The impact of the Trump Administration on Science and Wilderness

Throughout my life, I have continuously rediscovered how to belong. Perhaps this is a protectionist mechanism: it provides a sense of comfort. Perhaps this is something much deeper. Thinking back on the times that I have felt emotionally uncomfortable for prolonged periods (i.e. starting in a new city, a long breakup, establishing a new friend group), they all are rooted in an absent sense of belonging. Yet, once the feeling of belonging starts to develop again, I quickly forget that I ever felt adverse.  Belonging, as I have found it, is tied fast to the sense of self. As you need wood to start a fire, an idea of self is required to ignite belonging.

This piece is an essay that starts to scratch at some of the ecological and absurdist philosophies I have gathered throughout my life and schooling, specifically focusing on the treatment of the ecosystem and non-native species.

Today, my first article has been published in the Black Range Naturalist—I am very excited as this marks the beginning of the availability of my writing to audiences outside of my friends and family, something I have been planning for quite a while now.

Scale is a sense that can be easily manipulated by the mind—vast distances appear short in excitement; minutes pass excruciatingly slow when the opposite is wanted. The perception of the size of objects—and even oneself (see: Ken Kasey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest)—may differ than reality: a result of empowerment, cowardice, ease, difficulty, or really any range of emotions and preconceptions. I have experienced my fair share of distorted perception in reflection of my feelings, but recently I have noticed a shift that is born of necessity: the expansion of the grass patches in city parks stretched to match the unending prairies of big sky country.