Tracking The Stories of Place
With Marcus Reynerson and Chris Salisbury
Every time we step outside our door, there are myriad stories to be told of the comings and goings of animals in the world, and one of the oldest human capacities is to read and interpret these stories so we can locate ourselves and feel a part of our place.
The art and science of tracking offers a window into the happenings of the living world around us and gives us access into one of our oldest human inheritances – the ability to be a fully engaged participant in the living world.
Is this for you?
In this course, we will be giving an introduction to the vast world of wildlife tracking. We will explore:
The mindset of the tracker, how to see landscape in a new way, and how to be curious in the natural world in ways we haven’t experienced before
Basic wildlife foot physiology and morphology, how animals relate to each other and their landscapes and how we can begin to figure out who left the tracks we find, on the way to where.
The signs that animals leave apart from the feet, showing us the many ways they use and move through the landscape around them, how they interact with us.
How to tell the stories of place, from the signs and tracks we find, from what we learn about the animals and the more-than human-world around us, and from the interaction with our own imaginations, myths and inner and outer human tracks.
Key information:
DATES:
8 and 9 May, 7-10pm GMT
LOCATION:
Online via Zoom
A recording will be available to participants
FEE: £65
Facilitator details
Marcus Reynerson
Marcus’s earliest memories include hunting and fishing in the muggy marshes and pine forests of south Louisiana and the gulf coast of south Texas. Thanks to a childhood of time spent outdoors, Marcus got an early start working in the environmental education field earning a degree in Environmental Studies from Miami University in 2002. He went on to serve as a conservation programs director for Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico and then as a lead naturalist at an outdoor education center in California. Marcus leads the Anake year program for the Wilderness Awareness School (founded by Jon Young) and is also lead Instructor on their Wolf Tracking Expedition course. He is certified as a Track and Sign Specialist through Cybertracker Conservation by scoring 100% on their internationally standardized evaluation process.
Chris Salisbury
Chris founded and currently directs WildWise, an outdoor education and training organisation in 1999, after many years working as an education officer for Devon Wildlife Trust. With a professional background in the theatre, a qualification in drama-therapy and a career in environmental education he uses every creative means at his disposal to encourage people to enjoy and value the natural world on courses he facilitates in the UK and abroad. He has worked with and been profoundly influenced by Ray Mears, Bill Plotkin, Joanna Macy, David Whyte amongst very many others. He is a course facilitator at Schumacher College, Devon, where he also directs the Call of the Wild Foundation year-programme. He is also known as a professional storyteller (aka ‘Spindle Wayfarer’), and is the co-founder and Artistic Director for both the Westcountry and Oxford Storytelling Festivals. He is also a theatre ensemble teacher for the International Schools Theatre Association.