Extra-Credit Readings

It should be no surprise that one way I engage with environmentalism is through books.

As a child, I read until I couldn't see straight. My mom would come into my room late at night and yell at me for still being awake. I have memories of just having to read that next chapter and doing so during class. I would read in the car, trying to use the street lights and sometimes waiting with periods of dark until we would zoom past a light that would allow me to read the next few words.

Everywhere I traveled, I brought at least two books just in case I happened to finish one. My very first job was in a public library, and I still work there when I'm home on school breaks.

Trust me when I say that I know about good books. Please check out these books that have inspired and taught me while being entertaining.

While working at the library, I found the book Lab Girl by Hope Jahren and absolutely loved it. I was currently working on college applications and trying to understand what a career in environmental science could look like. The book was engaging and inspirational, reassuring me that I had made the right choice in major. Jahren comments on navigating the male-dominated field of environmental science while also reflecting on why she became a scientist. It shows the labor of love that working in this field is.

My degree would be revoked if I left Silent Spring by Rachel Carson off this list. Rachel Carson is such a huge inspiration to me and to a lot of women in this field. Carson was a biologist in the 60s who noticed the effect of DDT on bird populations. DDT was a pesticide that was very popular for killing mosquitoes and other insects and was thought to have no effect on mammals, but later it was shown to be stored in fatty tissue and caused issues for many species. Carson did years of work for this before publishing the book, and it truly paid off. This book directly lead to the start of the environmental movement as well as American environmental legislation, the formation of the EPA, and the first Earth Day. One day I hope to do something as compelling as this book to inspire wide-spread action.

The reason I wrote this blog is because I attended an event as part of Fall For the Book. This year's Beck Environmental Lecture was with Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, who co-edited All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis with Dr. Katharine K. Wilkinson. The book is an anthology of essays, poems, and illustrations by women at the forefront of the climate movement. Dr. Johnson spoke to how she was offered a book deal, but used it to leverage this book so that way should could open doors for the women featured in this book as well. My absolute favorite part of the interview was when Dr. Johnson spoke to the involvement of younger generations in the climate movement. I enjoyed this part most because I felt as if she was vocalizing my innermost thoughts. She spoke to how the younger generation is seeing climate change happen and feels the effects of it, while also knowing that this is an intersectional issue and that while we need to stop climate change, we need to make sure we do so while caring for different groups and respecting their traditions and wishes. She pointed out that as this generation goes “How can you not see this? This is obvious and a large issue we need to solve”, adults turn around and go “Okay, so how do we solve this?” and we have to say “I’m still a child. That is your job.” As a student about to graduate with a bachelors, the last part is not as true as it once was. However, I’ve been that child before.

Check your local public library to if these books are available or if you can support them during this time. Libraries that have opened are under strict covid restrictions so patrons and staff can be kept safe, but if you are not comfortable find out if these books are part of their ebook collection!

Me with my copy of All We Can Save