Posts by Michelle Doerr

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    Embracing Reciprocity with Nature

    Recently, my reflections have centered on the powerful concept of reciprocity—defined as the practice of exchanging things with others for mutual benefit. This principle holds profound significance, especially when considering our relationship with the Earth. It’s an acknowledgment that, as a society, we often take more from our environment than… read more →

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    Emotional Inclusion: Breaking Stigmas, Fostering Authenticity

    My partner Jyo and I are working on a program for early career professionals. During our early design conversations, emotional intelligence came up. The way I was taught about emotional intelligence felt too heady to me, and I mentioned that I think we should shift to talking about emotional inclusion.… read more →

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    Elevate Your Leadership Essence

    I completed an assignment as a part of a current project that required us to ask people in our trusted circle this question; If you could extract one thing from me and plug it into your life to improve it, what would it be? I believe it gets to my… read more →

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    Celebrating 2023

    I have found that celebration is an important part of maintaining my capacity to do leadership development and diversity/inclusion work. The work I do often challenges the status quo, which means I must be prepared mentally, emotionally, and physically for resistance. Because I ask people to push beyond comfort, I… read more →

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    Dr. Little Bear's Wisdom: Challenging the Notion of Objectivity

    To be objective means to not be influenced or based on personal preference or bias. And yet everything we do is influenced by our experiences and beliefs. So, is there really such a thing as being objective?

    In September, I attended the opening plenary of the Association of Fishread more →

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    What is the conservation field I want to be a part of? Healing Engagement

    As I take a healing lens to my work, I am imagining the future of conservation. I believe we can bring more healing to our field by incorporating a new mindset, practices, and relationships into our work.

    Previously, I described three elements of a healthy mindset:

    curiosity inclusivity benefits

    Then,… read more →

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    What is the conservation field I want to be a part of? Healing Practices

    As I take a healing lens to my work, I am imagining the future of conservation. I believe we can bring more healing to our field by incorporating a new mindset, practices, and relationships into our work.

    In my previous post, I described three elements of a healthy mindset:… read more →

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    What Is The Conservation Field I Want To Be A Part Of? Healthy Mindset

    I’ve worked in the field of conservation my entire career. I started in several biologist positions with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources before moving to the archery industry and then building my own business. Over time, I noticed a gap in our field. Specifically, I (and others) long for… read more →

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    Why Counselors and Conservationists Cannot Ignore Ecogrief

    In her essay, “The Ecology of Grief”, grief counselor Phyllis Windle includes a section entitled The Grief of Ecologists (Windle. P., 1992). She writes, “Ecologists are both blessed and cursed in seeing natural systems clearly. We see what is there and also what is gone…Our external as well as our… read more →

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    Reflection Deficit Disorder?

    Last year, in an effort to be more reflective about what I am learning and how I am growing, I committed to 52 weekly wisdom posts on LinkedIn. Doing so made a huge difference in what I remember from all the webinars I’ve attended as a participant or facilitated… read more →