Ecology of Place 

Ecology of Place written and edited by Ana Zalyubovskiy is licensed 
under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 
4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted. 
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International 
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ 
Revised August 19, 2022 
Ecology of Place by Ana Zalyubovskiy is licensed under a Creative Commons 
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except 
where otherwise noted. 
Contents 
Preface vii 
Ana Zalyubovskiy 
Overview 1 
What is Ecology of Place 
Ana Zalyubovskiy 
MAIN BODY 
UNIT 1: Place-Based Narrative Writing and the 3 
Argument 
Place-Based Narrative Writing and the Argument 
Ana Zalyubovskiy 
Unit 1 Readings 3 
UNIT 2: Ecological Foundations and Definitions 5 
Ecological Foundations and Definitions 
Ana Zalyubovskiy 
Unit 2 Readings 5 
UNIT 3: The Formal Argument: Ecological Voices 8 
and Changemakers 
The Formal Argument: Ecological Voices and Changemakers 
Ana Zalyubovskiy 
Unit 3.1 Readings: Ecological Attitudes, Economics and 9 
Regulations 
Unit 3.2 Readings: Climate Change, Deforestation, Animals 11 
and the Rights of Nature 
Unit 3.3 Readings: Indigenous Peoples, Knowledge, Land Use 13 
and Environmental Justice, uRBAN ECOLOGY 
Acknowledgements 17 
Ana Zalyubovskiy 
Preface 
ANA ZALYUBOVSKIY 
Ecology of Place began the summer of 2020. As the world grappled 
with serious environmental and social changes worldwide, it 
became obvious that preserving the earth was the most critical 
topic of our times, and that students needed to read, discuss and 
write about it. I was also concerned with rising costs of composition 
textbooks for students. This free book of readings for composition 
students, comprised of curated links, is one solution. The readings 
in the book have been carefully chosen to represent diverse 
domestic and international voices in the field of ecology, news and 
opinions about ecological issues, and literary masters writing in a 
variety of genres about nature, ecology and environmental justice. 
Many of the readings overlap categories, and because the list is 
broad, readers may find a few overlapping connections that have 
not been attributed to a reading. 
In 2020, as devastating fires swept through the West Coast and 
Covid-19 was changing lives in every part of the world, the 
University of Oregon instituted the UO Environment Initiative to 
promote questions and responses to the environmental changes 
that have resulted in “dramatic ecological shifts to all our natural 
systems” (UO Office of the Provost). Along with its Center for 
Environmental Futures, the University is primed to act as a change 
agent in new faculty and student-led actions, discussions and 
vii
viii PREFACE
research approaches to address the challenges of 2021 and 
beyond. This book aligns itself with values of conservation, 
preservation and increasing awareness about choices that will 
affect the Earth, and its goal is to engage students in inquiry to find 
questions and answers related to the places they know and love. 
Overview 
What is Ecology of Place 
ANA ZALYUBOVSKIY 
 
What is Ecology of Place? 
Ecology of Place is concerned with the values of conservation and 
preservation people place on their relationship to the earth, its 
features and its inhabitants.  By knowing a place and naming its 
constituents we discover our responsibilities and the meanings of 
its interdependencies. We may undergo the transformation from 
outside observer to aware partner,  and our informed critical 
discussions can impact the evolution of society.  Place itself rests in 
particularity and uniqueness.  As we come to know and understand 
a particular place, it often becomes so intertwined with our life 
story, and the life stories of everything that lives there, that we can’t 
separate ourselves from the place.  A place then becomes part of 
our voice as we incorporate its story into our lives. 
 
The Ecology of Place collection of readings for composition 
students contains three units designed to support the University of 
Oregon Composition Program’s student learning outcomes. 
1

UNIT 1: Place-Based Narrative 
Writing and the Argument 
Place-Based Narrative Writing and the Argument 
ANA ZALYUBOVSKIY 
In this unit students explore and practice narrative as a foundation 
for rhetoric, the art of persuasion. Introducing some of the 
foundational topics within the Ecology of Place theme, the work 
includes representative narrative essays that invite questions 
about natural and urban spaces and our place within them. 
