Eric Pallant
Eric Pallant is the author of Sourdough Culture: The History of Bread Making from Ancient to Modern Bakers. He is a serious amateur baker, a two-time Fulbright Scholar, double, award-winning professor, and the Christine Scott Nelson Endowed Professor of Environmental Science and Sustainability at Allegheny College. He is acknowledged for his skill in weaving research narratives into compelling stories for the Gresham Lecture Series, London, bread symposia, podcasts, and articles for magazines such as Gastronomica, Sierra, and Science.
3 words to describe Nature?
Surprising. Restorative. Necessary
3 things Nature taught you?
Nature is better than engineers at managing ecosystem functions.
Nature is everywhere and needs to be available to everyone, not restricted to wilderness jaunts reserved for privileged, white, and wealthy people.
Appreciating Nature, like appreciating most things in life, takes time. It cannot be rushed.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Wellfleet Harbor, Cape Cod, MA.
My compost pile
My sourdough starters
When you look at the OCEAN, it makes you feel...?
Relaxed
When you see a FOREST, it makes you feel...?
Tiny
When you see a VOLCANO, it makes you feel...?
Heart thumpingly excited. I’ve actually walked up to the lava in a couple of active volcanoes.
When you see a SUNRISE or SUNSET, it makes you feel...?
Patient
When you hear THUNDER, it makes you feel...?
Happy
When you hear the WIND HOWLING, it makes you feel...?
Also happy. I love wind!
Are you an OCEAN, MOUNTAIN, FOREST, or DESERT person?
Ocean. No question!
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
8
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
I spent countless childhood hours digging holes with my hands under the porch in my suburban backyard. I was searching for arrowheads and fossils. I found many, probably none of which were real. But I have remained fascinated by soil ever since. I now understand that beyond the tiny invertebrates I encountered, soil contains more living things than anyplace on earth and represents the profound junction of earth’s biosphere, geosphere, and hydrosphere.
Dana Cowin
Dana Cowin is an evangelist of good food and good people, coach for creatives, former longtime Editor in Chief of Food & Wine Magazine, host of podcast Speaking Broadly, and creator of Giving Broadly, a website to highlight products (aka good food) by women entrepreneurs (aka good people) that make our lives more delicious.
3 words to describe Nature?
Spirit. Respite. Beauty
3 things Nature taught you?
Nature's design is more creative than human design.
Nature teaches resilience. It just never gives up.
Nature teaches that death is a transformation.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
The brambles in Central Park, NYC.
The ocean beside my childhood house in Florida
The sanctuary trails in upstate NY
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Awe. The relentless water breathing its way to the sand and receding is extraordinary.
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Spritely. I love looking at the light, rocks, movement.
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Never seen a volcano!
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
At peace with beginnings and endings that are grounded in time passing and color changing.
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Like burrowing, getting cozy, being still, listening to the future or past that the sound represents
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Cold, even if I'm not experiencing the wind. I shudder at the thought.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Meadows and fields
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
I was caught outside a riptide in the ocean in Florida and a bystander rescued me. I'm forever in awe of the power of the ocean to nurture and destroy...and the kindness of strangers to change lives with simple acts of generosity.
