S3E4 Tara Bauer - Blue Marble Learning Scene

Check out our website!
Home (el4biodiversity.ca)

Follow us on social media @el4biodiversity for more updates and events! 

Transcript

Copy Transcript Copied

Intro Outros 1-3 0:00

Hello, and welcome to all my fellow Brock collectors. I'm your host Meredith Meeker. And this is another episode of how do I do this and environmental career. I know I can't be the only person who collected rocks as a child. Maybe you still collect them as an adult and you come home with pockets full of pretty quartz, or just the perfect skipping stone. Because of that, I feel a kinship with our guests this week, Tara Bauer, she took her love of rocks and rocketed straight into the environmental field. Today. She is a business owner running blue marble learning scene and is the director of turtles kinks. So let's give her a big welcome and get right into it.

Meredith Meeker 0:49

Before we actually get to the questions would you mind saying your full name for me and your preferred.

Tara Bauer 0:56

My name is Tara Bauer. I am. She hurt.

Meredith Meeker 1:01

Thank you. We just had this fabulous long weekend. It was great weather here. What's your favorite thing to do or an activity that gets you outside and reconnects you with.

Tara Bauer 1:14

Well, it was a great autumn weekend this weekend. So bottom is my favorite season and I had to get outside. I refused to not wear a sweater and scarf, even though it was like 27 degrees outside. But literally anything, anything that I can do outside that helps me explore or find or investigate something that I'm not fully familiar with. I love doing so I go on a lot of hikes. And on those hikes, even if it's in an area that I know I'm looking for, animals or birds that I haven't really seen before, I'm looking for plants, I'm really into plant identification right now. I use an app called seek by naturalists to help me learn more about the plants that I'm seeing. And it's just been super interesting being like, oh, I've seen this flower all the time. Or now that I'm looking at like the small details of the plants, I'll notice things that I've never really noticed before. And it just really makes me realize that nature is so interesting and complex. And even if you think you were observing nature, there's still more.

Meredith Meeker 2:10

I mean the world of plants like botanists out there you've impressed me so much. Like the same plant can look different throughout the year. And, but you're right. Fall is a perfect time to get out and get exploring and trying to discover something new because nature is

No one 2:28

fascinating. So fascinating.

Meredith Meeker 2:32

So, Tara, can you tell us a little bit about. Your role what you're doing with blue marble and maybe also with turtles as well, and maybe like why, what you're doing is so important for both aspects, your work life and your, your volunteer life.

Tara Bauer 2:48

Yeah. So I, I'm a business owner slash environmental scientist and in blue marble learning scene, which is my personal business, we create activities and experiences to help individuals and students. Connect with or reconnect with nature. So the whole point of that is to help people humans understand that we are not separate from nature, that we rely heavily on nature. That nature is all around us and try and help make that connection stronger so that individuals will respect and protect nature in the future. That's kind of the whole goal of my business and why that's important. The other side of things is I am a director of turtles, Kingston. It is a volunteer position. And so what we do is we try to help. Minimize the impacts of humans on turtle populations, which unfortunately all of our turtle species in Ontario, we have eight different species. They are all species at risk and their populations are declining. So it's a lot to do with human activity fragmentation of wild of their habitats and road mortality. So just trying to minimize the impacts of humans by energizing, motivating the community to take

No one 4:00

out.

Meredith Meeker 4:03

That's very interesting that your, your work life is all about engagement and getting people to care and protect, and then you don't volunteer. It still sounds very similar. You're trying to get people engaged just on a really specific aspect, which is turtles. Hurdles are amazing creatures. They definitely like whenever you're out and you see like some open water, like I'm always looking for turtles, like

Tara Bauer 4:29

yeah, my favorite animal, my entire life. And when the opportunity came to be the directors of turtles Kingston, I had to say yes, because my like four year old self, 13 year old self, like my entire childhood self would kick me if I didn't get to do this. And you're completely right. Part of the reason of starting this business with. To really be passionate about what I was doing, and this is what I was doing in my volunteer life. So why not make it my job?

