At long last, I have waded through my first audio editing experience.  The waters were wide and deep but I am fulfilled having made it to the other side.

Courtesy: School of Environmental Studies and Forestry

In August, I interviewed Paul Hai, Program Coordinator for the Northern Forest Institute for Conservation Education and Leadership Training of the State University of New York, College of Environmental Studies and Forestry, based at Huntington Wildlife Forest in Newcomb.  Paul is also a co-founder of Children in Nature, New York (CiNNY). 

CiNNY represents a partnership between the Northern Forest Institute; the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation; Great Play! Lake Placid Sport Summit; Come Out and Play! Children and Nature, Saratoga; and, the Wild Center.  It is working to create an integrated network that functions across the state, creating events and opportunities for people to connect with nature. 

I sat down with Paul and spoke with him about our connection with nature, children’s connections with nature, the work of CiNNY, and his thoughts and passions.  To the extent possible, I’ve provided links to mentioned resources.  Here is the Paul Hai interview.  Below, I’ve provided times for subjects discussed:

• 0:00 – 1:00      Introduction of Paul
• 1:01 – 4:12      Efforts’ goals
• 4:13 – 4:48      CiNNY's working group
• 4:49 – 8:05      CiNNY’s geographic scope and growth
• 8:06 – 8:58      CiNNY's operations
• 8:59 – 9:16      CiNNY's activities
• 9:17 – 14:50    Why Paul does what he does; Its importance
• 14:51 – 20:37   Resources to connect with nature
• 20:38 – 21:35   CiNNY's funding
• 21:36 – 24:24   Importance of defining and marketing nature

I'm off to play outside!