Although narration may also play a part in more formal 
argumentative essays, the readings and other media in Unit 1 are 
especially applicable to using primarily narration as the mode of 
discourse and will be helpful models for studying narrative 
technique and eliciting discussion. Themes include environmental 
justice, climate change, animal cognition, indigenous knowledge, 
geography’s effect on people, and the benefits of spending time in 
nature. 
UNIT 1 READINGS 
Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi: “The Danger of a Single Story,” 
TEDGlobal, ted.com, July 2009. (Video: 18:34 min.) 
Birch, Tony. “Recovering a Narrative of Place: Stories in the Time 
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4 ANA ZALYUBOVSKIY
of Climate Change,” excerpt from “First Things First,” 60th edition of 
Griffith Review, The Conversation April 26, 2018. 
Cooper, Christian. It’s a Bird. Represent 2020 (Click link to search 
title and download a FREE copy). 
Dillard, Annie. “Living Like Weasels,” Teaching a Stone to Talk: 
Expeditions and Encounters, Oct. 13, 2009, HarperCollins. 
Finney, Carolyn. “This Land is Your Land, This Land is My Land: 
People and Public Lands Redux.” The George Wright Forum, Vol. 27, 
No 3, 2010, pp. 247-254. 
Kimmerer, Robin. “Take What is Given to You.” Robin Kimmerer, 
Bioneers Reader: Intelligence in Nature, Bioneers.org, 2014. 
Lopez, Barry. “The invitation.” Granta 133, November 18, 2015. 
Lopez, Barry. “A Literature of Place.” Portland Magazine, Summer 
1997. 
Mason, Ron and Charles Massey. “Holding Up the Sky.” (Excerpt) 
Granta 153, November 19, 2020. 
Nurnberger, Kathryn. “Against an Apocalyptic Vision.” Brevity 
Magazine. brevitymag.com. September 3, 2021. 
Shiva, Vandana. “Everything I Need to Know I Learned in the 
Forest.” Yes! May 3, 2019. 
Rafeyenko, Volodymyr. “Signs of an Approaching War.” Granta. 
granta.com. London, UK, July 28, 2022. 
Wallace, David Foster. “Consider the Lobster.” Gourmet Magazine,
2004 (excerpt from Consider the Lobster and Other Essays, Little, 
Brown and Co. 2005. 
UNIT 2: Ecological Foundations 
and Definitions 
Ecological Foundations and Definitions 
ANA ZALYUBOVSKIY 
This unit introduces some of the foundational ideas, definitions 
and questions surrounding the Ecology of Place theme: What is 
environmental justice? What role do economies play in ecological 
disruptions? Is there a need for ecological thinking about urban 
areas? Does the way we form opinions impact biodiversity? Is there 
a unified front in ecological activism, or should there be? Should 
ecocide be criminalized? How does connecting or disconnecting 
with nature influence us? 
UNIT 2 READINGS 
Arup. “Arup Explores: Regenerative Design.”  April 9, 2020. (Video: 
7:26) 
Bogado, Aura and Eve Andrews. “Environmental Justice, 
Explained,” Grist, Jan. 26, 2016. (Video: 3:33 min) 
Eisenstein, Jimi. “What is Regenerative Agriculture?” (Video: 3:53 
min.) 
Elbow, Peter. “The Believing Game—Methodological Believing.” 
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University of Massachusetts Amhurst. The Journal of the Assembly 
for Expanded Perspectives on Learning, 5. 
Gibson, David. “It’s Ecology, Not Environmental Science,” OUP 
Blog, May 16, 2012. 
Marks, Laura. Illustration by Irma Kniiivila. “Ask an Environmental 
Expert: What’s the Carbon Footprint of the Internet?” The Walrus. 
June 9, 2022. 
Macaulay Honors College, CUNY. Science Forward- “Urban 
Ecology,” License: CC-BY-SA-NC (Video: 10:04 min.) 
“Interactive Map of Indigenous Land and Land Stolen from 
Indigenous People.” Native Land Digital. 2021. Native-land.ca. 