Meredith Meeker 4:56

Yeah. I mean, our listeners don't know this, but we've had the, I've had the pleasure of working with you in the past, back in the consulting days. So I know a little bit about your journey, but maybe you can take us through, where you started and how you got to become a business owner and director of a.

Tara Bauer 5:16

Yeah. So I like to really think everyone in my life for my journey is because it's been a little bit serendipitous. Things have just kind of happened and I just jumped on the bandwagon whenever opportunities present themselves. So it started with going to the university of Guelph for environmental. From there. I never expected to do a masters, but I was offered one that just really piqued my interest. So I did it that was in hydrogeology and geology looking at contaminated sediments, but I won't get into the details. From that the group that I worked with was a research group and I was able to actually stay on with them and work as a hydrogeology researcher for my first kind of career. After that I worked with you in consulting, but I really found consulting wasn't for me. It was a little too. Goal-oriented not necessarily process-oriented and I really liked the process. So I switched from consulting into conservation, where I worked for a conservation authority near the greater Toronto area. And I worked in source water protection there. So the conservation area I re or conservation authority, sorry, I really enjoyed working for, because it gave me an opportunity to work in multiple areas. So I worked in Sourcewater. I worked in geology and. And groundwater in general, I was able to help with field work. So it really expanded what I was able to do. And to be honest, I probably would have stayed there for much, much longer, except for, I'm not a big city person. So I didn't want to move a little bit more outside the big city and with the pandemic. It really opened this opportunity for me to move outside of the greater Toronto area, back to Kingston where I'm from. And my mom and I had been talking about starting a business. And so it just really presented this perfect opportunity where my contract was ending at the conservation authority and the pandemic allowed me to, to move without a lot of So now we have the business up and running. It just started this year and because my time is more my own, it allowed me to take on more volunteer opportunities with the directors of turtles Kingston.

Meredith Meeker 7:24

Awesome. I think, your journey. I mean, everybody's journey in hindsight, it looks really straightforward, but like when you're going through it, like, I like what you're talking about, how chance does. Play into it. And it's, taking those, taking risks in your career and moving around can really help you find what you love. And, talking about the pandemic, like we've talked about it quite a bit on this podcast since we started it because of the pandemic, but I do feel like a lot of people have been able to use. As an opportunity to try something that maybe they wouldn't have if they just continued on with their day to day. I mean, I'm myself similar said I would never do my masters and through the pandemic, I was like, well, maybe it's a time to go back to school so I can definitely relate to that part of your story. And I mean, I guess you started out kind of doing the research side and now you've got your own business, but is there any like advice that you would give to somebody just starting their career or something that you wish you could tell yourself back?

Tara Bauer 8:34

Yeah, there is so many things I wish I knew back when I was in university that I know now. And to be honest, everyone can use this advice and it's not related to a specific field either. Like I'm kind of trained in hydrogeology. And what I wish I had known was that I don't need to put so much pressure on it. I tend to always, I want to be a good employee. I want to follow the rules, but in the process, I put so much pressure on myself to make sure that every minute of that eight hour day that I was supposed to be working, I was working. That, I didn't take sick days if I didn't need them. And looking back, I realized that I just put so much pressure and even guilt on myself that I didn't need it caused anxiety and stress. And I would love to tell myself that it's okay to need mental health days. You don't have to be physically sick in order to take a sick day and you don't have to work every minute of an eight hour day. You can take breaks. I myself tend to work really. Efficiently. So I tend to get things done in a shorter timeframe than what people expect. That doesn't mean I need to do twice. The work that I'm expected to do, I can slow down and take breaks and enjoy moments where I don't have to pressure myself into like being the perfect employee.

