Trail Guides for the iPod Generation

The Beacon (Wilkes University) – February 24, 2008
By Nick Podolak

In Last Child of the Woods, a book by Richard Louv, the author describes a generation that has become disconnected with Mother Nature and instead plugged into televisions and computers.

"This guy came up with a term called Nature Deficit Disorder," Wilkes ecologist and biology professor Dr. Ken Klemow said. "The question is, what will this bring 20 years into the future?"

To answer his own question, Klemow and his students are working on a project that reunites nature and humans--creating podcast trail guides in the Wilkes-Barre and surrounding areas for those suffering from NDD.

"As far as I know, this is one of the first places in the world that this is being done," Klemow said. "So instead of having a paper based trail guide, someone could simply go out there, [plug in] their iPods as they walk through, and listen to what they're seeing and see pictures, too."

After the flood of 1936, engineers built a 15-mile long levee away from the Susquehanna river's edge, allowing the natural flood plain to remain untapped. Over the years, in a process known as ecological succession, this meadow has transformed into an 65-plus acre riparian forest which harbors a wide variety of birds, mammals, and amphibians as well as many native and invasive species. Riparian forests (wooded areas that grow next to a stream or river) are said to have high ecological value because they serve as a natural way of cleaning up the flood waters after heavy rains.

"It's a real treasure that a lot of other places don't have, so you walk through and you don't even feel like you're in Wilkes-Barre," Klemow said. "You feel like you're out in the wild."

Currently up on the iTunes website is a trail guide of "The Meadow," which is a natural area directly south of the Market Street Bridge.

"The Meadow has many grasses, herbs, and small shrubs and trees in it," said Rachel Curtis, a Wilkes biology major. "I mainly worked on podcasts concerning the plants that may be found in the natural area, but there's also a podcast describing the history of Kirby Park, which is very interesting."

Curtis hopes that as the weather breaks, students will take advantage of this hidden treasure in Wilkes-Barre, using the new technology as an introduction to the wildlife and history of the Kirby Park natural area.

"All of the podcasts are designed to be no longer than 2-3 minutes, so listening to them doesn't take much time at all. The natural area is just over the bridge, and exploring it is great exercise, or relaxation, for anyone."

The podcast can be accessed by going to http://www.wilkes.edu/pages/1829.asp and clicking on "Launch iTunesU." Click on the Kirby Park Natural Area.

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