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Up Close with Darby Nelson

Photo of Darby Nelson

As an educator, policymaker, and Presidents Club member, Darby Nelson, '64 B.A., B.S., '66 M.S., '70 Ph.D., has devoted his professional life to building understanding, public awareness, and support for protecting the environment. In his new book, For Love of Lakes (Michigan State University Press), Nelson chronicles his lifelong love affair with lakes, weaving together scientific expertise with a deep personal connection to nature.

Where did your passion for lakes and wilderness come from?

My mother, Margaret, loved lakes more passionately than any person I have known. I was born near Lake Vermilion in northern Minnesota, and from earliest memory Mother brought my sister and me to lakes often. She took us tent camping throughout my childhood, including one summer when we camped in a state park for six weeks. I was first introduced to maps in fourth grade and became transfixed with the vast open expanses of wild land in Canada.

My wife, Geri, and I continue that tradition. Last summer we paddled the Noatak River, north of the Arctic Circle in Alaska. In 23 days on the water, we covered 370 miles surrounded by wilderness. We met only one other party.

What environmental messages do you emphasize through your teaching, advocacy, and writing?

1. Facts matter. We can neither build nor sustain a successful society based on hearsay, opinion, wishful thinking, or by blinding our eyes to objective reality.

2. The natural world has nurtured and sustained us from our species' beginnings, and meets our basic needs. Unfortunately, we have treated it neither kindly nor wisely, which has put everything and everyone in peril.

3. Since early in our species' history we have lived by our wits and by cooperation. There is no substitute for helping others, which makes remarkable accomplishments possible.

Which nature writers inspire you?

Although I have a long list, I would narrow it down to Henry David Thoreau and Scott Russell Sanders.

I like Sanders' crisp, clean language, and his concern for place and the natural world. He doesn't shy away from advocacy, but does so without enflaming. I also like how he embeds his ideas in story. I think he's perhaps the best essayist in the country.

In writing the book I gained a greater understanding of Thoreau. I found him more multifaceted than I expected. He claimed he hated science, but he had the mind of a scientist. He had great powers of observation and intense curiosity, and he recorded his discoveries.

Describe your writing process.

I must have it quiet and I must hand-write the first draft. I write out all the different elements that might be useful, like a brainstorming session. Get it all out and then work the pieces into a whole, discarding many.

I built myself a writing shack, mostly out of lumber that was headed for demolition, to find the solitude I need. It is state-park brown and sits beneath the shade of a basswood tree in an unkempt corner of our back yard.

You and your wife pride yourselves on living frugally.

Very early in our married life, Geri and I canoed down the Yukon River, following the route of the gold rush of 1898. After a mix-up of our gear, we had to travel 500 miles without any cooking utensils except a can opener and loose-bladed jackknife. We managed with a peach can that became our cook pot and various pieces collected along the way.

A most wonderful feeling came over us. We looked at our sootcovered cook can, rusted pie plate, and the crude black-singed wooden spoons. Then we thought of our fully equipped kitchen back home. Our experience taught us that stuff is not what it's all about. We have kept true to those feelings ever since. We still have those precious wooden spoons. Their symbolic value is priceless.

What's motivated you to give generously to so many University initiatives?

Geri and I both graduated from the U of M and feel our education played a critical role in our lives. We are simply repaying the U and helping future students as we were helped by others before us. We direct significant dollars to environmental causes. We're thinking of our grandchildren and those of others.

Itasca Biological Station, Cedar Creek reserve, and the Department of Forestry help students understand important ecological ideas and build understanding of our relationships with the natural world. These U of M efforts are essential to address the unprecedented environmental challenges we face. It is an honor to support them.

As voracious readers, we fell in love with libraries. That love is as strong as ever. We contribute to U of M libraries with deep joy.