Meredith Meeker 9:51

I totally hear that. Especially like when you're, I think, yes, you're right. Anybody can take that advice. But I know from my personal experience first, starting with. Like that first job, I was so grateful to be employed in this field that I put so much pressure on myself and wanted to be a perfect employee, because you want to show you're grateful for the experience or whatever, but. It does, it creates kind of this power imbalance and it kind of forces you stopped prioritizing yourself and your mental health. And I think that's really, really great and very important advice. So it's interesting. I mean, I'm curious now that you're your own. Your, you're your own boss? I mean, do you work with your mom, which I'm sure it's a fun dynamic, but what does a typical day or project look like for you now?

Tara Bauer 10:51

So that is just an impossible question to answer personally, because being a new business, new business owner we just launched in February of 2021. So there is no typical day yet. We have to do everything. We only have my mom and myself and the company two co-founders no employees, so we have to do it all. So some days I'm, working just social media, just trying to create content, to engage people some days we're, brainstorming together, new activities, ideas, and ways to get people outside. A lot of the time we actually have to check ourselves and be like, wait, we're a business about getting people outside, reconnecting, but we haven't left our dad. So we've really actually changed our weekly schedule. That Friday is a day where we're not allowed to sit at our desk at all. It's almost like we're working a four day week, but our aim is to go outside, connect with nature ourselves. So we're really motivated and energized for the next week. So we do a lot. There's like I said, there's no typical. This is a very hard question to answer. We got to do the financial side of things. We're constantly reaching out to people to make new connections. Trying to think of new ideas, new ways to get people engaged. And it's a lot of different things, which to be honest is really nice.

Meredith Meeker 12:03

That's a really tough question, especially for, for a new business, but it's. I mean, it sounds like an amazing schedule. I wish my Fridays were spent reconnecting with nature though. I, like I said, I am a student now, so I do actually get those opportunities of throughout the week. But going back, actually, maybe to the advice question, just because of, I'm talking about starting your own business, do you have any advice for somebody who's thinking about starting their own business or. Something you wish you'd known back in February, or maybe before February before

No one 12:40

it launched?

Tara Bauer 12:41

Well, one thing I'll say that I'm really happy we did when we started this business is we launched it in February. But we had been planning it for a full year, like active planning. We had been talking about it for more than a year, but the act of planning was we had incorporated, we had done all these like standard operating procedures, like all the, the nitty gritty of how our business was going to function. And we even created a bunch of content before we launched. And I was doing all that well, working full-time. So it really took the pressure off when we weren't sure exactly what the business was going to look like, exactly how it was going to operate exactly how we were going to monetize things to keep ourselves supported. It, it was really nice that I still had a job. And I know if you watched Dragon's den and stuff, they always, are you committed to your business a hundred percent? And now I am, I'm committed a hundred percent, but at the beginning, it's really nice to not be committed a hundred percent, because then you take some of that financial stress away. So I would just recommend don't quit your job and then start the business, create the plan, figure it out, and then quit your job to

No one 13:49

go full business.

Meredith Meeker 13:51

Thanks a lot of sense, especially if most of us in the environmental fields we do have, because we love it, but we still need a paycheck at the end of the day. So that makes a lot of sense. And what is, what is the best part of working with Bloomberg?

Tara Bauer 14:08

So working with blue marble, I think it would be more the best part of being a business owner or working for yourself. Is the flexibility. So I had been a student for many years of my life and I loved it because my time was my own. Yes. I had classes to go to and schedule things to do, but then. The rest of the time I could work on my work when I felt like it. And if I needed a break, I could take it. And that is what it's like being a business owner or your own boss, I can work on what I feel motivated to work on in the most. If I need to take an extended lunch or I need to not work half a day, I can, and I can make it up some other time or I can be inspired to work on something completely new and different. And because I'm not confined to a small, job description I can explore and go in any direction. And that's just been absolutely amazing. It's allowed me to write. Reinvigorate my own connection with nature because I've started being like, well, I've always been curious about, mushrooms. And so now I'm looking more into mushrooms or I've always been curious more about, the geology of Kingston. I know a lot about the geology and the Toronto area and wealth, but not Kingston. So I'm, I'm able to actually pursue those interests and passions while still doing

No one 15:25

my job.

