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This month's episode is a departure from our usual format. For October, we've drawn together voices of four people we met along the path of our recent walk through Tuscany. Each of them is currently living in Italy, yet their perspectives come from their experiences growing up or living long periods in places as diverse as Sardinia, West Africa, and the Ukraine. Igor helped us settle into our room in Florence. Sophie hosted us in her home in Siena, where we found her deeply inspiring visual art. Irina showed up with boundless enthusiasm to make sure we were comfortable in San Gimignano. And when we were unexpectedly adrift for a time on the streets of Lucca, Claudia rescued us, giving us a home in a room high above the plaza Anfiteatro. In answering our questions, each of these people spoke with candor and generosity. And in the end, their words inspired us to look more deeply into our own global perspectives. We know you'll enjoy hearing the voices of these fine and inspiring people we now have the luck to call friends. The world of humans is primed for pulling together on behalf of all things resonant and linked with ecological health. Climate repair, for certain - but also peace and devotion to the health and wellbeing of all people and all beings on this precious planet. As you linger with your own thoughts on this episode, we hope you’ll be in touch with us. Global perspectives become more healing, more powerful, when we cultivate them together. And, if you're curious about the walk we took, check out our Instagram posts over the middle weeks of September, 2026 @fullecology. You can also learn more about the Via Franchegina at this link. https://www.viefrancigene.org/en/home MUSIC Italian Summer. Music by Robert S from Pixabay Nostalgic Uplifting Acoustic Music. Music by Dvir Silverstone from Pixabay Italian Background Music. Music by Ievgen Poltavskyi from Pixabay Italy Café Rome. Music by Andrii Hroza from Pixabay Original theme music composed and performed by Gary Ferguson. ---- HILFH is an educational project of Full Ecology. Check us out and let us hear from you.

It's September. And that means stepping again into a new year for our podcast. Season #6. WOW! The whole thing started because of Covid. Our friend Joe Loviska came to us in the late summer of 2020 and said he thought Full Ecology should have a podcast. We weren't 100% sure what a podcast was but liked Joe's energy for the idea. At the time, we were living in Bozeman and, like you, watching as the uncertainty and panic built around the pandemic. We were still swabbing our mail with bleach; we’d just graduated from bandanas to actual protective masks. We were tuned in on vaccine possibilities, even though nothing would be released until December of that year. Likely you, too, were minimizing your time in public spaces. All of us were painfully aware of the tragic deaths, the risks to and heroics of healthcare professionals. But none of us had much sense of what was really going on. So, we decided to start our podcast with a Full Ecology focus on HILFH - Life in the Time of COVID. We knew that social isolation meant there were profound limitations to what we could know about how the world was looking to people outside our homes. Thus, the idea of tuning in to "how it looks" to people from all backgrounds. We all needed to know more than our own narratives were telling us. The first nine episodes were rich. The guests brilliant and willing to speak from what they were seeing and experiencing. Optimistically thinking Covid was winding down, we switched our focus in September of 2021 with an episode featuring Gary. This was the beginning our long run with the subtitle - Life in the Time of Climate Change. We'd always intended this focus for Full Ecology, seeing our podcast as kind of meeting place as we navigate what's truly an even longer collective crisis. This year, with Covid seemingly in the rearview, we find ourselves struck again by the immediate and enduring relevance of how repairing human relationship with the natural world looks from differing perspectives. In this episode, we lean into our original orientations: Gary's focus on conservation science, coming together with Mary's decades of experience in the social sciences. The overlapping edges of those two attentions is an incredibly rich place to be – today with Gary continuing his work on post climate-change landscapes, and Mary exploring and elaborating the Inner Elder. Ours is a classic case of the sum being more than the parts. And not a day passes without it influencing how we think and act in the world. For more information on what Gary & Mary mentioned, visit our website. Scroll to the bottom of the homepage and sign up for our monthly newsletter to keep up with all things Full Ecology - especially the short-form publications Gary's generating these days. For an example, check out his May essay in the New York Times on the Ponderosa and water. And make a note in your calendar for Mary's 90 minute session on Meeting Your Inner Elder No Matter Your Age - an invited presentation with Sage-ing International midday October 20, 2026. Finally, it's not too early to sign up for our retreats next summer in the Centennial Valley of Montana. We've got hot-off-the-press tentative dates!! Come join us. The Full Ecology of a Writer's Life ~ June 28-July 2 Full Ecology & the Inner Elder ~ July 3-July 7 And such thanks for listening. We so appreciate your companionship over the years. MUSIC Harvest Moon Smile. Music by Diana DiDI from Pixabay As the Wind Blows. Music by Paul Winter from Pixabay Easygoing Guitar and Piano. Music by Johnny Hoeve. Original theme music composed and performed by Gary Ferguson. ---- HILFH is an educational project of Full Ecology. Check us out and let us hear from you.

