When asked what conservation means to her, Hannah Milsap ponders the question as only a philosopher can. “Is conservation about trying to maintain the status quo of the environment and minimize or reverse human impact? Are we trying to restore it to what it was?” she asks. Pursuing the answers to these questions is a small part of Hannah’s work with MSI.

How did a philosophy student end up doing revegetation monitoring in San Juan County’s 416 Burn area? Hannah elaborated on her study of deep ecology and environmental ethics in school, which she was excited to encounter with MSI. “I realized that this organization is based in deep ecology, which is why it’s so meaningful to me and why I wanted to come back here- because I believe in the work that MSI does.”

Hannah has been an invaluable asset to MSI in her second summer working with the forest team monitoring forest health, among other projects. We sat down with Hannah to hear more about her blending of philosophy and hard science, what environmental ethics means to her, and the impact of her work on conservation questions asked around the world.

How did you first become involved with MSI?

I was working in Santa Fe two years ago during the 2019 field season doing seed collection for restoration projects. My coworkers and I had the opportunity to attend a conference in Tucson for the Southwest Ecological Restoration organization, which is where I met Dr. Remke. I kept in touch after the conference and reached out to him in 2020 to seek out any job opportunities in the Four Corners region that he knew of, when he told me that MSI was actually hiring. I started working with MSI as the Forestry Crew Lead on Lone Pine Monitoring Project, but I also worked on the Adaptive Silviculture for Climate Change and the Telluride Valley Floor. I’m now the Forestry Technician working in the Columbine Ranger District looking at forest regrowth.

Hannah’s dad volunteering with her at Hermosa Creek.

Tell me more about your recent work in monitoring the 416 Burn area.

I’ve been all over the Hermosa Creek area, focusing mainly on Lower Hermosa Creek, Jones Creek, and the Pinkerton Flagstaff trail. I go there once a week for a few days at a time with the purpose of looking for patterns of regeneration in the burn scar. We are trying to understand how the forest is responding to high severity burn, three years after the fact. The hope is to use that knowledge to contribute to larger knowledge of how forests are responding and will respond to higher severity burns, especially as climate change ramps up and leads to more intense wildfires.

What does your work in Hermosa Creek mean for the study of fire ecology as a whole?

Ultimately, we are trying to add more pieces to the puzzle of understanding how forests are starting to change. There’s been lot of research on how fire regimes have evolved over many years, but we are now starting to see an evolution in fire behaviors. We need to understand how rapidly those things are changing and what they will mean as fires become more intense, more severe, hotter, and how forests are recovering from that. We want to know, are trees growing back? Are shrubs and undergrowth becoming dominant? How is that entire ecosystem changing? Those questions are being asked all over the country and all over the world. Similar questions are being asked in many realms of conservation due to human activity, logging, climate change, and the like. It’s trying to look at how the forest is reacting to all those different factors as a whole.

What is your academic background?

I actually studied philosophy in college- I kind of specialized in environmental philosophy and specifically, deep ecology. One of the things that really struck me when I was working with MSI last year was the mention of deep ecology in a casual conversation I was involved in. I had never heard of it being talked about it outside my studies in college, it’s kind of rare. I realized that this organization is based in deep ecology, which is why it’s so meaningful to me and why I wanted to come back here- because I really believe in the work that MSI does.

Can you elaborate on the concept of deep ecology?

Deep ecology is basically idea that environmental ethics is not standalone thing. It’s not something we should reach out tell and people “hey, this is how you ought to act in order to be environmentally friendly.” It aims to find common ground in different religions and philosophies so that you’re already there with the people you’re trying to reach, typically by building off ideas they already hold sacred. It’s not about telling people what to do, it’s about emphasizing the aspects of what they believe in and the tenets that point towards helping the environment.

Basically, it’s a different approach to environmental ethics, grounded in the hope that we can come together with different ideas and faiths and philosophies and find common ground to move forward together to make real, radical change. It’s an incredible concept to me. I love that it focuses more on people and less on ethics and really leads with the idea that this is how we work towards a common goal in the future. The amazing thing to me is that I’ve seen that in practice at MSI, which is very different from places I’ve worked in the past. There’s something beautiful about the marriage of the abstract of philosophy and the rigidity of science.

What is something you hope to study in the future?

I‘ve definitely started leaning towards studying fire ecology since fire has seemed to follow me wherever I go (partially due to climate change, as it follows everyone now.) I grew up in Black Forest and witnessed some very severe fires in the area. It was intriguing to me to hear that was a fire unlike any other, and I started to ask why? I went to the Colorado Fire Camp to potentially become a wildland firefighter, but I chose MSI over going to fight fires in Alaska. MSI had more to offer to me, and I had to consider what I think the world needs more of right now. Fire ecology and psychology are two of those things in my mind.

How has your work with MSI informed your career goals and aspirations?

One of the things I really like about the organization is that they invest in people. Since I’ve worked for MSI I’ve never been left out of the work that is being done. I’ve found that everyone’s intention at MSI is to make sure people at all different levels, whether it’s the executive team or the interns, are a part of the process of understanding what is going to be done with the data and how our work is contributing. Other than doing the fieldwork of collecting the data, I’ve also been taught how to analyze it, put it into a presentation for partners, and had many other opportunities that most people don’t offer to their interns. My team at MSI has gone out of their way to make sure that I’m constantly learning and gaining new abilities to use in any of my future career goals. MSI has really encouraged me to pursue science especially because they’ve shown me that they’re invested in my future as an individual person and are willing to take steps to help me out.

Is there something specific that inspired you to pursue science?

I grew up in the front range and had many acres that I ran wild on as a kid, captivated by the magic. I had a huge imagination and was trying to do science even though I didn’t understand what that was. My parents have many pictures of me with a magnifying glass squinting at pine needles, pretending to do science. So, I’ve always been invested in the natural world around me. When I was wondering what to do with my schooling and future studies, I returned to that childlike wonder about the great outdoors and the world’s wild places.

What does conservation mean to you?

Conservation is tricky, it can be defined in a variety of different ways. Is conservation about trying to maintain the status quo of the environment and minimize or reverse human impact? Are we trying to restore it to what it was? Should we be trying to help transition the world into new era of ecosystems? Are we sitting by and letting nature take its course? Are we part of nature? There’s a variety of ways to think about it. Personally, for me conservation means observing ourselves within natural settings and how we affect things and asking ourselves as we go along whether we should intervene in these natural processes. Should we be restoring it what it was versus should we allow what is happening to continue to take place?