NCBI, Committee on Noneconomic and Economic Value of 
Biodiversity, National Research Council; National Research Council 
(U.S.). Committee on Noneconomic and Economic Value of 
Biodiversity. “What is Biodiversity?” Perspectives on Biodiversity: 
Valuing its Role in an Everchanging World. National Academy of 
Sciences, 1999. 
powell, john a. “You’re Not by Yourself: john a. powell on 
Interbeing,” Bioneers, bioneers.org, 2014. (Video: 20:52 min.) 
Scalise Sugiyama, M. (2021). Talking Stories: Encyclopedia of 
Traditional Ecological Knowledge. 
Stancil, Kenny. “To End Impunity for ‘Deliberate Destruction’ of 
the Planet, International Lawyers Drafting Plan to Criminalize 
Ecocide.” Common Dreams, commondreams.org, 30 Nov. 2020. 
Steinberger, Julia and Georgios Kallis. “Ecological Economics 
Explained.” Rethinking Economics Rotterdam. YouTube. Oct. 8, 
2020. (5:40 minutes) 
Stevens, Robert. “Traditional Ecological Knowledge & Place-Based 
Learning Communities.” Humboldt PBLC, 9 August 2019.  (Video: 
10:32 min.) 
Storr, Will “The Story of a Self” Creative Nonfiction: Memoir, Issue 
73, Creative Nonfiction Foundation, Pittsburgh PA, Fall 2020, Pp 6-9. 
(Request this article from your library by Interlibrary Loan) 
UNIT 2 7
Weiner, Eric. “How Geography Shapes Our Identity.” Trend 
Magazine. Pew. July 5 2016. 
White, Matthew P. et al.  “Spending at Least 120 Minutes a Week 
in Nature is Associated with Good Health and Wellbeing.” 
Nature.com, Scientific Reports volume 9, Article number: 7730, 
2019. 
UNIT 3: The Formal Argument: 
Ecological Voices and 
Changemakers 
The Formal Argument: Ecological Voices and Changemakers 
ANA ZALYUBOVSKIY 
This unit introduces some of the critical voices and ideas 
surrounding Ecology of Place. The list of readings is, for the sake 
of brevity, limited: there are many, many significant voices writing 
and speaking about biodiversity and ecological issues. Readings 
presented here will spur students on to explore, choose an 
individual topic and question at issue for an enthymeme-based 
argumentative essay, read and research about it, and limit the 
scope enough to be able to present an in-depth discussion of their 
chosen facet of the argument. Students are invited to browse 
through the categories and titles to see which ones pique their 
interest or bring up a question: Is there a topic here that relates 
to your major in some way? Have you touched on related ideas 
in another class that you would like to follow up on? Have you 
experienced a place that has a serious ecological problem? A great 
goal is to find a topic you can feel passionate about. 
The unit includes a 12-category selection of Ecology of Place 
issues with links to corresponding articles and other media forms. 
Many texts overlap categories. 
8
UNIT 3 9
Key to Topic Category Abbreviations 
ANI: animals; CLI: climate change; DEF: deforestation; EA: 
ecological attitudes; ECON: economics; ENJU: environmental 
justice;  INDIG: indigenous peoples;                KNOW: knowledge; 
LAND: land use; REG: regulations; RIGH: the rights of nature; URB: 
urban ecology. 
UNIT 3.1 READINGS: ECOLOGICAL ATTITUDES, 
ECONOMICS AND REGULATIONS 
CLI-DEF-EA-ECON-LAND-URB 
Coady, Theresa. “Rebuilding Earth’s Forest Corridors: Renewing 
Connections Above and Below.” kosmosjournal.org, Excerpted 
from Rebuilding Earth: Designing Ecoconscious Habitats for Humans, 
North Atlantic Books, 2020. 
CLI-ECON-REG 
“Debunking Science Denialism.” Editorial, Nature Human Behavior,
3, 887. June 24, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-019-0746-8 
EA-ECON 
Elgin, Duane. “Great Transition Stories for Becoming a Global 
Eco-Civilization.” duaneelgin.com, Great Transition Stories, 
greattransitionstories.org, August 5, 2014. 
EA-ECON-CLI-REG 
Felber, Christian. “Economy for the Common Good.” RSA (Royal 
Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commence). YouTube. Aug. 18, 
2016. (27:03 minutes) 
EA-INDIG-LAND-REG 
Hardin, Garrett. “The Tragedy of the Commons.” AAAS Science, 
sciencemag.org, Pp. 1243-1248, Dec. 13, 1968. 
