ROSS REID on How We Talk About What Matters /369
Photo by Joel Caldwell of Ross Reid walking among old growth.
Inviting listeners into his deep connection with the forest and the natural world, Ross Reid brings an inspirational energy and commitment to this interview. Connecting around their shared love for old growth and wild places, Ross and Ayana consider what it means to get people interested in protecting the places that sustain us. How can we inspire the connection with the land that brings people to defend it?
Ross shares the journey behind his work as “Nerdy About Nature,” and the passion for education, science, and the outdoors that drives the project. Breaking down what he wants people to get from his content, he considers how to get people to pay attention to the issues that matter without feeding into the seemingly endless loop of the attention economy. Ross and Ayana delve into critical questions about advocacy and activism in times of social media, and consider what it would truly mean to engage in action that connects and protects.
This conversation brings together rooted optimism, an understanding of the importance of education and knowledge sharing, and a dream of better systems that protect both people and the land. Ross leaves listeners to investigate their own connections to the land and to consider the many ways it is mediated by cultural and political intervention.
“Get out on the land. It’s so easy to get sucked into that world of division and feed into that system that keeps us from talking together and working with one another as a means of actually creating any positive change. ”
Photo of Ross Reid by Lena Andrian
Based in the Cascadian bioregion, Ross runs a passion project called Nerdy About Nature in which he shares fast-paced, fun, informative videos about nature and the world around us as a means of breaking down barriers to access factual science-based education, while providing critical insight and constructive conversation on environmental and social issues to encourage positive changes in this world to create a more diverse, inclusive, equitable and just future for us all.
♫ The music in this episode is “Everything is Okay,” “Lichen Maps,” and “Far More Other” by Green-House, courtesy of Leaving Records.
Episode References
Fairy Creek Blockade and Old-Growth Forests in B.C. | The Narwhal
Could This Ecology-Obsessed Skier Be the Next Bill Nye?
The TikTok Environmentalist - a conversation with Nerdy About Nature host Ross Reid | Mountain Gazette
Interview: Big tree registries, BC’s logging practices and Nerdy about Nature | Raincoast
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For The Wild is a slow media organization dedicated to land-based protection, co-liberation, and intersectional storytelling. We are rooted in a paradigm shift away from human supremacy, endless growth, and consumerism. As we dream towards a world of grounded justice and reciprocity, our work highlights impactful stories and deeply-felt meaning making as balms for these times.