Intern Profile: Phyllis McKenzie

Name:  Phyllis McKenzie

Job Title and what that entails:    Education Intern – My work includes coordinating and leading tours of the Shack and the Legacy Center; I also work with the stewardship crew several times a month.  Additionally, I have spent time developing educational materials for the Legacy Center and will eventually expand curriculum for programs at the Shack.  

What is your educational and professional background? I have a diverse background in environmental education, ecological design and theatre.  For 6 ½ years I was an Environmental Educator at Riveredge Nature Center in Newburg, WI.   While at Riveredge, I spearheaded the Envisioning Tomorrow Program, which involved teaching workshops, leading family activities and creating a high school curriculum, Envisioning Tomorrow, that focus on taking personal action in order to live more sustainably.  I also led field trips for grades 1-12 and coordinated a group of about 25 stewardship volunteers.

Prior to my work at Riveredge, I spent 12 years as a custom home designer in Mequon, WI.   In the fall of 2005, I attended the Professional Immersion Program in Sustainable Design at the Ecosa Institute in Prescott, AZ.   At Ecosa, I became familiar with climate-responsive design techniques, permaculture basics, and passive solar energy analysis. More recently, I have helped build a straw bale house in northern Minnesota and have installed two photovoltaic arrays as well as solar hot water and solar hot air systems.

I have studied natural history and sustainability mainly through intensive short-term experiences (think workshops, conferences and seminars), including about 15 classes on Wisconsin natural history as well as many on renewable energy and ecological design.   In 1985, I received a BFA in Theater Arts from the University of New Mexico.

Where are you originally from?   I grew up near Albuquerque, NM and have lived in southeastern Wisconsin since 1986. 

What brought you to work in the environmental field? After spending 10 years designing homes that were not “earth-friendly”, I realized I needed to find work that was more in harmony with my personal values.  I grew up playing along irrigation ditches under giant cottonwood trees and decided to learn more about my adopted home, Wisconsin.

In the process, I met a naturalist at Riveredge Nature Center who encouraged hands-on inquiry learning and opened a door to a whole new way of knowing and living.  I realized that I learned even more if I shared my discoveries with others through teaching and volunteering.

How long have you worked for ALF? I’ve been here since early March, 2007.    

What is your favorite part of your job? Inspiring and encouraging others to live in harmony with the land through leading tours of the Shack and Legacy Center

What is the biggest challenge? Keeping Leopold’s ideas in the forefront so that they lead us into a sustainable future and not allowing tours to become only historical in nature. Helping others to see the Legacy Center as an extension of Leopold’s ideas and work.

How has working for ALF changed your thinking? In the past, I have not thought highly of “conservation” people as educators.  By “conservation” people, I mean those land managers who spend their time in the field working more with private landowners than with the public.  I now realize how important a role they play in terms of creating a sustainable future through their ability to connect to, and educate, landowners, especially those who follow a more blue-collar path, in ways of protecting, restoring and maintaining healthy land systems. 

What is your favorite Leopold quote/essay? “No important change in ethics was ever accomplished without an internal change in our intellectual emphasis, loyalties, affections, and convictions.”  “The Land Ethic”, pp.209-210. Favorite essay: “65290,” if you’ve ever banded a feisty little chickadee, you might understand why.