Hey everyone!!! My name is Yashwanth Alluri, and I am a junior majoring in Computer Science. I transferred from India to Georgia State University in the Fall of 2022, and moving far from family and home has been the most challenging decision ever. It has been a ride ever since I moved here, as everything is so different, and I’m still adapting to it. However, this massive change in my life has led me to learn and grow every single day, and I’m grateful for it all. Although I have lived in Atlanta for over a semester, I still have yet to see much of it. So at the end of the Fall semester, when I decided to register for classes, I came across the Honors Service Learning class, and Dr. Finck’s course description quickly caught my attention.

I thought this class would help me have a lot of experiences in and out of the classroom environment, and I genuinely enjoy this class much more than any other class I’ve taken. We’ve had a lot of classroom discussions about current environmental topics, and hearing different perspectives and opinions helped shape my view on many of these topics. We’ve also read this fantastic novel, “Urban Tumbleweed: Notes from a Tanka Diary.” Everyone had a chance to discuss 2-3 pieces they thought were their favorites and give their perspectives. I am now getting in to start with my out-of-class experience with the community partner of my choice that I got matched with. The “Amphibian Foundation” is a non-profit dedicated to conserving amphibians and promoting awareness of the global amphibian decline.

I personally never had any experience with amphibians before, so I am so excited to get this opportunity to have it now. I have also looked at the communities website and social media pages; their blogs were amazing and fun. I am very excited about this new experience and the memories I will carry forward after my volunteering work is finished there.

I am a lecturer in English at Georgia State University, where I earned my Ph.D. in transatlantic modernism with a secondary emphasis in global postmodern and contemporary literatures in 2014. I also hold an M.F.A. in creative nonfiction and narrative poetry from Georgia College (GCSU) in Flannery O’Connor’s hometown of Milledgeville, GA. 

My recent teaching and research interests include experimental life writing, autotheory, feminist new materialism, speculative fiction, and Anthropocene studies. My non-academic, but not uncritical interests include hiking, camping, birding, and indoor and outdoor gardening. I have lived briefly in Toulouse, France, where I had a research fellowship at the University of Toulouse–Jean Jaurès, Gualala, CA, and Tampa, FL. These days, I live in Atlanta, GA with my partner, our dog Elvis, and 60 houseplants (mostly philodendrons).

My interest in the Environmental Humanities is grounded in a set of questions about the ways familiar and new narratives about the natural world, and our interactions within it, participate in determining our collective future in a time of global climate crisis. Do the stories we tell ourselves about humans and nature limit our relationships to other living beings? Can we learn to tell better stories about our existence within ecological and planetary contexts? Can those stories teach us to live differently on this planet? This course reflects an extension of that line of questioning into practical spaces where local ecology and community engagement converge, recognizing that there are many ways to tell a story and multiple literacies of place.

Hello! My name is Nuha Muhammad. I am a junior at Georgia state and I’m majoring in computer science. I selected this course because I am interested in gaining experience in volunteering for an organization. I have learned a lot in this class. One of the interesting things I learned in this class is the idea of nature not just being forests and mountains, but nature also being human societies such as cities. This is an idea that I never thought of before joining this class. This idea challenges the normal view of what nature is. It has been fun reading different articles and essays by people with different views on nature. This class has been fun and I am glad I have the opportunity to be in this class.

 I am volunteering for the Wild Nest Bird Rehab. This organization rehabilitates and cares for injured birds, particularly songbirds. I am interested in this organization because I am interested in learning the effort it takes to take care of the birds, such as learning about food preparation, what it can and cant eat, how to take care of them when they are injured, etc. When I was younger and even now, I have always wanted to help take care of animals. I would watch youtube videos of people caring for animals, and I have always wanted to do that. So doing this would fulfill my childhood dream. Also fun fact: I never had a pet. So I have no experience in taking care of animals. But I am ready and excited to learn. In order to be good at something you have to start somewhere, so I am taking this opportunity to start something new and learn. Upon research of the organization, I learned that this organization is the only nonprofit rehab facility that is specifically for songbirds in the state of Georgia. Knowing this makes me more determined to do my best in doing the services that they need me to do since this is an opportunity that not many people can experience. I am really excited to be working with this organization.

