Essays

Moseying: Exploring the Natural World

Photography Exhibits a regular feature at the Sibley Nature Center
April 19, 2010

Every six weeks a different member of the Sibley Nature Center displays ten photographs. At the present time, Nathan Taylor’s photographs are on display, and will remain until the May 22nd rededication event. Nathan is the vice president of the Llano Estacado chapter of the Texas Master Naturalists. His multi-generational family farms west of Lamesa, and his homestead is “plunk dab in the middle” of a hundred acres of shinoaks. When not driving a tractor, hoeing weeds, or tending plants in his greenhouse, Nathan searches out the ever-changing flora and fauna of this unique habitat.

Nathan has an affinity for macro-photography. One of the photographs on display is of a grasshopper shedding its skin, while clinging to a tumbleweed. The grasshopper’s shed exoskeleton is translucent, while its new exoskeleton appears soft and moist. Another photograph is of a thread-waisted wasp, revealing its eyes to be miniature black pearls, and its legs to be covered with short bristles. Other photographs reveal the delicate beauty of some of the habitat-specific flora.

Nathan has discovered many surprising things on the homestead. Last year he photographed a shrub that the staff of the Sibley Nature Center could not identify. We sent the photo to botanists across the state, and we soon found out that its name was Baccharis pterinoides, also known as yerba de pasmo. It had never been recorded on the Llano Estacado, and all previous records were either in the Trans-Pecos, or along the Pecos River in New Mexico, and even further west. Many species of Baccharis (and all have the common name) are used as anti-inflammatory and anti-fungal medicines throughout the Western Hemisphere.)

In a past issue of the Sibley Nature Center’s monthly naturalists e-newsletter, El Despoblado, we featured fifteen of Nathan’s photos of mushrooms. The fungi of West Texas are poorly studied, and as far as we can determine, no annotated checklist of the species has ever been collated. As a member of the Master Naturalists chapter, Nathan has set an example for the thorough photodocumentation of one site throughout the year. On the Sibley Nature Center website ten photoessays have been created from Nathan’s work. Visit this page to see over 600 of his photos on line! Scroll down near the bottom of the page to find the list. Many members of the Master Naturalist chapter are now recording specific sites across West Texas.

Another member of the group, Malcolm McElvaney, has done the same thing for the Monahans sanddunes, but the photoessays from his work have not been completed. The efforts of both Malcolm and Nathan has inspired Sibley staff to promote the idea of photodocumentation further. At present, we are discussing further development of the idea with the executive staff of the North American Association of Environmental Educators and the Children and Nature Network, as well as Jose Quintana, the CEO of AdventGX (an ecotourism and economic development consulting firm), and professors of the Texas A&M who specialize in organizing and creating citizen science projects (like the Master Naturalists). We are deeply appreciative of the encouragement and assistance by Quintana for believing the idea was worth taking to a broader audience.

If this group of people can receive significant funding from the National Science Foundation and similar donors, the idea could eventually become part of school curricula nationwide. Students would be doing real science, constantly monitoring the changing ecology of their home bioregion, documenting the spread of invasive organisms, documenting any changes in the fabric of a habitat (such as desertification, brushification, drought, urban sprawl, or even the much debated issue of climate change.)

In recent years, a substantial number of publications have dealt with what author Richard Louv terms “the Nature-Deficit Disorder.” It is a proven fact that few children spend time outside in modern times, and organizations such as the “No Child Left Inside Coalition” and the “Children and Nature Network” are dedicated to promoting ways to get children involved with the out-of-doors again. The photodocumentation project could become a valuable part of the effort.

We would have never attempted such an “impossible” challenge if Nathan Taylor and Malcolm McElvaney had not proven the value of photodocumentation by discovering species of plants and animals occurring where no scientist had previously recorded their existence. Malcolm is in his 20s, and Nathan is only 16 years old. Thanks, guys!