Forest Educator with Ricardo Sierra | A Podcast for Revolutionary Conversations about Nature-Based Education

Episode 141 - Adventures in PaleoEthnobotany and Evolution with Max Gordon

Forest Educator with Ricardo Sierra | A Podcast for Revolutionary Conversations about Nature-Based Education

Show Notes

The search for knowledge sometimes involves tedious, patient work when it comes to understanding the diet of our distant ancestors. It can involve charcoal analysis at a microscopic level from campfires from 10,000 BC. It can involve the scrapings of carbonized food remains from pottery shards that are clues to what was eaten or used medicinally. It's not particularly flashy or exciting like demonstrating fire by friction to a group of fifth graders, but Max Gordon actually does both.

Max founded the Lionman School of Rewilding and offers programs in nature awareness, earth living skills and crafts in New York, New Jersey and Florida, but his passion extends both forward to future generations while also looking back to the distant past to see our trajectories of human evolution. Our conversation dives into cave art, Utzi the Iceman, wilderness school administration life and even medieval biology.

Website: https://lionmanrewilding.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lionmanrewilding2

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lionmanrewilding/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LionManReWilding

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lionman-school-of-rewilding/

Forest Educator Bonus Content Page: http://foresteducator.com/bonuscontent

Join the Forest Educator Patreon! https://patreon.com/ForestEducatorPodcast

Connect with Ricardo: https://www.foresteducator.com/ https://www.theforestboxforkids.com/ https://www.hawkcircle.com/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ricardo-sierra-5980931/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_forest_educator_podcast/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RicardohawkSierra

More from Forest Educator with Ricardo Sierra | A Podcast for Revolutionary Conversations about Nature-Based Education

Mar 6, 2025

Today's Forest Educator Spotlight is all about the best-kept secret for Forest Educators: the Natural Advantage. When we implement this three-part framework in our programs, we can have the biggest impact.

Feb 27, 2025

Some of my favorite ages to work with are middle schoolers, anywhere from 10-14 years old. Some may say those ages are some of the most challenging, but I really like that age group for so many reasons. I love to help them find their passion and excitement, and to watch them build an inner foundation for themselves and a personal belief that they know who they are, and begin to believe that they can do hard things. In this episode, I'm exploring the different developmental ages and stages during this period of kids' lives and some of my best tips and strategies for working with them effectively. From emotional development, friendship, trust, and self-reflection to skill-building, I hope this episode will help you feel excited about working with this age group, too.

Feb 20, 2025

The first rule about 'bonding' is like Fight Club:

Jan 16, 2025

The paths we take in our journey as educators are incredibly diverse and unique to each of us. We all have different origins, with mentors, teachers, opportunities and our communities all influencing how we do what we do.

Jan 9, 2025

An aspect of nature education that I believe is greatly overlooked is the ability and benefit it gives young people to 'Do Hard Things'. This happens when we learn to climb a steep hill, climb a tree, master carving knife safety or learn to think of others in our groups! It happens when we learn to be safe and respectful about campfires. It happens when we begin our studies in wild foods, birds, animal tracks, trees or bushcraft skills. (This list could be very, very substantial!)

See all episodes →