Meredith Meeker 15:27

I remember, working in consulting and trying to, listen to bird calls over my lunch or things like that, just cause you're trying to squeeze in that learning. Whereas I really think people can benefit from exploring their curiosity, even within your nine to five and not just on

No one 15:43

your own time

Tara Bauer 15:44

and that's what they call professional development. But I feel like in every single job I've had so far professional development it's set in it's there, but it's. Supported and encouraged to the level that like would really help motivate and energize an employee. So that's, that's one thing I've really loved here is, like you said, you were doing bird calls on your lunch. I didn't take a lunch when I was a consultant. I never took a lunch. And that was just super stressful.

Meredith Meeker 16:10

That would be, that would make your day even longer. That's not an eight hour day then, then you're working like a nine and a half hour day, every day. And consulting you're already usually working more than an eight hour day. So I always took my lunch mostly cause I

No one 16:28

can't stare

Tara Bauer 16:28

at a screen that long. Well, you know what? And take my lunch because I had an hour 40 minute drive home. So I would leave early. So that I got home at a reasonable hour.

Meredith Meeker 16:40

Yeah. The commute in the GTA is something that I think, the pandemic is going to be changing. If people can work outside of the GTA, like nobody wants

No one 16:49

to do that drive.

Tara Bauer 16:50

Not at all, not at all. Mind you. I did work outside the GTA and I came into it to work as a consultant. And I worked in, I lived in Lindsay, Ontario, so small, more

No one 17:00

Northern community.

Meredith Meeker 17:03

I guess Peterborough is kind of the bigger center around there. Lots of great places to get outside and explore around there. And so that's the best part of being a business owner. What about, working with, I guess this also applies to your turtle work, but what's the best part of, engaging people in outdoor or nature, what's the satisfying part.

Tara Bauer 17:27

The the most satisfying part. And I'm going to have to draw a little bit more from past experiences because of the pandemic. We haven't been able to do a lot of face-to-face interactions, but the most satisfying part about engaging with the community related to environmental things is just seeing everyone's passion. Especially with kids done lighting up when they realize like, wait. Broccoli plant, like I, how does grow broccoli grow? Do you know? Like, I didn't know until I was a teenager and like making those connections with kids and even with adults where they're like, wait, that's what that is. I've been seeing this my whole life and I've never done it, or just hearing people's stories about how amazing nature is and how it's really impacted their life. That's just, it's very rural.

Meredith Meeker 18:12

Love that broccoli like, cause you can just really picture it for me as an adult. I started gardening. And looking at how brussel sprouts grow, like clean my mind. Wow. So, yeah, I mean, I guess back to plants, plants

No one 18:28

are so cool.

Tara Bauer 18:30

It's a ridiculously cool. I am a geologist and a hydrologist when it comes down to like my education, but yeah, I always, I always say that I love the antibiotic earth, the non-living part. That is what I love to study, but I, I can't, I can't stop being in awe of the biotic.

No one 18:47

So.

Meredith Meeker 18:48

I like that. That makes sense. And I guess on the flip side, that's the best part, but what has been the most challenging or unexpected part of just starting a business?

Tara Bauer 19:00

Yeah. So, and I think everyone is going to relate to this especially with everyone working from home or most people working from home is the most challenging thing. Starting a business working during a pandemic is so work-life balance. It's really, where do you draw that line between when you're working and when you're not when you work and live in the same place or when you're busy? Is your business. So you're kind of constantly thinking about it. And I always find that I'm kind of thinking about it and doing things related to the business when I don't want to weekends late at night, right before bed is a horrible time. I always seem to be like, oh yeah, I should check my phone one more time when I'm like trying to not be on my phone so much. It's a. It's not the healthiest habit. And I'm trying to figure out how to, how to find that balance. And to be honest, like I said, I was having this problem before I started my business because of the pandemic. And even before the pandemic, I was having this problem because work-life balance is such a hard thing to get, right?