EA-ECON-INDIG-REG-URB 
Korten, David. “The New Economy: A Living Earth System Model.” 
davidkorten.org, The Next System Project, pp. 1-15. 
CLI-EA-RIGH 
10 ANA ZALYUBOVSKIY
Margil, Mari. “Advancing Change in a Time of Disruption: Forging 
a New Pathway for Nature.” Common Dreams commondreams.com 
April 1, 2020 
CLI-EA-LAND-REG-URB 
McDonough, William. “Cradle to Cradle Design.” TED, ted.com, 
Feb. 2005. (Video: 20:05 min) 
CLI-ECON-REG-URB 
Newburger, Emma. “Trump is Rolling Back over 80 Environmental 
Regulations. Here Are Five Big Changes You Might Have Missed in 
2019.” CNBC, cnbc.com, 3 Jan. 2020. 
CLI-EA-ECON-INDIG-KNOW 
Norberg-Hodge, Helena. “What Indigenous Wisdom Can Teach 
Us about Economics: Strengthening Local Economies.” #CuraDa 
Terra essay series, Kosmos Journal, kosmosjournal.org, Fall 2020. 
CLI-ECON-REG-LAND-URB 
Omkuti, Jessica.. “Climate Adaptation Finance is Ineffective and 
must be More Transparent.” The Conversation, 
theconversation.com, 13 May 2021. 
EA-LAND 
Robbins, Jim. “Ecopsychology: How Immersion in Nature Benefits 
Your Health.” Yale University, yels.edu, 9 Jan. 2020. 
CLI-ECON-REG 
Rowland-Shea, Jenny and Mary Ellen Kustin. “A 13.5 Million Acre 
Lie.” Center for American Progress, 20 March 2019. 
ECON-CLI-EA-REG 
Sadasivam, Naveena. “Regulating While Sheltering.” Grist, 
grist.org, 14 Apr. 2020. 
CLI-EA-ECON-LAND 
Shiva, Vandana. “Big Data Doesn’t Add Up–Except to Disaster.” 
Resurgence & Ecologist, Issue 305: Light in the Dark Days, 
resurgence.org, November/December 2017. 
ECON-EA-LAND-KNOW-INDIG 
Todd, John. “The Ecological Design Revolution” Bioneers, 
bioneers.org, 12 19 2014. (Video: 23:24) 
UNIT 3 11
 
UNIT 3.2 READINGS: CLIMATE CHANGE, 
DEFORESTATION, ANIMALS AND THE RIGHTS 
OF NATURE 
CLI-DEF-REG 
Ceslo H.L. Silva, Jr. et al. “The Brazilian Amazon Deforestation 
Rate in 2020 Is the Greatest of the Decade.” Nature:
Correspondence. nature.org, 21 Dec 2020. 
RIGH-DEF-LAND-ANI 
Chapron, Guillaume, Yaffa Epstein and José Vicente López-Bao. 
“A Rights Revolution for Nature.” Science. 14 Mar 2019, 
vol 363, Issue 6434, pp. 1392-1393. 
DEF-CLI-REG-LAND-EA 
Dellasala, Dominick A. et al. “Letters: Post-Fire Logging Debate 
Ignores Many Issues.” Commentary: Science, Nov 2006, 
314(5796):51-2. 
CLI-ECON 
Evich, Helena Bottemiller. “I’m Standing Right Here in the Middle 
of Climate Change: How the USDA is Failing Farmers.” Politico , 15
Oct. 2019. 
EA-ENJU-RIGH-LAND 
Galeano, Eduardo. “Nature is not Mute.” IPS News, ipsnews.net, 
April 2008. 
DEF-CLI-REG-LAND-EA-URB 
Gramling, Carolyn. “Why Planting Tons of Trees Isn’t Enough to 
Solve Climate Change.” Science News, 9 July 2021. 
ANI-CLI-EA-ECON 
Jenson, Derrick. “Beyond Civilization.” Orion Magazine,
orionmagazine.org, 11 December 2019. 