For August, we had the great opportunity to spend some time with Maria Egan, a senior financial adviser in Boston. Maria speaks to life in the time of climate change from the perspective of a professional well-versed in economics and finance, and entirely committed to the wellbeing of the natural world alongside social justice - especially as it shows up in fairness to workers in corporate settings. Maria was raised in Maine. Her father is Greek and immigrated to this country from Egypt. Together with her mother, this pair raised their children with powerful and enduring respect for what we in Full Ecology refer to as "being right-sized" - living in full and right-relation with the wellbeing of all being. Maria brings this sensibility to her work. In this episode, you'll here how her ongoing devotion is reflected in ways investment and finance can support the sustainability of our environment and communities. A mother of three girls, Maria most enjoys the aspects of her work that involve mentoring colleagues and continually enhancing client experience. She occassionally guest lectures on environmental, socia and governance (ESG/impact) investing at Boston-area universities and has supported the Social Innovation Forum, an organization that connects nonprofits with funders. She's also held volunteer leadership roles at the Transformative Culture Project which helps youth and aduly artists create social and economic power through their art. You can learn more about Maria by reading the interview at https://reyndersmcveigh.com/team/egan-maria, and by following search strands describing other aspects of her work. And, as she reminds her girls, all of us can benefit from the wisdom of “cheering for our team, but not against the others.” I know I learned things in our conversation that loosened up some of my assumptions about the effects of investment. MUSIC Jazz Song. Music by Mircea https://street.go.ro from Pixabay The Happy Sax. Music by Mircea https://street.go.ro from Pixabay Latin Jazz Acoustic. Music by Alex Morgan from Pixabay Original theme music composed and performed by Gary Ferguson. ---- HILFH is an educational project of Full Ecology. Check us out and let us hear from you.

This month our guests are Rob and Lori Byron, two MDs devoted to health as its affected by changes in our climate and air quality. Lori is a career Pediatrician and Rob, An Internist. Through much of their work life they've worked to draw the attention of healthcare professionals to the immediate implications of climate change and air polution. Together they launched a nonprofit, Montana Health Professionals for a Healthy Climate - now going by the name, Montana Health and Climate. Over the past 7 years their reach has rapidly expanded to serve Montanans across the state who are healthcare professionals with programming extending into schools, communities, neighborhoods and families. Their goal is to raise awareness and enter full collaboration on solutions. Most visionary of their collaborators have been the Native American Tribes. Lori and Rob describe these communities as well ahead in articulating and actualizing priorities for climate health. For Tribes, the health of the land is the health of the people. Enjoy listening in on this conversation. You're sure to leave with new ideas and perspectives. You can learn more about Lori & Rob by spending time on their website: Montana Health and Climate. Find stories of programs that are building enthusiasm for climate repair in schools, neighborhoods, and health care centers. Like the Byron's say, "This is the world's greatest group participation project." We can do this!!!! MUSIC Americana Instrumental 07. Music by Alana Jordan from Pixabay Americana Instrumental 01. Music by Alana Jordan from Pixabay Acoustic Ballad, Optimistic Scape. Music by Dvir Silverstone from Pixabay Original theme music composed and performed by Gary Ferguson. ---- HILFH is an educational project of Full Ecology. Check us out and let us hear from you.