Meredith Meeker 20:01

Yeah. I think maybe more people are aware of it doesn't mean people weren't experiencing it before. I think it's just, people are talking about it more and like, I know. My partner really struggled with this. Cause he used to have quite the commute kind of like yourself. And so being in his room, he's like, oh, I just got all this extra time, but he couldn't shut off. And so we like made up a commute for him and it's like, okay, at the end of the day, you have to close your laptop and go walk around the block. And that's

No one 20:32

your new commute?

Tara Bauer 20:34

Well, a lot of people say that really works for them. I haven't been able to do that. I, I don't know what it is. It doesn't work for me. Maybe I can't motivate myself to do it, but I find the best is for me, as soon as I get up, if I start working, then I can shut it down a little bit earlier. And then my time is at the end

No one 20:51

of the day.

Meredith Meeker 20:53

Yeah. That, that makes total total sense. I know I'm more productive in the mornings as well. So like chilling in the evenings, it's just my natural circadian rhythm or something. Exactly. So it was just you and your mom. So maybe this question isn't, let's flip it a little bit. So when, you were maybe not in a hiring position, but is there a particular skillset that you're trying to help people develop or one that you think would be really important for people who are trying to break in to this industry?

Tara Bauer 21:29

Yeah. So was thinking about this question before you answered it, too. And yeah, right now with blue marble learning scene, we aren't in a position to hire. And in most of my career I have hired one person, but I haven't normally been in a position to hire, but I changed the question a little bit to think about what would I want in a teammate like that my bosses or my coworkers were hiring. And what I really think about there is I think about enthusiastic. I like people who are enthusiastic and show it partially because then you can help motivate other people around you. And it's just a good environment to feed off of when your team members are all pretty enthusiastic. That doesn't mean you need to be like crazy out there. And then the other thing, the two biggest ones I would say are communication abilities and taking the initiative. And again, it all comes down to working in a team, every job that you ever work in, it doesn't matter if what you do is a lot of independent stuff. There's always a team there. And so if you're able to communicate what you're doing to your team adequately, Everyone's going to have more confident in what's getting done in the organization. Everyone's going to know that you're on top of what you need to do, and it's not like we're checking in on people and you need to report everything that you're doing. It's just, it's nice to know that there's open communication there and that people are able to create. Unless the same with taking the initiative. If I'm working with a coworker or even an employee or a boss, I like to know that people are taking the initiative. So I know we're working more as equals and not necessarily as a hierarchy where I need to assign things, but I know that you're working for the good of the project and that we're working together on it.

Meredith Meeker 23:11

Those are great. And I think. Yes, enthusiasm that just especially if you're doing field work and you're out like interventional rain or bugs, or it's a hot day, like having somebody who likes what they're doing and it shows that that makes a huge difference. But I think the communication one for some reason, and maybe this is just my own personal experience is one of the hardest things when you're first starting out. Because I guess you're learning what you need to tell people and what you don't. So making sure. You've talked to your teammates. I also think help, like and ask what kind of things they want to know, what are updates, I think is a really, really important skill to kind of start developing as soon as you're in the workforce. And if you've got the opportunity volunteering like beforehand

No one 23:59

as well,

Tara Bauer 24:00

I agree a hundred percent on the communication side of things in your career and outside of your career. I was very shy when I first started working and I'm still kind of shy. I, I don't, I'm not outspoken, but like you said, just asking, like, what is expected of me? How would you like me to communicate with you? Those that's the communication skill? Just to be able to ask how I should be communicating is like one of the best communication skills you can have.

Meredith Meeker 24:27

Yeah. I know. I want it to seem like I knew everything out of school for some reason. And you don't and I think it's okay. And people don't expect you to, so don't expect that of yourself either, I guess. How do you think people can, show those skills within an application or, or what are people doing these days to like make themselves stand out?