Hello everyone! My name is Jazanae Reid, and I am a junior majoring in History. I selected this course as it seemed the most interesting since I was not too familiar with the concept of service learning. Also, since most of my academic career featured in person classes, I thought that this particular class would provide me another profound perspective of the world through helping and learning from outside sources that are not involved with standard academia. One of the matters that I have learned about concerned the different narratives of what constitutes Nature and whether it involves humans, as just a symbol of intervention as well as being a part of it, or not. We also touched on how crucial examples and, especially, connections are concerning an author’s argument about nature. For example, while some of the works that we have read had amazing insights that linked the natural world to the human world, other works had left much to be desired since it did not engage with the audience that could be understandable, such as focusing on personal narratives rather than generalities within a broad concept.

My community partner is the Atlanta Creek League. The organization is involved with the protection of creeks in various areas around Atlanta and would like to push for people within those communities to be involved in this protection as well. My organization is also involved in competitions that encourage actions of conservation for these waterways. I am mostly interested in the Atlanta Creek League since I have previous experience of helping numerous community leaders in protecting bodies of water while I lived in Virginia, such as at the Chesapeake Bay and several beaches. Furthermore, I was fascinated in this organization because I wanted to learn more about the precautions a large city must take to ensure water safety since my community in Virginia, while small, is also facing some issues concerning water pollution. One of the goals that I am excited about is to see some change being developed due to my work within the organization. Even though it is a big task to accomplish, I am hoping to see some improvement on metro Atlanta’s waterways. Similar to what my community partner mentioned, I hope to learn more about the watershed issues that are prominent in metro Atlanta since I am not too familiar with this city. I also hope to learn more about which actions I can do as an individual would work best to protect the city’s waterways since I am a firm believer that even small things can make a big difference.

Blue Herons On The Horizon

Hello, my name is Milo Vasquez, I am a Senior at GSU majoring in Environmental Science. I love learning about the fantastic world around us and discovering new ways to preserve and protect it. Aside from my professional interests I also enjoy a wide range of hobbies, such as gaming, reading, cooking, and traveling. I was very excited when I found out that this course included volunteer work as part of the curriculum even though I initially only signed up to fulfill my degree requirements. I have volunteered with other organizations before and always found the experience rewarding as I learned a lot and met some truly amazing people.

I will be volunteering with the Blue Heron Nature Preserve, which is located in Atlanta just off Roswell Road in Sandy Springs. The BHNP includes over 30 acres of land and represents several environments such as woodlands, meadows, wetlands, and access to other creeks, streams, and ponds. In addition to preserving these natural environments, they are also involved in several other conservation studies and projects such as tree surveys and a tree canopy study, which are important to urban development, and watershed management and can lead to reducing the urban “heat island” effect and Atlanta’s carbon footprint.

In the coming months, I hope to develop a deeper understanding of the native and high-priority plants in our urban environment as well as learn more about the invasive species and what impact they have on these areas. As an aspiring botanist myself, I look forward to improving my plant identification skills especially when it comes to tree identification. In future posts will hope to include photos and videos that highlight the wonderful treasures that are growing in our backyard and share the lessons I learn along the way.

My name is Jillian Davis. I am a senior business management major and I will be working in human resources after I graduate. I chose this course because I wanted to fulfill the Honors Laureate curriculum requirements. Out of the courses offered to achieve the Honors Laureate, I chose Service Learning because I thought it would be meaningful to volunteer for a cause outside of the classroom. I also thought it would be a nice change of pace from my typical courses that involve being inside classrooms, listening to listening to lectures, and writing papers. So far, I have learned about the different perspectives people can have when interacting with nature and the implications of those perspectives. I have also learned new ideas about defining nature and how people relate to nature, particularly in urban environments.

