Tara Laidlaw spent her summers scrambling granite and swimming snowmelt lakes in the high Sierra. She didn't know it then, but those summers were building everything.

With a degree in Anthropological Sciences from Stanford and a Master's in Natural Science and Environmental Education from Hamline University, Tara is now Community Centered Conservation Director at the Southern Oregon Land Conservancy — turning wild places into living classrooms for learners of all ages. She's Board Chair of the Environmental Education Association of Oregon and serves on the board of the Coalition of Oregon Land Trusts.

We talk about what a fen, bog, and creek actually are, building an environmental education program during COVID and landing on nature journaling, how often we let students choose, place-based and experiential teaching, why being outdoorsy isn't just hiking and rafting, humans as a keystone species, freaks for the creek, finding a home in Southern Oregon, and some lines worth sitting with: "you can rest in curiosity without having to always know the answer," "you're allowed to not know," and "love is sustained and compassionate attention." Plus her most-used outdoor gear, advice for her younger self, and how she wants to be remembered.

Links
Southern Oregon Land Conservancy: landconserve.org
Contact Tara: tara@landconserve.org
Hidden Villa: hiddenvilla.org

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Hosted & Produced by Emily Berlant & Heather White / Go Wildly Podcast
Theme Music: "Rainmaker" by Jared Masters — used with permission

Keywords
Go Wildly Podcast, Go Wildly, Southern Oregon podcast, outdoor podcast, Emily Berlant, Heather White, Tara Laidlaw, Southern Oregon Land Conservancy, land conservancy Oregon, environmental education, nature journaling, place-based education, experiential learning outdoors, Stanford anthropology, Hamline University, Environmental Education Association Oregon, Coalition of Oregon Land Trusts, Hidden Villa, fen bog creek, keystone species humans, freaks for the creek, outdoor joy, curiosity in nature, outdoor education, COVID outdoor education, Southern Oregon land stewardship, conservation director, Southern Oregon outdoors, whimsy