In the spring, Lang and Indra Waters can be found crawling around creeks looking for Sierra Newts during their mating season. This father-son duo has made a family tradition of exploring their surroundings, learning about all of the woodland critters around them.
On hiking and camping trips, Lang’s father infected him with the urge to catch all the jumping, slithering things and he has tried to do the same with his boys. Lang’s son, Indra, had been volunteering with SSI for about a year when he recommended his father take the California Naturalist course with SSI. Lang was surprised to find an opportunity to engage with the local watershed and understand the environment we live in locally and quickly jumped to help out. Though Lang works as a Systems Analyst by trade, the opportunity to learn more about amphibians locally has energized his interest in citizen science.
As a senior in high school, Indra was involved in an internship program that promoted hands-on learning experiences called Big Picture Learning, which brought him to SSI. Over the course of a year, Indra has identified BMI samples, entered data, tested water quality in the lab, and his favorite, completed amphibian surveys in the field. He is studying to complete a transfer degree for a four-year college at Sierra College pursuing his passion for environmental sciences and writing. When not studying or volunteering, Indra can be found drawing, writing, or backpacking.
Since completing his California Naturalist Capstone Project on amphibians, Lang has helped out on numerous amphibian surveys for Sierra Streams, even leading a few on his own. His passion for catching the jumping, slithering things has inspired his son, Indra, and others to actively learn about our local watershed and the critters that live in them. These two continue their tradition of crawling around creeks looking for amphibians, now collecting data and contributing to the knowledge of local amphibian populations.
If you are interested in joining these two crawling around creeks or looking for your own way to engage with your local watershed, sign up to be a citizen scientist here!
LANG AND INDRA’S FUN FACTS:
What was your favorite childhood book?
Lang: My dad read the Lord of the Rings trilogy to me as my bedtime story when I was a wee lad. Had a Huge impact on my imagination and turning me into a lifelong reader and writer.
Indra: My favorite childhood book is “Why Mosquitos Buzz in People’s Ears” by Verna Aardema. This retold West African tale describes the drama a certain bug named Mosquito causes through her incessant whining, which eventually turns all the animals in the animal kingdom against her.
Who has been the biggest influence on your life? What lessons did that person teach you?
Lang: I had a college professor, Douglas Bendall, that I took a couple philosophy courses from, one of which was The Philosophy of Science. The fact that I remember his name 30 years after the fact is an indication of the impact he had on me. Dr. Bendall introduced me to the “process” philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead. The most important take away for me from that class, and this extends much more deeply than I can expound upon here, is the utter priority of everything existing in relationship in time.
Indra: The person who has had the biggest impact on me is a fellow my age named Pablo Rufo. During my sophomore year in high school, Pablo came to live with my family as an exchange student from Spain; that same year, he convinced me to do my junior year abroad in Spain. Through him and through my experience as a foreign student in Spain, I learned, above all, to always seek adventure and to be grateful for all my friends and family that have made me the person I am today.