(bright upbeat music) - What would happen if you put your cell phone down or even stepped away from your computer to enjoy the great outdoors?

On this episode of "Inspire," we're going to learn how nature can positively impact our physical and mental health.

Coming up next on "Inspire."

(bright upbeat music) - [Announcer] "Inspire" is sponsored by the Estate of Ray and Ann Goldsmith, the Raymond C. and Marguerite Gibson Foundation, and the Lewis H. Humphreys Charitable Trust.

(bright upbeat music) - Hello and welcome to "Inspire."

I am so privileged and excited to be here with my TV sisters, Betty Lou Pardue, as well as Amy Kelly, love being on with you.

And on this episode of "Inspire," we will discuss the importance of stepping out into the great outdoors to connect with nature.

- Well, we're all pretty busy with work, electronics, and our mobile devices of course, so it's hard to disconnect, but can taking a break from all that to take time from nature have a really positive impact on our physical and mental health?

- Here to discuss all of these natural benefits are Sheena Parsons, Manager of the KU Field Station, and Bluebird Taylor McKown, Naturalist Supervisor at the Baker University Wetlands Discovery Center.

Sheena and Bluebird, thank you very much- - Welcome.

- For being on "Inspire."

- Thanks for having us.

- Okay, so we should set the stage.

Could you tell us what the KU Center is and what the Baker's Wetlands are?

- Sure.

- [Amy] Yeah, go ahead, Sheena, yeah.

- So, the KU Field Station, so this is a research station, right?

And so it's a little bit different than like a nature preserve or like a discovery center.

Like our main focus is research.

And so we have various studies that are sort of housed at these field sites that we have, but we do have parts of the field station that are open to the public all the time with trails and things like that.

But really what we're there for is sort of like that research foundation at the university.

- That's cool.

Okay, and can you tell us a little bit about the Baker Wetlands?

- Yeah, so we really follow our mission statement, which is restoration, research and education.

So, all of those themes really fit into the work that we all do at the Discovery Center and on our 927 acres.

So, we similarly to the Field Station, we also have like some research plots that some of our ecology professors use with their students for when they're conducting research.

And sometimes we have chemistry interns come in and do water quality research.

My job primarily is doing education.

So, I typically will do a lot of like field trip programming events, summer camps and things like that, or like toddler programs just to really create that connection between community and nature.

- And both of these places are fantastic.

Bluebird, will you tell us a little bit about the heritage of Native American in the Baker Wetlands?

- The Baker Wetlands historically is all part of the Wakarusa River Valley Watershed.

Before becoming the Baker Wetlands, that land or part of our property was part of Haskell Institute, which was in Native American boarding school.

And the property that comes into our wetlands was part of Haskell Farm.

So, a lot of this, the students that were at that boarding school grew their own food and kind of had a place to escape from a lot of the hardship that was conducted at those schools at that time.

- Okay, and Sheena, how was the acreage that KU has, how was that chosen?

- KU properties are what we consider to be the, the KU Field Station properties kind of came on board at various times.

One of the parcels was a donation from the first Governor of Kansas, Charles Robinson and his wife Sarah bequeathed some land to the university in an exchange.

And so that became one of our first parcels at the KU Field Station.

- I know that our focus today is about connecting with nature, so I'm going to ask each of you to give us your thoughts on the importance of us being out in nature, some sunshine, maybe some grass underneath our toes, which I know they call grounding.

What are those things going to do for us physically and mentally?

And I'll let you start.

- Yeah, so I think a lot of the time, so much of our society is living such a fast-paced life.

Like, you know, like we have like emails, meetings, traveling, and sometimes I think a lot of us feel so disconnected from the outside world, and when we're able to kind of go and enjoy these spaces, I think there's a term called, I think it's Attention Restoration Therapy.

- [Betty] Okay.

- And it allows people to kind of like have that slow down and they can have this like soft fascination with nature.

So, it's like a passive attention that allows them to kind of slow down and ground themselves in nature by being able to experience like the seasonal changes and who's around or what plants are coming up.

