Nature is So Cool! An interview with Youth Field Specialist Mich Swannucci
Category: Blog, Environmental Education, IOOBY, Rooting Youth in Nature, Youth Programs
By LandPaths Staff
January 21, 2025
Mich Swannucci has been a Youth Field Specialist at LandPaths for a little under one year and we already can’t imagine our Rooting Youth in Nature initiative without them. “Mountain Lion” Mich brings joyful energy to their work in the field that’s hard to match! For that reason, we are excited to share an interview that really conveys the values and love for nature that they bring to their job!
What’s happening with the Rooting Youth in Nature initiative this winter?
Right now, field trips are happening. The field trips have four themes: Discovery and Exploration, Habitats and Adaptations, Stewardship, and Watershed. All of the schools come for three or four of those. It’s great to have multiple points of connection, which is something I love about being here at LandPaths. They all build on each other, which is fantastic. The kids build on the information from the first field trip to the second, for example.
We get to talk about observation skills using all of our senses, our mission, together as LandPaths as a whole is to foster a love of the land. And IOOBY stands for In Our Own BackYard, so I tell the kids “We’re going to teach you outdoor literacy, which means you are going to be as comfortable out here in nature as you are in your own backyard.” And so, a lot of the exercises and activities we do focus on observation through the senses. That might look like crunching the mid-rib of a bay leaf and noticing the scent that comes out, how that’s amplified, and how the Indigenous people would interact with these plants, and getting to walk the land and what are the ecosystem services when we’re out here exploring? We’re going to hike by this area and there’s erosion cloth on the side of the hill because the fire came through and the trees burned down. So the tree roots hold the soil on the mountain there in place, that’s an ecosystem service. What else does the land provide? Oh, food! And water! And fresh air! And I’m like, “Yeah, everybody take a deep breath! Do you know that you are now in partnership with every plant around you? You are now a part of this place, welcome to Rancho Mark West!” And so welcome home – this is your place.
We get to do some hands-on activities like critter catching. We do a whole safety talk. Not only safety for the students but safety for the wildlife. We’re in their home. We’re the guests. So to be gentle and use tools like spoons and cups so that we can protect hands. We teach them where most of the critters are living. In the winter, under logs and rocks. It’s cold. They want to get warm! We can flip rocks safely – open it away from us, in partnership so you’re not alone, and then we check out some really cool stuff. The kids are really blown away.
What are some critters and plant activity that you’re seeing on the preserves this winter?
The students love looking at the bays. Not only do they smell good, but they’re easy to recognize because they’re evergreen. They see that woodrats weave them into their nests because that smell is a strong repellent. We’re finding mlilipedes, centipedes, scorpions, salamanders – from Slender to Ensatinas. We are finding crickets and spiders. It’s interesting to see a kid saying “Eew, do I have to hold it?” And we say, no, we call this challenge by choice because we want everyone to be comfortable. So instead find a feather. Find a cool leaf. Find a cool rock. But that same student, 10 minutes later is screaming because they found a millipede and they want to catch it.
And we have these cute little critter cubes that are clear and they have a magnifying glass in the lid. So I’m putting these critters in these cubes and now they can hold it in a completely safe manner and really check it out. There are always two or three students who aren’t interested at first and by the end are holding three critter cubes and saying “I did it!” White millipedes and scorpions have bioflouresence so we break out the black lights to see how they turn turqouise blue.
Nature’s just so cool!
Seeing the growth of the students comfort outdoors is as much of the mission as teaching observation skills, like using eyesight, hearing, and smell to do the activity we call the three I’s: I notice, I wonder, It reminds me of. Which is a Beetles lesson. They get the ability ask questions, connect, and they usually do this in partnership, so it’s also about building connections with their peers. There’s so many levels to it. I just feel so lucky. I love my job!
Can you share a particular experience you’ve had in the field this month?
Absolutely. We were turning over rocks at Rancho Mark West and there were four scorpions. Which is not common. Usually we’ll find maybe two. So we were wondering what was going on. Here’s what I love about working in nature. Kids will ask “Why is this one navy blue and shiny and the rest of them are brown? And I’m like, “It’s okay to say I don’t know but I’m going to find out.” There is no way you can know it all. But then get back to the student by emailing the teacher later and letting them know what I found out. Or what I learned from another team member because our team is so dynamic and we learn from each other all the time. So I shared with the teacher that when the scorpions turn navy blue and shiny it’s because they’ve just molted their outer skin to their next growth size. Over a little bit of time, they’ll turn dull and brown like the rest of them. So it’s about making sure to follow up with the teacher to tell them that a student asked me about something and here’s the answer.
I’m continuing to learn and grow, they are continuing to learn and grow, and it’s okay not to have all the answers. But follow up and stay connected.
Anything else that you’d love for people to know?
Even growing up as a kid who loved outdoors, winter was always a challenging time for me. It’s cold and grey. But there’s an old saying that says there’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing. Unless it’s dangerous, we’ll take the kids out even in the rain. And we provide ponchos and rain boots and the equipment for them to be as comfortable in the outdoors, in their own backyard, and just continue to explore. Let’s see what’s different. Are the animals that are out different? What are we seeing in the hills? Everything’s hiding. Where are they nesting. And to remember that it’s their home and to respect it.
We’re seeing a lot of salamanders right now, why do you think that is? Oh, they love moisture. Did you know that salamanders are a sensitive species and they breathe through their skin? So the fact that we see a lot of them here do you think that this place is polluted or is it healthy? And they say, “It’s really healthy!” And I teach them about how salmanders are an indicator species. The land is talking to us and telling us that it’s healthy. So don’t shy away from going outdoors in the cold season. Just bundle up and have a blast!
"Mountain Lion" Mich
" Don't shy away from going outdoors in the cold season. Just bundle up and have a blast! "
