Jeff Darren Muse

The Science of Next

Featured in Dear Park Ranger: Essays on Manhood, Restlessness, and the Geography of Hope

An essayist’s essay, “A Rucksack Rumination” intertwines seemingly disparate elements: a solitary hike, midlife woes, a woman’s death from a hunting accident, as well as groundbreaking work in conservation and corrections. It’s a lesson on durability when facing the unknown. An excerpt:

“I’d been hired by The Evergreen State College to help Dr. Nalini Nadkarni, a world-renowned forest ecologist, launch the Sustainability in Prisons Project. Gathering dozens of collaborators, we took science and nature into the state’s correctional system: green-collar job training, inmate-led research projects, and initiatives to save tax dollars as well as natural resources, from composting and recycling, to gardening and beekeeping, to refurbishing old bicycles and rehabilitating troubled dogs. Nalini wore mismatched socks—different colors and patterns—and on the morning I worked up the courage to ask why, when we were preparing to present to a state legislative committee, she replied with her typical zest. ‘Chaos theory, Jeff! Who knows what might happen next?’”

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