EP 24: Integrating Science with Activism, the Power of Experiential Education, and A Fearless Pursuit of Purpose with Natalie Dawson

Hello, and welcome back to the Shadows Run Podcast! 

This episode features a conversation with Natalie Dawson. Natalie is currently the Director of Strategic Partnerships with the Alaska Venture Fund based in Haines, Alaska. She has previously been a professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of Montana; a biologist on the Tongass National Forest; a public policy fellow with the American Institute of Biological Sciences in Washington, DC; and a research scientist at the USGS Alaska Science Center. I know Natalie because she was one of the instructors on the Wild Rockies Field Institute course that I took part in during the fall of 2021!

In this episode, we talk about: 

• the experience as a teenager that sparked Natalie’s interest in pursuing wildlife biology
• the process of falling in love with Alaska, a place she has now called home for many years
• Natalie’s experience doing public policy work in Washington DC and what she took from that experience moving forward with her science and activism work
• her journey into experiential education and teaching with organizations like the Wild Rockies Field Institute, and the value we both see in that kind of immersive, place-based learning model
• what Natalie is doing in her work now, raising money for conservation, social justice, and tribal sovereignty in Southeast Alaska 
• her experience serving in local government
• values and what it means to live a meaningful life in today's world

Thank you for joining us! 

Wild Rockies Field Institute: https://www.wrfi.net/

Alaska Venture Fund: https://alaskaventure.org/ 

Chilkat Forever Campaign: https://chilkatforever.org/ 

American Institute for Biological Sciences Public Policy Fellowship: https:https://www.aibs.org/news/2024/241204-policy-fellow.html

USGS Alaska Science Center: https://www.usgs.gov/centers/alaska-science-center 

Wilderness and Civilization Program at the University of Montana: https://www.umt.edu/wilderness-institute/education/wc/default.php

Understory - Film about the Tongass National Forest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da2VRt24MA0 

Natalie's Website from her time on the Borough Assembly: https://www.natstracks.com/ 

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