Mary M. Clare and Gary Ferguson, offer that while we are at the most technologically advanced point in human history, we are also at the most socially disconnected time. Studies in both human psychology and ecology have shown that when we’re connected and collaborative we are better able to support one another. Across her 30 years of experience as a consultant, professor and scholar, Mary M Clare, Ph.D. has worked to repair the separation that isolates people from each other and from the natural world. In organizations as diverse as government agencies, NGOs, school districts, higher education, she supports high character leadership bridging diverse perspectives and priorities. In communities and families, with individuals and groups she helps people listen across differences. As a Fellow in the American Psychological Association, she has contributed over 100 articles to the scholarly literature and authored two books, most recently 100 Voices – Americans Talk about Change (2011), a book that reveals enduring wisdom and immediate guidance in times of sweeping cultural change. Most recently, she has joined with her husband, science writer, Gary Ferguson, to keynote and run workshops on their shared passion for Full Ecology – Reclaiming Our Human Nature.
Gary Ferguson is the author of 26 books on science and nature. The Los Angeles Times described his recent memoir, The Carry Home: Lessons from the American Wilderness, as “a big-hearted, soul searching memoir”; the work was later selected as “Nature Book of the Year” by the prestigious Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute. Meanwhile his environmental piece “A Deeper Boom,” in Orion Magazine, received the “Best Essay of the Year” award from the American Society of Journalists and Authors. Ferguson has been a Seigle Scholar at Washington University, St. Louis as well as the William Kittredge Distinguished Writer at the University of Montana. He continues to be a frequent contributor to a wide variety of publications, including Vanity Fair, Orion and the Los Angeles Times. Most recently he’s joined his wife, social psychologist Mary M. Clare, Ph.D., merging natural and social science in what they call “Full Ecology.” This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. To view the full article visit Tedx Talk.