NATHAN BADGER AT GULL ISLAND
BY CONNER KLEIN, A JUNIOR MAJORING IN HISTORY AND PHYSICS-MATHEMATICS
Nathan Badger is a junior at The College of Idaho, majoring in history with a minor in mathematics. The summer after his sophomore year, Nate attended Gull Island Institute, a liberal arts and environmental program on Penikese Island in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts. Founded by former Harvard professors Ana Kielson and Justin Reynolds, the program challenged Badger and his cohort to consider place as both a physical and cultural entity. Gull Island’s curriculum is built on three pillars: academics, student self-government, and manual labor. The cohort met each weekday for two- to three-hour seminars to discuss and interrogate daily readings related to climate. Additionally, the group oversaw the island’s operations—deciding on the voting system, determining how and what food was delivered, and organizing faculty accommodations. Members also alternated between farming oysters on a nearby island, cooking meals, and doing household chores. The outdoor engagement deeply resonated with Badger. Growing up in Idaho, Badger has fond memories of fly fishing along the Boise River and weekend trips to Sun Valley, surrounded by the vast, beautiful landscapes of the Treasure Valley. Reflecting on Gull Island, he now speaks with urgency about the wilderness he once simply admired: “I try to cope with the fact that these wide spaces that I had grown up against would be the subject of development, that these spaces had changed and would continue to do so.” Gull Island confronted Badger with climate change as a tangible reality, embodied in the microcosm of an island off the Massachusetts coast. But once we’ve acknowledged climate change, how do we meet it? Gull Island asked the cohort to consider what a pedagogy of climate might look like. “We recognize the liberal arts as an approach that can tackle the interdisciplinary demands of climate change.” Inspired by the Institute, Badger founded the Placer Institute. Based in the Boise foothills and catering to high school students, it offers a curriculum that draws from texts on ecocriticism, environmental history, and philosophy, alongside outdoor activities that challenge students on the precipice of not only their futures, but the future of a rapidly changing landscape. The Placer Institute reflects the potential of local solutions in addressing far-reaching problems. Part of learning is realizing what you don’t know. Gull Island presented Badger and his cohort with more questions than answers, but its focus on labor and self-governance showed how humans engage with—and alter—the planet. It equipped members with the tools to enact change, and, more importantly, the awareness of how to do so responsibly. With this experience, Badger hopes to pursue a JD-PhD in environmental law, guided by the understanding of place that the Institute instilled. “The law can be more than a pile of statutes,” says Badger. “It is inspired by place in pursuit of place.” Gull Island gave Badger a place of his own—one that encourages him to look toward a brighter future rooted in collaboration and mutual responsibility.