Follow Gavin Van Horn
Coyotes, hawks, and minks — just some of the wildlife living and thriving in Chicago
Gavin Van Horn is author of the new book, The Way of Coyote: Shared Journeys of the Urban Wild. As we read the book we walk with him along streets, rivers, and lakes, and learn a slower and softer way of seeing – even in the bustling city – that includes the wildlife with which we share our world. Gavin is on the board of the Quivira Coalition and the Director of Cultures of Conservation at the Center for Humans and Nature, an organization that explores the moral dimensions of human relationships to the natural world.
Episode Notes:
0:49 Encounters with wildlife in Chicago
4:09 what do urban wild animals eat and where do they sleep
5:46 Golf courses as habitat
6:45 Aldo Leopold and breaking down false oppositions, like urban vs. rural
10:47 relationship between Chicago and the prairie
12:27 prairie restoration
13:31 “where people and the prairie restore each other”
15:21 listening to the land and having a two-way relationship, not just dominating
17:37 maintaining a nature-focused perspective while living in the human-centric city
20:46 what is “reconciliation ecology”
23:03 What kinds of conflicts arise in restoration ecology
25:17 Conservation in very small urban spaces
27:48 What happens when you change your mindset
29:31 Human cognitive power and morality within the natural world
32:29 What is an “urban land ethic”?
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