuff, like when I'm there, I'm there, you get to see a new area and you get to find out something about it, and I think that's wonderful.

And yes, I saw that there's a Woodcocks have been coming through New York City, I guess they make a stop in Manhattan and Bryant Park, and this year instead of hiding, they've been out in the open at bird, there's like flocks of bird watchers going to Bryant Park. They had to actually make a a line for people to watch this bird, and I was like, OK, that's cool, but then I'm like, why is it there? Is this normal? Does it usually, you know, like I'm trying to find out like more about this whole circumstance, and um, yeah, and I think that's what gets us in trouble too sometimes.

Somebody. Gets sucked into a hole because they walked a little bit further than they should have because they're like, what's over here? Yeah, or, or like maybe, maybe for example, you go snorkeling as part of a snorkel like dive tour and then like an hour and a half later, someone from the boat is yelling at you to get back on and you're, yeah, you've been too busy like looking at duty ranks, you're like, wait, where's the boat? Yeah, yeah, things happen.

Yeah, so I, I think that's, you know, environmental professionals are, are awesome people. They are.

Um, OK, one last question. Based on all of the conversations we've had on the show, what gives you the most confidence in where this field is headed?

Hm. Another big broad question. Sorry guys.

Oh, I, I mean, I would argue I still think the same thing applies, that curiosity isn't going away. Uh, there are challenges, there's always challenges, and there's always things to find out, always new ways of doing things, new ways of incorporating, you know, technology, new ways of, uh, Examining age-old problems, and I think Uh, being, there is really no substitute for being out in the field.

Like you can say all day long, um, you know, you don't have to do that anymore, but you still do, and you still need, uh, to, you know, it's like trust but verify is kind of in the term of the day, but, um, there's a lot of really fascinating, uh, Places for us to go and there's always gonna be a need for, you know, OK, how accurate are we really? Are we really gonna have, be able to build around this wetland or not, you know, where does the, where are the boundaries for that thing?

And that's just one example of it, but there's lots more, and um, yeah, there's, there's a lot of really cool um and unique things coming down the line too, so I'm excited to see where it does go.

Yeah, I think, you know, there's a lot of automations coming and whatever, but people will still be in the field. They will still be having these encounters, but I think what gives me the most confidence is just who these people are and how curious and caring and how many of us there are. So, you know, we're not alone in this, we're all, this is a community of people who have dedicated some amount of time of their life to Fixing, improving, solving environmental problems, so that would be it for me.

Yeah. And with that, we just want to say thank you to all the environmental professionals out there. We truly appreciate all the work you're doing. Uh, I know that work often goes unseen, but it does make a true impact.

If you are interested in helping us continue to share this, the voices of environmental professionals, we do have sponsorship opportunities available under the support section of our website. You can find that at environmentalprofessionalsradio.com.

Please be sure to check us out each and every Friday. Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review. See you, everybody. Bye.