This month, Mary met up with Dr. Beronda Montgomery, a plant biologist, writer, researcher and scholar. Dr. Montgomery works to understand how individuals perceive, respond to, and are affected by the environments in which they live. By investigating the response of photosynthetic organisms (i.e., plants and cyanobacteria) to external light cues, she is able to identify related roles for innovative leaders in human settings. After over 18 years at Michigan State University as a Foundation Professor in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Beronda served as Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dean, and Professor of Biology at Grinnell College. In that time, she co-founded the annual Black Botanists Week. Then, since 2025, she's been the Sally Starling Seaver Fellow in Biological Sceinces with Radcliffe Harvard Institute. In this episode, Mary and Beronda speak of her most recent book, When Trees Testify. As Beronda writes, "Plants don't just passively provide. They also take action. They are masters of adaptation. They 'know' what and who they are, and they use this knowledge to make a way in the world. Plants are even capable of transformative behaviors that allow them to maximize their chances of survival in dynamic and sometimes unfriendly environments." Quite consistent with the rich spirit of her words here, this HILFH conversation was rich and enlivening. You can learn more about Beronda Montgomery by checking out her books, When Trees Testify and Lessons from Plants. Also spend some time with her website and the additional writings there. Let yourself be informed and inspired by Dr. Montgomery and the love of plants. MUSIC Rolled Ankles. Music by Nicholas Panek from Pixabay Moonlight on Your Hands. Music by Mircea Iancu from Pixabay Evening Strings. Music by DPStudioMusic from Pixabay Original theme music composed and performed by Gary Ferguson. ---- HILFH is an educational project of Full Ecology. Check us out and let us hear from you.

Known by many as "the most at-large Montanan," Steve Held is a rancher, a civic leader and dedicated advocate for the environment – not to mention a former Hollywood star. This month, he took time out to speak with Mary about how the world looks to him. Steve's ranch covers 7000 acres at the southeastern edge of the state. It’s a sprawling, magnificent landscape, one that’s been shaping him since he was just a boy. Steve lives a deeply connected life – both to his hometown of 450 people, as well as to rural lands and communities across the state. He spent 25 years in Hollywood as an actor, but always knew one day he'd return to his homeland. His children were raised on the land. One of them, Rikki Held, joined 15 other Montana youth to become the lead plaintiff in Held v. Montana, a landmark 2023 lawsuit in which they successfully argued all the way to the Montana Supreme Court that the state had violated their constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment. Steve whole-heartedly supported Rikki and her peers in their legal case. He then built on their energy, brilliance and focus to encourage citizens around the state to learn and join in the climate advocacy movement. Steve sees himself as an energized Elder, devoting himself to organizing for social and environmental justice. His focus is clear and steadfast, advocating for fair treatment of the land and its people, animals and waterways. You can learn more about Steve by reading his substack - Last Best Voice - and by doing the old fashioned thing of checking him out on Google. And here's a link for learning more about Rikki Held and her fifteen associates in Held v. Montana. https://www.ourchildrenstrust.org/montana Check it out. There’s lots to learn. But the most important thing we can all take away is Steve’s request that we, each and all, do everything we can to become good ancestors. Certainly worth some serious consideration and action. MUSIC Inspiring Folk Acoustic Guitar. Music by Music_for_Creators from Pixabay The River Knows My Name. Music by Diana DiDI from Pixabay Acoustic Guitar, Primavera. Music by Sound Music from Pixabay Original theme music composed and performed by Gary Ferguson.

