The talk I attended was called Race, place, and the de-gentrification of Nature Conservation in the south. The talk I attended was given by Dr. Drew Lanham. He is a professor at Clemson and studies natural wildlife. He studies also include the integration of race in nature. The talk he gave was a derivative of this connection on race in nature conservation in the south. The talk first started off Dr. Drew Lanham playing the song Mercy Mercy Me by Marvin Gaye. I found this to be a successful tactic to get me, as an audience member, engaged and wanting to know the connection between the song and the what the talk is about. The songs lyrical meaning is on the topic of ecology and what the world use to be compared to what it has become. Dr. Drew Lanham explained how this song was interesting because even when it was written, in 1971, it was evident that the world was changing for the worst concerning nature conservation. He then went on to explain how we as people survive and thrive through water. It was explained that we need water to make it through everyday life whether we realize it or not. He asked the question, “what is your water?” What he meant by this question was is the thing you need to survive and thrive every day. He then brings in the topic of race with water by mentioning that we are all connected to water whatever the past may be. Water was and has been the source of life for every race. He states that we must feel our way through this issue of race, “we must work for the wild things, wild place, and water.” He ended his talk with an excerpt from his book that deals with his personal connection to water. He explains the story of remembering his father gathering water from their fresh spring well. After years past his father fell ill and died. He and his mother had to find a new source of water. The pipe they had to put in place to get the water out of had a worst taste and consistency compared to the fresh water his father had gathered from the well all those years. They no longer had access to the main thing that should’ve been provided to them. Instead, he and his mother were left to uses a unnatural source of water. This is the point in his life that he explained him realizing how important water is and its impact of life. The one thing I learned from this talk was the impact that society has on water. I never realized that what we have going on in our society can largely affect the nature surrounding us. To me, nature and societal interactions was two separate ideas. I found his explanation of the two ideas working together very interesting. He ended his talk with a quote I found very important to remember when connecting society to nature. He said, “think about your ties to water and your policy.”

Alexis Waters-Peterson