Go Out and Play on Earth Day
By Linda Faiss
Growing up in Carson City, my three siblings and I often heard our mother say, “Go out and play!” Not just because we were in her way, but because it was healthy for us to be outside in nature exploring our sagebrush-dotted environment.
From the Pine Nut Mountains to the Sierra Nevada, I embraced childhood adventures that prepared me later in life to explore outdoor treasures in my Boulder City backyard, from Gypsum Cave near Lake Mead to the Sloan Canyon Petroglyph Site.
My experiences on a bus tour exploring rural Nevada’s natural environment with University of Nevada, Las Vegas geologist Bill Fiero and the social/cultural environment with State Senator Jean Ford prepared me for another great adventure–joining the Board of Trustees for Nevada Humanities.
Nevada Humanities is committed to nurturing just, healthy communities throughout Nevada with programs that connect people to people and publications that connect people with nature.
Our most recent publication, Sagebrush to Sandstone: A Humanities Guide to Outdoor Nevada, is a carefully curated humanities guide to outdoor Nevada that is a post-pandemic gift to all Nevadans. It was inspired by Nevada Humanities’ 2021-2022 Nevada Reads statewide book club program that featured Miracle Country: A Memoir of growing up in the Eastern Sierra Nevada by Kendra Atleework, and World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments by Aimee Nezhukumatathil.
Thanks to Nevada Humanities’ sponsorship of Reno’s Science Distilled lecture series—created by the Desert Research Institute and the Terry Lee Wells Nevada Discovery Museum to present newsworthy scientific research to the public—I had the opportunity to meet Kendra in conversation with DRI scientists who have dedicated their careers to the study of the Great Basin. It was so popular, they were brought back by demand.
Kendra described the programs as “…rich conversations about the relationships between people and their places through science and storytelling…about how art, life and science intersect here among the rugged ridgelines and open skies of our wondrous region.”
Shortly after, I joined the DRI Foundation Board of Trustees to support the important work of 462 Nevada-based scientists dedicated to solving some of Earth’s most pressing environmental challenges—from drought to wildfires—on a global and local scale.
DRI’s science storytelling series, DRI Science at the Springs, will now be presented in southern Nevada at The Springs Preserve, starting April 20, 2023, with a focus on Nevada’s most challenging issue: water. And just like Science Distilled, DRI Science at the Springs will be proudly sponsored by Nevada Humanities.
It’s an honor to be on both teams. Happy Earth Day!
Linda Faiss, founder and president of Faiss Foley Warren Public Relations & Public Affairs in Las Vegas, is now “retired” and living in Reno—back home in the shadow of the Sierra Nevada. She serves on the Nevada Humanities Board of Trustees.
Photo: Linda Faiss and her husband Jim Amstutz on the Tahoe Rim Trail. Photo courtesy of Linda Faiss.