And yeah, I think having, being able to disconnect and really connect with nature in that way like lets you feel like you're part of, not just like the human communities, but like your plant animal communities too.

- Absolutely.

Sheena.

- Yeah, so I mean, I can only speak from my own like experiences out in nature, right?

I'm not a social scientist, I don't really have data that I can speak to, like it impacts us in this way.

However, you know, like spending time in nature, like Bluebird said, it forces us to slow down and observe these beautiful entanglements that exist out in nature.

You know, like everything is sort of a feedback, right?

And so plants and animals are responding to like the seasons and the different changes, and we as humans have kind of lost some of that sort of like, you know, gradual changes because we're so plugged into other things right now.

And so my stress level increases when I'm forced to answer my 600 emails a day that I get, (all laughing) and versus when I'm out in a Kubota scouting for the next burn or, you know, checking different, like monitoring different things out in the field.

Like the stress levels are different and along the way you get to hear these different sounds of birds or insects, or you know, just like you get that moment to yourself with your thoughts and all of the other animals out there.

And it's just a very soothing experience.

- Well, I'm curious, a field station obviously is a research, more of a research type of institute.

If the public just somebody walked off the street and wandered in, what would they expect?

What would you expect them to see?

- Yeah, so that happens all the time actually, (Amy laughing) we need better signage, but (laughing) like we do have public access areas, you know, like research has these very specific connotations to different people, right?

Like a lot of people, when you think of research, you kind of get this like lab or like bench like set up in your mind where you've got like, you know, chemists or like biologists that are doing like molecular work or something like very calculated.

Research in the field is a little bit messy by design.

Like we're still following experimental protocols, right?

Where we're trying to control as many factors as possible.

But field research, you kind of want that chaos of the environment.

And so a lot of what you see at the field station kind of looks like a graveyard to an extent because we've got a lot of PVC posts out in the field.

We've got like the different plots that are mowed around and so- - It's one of those places where people can donate their bodies.

(all laughing) Not one of those- - Not yet, but who knows what the next research project will be?

(all laughing) That's the beauty of a field station and research, is kind of like things ebb and flow and research is always kind of following different trajectories, right?

And so the next project could be something along those lines, who knows?

- Who knows?

- But yeah, like it just, you know, there's a lot of similarities to like gardens for a lot of terrestrial like projects and things like that where we're kind of creating these sort of simulated environments or you know, like controlling the types of seeds that go into a project or something like that, watching them grow out, but are really studying these complex questions with like below ground activity and how that influences above ground activity and everything else around it.

And so to the untrained eye it could just, you know, you're passing by, research looks like someone's unruly backyard, (all laughing) but the reality is it's a pretty technical, intentional setup and so, but there's a, yeah, research can look a lot of different ways.

- That's awesome.

We are going to take a short break, but when we come back we'll continue our discussion on the importance of connecting with nature.

So, please stay with us.

(bright upbeat music) (bright music) - There are studies that show even putting a picture of nature in your home or in your office cubicle can help to decrease stress.

So, of course going outside in real nature is even more stress relieving for us.

(bright music) - Also, we know that you can of course exercise while you're outside so you could not just sit and listen and relax, which is awesome, but you could exercise by hiking, walking, paddling, biking, all those other outdoor things.

Disc golf, anything outside could be a combination of soothing for your soul and great for your physical wellbeing.

(bright music) - [Jennifer] It's not difficult to get out into nature at all.

Whether you live in the country or the city, you can really get out into nature in your own backyard.

There's lots of state parks, city parks that you can visit.

- Today we're at Kaw River State Park.

It's the newest state park in Kansas.

It's located right on the edge of Topeka next to the train, next to the river, next to the highway.

But it feels like we're in the middle of the woods because we are.

When we're outside in nature, the healing properties include the sounds and the smells of nature, it just brings us back maybe to our youth, to time that we used to play outside or be creative and imaginative of being outside, just listening to all the nature around us.

Even when there's a car or motorcycle going past, I can still hear the birds, and being grounded in nature, so feeling attached to the earth actually is really helpful for people.

