“Communication is nothing more than the exchange of information. Hence, at its broadest sense, environmental communication is necessary for the survival of every living system, be it an organism, an ecosystem, or a social system.”
-Alexander G. Flo (Environmental Communication, 2004)
The interdisciplinary field of environmental humanities weaves together research from the natural, applied, and social sciences with storytelling, art, creativity, and community building. It values indigenous ways of knowing as well as non-human perspectives.
Shenandoah Park
Angeles Elias created this art piece after reading Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods.
She was taken by the narrator’s repetition of the phrase “acid rain” throughout the book, and in particular, she was moved by his description of Shenandoah National Park in Virginia.
Angeles used a photo of the park as a reference for her painting, then she superimposed “leaves” on which she wrote a poem.
Angeles explains, “The park has a shortage of funds which caused many trails to close or deteriorate from the lack of management. That is one of the reasons why I included ‘To fix it all with just a grant’ into my poem. In my poem, I also mentioned other issues like overcrowding, pollution, acid rain, and invasive species, and these issues were mentioned in the book. . . . Many of these problems are man-made, and we have the power to do something about it, but it can only happen if people come to the realization that these places need help.”