This month, Mary got to talk with Marilyn Deutsch, a beloved Portland journalist who spent over three decades as a producer at KPTV/FOX 12. Marilyn is known for her dedicated storytelling and recognized by colleagues as a talented, long-standing voice in Oregon media. An award-winning news professional, Marilyn has been recognized for being highly adept at presenting complex topics clearly. She's a skilled listener and polished public speaker. These days, Marilyn consults with the Oregon Historical Society on their oral history initiatives. She conducts in-depth in-person interviews with leaders in Oregon politics, business, law and related fields. These oral histories become part of the OHS permanent collection for future research purposes and the historical record. Across the past three years, Marilyn has also served as the Oral History Director and Strategist for Clackamas County Historical Society with an eye toward the people and ecosystems of the Willamette River Valley. Through it all, Marilyn has loved the natural world and paid attention to the shifts in sentiment among the public with whom she's interacted. You can learn more about Marilyn on LinkedIn and in the articles and posts. Fond Farewell to Marilyn Deutsch - FOX 12 Oregon https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1893542457662361 On Marilyn’s Facebook Page And here. As Marilyn suggests, Keep paying attention - as if you were going to be asked to report on what’s really happening. Marilyn knows, as you do, that with focus and dedication, we can indeed repair our climate. MUSIC Under the Olive Tree. Music by Silviu on the street from Pixabay Flamenco Song. Music by Silviu on the street from Pixabay Free Soul Guitar and Flute. Music by Kalpesh Ajugia from Pixabay Original theme music composed and performed by Gary Ferguson.

This month, Mary got to spend time with Heather Bentz, a nationally rejowned artist and all around cool person. Heather was raised by artists, and by the natural world she adventured into throughout her childhood. She holds a BFA in Printmaking from Pennsylvania State University, and an MFA in Painting from Montana State University. Following her rapt attention to play and adventure in nature as a child, Heather whimsically engages with a variety of materials in her art practice of collage, drawing and painting. In her career, she also supported the education of artists even as she continued creating. She served as Assistant Dean of the college of Arts and Architecture at Montana State University, and later as Assistant Dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. These days, her pieces hold found and recycled materials and often reference the plants around her and those she observed as a child. As Heather puts it, "My art is a physical record of how I process the world around me, organizing and layering its frenetic bits to create surfaces that have history and hold the energy that went into their making. The imagery is reminiscent of something familiar. They're places in which I like to let my mind play and poke around." Enjoy listening to this episode of HILFH, when Heather and Mary poke around to learn more about how nature and humans dance with each other to create art. You can learn more about Heather Bintz by visiting her website. You can also follow her on Instagram @heather_bentz where she posts her bobcat sightings and shares her art. Heather’s art is also featured in two current shows in Tucson, AZ - Small Works at the Untitled Gallery and Beneath the Surface, showing at Steinfeld Warehouse. She has standing exhibitions at ten Space Gallery in Denver and at the Art3 Gallery in Manchester, NH - both of these galleries serving to represent her work. In our conversation, Heather mentioned the artist, Clyde Aspevig - a creator worth checking out. And now, as you move into your next days and weeks, take Heather's advice to do what you can to support climate repair - and make sure to pay renewed (and renewing) attention to the light. MUSIC Piano Background Music. Music by Dmitrii Kolesnikov from Pixabay Background Piano. Music by Nikita Kondrashev from Pixabay Relaxing Piano Ambient. Music by Mircea Iancu from Pixabay Original theme music composed and performed by Gary Ferguson.

Our February podcast features a conversation between Mary and author Mark Spragg. She describes the time as a unique pleasure. Mark is a man of the land - a deservedly celebrated author of Where Rivers Change Direction, and the novels The Fruit of Stone, An Unfinished Life, and Bonefire. All four were top-ten Book Sense selections, and his work has also been translated into eleven languages. An Unfinished Life also became a critically acclaimed movie, starring Robert Redford, Morgan Freeman and Jennifer Lopez. From birth, Mark's life has unfolded iin and near rural Wyoming. He lived his younger years with his family on the Crossed Sabers Ranch, a rustic dude ranch eight miles east of Yellowstone National Park. He graduated from the University of Wyoming Laramie in 1974 with a major in English, then proceeded to work on an oil rig, shod horses, and led pack trips to support his writing. In 1999 he published a memoir - Where Rivers Change Direction - about his unusual childhood - one with no TV or radio but surrounded instead by vast expanses of rugged outdoor beauty. You can learn more about Mark Spragg at his website markspragg.com. And for truly fine reads, check out his books. Mark is a superb storyteller. He is a master in the craft of writing - fully devoted to serving the exquisite interplay of language and wild nature, the human and the more than human, as they unfold into being. MUSIC Raindrops. Music by Sound Music from Pixabay Inspiring Folk Acoustic Guitar. Music by Music_for_Creators from Pixabay Inside You. Music by Vitaliy Levkin from Pixabay Original theme music, composed and performed by Gary Ferguson.