Tara Bauer 24:48

So what I always say when it comes to applications for jobs what I want to do is I want to really tailor the cover letter and the resume to the job you're applying to. And I know everyone says that I don't mean like you have to tailor it a hundred percent, but change a little bit of wording, make it really direct how your skills relate to the job you're applying to. And in the cover letter, that's where you can really do it. I say personally, I'm like, people are like, Not in the, they don't want to do things, but if I'm unemployed looking for a new employee or a new hire, I don't want to make the connections that your experience, why is going to help with my job requirement X. I want you to wind that up and tell me exactly how your experiences is going to help you. In the job that I'm looking tire for. And that doesn't mean that you have to have the exact experience. I know one of the biggest things with getting into the environmental sector is every single job description says entry position. You need five years of experience and it's, heartbreaking when you're like, I don't have that experience, take anything you've done. And, and you tell me how it helps you connect to the job. And it doesn't matter if it's a direct connection. If you can guide me, it's going to help your application state.

Meredith Meeker 26:03

Highlighting those, those transferable skills. Right. I think I just talked about this on a previous interview and they're like, oh yes. B surveys. Well, if that be surveys also means you're doing plant ID and you're applying for a new job. Somebody sees P surveys. They're not gonna know that. So you need to spell it out for

No one 26:21

them.

Tara Bauer 26:21

A hundred percent. I actually, my husband is now an environmental science career. But he used to work in construction. And so his cover letter resume did not look appealing to anyone in environmental science. Cause he was like, I formed, hoses. I did, I floated concrete. And you're like, what does that mean? But like, he was so accurate. He had to do so many measurements and act and keep accuracy and he had to deal with the public and he had to, follow blueprints and plans. Like all of those, if you think behind what you actually did, you have so many of those skills that everyone else is looking for. You just got to

No one 27:01

connect the dots.

Meredith Meeker 27:02

You got to show them. The person going through them really quickly, probably isn't trying to make those connections for you. Nope. So Tara, I've really enjoyed talking about the career aspect with you, but I want to hear about your favorite nature moment. We call it nature because nature is so neat. So either, while you were out working or just exploring on your own, do you have a favorite memory?

Tara Bauer 27:27

I cannot narrow it down to a favorite moment. I can narrow it down to a favorite type of moment. I am like a rock nerd. I absolutely am geology. Geology is actually what got me into the environmental field. And so any moment where I'm traveling or working or any moments that I find myself surrounded by. I am insanely happy and I find it always so neat. So like I've been in Iceland on like the mid oceanic Ridge where you have the north American plate induration plates separating, like that was just mind blowing. Or like I've been to Arizona in their spot canyons where like the water has carved out the sandstone and it's just absolutely beautiful and mind boggling how that happens or my actual favorite. And why I got into environmental sciences is just searching for fossils in Ontario Alliance. It is like my favorite thing to do, and I will do it as often as I can. In fact, I'm doing that this Friday.

Meredith Meeker 28:23

That's amazing. I don't think people would really know even what limestone looked like or, or where to look for fossils. So that's really cool. I've I don't think I've

No one 28:34

ever done it myself.

Tara Bauer 28:36

I got to say most of Southern Ontario has limestone. Kingston has so many fossils, so it's just like, you look at an Oak crop of rocks. It's all limestone and there's probably a fossil in there somewhere.

No one 28:47

So

Tara Bauer 28:49

if you live in Kingston or around Kingston, definitely go looking for fossils.

Meredith Meeker 28:53

We're going to say people can put that on their fall road trip. It's a nice activity to do, to connect to nature, and it doesn't have to be

No one 29:01

summer. Exactly.

Meredith Meeker 29:04

I think yeah. Being in a four season climate it's really important to highlight ways to get outside

No one 29:11

all year

Tara Bauer 29:11

round. Oh yeah. Yeah. Well, okay. So relate into rocks. Getting outside in the winter. One of my favorite things to do on a hike in winter is to find a nice Rocco crop that has icicles because it really outlines where groundwater is moving through. 'cause you don't really see it during the summer in the spring because the water just makes it look wet, but you can start to see where that water is seeping out of the rocks. Cause you get these massive icicles forming where that is and I absolutely, and then I drink them because why not?

