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and publish the first significant critical study of the literary work and public education efforts of May Watts, a task which can be tackled within the timeframe of a one-semester research leave and which forms a key part of the much larger framework of Mapping the Urban Wilderness -- specifically, its chapter entitled "City, Suburb, Farm: Chicago Nature Writing, Past and Present." Secondly, in conjunction with the research I do for the Watts project, I will continue to gather and analyze materials, revise the organizational framework, and draft sections of Mapping the Urban Wilderness, since these two research/writing activities are synergistic. The final result will be a first-of-its-kind publishable article on the life and work of May Watts and significant progress on my book-length investigation of the literature and history of urban nature in the Chicago region. Significance of the Research The ideas, leadership, vision, and influence of May Theilgaard Watts made tremendous impacts upon public environmental attitudes and civic policy here in the Chicago region. The area's environmental history has many other such examples -- from legendary botanist Henry Chandler Cowles and landscape architect Jens Jensen in the early 20 th century (both of whom are subjects of recent biographies) to restoration ecologists Bob Betz and Stephen Packard in more recent times. Of the many people who have influenced the direction of the Chicago region's environmental movement, though, few have done so more profoundly than May Watts, who lived, wrote, and taught during an era of rapid suburbanization, ecological degradation, and political change. By devoting her career to developing what we now might call "ecological literacy" among her natural history students as well as the general public during the mid-20 th century, and by contributing forcefully to the land conservation and nascent rails-to-trails 5
movements in the 1960s, Watts closely aligned herself with the sweeping transformations in the nation's environmental attitudes and policies during that tumultuous time, as signaled by the publication of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring in 1962, the first Earth Day in 1970, and the passage of landmark environmental legislation (such as the Clean Air and Water Acts) in the late 60s and early 70s. Watts thus is a critically important but hitherto unrecognized voice in that transformative movement, and her life's work -- like that of Carson, another pioneering female scientist-writer -- merits both wider recognition and critical scrutiny. A contemporary assessment of Watts' literary/artistic depictions of ecology and local landscapes forms a significant thread within Mapping the Urban Wilderness and thus greatly contributes to our understanding of urban ecology, especially that of Chicago. The Chicago region is home to eight million people, numerous endangered species and imperiled habitats of both local and global significance, and dozens of environmental and scientific groups (from large institutions to small grass-roots organizations) dedicated to understanding and conserving the local environment. My project is thus a part of the environmental education and advocacy work here in the Chicago area and, by extension, elsewhere -- efforts that include hands-on studies of science and nature in K-12 grades, public outreach programs in wildlife and habitat conservation, research efforts to document the area's biological and ecological diversity, social activism focused upon achieving environmental justice for all citizens regardless of race or location, and literary/artistic representations of urban nature that foster a deeper awareness of our place with the natural environment. This research agenda also relates directly and positively to my teaching within and directorship of the Sustainability Studies Program here at Roosevelt, and consequently to the university's mission-driven focus on local outreach to and understanding of the greater 6
Page 1 and 2: Faculty Research Leave Application
Page 3: Such a "re-visioning" of Chicago --
Page 7 and 8: In addition to this research and wr
Page 9 and 10: Tentative Timeline* for Project Res
Page 11 and 12: "From Wide Open Spaces to Metropoli
Page 13 and 14: productions within the context of C
Page 15 and 16: Appendix A: Outcome of Previous Res
Page 17 and 18: and Environment. Secondly, during w
Page 19 and 20: Dixon, Terrell, ed. City Wilds: Ess

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