This month, Mary had the opportuinity to spend time with Dr Alexandra Adams. Alex is Director of the Center for American Indian and Rural Health Excellence (CAIRHE), an NIH-funded center focusing on building research partnerships with rural and Native communities and mentoring junior investigators. Her research focus is community-based and participatory. She works in close partnership with Native American communities to understand and solve health challenges using both scientific rigor and crucial community knowledge. Alex has focused her career on the promotion of family and community wellness and healing trauma through community building. Addressing the effects of climate surprises on health has been central to her work. She also uses storytelling, filmmaking, and other strategies to engage communities and support health. In their conversation, Alex and Mary explored her experience at the interface of Western medicine and rural, American Indian and other indigenous communities. Alex described ways for building healing relationships of trust and sharing - acknowledging the deep wisdom of local communities and of ancestral indigenous knowledge. What Alex describes is medicine at its most responsive. Fully honoring the fact that the health of the land is the health of the people and drawing across the arts to practice what is perhaps the greatest of all healing arts, listening. You can learn more about Dr. Alexandra Adams by visiting her personal website and substack, Longing for Belonging. and her substack. Also check the website for the Center for American Indian and Rural Health Excellence (CAIRHE) where you can learn more about Alex’s initiatives with that organization. And here's the link to the Turtle Island Tales website and videos Alex described. Through all of her creative endeavors, Alex lives fully in her relatedness with all beings. This is good medical practice, it’s good art, and it’s solidly consistent with climate repair. Let’s all join her. MUSIC Mystical Flute Music. Music by morel dua from Pixabay Tabla Flute 102. Music by Johnson Cherian from Pixabay Acoustic Guitar and Flute Fairytale. Music by Denis Pavlov from Pixabay Original theme music, composed and performed by Gary Ferguson.

This month, Mary got to have a fascinating exchange with Dr. Dan Papaj, a Full Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology with the University of Arizona. Vastly dedicated to pollinators - in particular, the Blue Swallowtail, Dan is an esteemed and longstanding researcher and faculty member. He completed his undergraduate work at Cornell University and earned his PhD in zoology from Duke University. He's a fellow in the Animal Behavior Society and has won fellowships with Bellagio and Fullbright. All along the way, he's retained inspiring relationships with his students. His inflluence now spreads through scholarly and ecological communities. In their conversation, Mary and Dan dipped into the social life of bees, the evolutionary trajectory of humans and the impact of drought on the desert. Listen in for new insights into how it looks to an active entemolotist. You can learn more about Dan by checking out his University of Arizona faculty profile. Just below, he’s also provided a few links to some of his writing, and to resources on cultural evolution. Check them out. Learn more. And as Dan suggests, always make choices for our relatives, the pollinators. And a quick postscript. Early in the life of HILFH, we had the delightful honor of welcoming Sara Mapelli Tink as a guest (HILFH episode 5). Sara is known for her activism in support of bees - she dances with them covering her body. Check out her interview - it never gets old! LEARN MORE The role of similarity of stimuli and responses in learning by nectar-foraging bumble bees: a test of Osgood’s model M Baek & DR Papaj. Animal Behaviour 219, 123036 The relationship between preference and switching in flower foraging by bees DR Papaj & AL Russell. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 78 (3), 40 ______ Dan's recommendations for learning more about cultural evolution: Cumulative cultural evolution. Culture and the Evolutionary Process. (1985). University of Chicago Press. https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/C/bo5970597.html  Dan’s comment, “Boyd and Richerson's 1985 Culture and the Evolutionary Process is still in print at U. Chicago Press and for good reason.” An article by Gerbauly et al. on the development of lactose tolerance in humans. https://mail.google.com/mail/u/1/#inbox/FMfcgzQcqtjBxVGRsHBrrNlBrnwFXxPC?projector=1&messagePartId=0.1 And a very cool photo of Bees ~ https://photoawards.com/winner/zoom.php?eid=8-222523-21 MUSIC Jazz Restaurant Café Music. Music by Ievgen Poltavskyi from Pixabay   Jazz Background Music. Music by Mykola Sosin from Pixabay   Jazz Lounge Elevator MusicMusic by Andrii Poradovskyi from Pixabay Original theme music composed and performed by Gary Ferguson.