(bright music) There's initial research that shows spending time in nature, not even fast walking or running, but just being outside helps decrease your A1C if you have diabetes, it decreases your stress, your anxiety, your heart rate, your high blood pressure, just getting outside does all of those things.

It's great for our whole wellbeing.

- This is Jennifer and Denise with Dirty Girl Adventures.

- We hope we've inspired you to get out and get dirty.

(bright music) (bright upbeat music) (Betty and Amy laughing) - And we're about to learn more about the importance of making time to connect with nature from our guest, Sheena Parsons, Manager of the KU Field Station, and Bluebird Taylor McKown, Naturalist Supervisor at the Baker University Wetlands Discovery Center.

What is the importance of having a wetlands?

- Yeah, so wetlands are some of our most endangered habitat all over the world, just because a lot of people don't really understand the importance that wetlands really brought to our community, our habitat, and what they really did for us, especially in terms of making sure that we have like a clean water supply, wetlands are known as nature's filter.

Like sometimes they call it nature's kidneys.

Because of the plants, the soil content, and a lot of the animals, all of them are constantly filtering the water supply.

So, when we have like these major storms, if they go through a wetlands, it really helps slow down that water flow, impede soil erosion and sedimentation from kind of going into a lot of our city areas and especially the Baker Wetlands assist with the City of Lawrence's flooding.

So, typically when we get a lot of rain, it'll kind of backflow into the wetlands and it'll kind of slow it down that way, Lawrence doesn't flood.

There are a lot of benefits to the wetlands and I think one of the things that sometimes we don't always remember is that wetlands can be just as diverse as a rainforest in terms of like plants, animals, that means different medicines and food sources.

But wetlands are such amazing, important ecosystems.

I think it's really important that we get to have a chance to explore them.

- And different animals at different times of the year.

- Yeah.

- Which is just fascinating.

Can you expand on that just a little bit?

- Yeah, so as we're heading into spring and we're getting a lot of that warmer weather, we're seeing a lot of those birding migrations come through and we're a part of that Central Flyway in the United States.

So, we have these migration stopover points.

So, whenever we have natural areas like Baker Wetlands or the Field Station, it really provides this little sanctuary for these animals that are making these incredibly long journeys and they can have these nice areas of respite where they can get food sources, maybe nest before moving on to the next location.

- Like a B&B, I love it.

(all laughing) - Summer house.

- Yeah.

- As we talk about hiking trails, some people may physically think, well, I can't possibly do a hiking trail because of my condition.

Talk to us about if it's something that basically people who don't have a lot of physical fitness can do, or is it something that you need to be more expertly trained on how to do the hiking trails?

- At the Discovery Center and our wetlands, we have trails all over our 927 acres.

We don't have a lot of elevation gains.

So, when it comes to like, some physical factors in terms of stamina, sometimes it's a little bit easier when you don't have a lot of elevation, it's all most relatively flat on for our property.

And then we also have ADA trails.

- Okay.

- So, we can be really accessible.

So, we have like paved trails that lead to our boardwalk and kind of just make like a, I think it's less than a mile loop that kind of like looks over our main pond, but we have a lot of options in terms of hiking.

- Awesome.

- Yeah, so at the KU Field Station we also have a variety of different trails and they range in difficulty.

We've got paved trails that are ADA compliant as well.

And so they, you can walk out to an overlook.

It's about, I think it's 1/3 of a mile out.

And so, and then there's a, you know, a nice view shed into the Kaw River Valley from that point.

We've got a few more arduous trails.

There's a little bit of uneven terrain and so somebody who is, you know, a little more skilled might be like more appropriate for those types of trails.

And one of our newest trails.

So, we're up to about six miles of trails right now and one of our newest, what we can consider a trail is actually an environmentally-embedded artwork, and so- - Oh, wow.

- Oh, that sounds neat.

- Yes, and so this is an artwork that was commissioned by the Spencer Museum of Art.

It's called Here-ing, it's by a world renowned artist, Janine Antoni.

And it's this wonderful walking labyrinth that is in the shape of a human ear.

