Today we’d like to introduce you to Mary Clare and Full Ecology.
Hi Mary, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
It started with a garage band in a Montana mountain town – a few great guitarists, a few vocalists and a blues harp player. Back in the day, one of those guitarists was in college with me. It was spring break and, finally, after decades of promising to visit, I got in the car to make my way across the miles between Portland, Ore, and Montana. My objective: to see my guitar-playing friend again, to meet his near-grown daughters and to finally meet his wife. As it turns out, my friend Joe had asked the blues harp player to come over “to have dinner a buddy from college.” Gary Ferguson, an author of 27 books, most chronicling his treks through wilderness, was the blues-harp guy. I, Mary M Clare, was the college buddy. We fell for each other instantly.
Gary is a conservation scientist and nature writer – one of those authors who can make science real to all of us who aren’t scientists. He’s written books about the restoration of wolves to Yellowstone (DECADE OF THE WOLF), and about the most remote intact ecosystem in the temperate zone (HAWK’S REST). More recently, Penguin/Random House published his book, THE EIGHT MASTER LESSONS OF NATURE. I, on the other hand, am a Social Scientist. I’ve studied social systems like schools and families and am a Fellow in the American Psychological Association with over 100 articles in scholarly journals. Together, we’ve not only married, but we’ve blended our two areas of expertise into a project we call Full Ecology – the book, FULL ECOLOGY – REPAIRING OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE NATURAL WORLD.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Full Ecology came out of miles and miles of walking. Gary would speak of things from the biological and other natural sciences and that would make me think of something that matched out of the social sciences – the science of human experiences. Like when we were walking in the Wasatch Mountain Range and Gary began describing how wolf packs survive from being together in groups, all taking care of the young, all involved in finding food, and in their spare time, playing together – throwing animal hides around like frisbees, sliding on their backs down snow fields. I remembered the data that show how humans tend to do better in the community. How people in recovery from addiction benefit from being in groups of folks who have a similar experience, how survivors of trauma find more peace and satisfaction when they have reliable networks of friends and family, how older people who spend time in social groups are significantly less likely to get dementia.
As we walked in the wilderness, we also came to understand that any of us who want to be part of the solution to climate change or any form of environmental degradation must recognize that to take care of the outside, we have to take care of the inside – the social ecologies between us and within us. This is Full Ecology. Remembering we’re always nature in nature. Recognizing that how we treat ourselves affects how we treat each other and the world around us.
Full Ecology was underway!
But, we were NOT business smart. We believed entirely in what we were doing, but we didn’t know marketing or sales. Then, by great good fortune, we were invited by Steve Wasserman, the editor of Heyday Books in Berkeley, to give a go to putting together a book on Full Ecology – the one I mentioned above – FULL ECOLOGY – REPAIRING OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE NATURAL WORLD. It took a few years, but in Spring of 2021, the book was launched.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Now, we travel the country speaking with colleges and universities, at libraries and churches, with land conservation groups and any other professional organizations interested in repairing the relationship between humans and nature. We do keynotes and workshops. We speak with students and community groups. We bring good information, practical suggestions and we have fun. People interested in hearing from us can contact Authors Outside, www.authorsoutside.com/full-ecology.
Also check our website for the amazing retreats we have coming up this June. Both set in the magnificent Centennial Valley of southwestern Montana. The summer solstice retreat – Who Are You Now? – provides five days of looking deeply into ways Full Ecology supports your reclaiming peace and direction in these wild days on our planet. The following week, we offer The Nature of The Writer’s Life – a week for writers to hone their craft in the company of wilderness. https://fullecology.com/montana-retreat/
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
From the beginning, we’ve found we know more together than we do on our own. We experience that in our relationships with each of you, and with every aspect of the natural world. We invite you to check it out. Is there really such a thing as an absolutely separate rugged individual? Just notice today how gravity keeps you on the ground, how water and air help maintain your body, how the trees around you provide oxygen and the soil beneath you provides the medium for the food you eat. Notice how almost everything you do today is possible because of other people – tending to road surfaces, stocking shelves, preparing food.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://fullecology.com/
- Instagram: @fullecology
- Facebook: fullecology
- Twitter: fullecology
- Youtube: fullecology