This month Mary had the chance to spend some time with Karen Tate, a global leader in Goddess Spirituality. Karen was raised a white woman in the South. In childhood she observed and experienced abuse – and further, saw that abuse routinely rationalized. It wasn't until her adult years that she recognized her unconscious involvement in excusing, and thus perpetuating, the normalization of cruelty and manipulation. Her most recent of seven books (most of which focus on aspects of Goddess Spirituality), is entitled, Normalizing Abuse: A commentary on the Culture of Pervasive Abuse. Drawing on Goddess Spirituality for tools, Karen strives for a world where abuse and exploitation - of people and of the natural world - are simply no longer acceptable. Across her career, Karen has been a thought leader, speaker, author and activist - all of this at the crossroads of spirituality, personal transformation and social justice. She hosts the long-running Voices of the Sacred Feminine podcast, considered a treasure trove of wisdom for more than a dozen years. Karen has been named one of the Thirteen Most Influential Women in Goddess Spirituality and a Wisdom Keeper of the Women's Spirituality Movement. In their conversation, Karen and Mary explore the ways Goddess Spirituality and abuse culture are evident as in our relationships with the more-than-human world we've learned to think of as separate - as Nature outside of us. You can learn more about Karen Tate by visiting her website karentate.net. There you’ll find all of her books, Including Normalizing Abuse, and be able to gain access to her writings and her podcast. We can all learn a great deal about how to restore our health as members of the community of Nature by listening to the ancient wisdom of Goddess Spirituality. As Karen suggests, we are all suited to act from kindness and connection with each other and the whole of being. Here are a few links that Karen wanted to share in addition: Heide Goetner-Abendroth - https://goettner-abendroth.de/en/biography The Center for Partnership - https://centerforpartnership.org/ Karen also offered these words to all of us as an afterthought. Regarding the way the world would look if the tenets of Goddess Spirituality were centered:  We'd pass assets through the mother line instead of the father line, adapt some of the matriarchal values and traditions to keep women and children safe and at the center of society rather than on the fringes. MUSIC Meditative Drone, Music by Natalia from Pixabay New Heights, Music by Alana Jordan from Pixabay Love Serenity, Music by Dvir Silverstone from Pixabay Original Theme Music, Gary Ferguson.

