Learning about your local environment is a great way to feel more at home. That’s the message that Madison Public Library’s latest Naturalist in Residence Andrea Debbink wants folks to understand.  Debbink tells host Douglas Haynes about her love of black walnut trees and Starkweather Creek, recommends children’s nature books, and advises listeners on how to get to know your local birds. 

The Naturalist in Residence program is an inventive and creative approach to connecting residents of Dane County with the diverse ecologies of the county. Debbink themed her residency as “At Home in Nature.” That focus came from her passion for city wildlife and city nature. Growing up in suburban Minneapolis and now living in suburban Madison, Debbink has learned to notice and appreciate the biodiversity in populated areas. She says the easiest way to feel more at home in your local environment is to learn the names of local plants and birds. 

Debbink is the author of many books, including the new Urban Trails: Madison and the Wild World Handbook, a book about environmental stewardship and nature exploration for middle-grade readers. You can find Debbink’s books and her reading list that includes field guides and poetry at the Madison Public Library.

Andrea Debbink is a writer and suburban naturalist who has called Madison home for more than two decades. A former magazine editor, she now writes books for children and adults. Although Andrea writes across genres, her books nearly always include the themes of nature exploration and environmental stewardship. Her upbringing in the Minneapolis suburbs taught her to seek nature in unexpected places and her more recent training as a Wisconsin Master Naturalist have fueled Andrea’s enthusiasm for connecting people to nature in her community, especially parts of it that are underappreciated or overlooked.

Featured image of a bee on a thistle flower, a native plant to Wisconsin. Photo by Greg Emmerich on Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0).

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