Stephanie Pate

Originally from South Carolina, Stephanie has now been living in Washington for a year. In a partnership with North Cascades Institute and Western Washington University, she is a graduate student earning her Masters degree in Environmental Education and a certificate in Nonprofit Administration and Leadership. She lives and work in the North Cascades National Park at the North Cascades Institute on Diablo Lake.

Conversations:

• The adult lens

Workshops:

• Synthesis

Stephanie Pate: I think the main difference I see from when I was a kid is that the adult lens is on now, so there's all these other facets to what natural history and nature are. When you're a kid it was something for me that was just there. It was a given, it's beautiful and it's great and there's nothing that needs to taint it.

And then now, learning about ecological problems and economic problems and stuff like that, there's all these other factors to think about when you're thinking about, "Well this bunchberry is beautiful, but will it be here forever? Why is it shaped like that? Do Euro-Americans value it the same as a Native American Indian might have?" All of those different facets that go into it are I think what differentiates it between adulthood and childhood.

Amanda Barney: So it's got some sort of broader context. It's not just a pretty flower or a cool bird; there's other things.