CLI-EA-ENJU-LAND 
12 ANA ZALYUBOVSKIY
Kolbert, Elizabeth. Excerpt from Field Notes from a Catastrophe: 
Man, Nature, and Climate Change. Bloomsbury, USA, 2006. 
CLI-REG 
Herring, David. ““Isn’t There a Lot of Disagreement among 
Climate Scientists about Global Warming?” NOAA, 3 February 2020. 
ANI-EA-ECON 
Hall, Lee. “Hogwash! Or, How Animal Advocates Enable Corporate 
Spin.” Dissident Voice, dissidentvoice.org, 29 August 2007. 
ANI-CLI-DEF-EA 
Hilborn, Ray. “Keep Eating Fish: It’s the Best Way to Feed the 
World.”  OUPblog. Oxford University Press’s Academic Insights for 
the Thinking World, blogoup.com, May 31 2019. 
EA-REG-RIGH 
Levang, Emily. Can We Protect Nature by Giving it Rights? 
University of Minnesota., Environmental Institute: Ensia. 4 Feb. 
2020 
EA-REG-RIGH 
Margil, Mari. “Nature and the Law.” Democracy: A Journal of Ideas,
democracyjournal.org, 20 Dec. 2016. 
ANI-CLI-DEF 
MacGowan, Brian. “Harvesting Our Forests – The Wildlife 
Debate.” Department of Forestry & Natural Resources, Purdue 
University, 31 Jan. 2018. 
CLI-ANI-RIGH-EA-REG-ECON 
Monbiot, George.  “Stop Eating Fish. It’s the Only Way to Save the 
Life in Our Seas.” The Guardian, 9 May 2019. 
ANI-RIGH-EA-REG 
Nelson, Michael Paul, et al. “Emotions and the Ethics of 
Consequence in Conservation Decisions: Lessons from Cecil the 
Lion.” Conservation Letters. Society for Conservation Biology. Jan. 28 
2016. 
DEF-CLI-REG-LAND-EA 
Robins, Becki. “To Save the Redwoods, Scientists Debate Burning 
and Logging.” Undark, 16 12 2019. 
UNIT 3 13
ANI-EA-RIGH 
Safina, Carl. “What Animals Think and Feel.” Bioneers, 2014, Pp. 
10-15. 
ANI-CLI-EA 
Shah, Sonia. “Think Exotic Animals Are to Blame for the 
Coronavirus? Think Again.” The Nation, 18 Feb. 2020. 
ANI-DEF-RIGH 
Quammen, David. “Clone Your Troubles Away.” Harpers, February 
2005. 
ANI-EA 
Regan, Tom. “The Case for Animal Rights.” Excerpt from “A Case 
for Animal Rights.” In M.W. Fox & L.D. Mickley (Eds.), Advances in 
Animal Welfare Science, 1986/87 (pp. 179-189). Washington, DC: The 
Humane Society of the United States. The Humane Society Institute 
for Science and Policy Animal Studies Repository, 1986. 
CLI-DEF-REG 
Weise, Mikaela and Elizabeth Dow Goldman. “We Lost a Football 
Pitch of Primary Rainforest every 6 Seconds in 2019.” World 
Resources Institute, wri.org, 2 June 2020. 
UNIT 3.3 READINGS: INDIGENOUS PEOPLES, 
KNOWLEDGE, LAND USE AND 
ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE, URBAN ECOLOGY 
ENJU-INDIG-KNOW-LAND-REG 
Anderson, Terry L. “The Case for Transferring Federal Lands Back 
to Native Americans.” The Hill, 3 June 2020. 
CLI-ENJU-LAND-INDIG 
Baker, Janelle and Paulla Ebron, Rosa Ficek, Karen Ho, Renya 
Ramirez, Zoe Todd, Anna Tsing, Sarah E. Vaughn. “The Snarled 
Lines of Justice: Women Ecowarriors Map A New History Of The 
Anthropocene.” Orion Magazine, orionmagazine.org, 19 Nov. 2020. 
ENJU-REG-LAND-URB 
14 ANA ZALYUBOVSKIY
Beatley, Tim. “The Natureful City: Rediscovering Nature during a 
Pandemic.” Biophilic Cities Journal. Vol. 4 No.1, April 2021, Pp. 6-9. 
