The book, “Braiding Sweetgrass” by Robin Wall Kimmerer, reinforces the role of humanity and the gratitude we should express towards nature. Moreover, my work makes reference to several of the stories she retells about herself, Native American folklore/culture, and how they connect to science, despite the ways colonization tries to sever it with objectivity and how nature is regarded. My piece begins with a microscope in the center of my work, a reference to a painting in Robin Wall Kimmerer’s lab and her studies as an ecologist. The microscope is a similar color to the background and remains unilluminated, unlike the rest of the image. Its fade into the background represents how science and scientific concepts are a backdrop within the novel,
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Another instance was with her grad student as they were trying to conduct research on the decline of sweetgrass in North America. The board of scientists declined her proposal because they immediately went to the conclusion that it was because the grass was overharvested. After their concluding research, Kimmerer and her student found that not harvesting sweetgrass was the cause for the decline, it was the reason for its growth. Her passages discussing academia exemplify an issue I already saw in science, the objectivity and need for academics often prevents important information from being shared. Because that board of scientists assumed a common answer based on all crops, they almost prevented new information from being discovered. I relate to these sentiments because I feel STEM classes and concepts use vernacular and assumptions that exclude the general public from understanding. While some terms can be complicated to explain, there are methods to reach people, but it requires understanding and
Another instance was with her grad student as they were trying to conduct research on the decline of sweetgrass in North America. The board of scientists declined her proposal because they immediately went to the conclusion that it was because the grass was overharvested. After their concluding research, Kimmerer and her student found that not harvesting sweetgrass was the cause for the decline, it was the reason for its growth. Her passages discussing academia exemplify an issue I already saw in science, the objectivity and need for academics often prevents important information from being shared. Because that board of scientists assumed a common answer based on all crops, they almost prevented new information from being discovered. I relate to these sentiments because I feel STEM classes and concepts use vernacular and assumptions that exclude the general public from understanding. While some terms can be complicated to explain, there are methods to reach people, but it requires understanding and