- Oh, wow.

- That is down at one of our trail heads now.

And so the really cool thing, this trail is only held by our steps, right?

So, we're kind of creating these game trails that weave and through the open prairie and then you kind of take a break in the woodland area, and you kind of wind through these different fields.

The really cool thing about this trail is it's a very immersive experience.

Often our trails are pretty manicured, right?

Like we're walking a path, but we're not really interacting with nature as much.

It's more kind of an observational experience.

- Yeah.

- Whereas this Here-ing path, you're in it, like you're walking in the tall, you've got grass touching you.

Maybe it's not for everybody, but it's this really awesome grounding experience where, and it's open, you know, it's a part of our trail system, open dawn to dusk, and it gives you these opportunities to see like what prairie looks like.

It's, you know, up close and personal and like I said, it gives these, it gives visitors the opportunity to just slow down and like make these connections and see all of the insects that are on different plants all throughout the year.

And so it's one of our really cool additions recently, but we've also got a woodland trail that's coming.

- Oh.

- And so- - When is this going to be?

- So, we're about to break ground thanks to Douglas County Natural Heritage Conservation.

We have a grant that we're gonna add another couple miles of trail in the Rice Woodland down in the Baldwin Woods Forest Preserve.

And so that'll give people a great opportunity to see like what an intact like woodland looks like in Kansas.

'Cause a lot of people think, you know, oh, we're like up just a vast prairie state, right?

- Right.

- We have forests too and it's really cool because we're right on that edge of where western like eastern deciduous forest kind of hits Kansas and kind of tapers off and any place farther west.

And so we'll have these trails that will allow people to have these more passive experiences, you know, on their own time.

They can take as long as they want through the woodlands, and we also reintroduce fire to these woodlands.

So, you'll have the opportunity to kind of see for your own eyes what fire as a stewardship tool can do in a Kansas woodland versus an unburned side.

And there are some pretty stark differences.

And so we're pretty excited.

We'll probably have a big great opening next April and so be on the lookout for that.

- Sheena and Bluebird, thank you so much and I know you're gonna wanna stay right there.

Please do so.

(bright upbeat music) (bright music) - So, thinking about what people need to get started on hiking, it's actually pretty minimal for your first couple of hikes.

You know your limits, you figure out where you wanna go.

The things that we think are the most important honestly are shoes and socks.

Get good shoes, wear good socks, a lot of times inexpensive 100% cotton socks move a lot when you hike, right?

And so you rub.

So, some type of wool blend or synthetic sock might be better.

Something that wicks moisture.

And then shoes with tread and stiff, sturdy sole.

Some people like hiking boots more than tennis shoes, but you don't really have to go buy anything new.

But you do need to just think about your feet before you go on a big long walk.

(bright music) So, if you're looking for a place to hike, you can start with your local parks and recreation or your local wildlife and parks.

Here in Shawnee County, The Shawnee County Parks and Recreation Office has a trail map that you can download and links so that you can find the trails, Parks and Wildlife has websites built for each of our state parks, and you can check out the trail maps there.

There's also a great app that we like to use called the AllTrails App.

So, when you download that free app, you can download it and if you just pull it up, it will show you any trail around where you are right now.

From a 3/10 of a mile to 30 miles, it will show you.

Kansas also has a website called Get Outdoors Kansas, and that's a great resource for finding trails and other outdoor activities that you would want to do in the state.

- And just pay attention, as you're driving around, going to work, as you're going out to dinner with your family or friends, there's lots of parks, there's lots of hidden gems in various places where you can get outside rather quickly within an urban area.

(bright music) We all love our canines, we love our dogs, we love our pets and it's great fun to take your dog out on the trail.

However, to be safe, you should have your dog on a leash.

First of all, you don't want your dog to get away from you.

If there are other people on the trail, you don't want your dog to scare those people or jump or even brush up against that person and knock someone else over.

- The only other thing about taking our dogs with us, there are a few trails in Kansas that don't allow dogs.

So, you should make sure that where you're going hiking allows dogs with you.

