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Reading the Book of Nature May Theilgaard Watts and the Art of (Teaching) Ecology

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Reading the Book of Nature May Theilgaard Watts and the Art of (Teaching) Ecology Faculty Research Leave Application Michael A. Bryson Associate Professor of Humanities and Sustainability Studies College of Professional Studies Submitted 2 November 2012 / Approved 16 January 2013 Reading the Book of Nature May Theilgaard Watts and the Art of (Teaching) Ecology Project Overview and Major Goals This project focuses on one of the most influential and remarkable voices in the environmental history of the Chicago Region: May Theilgaard Watts (1893-1975), whose writings, environmental education work, public outreach, and conservation advocacy dramatically shaped both the landscape itself as well as human perceptions of urban and suburban environments. A student of pioneering University of Chicago scientist Henry Chandler Cowles, who led the development of ecology as a scientific discipline with his work on plant community succession in the Indiana Dunes, Watts became an expert at "reading the landscape" through the lenses of ecology and botany. Possessed of an uncanny and singular ability to explain complex ecological relationships and processes, Watts perfected the art of interpreting stories of environmental change through observation and analysis of physical evidence -- plants, animal tracks, soil, water, rooflines, roads -- within both the natural and built environment. While she was widely traveled (and published one of her major books about her explorations of Europe), most of Watts' time and energy focused on the Chicago region, where she was the first naturalist-educator at the renowned Morton Arboretum in Lisle, IL. In this capacity, Watts not only led hundreds of education programs for children, adults, and aspiring naturalists; but also performed ecological research, developed educational materials and 2 curricula, and mentored many fellow educators and nature interpreters who specifically sought out her expertise. After her retirement, in the early 1960s she became the chief advocate for what would be the nation's first rails-to-trails conversion project, the Illinois Prairie Path -- now one of dozens of similar recreational trails in and around Chicago, and a model for open space re- development throughout the US. Watts' interpretations of the landscape took many forms: drawings, maps, empirical biological surveys, essays, field guides, newspaper and magazine articles, speeches, and even public television programs. The most significant and enduring among these is her landmark book, Reading the Landscape of America, originally published in 1957 and revised by Watts in 1975. This remarkable text combines dozens of original illustrations with engaging prose that despite its explicitly didactic purpose (to teach the art and science of understanding ecological relationships and thus "read" the history and physical character of particular landscapes) is both entertaining and instructive, scientifically rigorous yet rhetorically artful. Long neglected within the critical context of 20th century American nature writing, Reading the Landscape of America is, in fact, a watershed book that utilizes art and science in equal measure; explores the ecological workings of a locale within its environmental and cultural history; recognizes the importance of native plants in the workings of ecosystems and the identity of communities; and considers both the natural and (human) built environments as an integrated whole. Consequently, Watts' text -- and her multifaceted body of work -- are far ahead of their time, as they articulate many of the ideas and concerns of contemporary urban ecology and sustainable development. The focused study on May Watts previewed here is a vital part of my longer-term book project, Mapping the Urban Wilderness, which is a comprehensive and interdisciplinary account of the shape, character, history, and future of nature within the Chicago metropolitan region. 3 Such a "re-visioning" of Chicago -- one of the most storied, studied, and celebrated cities in the world -- can be realized by figuratively mapping the literature and natural history of the city onto the spatial contours of its geography as well as the temporal axis of its environmental history. The literature within this topography is an inclusive category of written discourse that encompasses poetry, fiction, and literary nonfiction; biography and autobiography; nature writing, scientific reports, and visual art; even planning documents and maps. Defined in this way, the literature of nature in the Chicago region serves as a useful lens through which to view the environmental changes that have occurred since the early days of the city in the 1830s, as well as our shifting attitudes about the character and value of urban nature in more contemporary times. Such an assessment is especially timely with the recent emergence of sustainability as a conceptual tool for improving the environmental quality, economic vitality, and social equity of urban regions. The overarching questions that Mapping the Urban Wilderness addresses include: • How does the exploration of nature within an urban area expand, challenge, and/or problematize our past and present notions about wilderness? What is at stake in labeling as "wilderness" particular kinds of urban nature, and not others? • What do past and present literary, artistic, and scientific representations of nature in Chicago tell us about the character of the urban environment and our relationship to it? • How does the quality and geographic distribution of nature within the Chicago region impact individual neighborhoods and localities, as well as people of different classes, races, and ethnicities? • How can a new conception of urban wilderness provide a framework for addressing ecological problems and stimulate an appreciation for nature that, in turn, leads to the formation of beneficial environmental ideas and policies? • What are the necessary elements of an urban environmental ethic, and how might a fuller understanding of Chicago's ecological and literary histories contribute to its articulation? Given the analytic framework embodied in these questions, my research leave agenda thus has two concrete goals -- one short-term, the other ongoing. The first is to research, write, 4 and publish the first significant critical study of the literary work and public education efforts of May Watts, a task which can be tackled within the timeframe of a one-semester research leave and which forms a key part of the much larger framework of Mapping the Urban Wilderness -- specifically, its chapter entitled "City, Suburb, Farm: Chicago Nature Writing, Past and Present." Secondly, in conjunction with the research I do for the Watts project, I will continue to gather and analyze materials, revise the organizational framework, and draft sections of Mapping the Urban Wilderness, since these two research/writing activities are synergistic. The final result will be a first-of-its-kind publishable article on the life and work of May Watts and significant progress on my book-length investigation of the literature and history of urban nature in the Chicago region. Significance of the Research The ideas, leadership, vision, and influence of May Theilgaard Watts made tremendous impacts upon public environmental attitudes and civic policy here in the Chicago region. The area's environmental history has many other such examples -- from legendary botanist Henry Chandler Cowles and landscape architect Jens Jensen in the early 20th century (both of whom are subjects of recent biographies) to restoration ecologists Bob Betz and Stephen Packard in more recent times. Of the many people who have influenced the direction of the Chicago region's environmental movement, though, few have done so more profoundly than May Watts, who lived, wrote, and taught during an era of rapid suburbanization, ecological degradation, and political change. By devoting her career to developing what we now might call "ecological literacy" among her natural history students as well as the general public during the mid-20th century, and by contributing forcefully to the land conservation and nascent rails-to-trails 5 movements in the 1960s, Watts closely aligned herself with the sweeping transformations in the nation's environmental attitudes and policies during that tumultuous time, as signaled by the publication of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring in 1962, the first Earth Day in 1970, and the passage of landmark environmental legislation (such as the Clean Air and Water Acts) in the late 60s and early 70s. Watts thus is a critically important but hitherto unrecognized voice in that transformative movement, and her life's work -- like that of Carson, another pioneering female scientist-writer -- merits both wider recognition and critical scrutiny. A contemporary assessment of Watts' literary/artistic depictions of ecology and local landscapes forms a significant thread within Mapping the Urban Wilderness and thus greatly contributes to our understanding of urban ecology, especially that of Chicago. The Chicago region is home to eight million people, numerous endangered species and imperiled habitats of both local and global significance, and dozens of environmental and scientific groups (from large institutions to small grass-roots organizations) dedicated to understanding and conserving the local environment. My project is thus a part of the environmental education and advocacy work here in the Chicago area and, by extension, elsewhere -- efforts that include hands-on studies of science and nature in K-12 grades, public outreach programs in
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