My community partner is Wild Nest Bird Rehab. I am interested in this community partner because I like birds, and I would like to learn more about them and have the opportunity to care for them. So far, I have learned a bit about Wild Nest. They primarily care for songbirds, and the spring is when most of these birds are born, so their busiest season will begin in a few weeks. They work to rehabilitate birds so that they can be released into the wild. The birds at Wild Nest come in for a variety of reasons. Some birds have issues molting their feathers, and some have been preyed on by cats, while others may have injuries from flying into glass or be orphans. Beyond handling the birds, this organization’s volunteers can also make food for the birds. I am particularly excited to help Wild Nest with feeding baby birds, but I will have to do several weeks of training before I am able to do so. From this assignment, I hope to learn how to cultivate an environment that is bird-friendly.

Hello everyone! My name is Ava Stapleton and I’m a senior at Georgia State University, studying French with a concentration in International Business and a minor in English as well as another minor in Journalism. I first became interested in controlling my ecological footprint when I went vegetarian at the age of 11. To be frank, I mostly only did that at first because my big sister was too, but the ethical/environmental side of it has remained my reason for maintaining those habits for so long and for later becoming vegan a little over 6 years ago. In those years, I’ve learned a great deal about the way our society views the natural world and what kind of double standards and willful ignorance come along with that view. Although this detail has undoubtedly brought me plenty of important insights on the subject of environmentalism, I was still unaware before this class of just how much I had left to learn (and unlearn). My classmates’ insights have been very helpful to me in terms of navigating the ways I can think differently and change my community throughout my service in this class and on, hopefully making more habitual changes in my everyday life.

My community partner, Blue Heron Nature Preserve, sits on 30 acres of land in North Buckhead, including a 3-mile trail that features a dense forest, meadows, and a mossy pond. The trail is also adjacent to the 16-mile-long Nancy Creek, so there is certainly no shortage of biodiversity there. Blue Heron Nature Preserve’s mission is to provide their fellow Atlanta inhabitants with a chance to immerse themselves in an environment that gives them a break from the city but also to be convenient enough to not have to leave the city. The preserve features artwork inspired by the outdoors and aims to help spread environmental access and education throughout our community. I look forward to learning what I can about the plants and animals specific to our North Georgia ecosystem and what kind of work I can do to help not just this community, but beyond it as well. Also, I heard the parking is free. 

Hey there! Welcome to this introductory blogpost for the Honors 3280 service-learning course. I’m Viraj Chordiya, a senior at GSU majoring in economics and mathematics. I’m an international student from Nashik, the wine capital of India. I’m excited to share about this service-learning course and talk about my community partner Concrete Jungle!

In addition to satisfying the honors requirement, I was motivated to take this course for its community service component. I knew this was an excellent opportunity to get hands-on volunteering experience, understand some of the urban problems of Atlanta, and explore how our community partners are employing creative solutions to tackle them. The course is split equally into two components, in-person classes and community service. In the class section, we examined the relationship between nature and humans through various lenses like exploring different ideas of nature and the separation (or lack thereof) between nature and humans.

To engage in community service, I chose to work with Concrete Jungle, an Atlanta based non-profit, that finds creative ways to efficiently allocate fresh produce and fight food insecurity. They transform unused fruit trees into a healthy food source and organize various programs to farm, pick, and deliver fresh produce to those who need it the most.

I believe food is a simple yet powerful way to bring happiness and connect with others. Sharing food and having communal meals has been a big part of my Indian culture. Moreover, I love to cook, and feeding others brings me immense joy. I was inspired by Concrete Jungle’s mission of supporting food access by utilizing trees and land around the city, and hence chose to volunteer for them. I believe they have a unique approach to tackling food insecurity and minimizing waste. Through this service assignment, I’m excited to learn more about their sustainable gardening practices and their optimization methods that help them efficiently use all the fresh produce resources to fight food insecurity.