Here are student summaries of survey observations with visitors to the Tillamook Forest Center, adapted for the public Rain Festival event. Click on any title for details, then return to see all titles.
Meeting Other Students at the Forest Center
Event: Tillamook ForestInterviewer: Kailie
Whom did you interview?
At the Tillamook Forest Center in their interactive exhibit, I interacted with students from Portland Community College, who were similarly visiting the center for academic purposes. They were a group of students doing a group project for their class on forest biology. They enjoyed visiting the forest near Rock Creek Environmental Studies Center for field work in the class, and especially love forests for activities such as slow hiking, mushroom hunting, and seeing animals and new things.
How did your EcoTypes and SDG priorities compare?The EcoTypes of these students leaned more towards nonhuman Place theme, with all of them saying they took their forest biology class hoping to learn about the animals of the forest, such as salamanders, insects, and deer. They also believe that forests are extremely important for the protection and stability of wildlife, which demonstrates left-leaning Nature and Ecosystems Axes. Furthermore, their love for hiking shows a more neutral Ethics axis, where they believe in nature serving both non-humans and humans purpose. This related to my personal Ecotype of Small Green Steps, where I value a biocentric view of the natural world and believe in incremental and individual action to help all living creatures of this earth.
What larger MCJD lessons did you learn?Our similarities were very prevalent during this discussion, conveying how many people care about the forest and its importance to animals and people alike. Meeting other students who were studying at the Tillamook Center, for a different class, demonstrates how differently groups of people or individuals can learn and study at the same place, with different perspectives in mind. These students were largely focused on biology, as they were there to study the living creatures of the forest and how they interact in the ecosystem. They particularly zoomed in, describing how their lab studies soil samples that they take from the forest. However, in ENVS, we zoom out, focusing on how environmental engagement can help us realize how people and their perspectives vary in how and why they care for the environment. However, despite the differences in classes we were taking, both my group and their group of students had fairly similar personal beliefs and purposes for forests in general, like recreation and enjoying the beauty and ecology of nature.