Recording of Nature Nerd Chat "FIRE: Cultivating Resilient Communities"
1st in the Nature Nerd Chat + Nature, Art & Habitat Residency collaborative Salon Series on FIRE
On Sunday, February 25th we had our first Nature Nerd Chat + Nature, Art & Habitat Residency collaborative Salon on FIRE.
Nature, Art & Habitat Residency (NAHR) is a think tank laboratory of multidisciplinary research located in Northern Italy, Val Taleggio, with an outpost in Santa Ynez, California (just north of Santa Barbara). NAHR’s aim is to unfold and display a culture that relates to nature as a source of inspiration.
I (Anne) was a fellow in the Santa Ynez location in 2022 when the theme was SOIL (of course) and have stayed on as an alumna in the role of NAHR Ambassador — helping to spread the word about the residency and our engagement events.
This year’s theme is FIRE, so I wanted to have a collaborative Nature Nerd Chat series with NAHR that brings together nature nerds with knowledge and experience about fire.
Joining myself and Sarah Valeri (a fellow NAHR ambassador), Monica Matthews was our first guest FIRE expert of the series. She shared about her conservation experiences and her vision of building capacity for beneficial fire, such as prescribed fire, to unite us into strong communities that can change and challenge oppressive systems.
If you like this type of event and want to make sure you see the invitation for future events, please subscribe (it’s free) to my substack or my eventbrite profile.
If you missed the chat, you’ll find the recording at the bottom of this post.
Some notes and links for context and deeper dives on projects and topics are listed below.
Links from Nature, Art & Habitat Residency:
Nature, Art, & Habitat Residency — 2024 Fellowship is around FIRE. Rolling application deadline for Summer residency in Taleggio, Italy (in the Italian Alps) and the Fall residency in Santa Ynez, California (just north of Santa Barbara).
Links from Monica Matthews:
Chumash of various bands and nations are the original and current stewards of San Luis Obispo County, Santa Barbara County and Ventura County. Here's a link for the nonprofit that represents the Barbareño/Ventureño band of Chumash, the original stewards of Ventura County where I live and work:
How to find information on the original stewards of where you live if you're in the Americas:
Here's some information on how to find and join your local Prescribed Burn Association if you live in California:
Learn the Indigenous language's names for landmarks where you live:
https://decolonialatlas.wordpress.com/turtle-island-decolonized/
Historical Ecology of the Los Angeles River Basin:
https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/b76cab116cbe4432a629d4791249a958
A video documentary of the book, Tending the Wild, that discusses in fantastic detail the history of land management in California:
https://www.pbs.org/video/tending-the-wild-eyran3/
Ceasefire writing from Sarah Valeri (read at the top of the event):
A balanced relationship with the living elements reflects a balanced relationship to ourselves and to other humans and beings, It is not within our rights to control the elements or others, or even within our ability. The attempt to control always creates a disastrous imbalance.
We must live in cooperation and respect with fire. To create machines of combustion that are used only to kill or destroy is a misuse and disrespect of fire's purpose, resulting in horrifying cruelty against all living things.
We ask everyone to observe a moment of reflection for those around the world who desperately await a ceasefire so they may begin healing themselves and their land.
Links from Anne LaForti:
Here’s a scientific journal article about soil microbes impacted by fire: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468584421000301#:~:text=Fires%20can%20affect%20soil%20microbiome,and%20alter%20microbial%20community%20composition.
To follow Anne’s adventures as That Soil Nerd, you can check out her instagram here:
https://www.instagram.com/soilnerdalert/
Guest and Co-Host Bios:
Monica Matthews, MS (she/her) works in the central and south coast on unceded Chumash land, as an ecologist, herpetologist, permitting biologist, fire practitioner and community organizer. Some of her current projects include natural and cultural resource management, ecological restoration, beneficial fire, wildfire risk management and cultural art care. These projects build healthy, resilient ecosystems mirrored by healthy, resilient human communities. She is also very fortunate to work alongside numerous Indigenous communities and the worldwide Indigenous movement returning land, resources and the role of land management to these Indigenous communities.
Anne LaForti, MSc (she/her) is a soil nerd, myco enthusiast, and all-around biophile (nature lover). She has a master's degree in Biomimicry and is a project manager supporting nature-based innovation in the built environment and beyond at Biomimicry 3.8. She is deeply interested in ITEK (Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge), regenerative agriculture and landscapes, and growing nutrient-dense foods. Anne was the 2022 Spring Nature, Art & Habitat Residency (NAHR) Fellow in Santa Ynez, working on "Soil as Pattern Language: Emulating Healthy Soil Communities" and is currently a NAHR Ambassador.
Sarah Valeri, MA, LCAT, (she/her) is an artist and a practicing licensed creative art therapist for 18 years. She currently teaches art therapy concepts through Ohio University with a focus on supporting healthy communities and trauma healing through arts practice. She hopes all mental health training will someday fully integrate arts and culture into inclusive practices of collective healing. As a past artist resident of NAHR in Val Taleggio in 2023 she has been developing work exploring human perception of and relation to the dynamic elements of our world. This spring she will be sharing some of these works at her graduation exhibition at the New York Studio School.
Recording of the Nature Nerd + Nature, Art & Habitat Residency FIRE Salon with Monica Matthews
Note that we had a few technical issues with Monica’s connection, so I’ve tried to chop out much of the spots where we lost her audio without impacting the content.