This month, Mary had the chance to talk with Traute Parrie, an environmental engineer and conservationist who had a career with the U.S. Forest Service. Traute says she’s at her best in high-mountain pika habitat. The small mammals scampering between boulders with their chirping voices capture her curiosity and have long been teachers. She’s also prone to long walks - often days at a time - including a recent hike through the Yellowstone ecosystem from the Lamar Valley on the east side, to Jackson and the Teatons on the west.  Now, on the heels of a long career which culminated in her leading the Custer National Forest Beartooth Ranger District, you can find Traute in ecosystems of every description - wandering and listening to the land. She bikes, hikes, skis, sometimes in dubious weather. And is also known to pound nails as part of fire-lookout restoration projects.  Traute knows wild nature from her work and from her lifelong dedication to the world outside. She’s been watching human and more-than-human behavior for a long time and has plenty to share that can offer all of us additional understanding and ideas for being active participants in climate repair. You can learn more about Traute by taking a look at the book she helped edit, Voices of Yellowstone’s Capstone: A Narrative Atlas of the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness. Celebrated as "A riveting history of the areas animals, plants and soaring mountainsides with historical perspective from the Absalooke people, and the first non-native people to enter and engage with the land."    The book: https://shop.abwilderness.org/products/the-atlas  Video Interview: https://www.anewanglepodcast.com/p/traute-parrie-and-aaron-teasdale-776  Excerpts: https://books.google.com/books?id=2if1xQEACAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false  And these resources that Traute mentioned. The book, The Crazies by Amy Gamerman https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/214152457-the-crazies  The poetry of Montana Poet laureate, Chris LaTrey https://www.chrislatray.com/  As Traute says - we’re all related to each other and to all beings in the natural world. Her career in the Forest Service and her retirement illustrate there’s a lot to guide us in that relationship.  MUSIC Instrumental Acoustic Guitar Music - Music by Viacheslav Starostin from Pixabay Upbeat Acoustic Guitar - Music by Tunetank from Pixabay Acoustic Guitar - Music by Sound Music from Pixabay

This month we’re moving into the 6th year of this Podcast. As has been our tradition, Gary and I open the season with an episode to catch up on Full Ecology and our work in the world. What an amazing thing to take stock of where we’ve been and to consider where we are and where we’re going. We hope you enjoy this conversation and look forward to having you along for this season of varied and brilliant voices sharing their view on our glorious planet and its precious life. You can learn more about Gary’s book Twilight Forest, and Mary’s work with Inner Elderhood by following these links (blue above). You’re also welcome to inquire about these and all things Full Ecology by writing us at [email protected] or visiting the Full Ecology website. MUSIC Acoustic Nature. Music by Dvir Silverstone from Pixabay Lovely Day. Music by Dvir Silverstone from Pixabay Instrumental Acoustic Guitar. Music by DELOSound from Pixabay

This month Mary had the opportunity to meet up with Dr. Jane Close Conoley, who, since January of 2014 was the first woman appointed as permanent president of California State University Long Beach. After nearly 50 years in higher education, we caught Jane on the cusp of her retirement. Just prior to coming to Cal State Long Beach, Jane served as dean of the Gevirtz Graduate School of Education at the University of California Santa Barbara. Along with serving as dean, she was professor of counseling, clinical and school psychology. Before Santa Barbara, Jane served as dean and professor of educational psychology at Texas A&M University (1996-2005) and associate dean for research at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Teachers College (1989-94). In addition, she held faculty positions at Texas Woman's University and Syracuse University.  Jane is the author or editor of 22 books and has written more than 100 chapters, refereed journal articles and technical reports. Her areas of primary interest are interventions with families, and with children with disabilities - especially children with serious emotional disturbance and aggressive children and youth. Her most recent work investigates the application of the science of positive psychology in educational settings. By the time you're the president of a major University, you've got plenty of credibility. Jane is at the same time a person of great integrity, creativity and heart. You'll hear all of that in their conversation. [Note from MMC - This was an especially gratifying episode for me. Back when I was in my early 20's, Jane recognized me as someone she could mentor. Because of her confidence in and encouragement of me, I've moved through my own academic career and into the work I do now, here on this good Earth, with all of you. I am forever grateful to and for Jane Conoley.] You can learn more about Jane by checking out the Cal State University Long Beach website. Especially this link focused on her generous service to CSULB. And here's a link to a pdf on positive psychology in educational settings that Jane co-authored with her husband, Collie W. Conoley. And make sure to consider how you can identify approach goals for your own action in support of climate repair. The initiatives of Jane’s University and the city of Long Beach are inspiring. Acting locally - even as locally as our home and family, makes a difference. Thanks to each of you for refusing to give up. Our choices to do what we can where we can come together with those of people around the globe to truly matter. MUSIC Rolled Ankles. Music by Nicholas Panek from Pixabay Jazz Background 333352. Music by Ievgen Poltavskyi from Pixabay Romantic Jazz. Music by Soundore from Pixabay