Dear Diocese,
The Nova Scotia Environmental Network (NSEN) has a diverse membership.
A few months ago, I met Mateo Botero, a scientist and recent arrival to Nova Scotia from Columbia, at an NSEN online meeting. A few weeks after that, we chatted over a cup of a restaurant in downtown Halifax. I was impressed by Mateo’s passion for and commitment to caring for the environment.
We share a common interest, engaging others in caring for creation. If you will excuse the pun, bringing religion and science together to turn around the climate crisis is a “natural” fit. Mateo has a role for the church in his research offering us all the opportunity to become “citizen scientists”. A week after the celebration of Pentecost, it seems to me that it’s easy for science and religion to understand each other when we speak a common language, loving and caring for creation. So, I asked Mateo to explain it from his perspective.
My commitment to the environment and what that entails
I was born thousands of kilometers from the sea, but mandatory service in the Colombian Navy ignited my passion for studying coastal systems and that lead to my being an active pacifist. When I decided to study environmental engineering, my commitment to the environment emerged from my active participation in boy scout activities. Seven years later, I taught my first lectures to students of environmental engineering and my perception of our role in protecting nature evolved.
Although I have published in many scientific journals, I feel equally proud of the short films, gameboards, and tourist guides I have been involved in producing. After 20 years as a professor and scientist, my understanding of environmental issues is continually developing and moving toward the effective communication of environmental processes to the general public. It is important that my research results are understood by and make sense to the public and decision-makers.
This past few years, I have been working on the concept of scientific tourism and citizen science, with an emphasis on coastal areas, a new way to engage local communities and travelers so they can learn, practice and support coastal science. My ultimate goal in this endeavor is to design a tool to conserve our common coastal heritage for the next seven generations.
In sum, the core concept is that understanding nature is a powerful way to protect it. If we really want to protect our coastal environment, first we must care about it, but to do that, we must know how coastal processes work and how our actions impact them. Therefore, the first step to conserving our beautiful coasts is to understand them using scientific method, and now you, your family, and your community can help us, the scientists, to do that. This is the marvelous power of citizen science and scientific tourism; my deep commitment is helping to reach this great goal.
Thank you, Mateo, and welcome to DEN!
Pentecost blessings,
The Rev Marian Lucas-Jefferies
Coordinator, Diocesan Environment Network (DEN)
