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Jane Fava
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 Favorite Creek: Brandywine Creek
Favorite
Wetland Plant: Skunk Cabbage - " it's a great teaching
example"
Favorite
Wetland or Water Critter: Salamanders
Favorite
saying: "The water always wins"
Greatest Watershed Accomplishment: Developing the Soils Manual for Citizen Monitoring of Erosion and Sediment Controls |
Jane Fava — From Flower Child to Water Woman
By Producer, Kelly Meinhart
Kelly's favorite quote from Jane - "I
look at everything as one big habitat - why do we assume that
our way of living is going to be best for everybody."
 ometimes
things really are just meant to be. The story of Jana Fava's
involvement in environmental education is one of those stories.
This former banker from Bethesda, Maryland says that paying
attention to environmental concerns wasn't something she learned
from her parents — her father worked at IBM and "was mostly
concerned with money and computers."
  ut
it's not always what we learn in our youth that shapes our futures
— and for Jane, meeting her husband was the catalyst she
needed to create a future in shaping the minds of today's youth
— helping them to understand our natural world.
 ane's
husband, Jim, has a PhD in Aquatic Pollution Ecology. But in
1975 when he was pursuing his degree, his field of study didn't
even exist. But feeling so passionate about protecting the environment,
he worked with his professor to create his own degree program.
ane
says that it was this time of her life, helping her husband
with his degree and learning with him in the field, that she
really changed direction toward getting involved in environmental
protection. "He took me camping in the Everglades, and in the
morning he said, "Did you sleep alright, did you hear that storm?"
I said, 'What storm?' It was then that I found out that I sleep
better in the tent than I do at home. So obviously, I was hooked
on being in the field."
 'm
sure that Jane would agree that sometimes all it takes is planting
a seed to grow the most unique of flowers. Jane is that flower.
he found herself getting involved in any way possible, taking
classes on wildlife and ecology. "Every time there was a class
about wildflowers or salamanders, I took it!"
 er
first attempt at bringing her wonder and delight to her neighborhood
was through her daughter's Girl Scout troop. Andrea Fava, Jane's
daughter will tell you that she was the only mother willing
to take the girls into the woods to go camping. Jane says, "I
was willing to get dirty, when many of the other mothers just
weren't into that, so that was really my first experience at
teaching environmental education."
he's
been teaching ever since, and has been 'on the job' at the Brandywine
Valley Association (BVA) as an environmental educator for eight
years now. Three years ago, the organization decided to form
a stream watch group for adults to monitor their local streams.
  embers
of The Red Clay, White Clay, and Brandywine watersheds, which
are all in the same basin, started the program. They began by
taking samples once a year and taking them back to the lab to
study under the microscope." I got a microscope — YES —
I finally got to go shopping for a microscope... you would've
thought it was for my prom dress... we were that excited!"
 long
with the adult monitoring program, the BVA offers classes to
elementary and middle school students as well. The program Jane
teaches is called "Indoor Out School." It's a weeklong adventure
for 7th graders, and offers full day experiences with the environment,
learning about ponds and streams, field and forest, and much
more.
"I'm very water focused. I almost always
teach stream, because it's what I know best. What's so important
is that people understand that nature is just one huge cycle
after another. In nature, everything exists as a circular cycle,
everything going round and round, as it should. But what we're
doing is making that cycle into an oval — and then we wonder
why things are so out of balance. It's a concept I can explain
to both children and adults."
long
with explaining the general principles of how the environment
works, and the cycle of life, Jane has a few environmental issues
that she likes to stress. "Food, water, shelter, space —
without those, you don't survive. So water's right up there
— if we don't take care of it we're going to lose it."
She relays this concept in very meaningful and understandable
ways, rather than overwhelming students with the vastness of
the problem, she has learned to simplify and identify. "I was
recently teaching inner-city kids about storm water management.
It's as simple as explaining that the water goes down 'whoosh'
all at once — and this is the problem." They can understand
that.
  nce
she's got them hooked, she continues with "The water isn't going
into the ground — it's going into the ocean — can
you drink that? No. Does it come back as fast as it goes out?
No. It goes from one place to other too fast! Now it really
becomes a picture — only it's not balanced anymore. That's
important to tell both middle schoolers and adults — so
there's lots of opportunity to make an impact by creating a
picture in their minds."
o
where does the 'flower child' connection come in to play for
Jane? If you looked over the 'best of' list at the top of the
feature you will have noticed that I included my favorite quote
from Jane. I realized a strong connection with Jane in her passion
to make a difference. I think she'd agree that much of her drive
and commitment to the environment comes from the era she grew
up in. She says,
"I suppose I'm still from that flower
child era. The whole environmental movement really got started
with the people my age and a little bit younger, and I'm disappointed
that my generation hasn't carried on any better. When my husband
Jim was in Grad school the Cuyahoga River burned. That's when
the Clean Water Act was passed. Rachel Carson's Silent Spring
spoke to my generation — we were ever so aware of environmental
problems — we just kept thinking that we had control. Human
Nature's biggest problem is to always want to take control.
Fix it — and then it will be right. But you know, the water
always wins.
 We have to learn
that we cannot be outside the circle with the power to control
it — we have to be a part of it... and that's what the
long-term environmental message is for me. That doesn't mean
that we all have to dress as flower children. That's not my
thing, but it should just be a natural part of life."
 inding her niche has been a lifelong journey for Jane. One that extends from her classroom to her backyard. During my visit with Jane, I found that the Chester Creek runs right through her backyard, a yard that is filled with birdfeeders, native plants, water gardens — and a lot of ice cube trays for identifying stream critters! "This is my niche, where I can make an impact — a little at a time. When you look back at your own life you realize that there were people that had tremendous impacts on your life — for whatever reason — someone who really made a difference — and I count on that.
"I think that if I can make a difference here and there — that's what I'm working for. From the kids to the adults — having them ask the question 'what's that' or 'I never thought of it that way' — that's what I want to hear, and that's the only way you make change — one at a time."
More information:
Brandywine
Valley Association
See past Watershed Heroes here!
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