Acclaimed nature writer visits GCSU, shares knowledge of local environment

A sugarberry tree, an overcup oak tree, a beavertail cactus, and an Eastern fence lizard are some of the plants and wildlife that make up the Lower Tobler Creek Trail at Andalusia. On March 30, Jack Nisbet, a teacher and award-winning nature writer, led a nature walk for GCSU students, and the Milledgeville community, to attend and enjoy the beautiful natural area seen while walking along the trail.

Nisbet has worked along with Dr. Melanie Devore, professor of environmental sciences, in the past at Stonerose Interpretive Center in Washington state.

“I met her in Eastern Washington at a fossil site she works at. She saw me working with kids and there was an event that we did presentations together at and we just hit it off,” Nisbet said.

Craig Amason, the executive director of the Flannery O’Connor Foundation, said Devore expressed interest to him about bringing Nisbet to Andalusia.

“She approached me about the possibility of bringing him here to do some environmental programming, not only here at Andalusia but in the community and to try to get as many people involved in it as we could for a week,” Amason said. “Since we actually have a nature trail and this is an environmental program it made since for him to use that part of our property for his presentation here.”

Nisbet not only led the nature walk at Andalusia, but also gave a presentation at Mary Vinson Memorial Library about “David Douglas and the Lure of the New World.” The library held a book signing for his new book ” The Collector.” He also came and spoke to students during a few science classes at GCSU.

Carol Seo, a senior environmental science major, said Nesbit visited her paleobotany class and talked to the students about David Douglas.

“Jack Nisbet introduced David Douglas, a botanical explorer in western North America,” Seo said. “He talked about the botanical connections he made between England and North America. In lecture he made the connections between the plants we saw at Andalusia and different plant fossils we are currently identifying in lab with research that has been conducted. He discussed where fossils could be found, who studies them and how paintings can also be studied to really visualize what could be seen in landscapes in the 1800s.”

Nisbet also joined Seo’s paleobotany class during its lab at the Lockerly Arboretum.

“While we were walking around Lockerly, Mr. Nisbet explained the connections that Douglas made between Liverpool and North America. We walked the trail and identified different plants, and talked about their origin, and the importance of some, how some plants were used for medication long time ago. Also, he was able to break down a lot of what he knew and was able to share it in a way that anyone could understand and relate to. It shined a different light on what we’ve been studying in paleobotany with Dr. Devore,” Seo said.

Devore said that her students are working on a project where they are asked to describe plants through writing. She believes Nisbet is someone who is able to deliver scientific information in a way that interests the general public.

“For my class they have a project where their describing a flora and doing their own treatment where they describe the plants, what plants their most closely related to that are living today, how they were deposited, what was going on as far as the geology, getting a story,” Devore said. “Jack is someone who takes that and says, ‘OK, if I am somebody who’s looking at this, here’s what captures my imagination, here’s what people would really find interesting,’ and he takes that to a wider audience than I could personally.”

Nisbet has written award-winning books such as “Sources of the River: Tracking David Thompson across Western North America,” “Purple Flat Top, Singing Grass, Burning Sage,” “Visible Bones: Journeys across Time in the Columbia River County” and his latest book “The Collector.”

Posted by Lauren Davidson on Apr 9 2010. Filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry