There’s a hidden benefit to joining nature clubs that few people discuss.  Once gained, this benefit can be wasted if you don’t take action on it.  If you have no idea what I’m talking about, let me explain.

Early on, I realized that an easy way to learn mushrooms is to join a mushroom club.  An easy way to learn plants is to join a botanical club.  This is true for nearly any skill that can be taught.  Join an organization and participate in its activities.

This sounds pretty obvious, but what is the hidden benefit that I mentioned earlier?

The hidden benefit is this:  Nature clubs often take you to places that you’ve never been to before.  A botanical club might botanize a rare northern white-cedar fen.  A mushroom club might explore a remote red spruce forest.  

The reason I call it a “hidden” benefit is this:  many nature clubs never mention it.  In fact, some nature clubs never draw attention to the place itself.  Instead, they devote their attention solely to an isolated group of organisms that inhabit the place.

Now of course, organisms are vital components of a place, and we must learn them.  But the place itself, and the relationships that build the place, are things we also must learn if we are to improve our ecological literacy.

What is this place?  Why does it look like this?  Who is responsible for its existence?  How is this place any different from other places with similar names? 

If we don’t ask these questions, we fail to see how any of its organisms are connected.  If we don’t see the connections, we don’t see the place.  If we don’t see the place, we act in strange ways — almost like hungry people who taste only ingredients, but not the meal itself.

All this to say, I decided to bring awareness to this issue by creating a new online course devoted to this topic.  Exploring Wild Ecosystems is an educational resource I spent all of 2023 creating.  I am excited to announce that it will be released in May.

If you want to improve your ecological literacy while studying fascinating ecosystems (alvars, barrens, bogs, glades, prairies, swamps, and more), consider joining the notification list.

I’ll have more information to share in the upcoming weeks.

Thanks for your support!
—Adam Haritan