We have the Konza Nature Preserve, for example.

There are no pets allowed.

It's an active research facility, so they don't want any dogs on the property.

So, just before you know, check and make sure.

- And that's the same for the KU Biological Survey Station in Lawrence as well.

This is Jennifer and Denise with Dirty Girl Adventures.

- We hope we've inspired you to get out and get dirty.

(bright music) (bright upbeat music) - And what about outreach programs?

Do both of you have those programs available to the public?

Can you speak to that?

- We have a variety of outreach programs for like field trip or different age group programs.

And people can reach out to us through social media or look on the Baker website and I'll be there (laughing) You can- - Look for Bluebird.

- Yeah.

(all laughing) You can look for Bluebird and find me.

And some of our upcoming events are like our Family Fun Day event, which is April 12th.

And then we also do like Girl Scout programming.

So, we also have like kind of a chaotic April (laughing) 12 where we have like Family Fun Day in the morning.

So, we'll have like exploring the wetlands, scavenger hunts, some hay rides that day too, just to kind of like take people around the property.

And then after that we'll have like a Big Girl Scout Badge Day.

So, if there are any naturey-themed Girl Scout Badges you're wanting to accomplish, you can reach out to us about that too.

- Nice.

- Sheena.

- Yeah, we host a variety of different programs throughout the year.

So, we have an education program coordinator, her name is Wendy Holman, look her up on our website, and she works directly with educational groups, different just interested parties.

She does a lot with like retired community members.

Just, you know, like the limit does not exist for what kinds of programs we could have.

But then we also have sort of curated experiences indoors too that kind of bring people out to the field station to see some things behind the scenes or maybe a little bit closer.

Like we just hosted a lichen workshop with one of the world renowned lichen experts in the area.

And you know, like it gives people the opportunity to understand and to experience these organisms in a different way than they ever have, like looking through a microscope.

We have a lot of guided tours.

We just hosted our first Visitor's Day where we had stations set up in the research area of the Field Station to give people a glimpse at kind of the behind the scenes of like where all of our research really happens.

And we're trying to kind of like build community with, as a diverse a crowd as possible because that's how we really learn about nature, about science, like it's together.

And so we try to curate these different experiences that kind of hit like all backgrounds, all age levels.

- Mm-hmm.

- Mm-hmm.

- For our viewers who are just fascinated by all of this and would like more information or wanna come out and visit each of these places, do you have a website?

I mean, how can people learn more about what you're doing?

- Yeah, we have all the standards, right?

(Amy laughing) - Social media, blah, blah, blah.

- Yeah, we are housed under the Kansas Biological Survey, so we're a research center.

So, you know, our website go kansasbiologicalsurvey.ku.

edu/fieldstation and you'll land on our welcome page.

- Okay.

- And there's a ton of information to sift through, but we're also on socials too, and so @kufieldstation.

Our education program coordinator curates a wonderful like social media experience for everybody.

So, there's a ton of information there and we'll be really plugging that Woodland Trail for sure.

- Okay, same with the Wetlands?

- Yeah, so, we're on like the Baker U website and then we're also on like Facebook, Instagram, social medias, and we just regularly post any events that we have over there.

- So, what amazing, amazing places.

This is perfect, it's spring.

Let's get out there, get out there.

(all laughing) That is all the time we have for today though, but we do wanna thank our guests, Sheena Parsons, Manager of the KU Field Station, and Bluebird Taylor McKown, Naturalist Supervisor at the Baker University Wetlands Discovery Center for joining us on "Inspire."

And as a reminder, you can watch this program again at watch.ktwu.org.

- And if you are inspired to learn more about our guests, find out what's coming up on future shows and get access to additional content, please be sure to visit our website at ktwu.org/inspire.

- Inspiring women, inspiring making time for moments in nature, inspiring you on KTWU.

Thank you for watching.

(bright upbeat music) - [Announcer] "Inspire" is sponsored by the Estate of Ray and Ann Goldsmith, the Raymond C. and Marguerite Gibson Foundation, and the Lewis H. Humphreys Charitable Trust.