ENJU-REG-URB 
Berardelli, Jeff and Peggy Shepard. “Summer’s Social Unrest 
Highlights Environmental Racism in the U.S.” CBS News. July 17, 
2020. (Video: 10:44 min.) 
ENJU-REG-LAND-URB 
Bhat, Meera. “Opinion: For People Working to Protect Nature, 
Cities Can No Longer be an Afterthought.” Ensia, ensia.com, 14 
Sept. 2018. 
EA-ENJU-INDIG-REG-URB 
Buford, Talia. “A Brief History of Environmental Justice.” 
ProPublica, 4 August 2017. (Video: 3:35 min) 
URB- LAND- REG- ENJU 
Lieber, John.  “Urban Ecology: A Bright Future for Sustainable 
Cities.” The Revelator. 14 Dec.  2018. 
ECON-ENJU-INDIG-LAND-REG 
Norberg-Hodge, Helena. “What Indigenous Wisdom Can Teach 
Us about Economics: Strengthening Local Economies.” #CuraDa 
Terra essay series, Kosmos Journal, kosmosjournal.org, Fall 2020. 
CLI-ENJU-INDIG-LAND-REG-URB 
Isaacson, Walter. “‘Pollution is Segregated’ Says the Father of 
Environmental Justice.” PBS, Amanpor and Company, Interview with 
Robert Bullard, 3 March 2020. (Video: 17:43 min.) 
ENJU-INDIG-LAND-REG 
Koza, Fiona and Naolo Charles, Jennifer Beeman, Ingrid Waldron, 
Dayna Scott, Kristian Ferreira and Peter Wood.  “Canada’s Big 
Chances to Address Environmental Racism.” TheTyee.ca, 26 Nov 
2020. 
ENJU-KNOW-LAND-REG-URB 
Lantham, Drew J.  “Nine New Revelations for the Black American 
Bird-Watcher.” Vanity Fair, 27 May 2020. 
ENJU-KNOW-LAND-REG-URB 
UNIT 3 15
Lantham, Drew J.  “Nine Rules for the Woke Bird-Watcher.” Orion 
Magazine, 3 Dec. 2020. 
ANI-CLI-EA-INDIG-KNOW-LAND 
Nicholas, George. “Indigenous Intelligence: Diverse Solutions for 
the 21st Century, ‘When Scientists ‘Discover’ What Indigenous 
People Have Known For Centuries.” The Conversation,
smithsonianmag.com, 21 February 2018. 
CLI-EA-INDIG-KNOW-LAND-REG 
Martinez, Dennis. “Indigenous Integrity.” Resurgence & Ecologist,
resurgence.org, Issue 250, September/October 2008. 
CLI-EA-ENJU-INDIG-KNOW-LAND-REG 
“Indigenous People’s Collective Rights to Lands, Territories and 
Resources.” The United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous 
Issues, un.org, 19 April 2018. 
ENJU-EA-URB 
Seamans, Georgia Silvera. “The Risks and Rewards of Being Black 
in Nature.” Medium. medium.com. August 21, 2020. 
 

Acknowledgements 
ANA ZALYUBOVSKIY 
Ecology of Place was written to be freely used by composition 
instructors teaching in the University of Oregon Composition 
Program and other writing programs. The book was inspired or 
assisted at various stages by the following people, and I want to 
thank them. Jenée Wilde, PhD and Steve Rust PhD, whose book 
Culture of Science was wonderful and such a useful resource for 
teaching Writing 123. After teaching with the book, I was inspired 
to use it as a model for this one. In several discussions, Emily 
Simnitt, PhD, and I discussed the need for low-cost textbooks for 
Writing 122 and what those might look like. She enthusiastically 
encouraged me to move forward with the project and share it 
with instructors. Much thanks also to Rayne Vieger of UO Libraries, 
who assisted with finishing touches to get the manuscript into 
its book form. Lastly, grateful thanks to the University of Oregon 
Composition Committee and special thanks to Steven Rust and his 
Spring 2022 writing students for reviewing this book and offering 
revision comments to make it a better book. 
17