Meredith Meeker 29:41

Yeah. I guess if it's groundwater then you're pretty good

No one 29:44

to go.

Tara Bauer 29:45

Yeah. You're pretty, you're pretty safe in Ontario. Not a hundred percent. So I guess I don't recommend that to anyone else,

No one 29:50

but.

Meredith Meeker 29:52

And then one of our other questions we've been asking guests is If you could wave a magic wand and have everyone adopt an environmentally friendly habit, what would it be?

Tara Bauer 30:04

This is such a hard question. So my first thing is, the things that are kind of in the, in the media, oh, what if it's no more use of plastic or drug electric cars, but you know what, the more I think about it, the more I think I would want that magic wand waving to do something where it makes a change that you can see reduces our human impact on nature while also increasing the amount of nature that there is. And so I think my magic wand waving would be. To have everyone significantly reduce or eliminate their manicured grass yards. And so instead, plant pollinator gardens just have a wild grass field have vegetable gardens or literally just if you want to mode. Mo native ground cover. I grew up and our yard because we couldn't grow grass and all grass and manicured yards is not native to Ontario. We had time and some, and Clover that was our grass cover and it smelled amazing and the bees loved it. So I just, I wish everyone would reduce the amount of yard. They have

Meredith Meeker 31:14

a great one and a personal. I guess it's one that's really close to my heart. I just moved to Ottawa and it is actually amazing how many people have vegetable gardens in their front yard. Good. And I just think that is so cool and what a great use of space. And yeah, if my front yard was done here it would definitely be a vegetable garden. I'm slowly transitioning it to Clover because yes, so much better than the grass is not doing well. So why would I invest in trying to have a green manicured lawn when I could just have lovely Clover and the bees will love it?

No one 31:50

Exactly.

Meredith Meeker 31:52

So this has been just a great conversation. If somebody wanted to learn more about blue marble learning or, Kingston turtles, What should they do? Where it's the checkout? How can they get.

Tara Bauer 32:05

Yeah. So both my business blue marble learning scene and my volunteer turtles Kingston have websites. So they're simple to remember it's blue marble, learning's teen spelled S C E N e.ca and it seen, and a lot of people don't think why we chose that. That's a weird word. Normally it would be like blue marble learning center or something, but we thought, like you go to the party scene. Right. So why not have a nature scene? Like this is the cool spot to be. This is, nature has lots of cool scenes. So it's scene S C E N E M and then curdles, kingston.com is the turtles Kingston website. But I bloom verbal learning scene. As we've kind of already discussed, we aren't hiring. So you can't directly be involved in our organization, but we're always looking for partnerships and collaborations so that we can get. Everyone interested and engaged in nature, we create free activities. So there's lots of free activities on our website. If you're curious about engaging with nature yourself. But we also have some paid things, mostly for educators right now. But if you're interested in collaborating with us, you can just email us at blue marble learning team dot. Oh, sorry. At gmail.com, not the website,

No one 33:13

the.

Meredith Meeker 33:16

Amazing. Well, thank you so much. I will put links to that in our show notes so that people can find those really easily. And yes, I think people should also check out the activities. Cause it's always nice to see what other people suggest in terms of getting outside and getting engaged and, it's a great way to experience nature in a

No one 33:35

new.

Tara Bauer 33:36

Yes. Yeah. And I think this month we have normally one free activity every month and they just kind of accumulate. And this month is our 18 days of nature. Bingo challenge. So trying to get everyone outside one day for 18 days straight doing just a small activity that gets you connected with nature.

Meredith Meeker 33:53

Amazing. That sounds like a very worthy really

No one 33:57

challenge.

Intro Outros 1-3 33:59

A big, big, thank you to Tara for sharing her experience, starting a business and her love for all things geological. If you liked Tara story and you want to hear more, don't forget to like, and subscribe to our podcast. So you don't miss an episode and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to find out more about job opportunities and cooler. Well, that's all for me. I will talk to you again next week until then happy trails.