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Idea of Nature Lecture Series

Idaho

A goose flying low across a body of water.
Canada Goose A Canada goose takes off from a body of water. © Ken Miracle

Overview

Event Overview

Sponsored in part by The Nature Conservancy, the goal of the The Idea of Nature lecture series at Boise State Universty is to promote interdisciplinary inquiry about the environment and to foster dialogue across the campus and community.

These lectures are free, open to the public, and require no tickets. If you would like to watch live via Zoom, please send an email to ideaofnature@boisestate.edu, and a link will be emailed to you prior to the lecture.

All lectures start at 6pm (except the bonus webinar-only lecture on April 15). 

February 6: "Nutrient Density" with Dan Kittredge
March 27: “Wordsworth to Wu Tang: Romanticism, Rap, and Nature” by Joel Pace
April 15: "Victory Gardens: Then and Now" with Sarah Dickert
April 17: "Birding for a Better Tomorrrow" with Christian Cooper

See full details below and more information is available here.

 

Testing Soil Soil health practices are being tested at the Ballard Demo Farm © TNC/Neil Crescenti

February 6, 2025

Nutrient Density

Dan Kittredge, Farmer and founder/E.D. of the Bionutrient Food Association

Dan Kittredge has been an organic farmer for more than 30 years and is the founder and executive director of the Bionutrient Food Association (BFA), a non-profit whose mission is to “increase quality in the food supply.” Known as one of the leading proponents of “nutrient density,” Dan works to demonstrate the connections between soil health, plant health, and human health. We will cover current research on nutrient density and the vision for how this exciting work could serve to profoundly disrupt the dynamics of the food supply. Can agriculture meaningfully reverse climate imbalances, and be used to reverse chronic disease as well? We think so.

Idaho Waters Wet meadows provide wildlife habitat in Idaho’s Flat Ranch Preserve, part of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. © Chris Little/TNC

March 27, 2025

Wordsworth to Wu Tang: Romanticism, Rap, and Nature

Joel Pace, Professor of English, University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire

William Wordsworth writes about the power of nature to heal our minds and hearts. It’s not only experiencing the natural world that’s healing, but also remembering the experience and writing (as well as reading) about it. Over 200 years later, hip hop artist Kendrick Lamar would also draw on the images of Nature for their therapeutic effect on him and his listeners. He looked to the butterfly as the metaphor to chart his transformation through trauma. Similarly, Wu-Tang Clan member RZA’s classical score for his recent Ballet through Mud is inspired by the lotus blossom as metaphor. Although hip hop is associated with urban spaces, natural imagery abounds, such as Tupac’s “Rose That Grew from Concrete.” In this talk, we’ll map organic metaphors that will lead us--from L.E.L to Lauryn Hill, Keats to Kendrick, and Wheatley and Wordsworth to Wu-Tang--to the crossroads of romanticisms and rap.

Red Admiral Butterfly Join us for a webinar series about how to start practicing conservation from your own garden. © Danae Wolfe/TNC

April 15, 2025 WEBINAR ONLY

Bonus Lecture- Victory Gardens: Then and Now

Did you know Smithsonian Gardens has a Victory Garden exhibit at the National Museum of American History in Washington, DC? Victory gardens were vegetable gardens planted during the world wars in order to ensure an adequate food supply for civilians and troops. Roughly one half of all American families had a victory garden during World War II. There were at least 20 million victory gardens covering more than 20 million acres of American soil by 1943. 40% of the nation’s produce was supplied by victory gardens by 1944. American families had grown approximately 8 million tons of food by the time the war ended in 1945. While the gardens themselves are now gone, posters, seed packets, catalogs, booklets, photos and films, newspaper articles, diaries, and people’s memories still remain to tell the story of victory gardens. Since the early 2000's, Smithsonian Gardens has been sharing these stories and memories through their own World War II inspired Victory Garden, featuring heirloom and novelty vegetable and flower species. This lecture will discuss the past of victory gardens and imagine their future in our own communities.

Binoculars Binoculars and bird watching book © Steve Buissinne

April 17, 2025

Birding for a Better Tomorrow

Christian Cooper, Daytime Emmy Award-winning Host of National Geographic's hit series: Extraordinary Birder and NY Times best-selling author of Better Living Through Birding

The natural world is in desperate need of some healing—and so are we. Can attention to birds, as one of the most accessible gateways to nature, offer a way forward for a planet in trouble while also bridging some of the chasms between us human beings? Practically born with a pair of binoculars in his hands, Cooper is the vice president of New York City Bird Alliance. He advocates for greater, safer access to green spaces for all, with a focus on outreach to youth in underserved communities. A longtime activist on issues of racial justice and LGBTQ equality, Christian combined his passions in the BLM graphic short story "It’s a Bird” from DC Comics, and he continues to seek synergy at the intersections of storytelling, progressivism, and environmentalism.