What Regional Roots Means:

Those who are dedicated to gaining knowledge about landscape history and ecology, learn that when we weave our perspective into our ecosystem, we gain not only information, but connection to the world around us.

Our founder Gene Otello Desideraggio studied Forestry and Geology at UVM’s Rubenstein School of the Environment and Natural Resources and has spent the last 10 years in Vermont learning about the natural world through classes, field jobs, the Vermont Master Naturalist program and through engaging with the community through conservation work and educational nature hikes.

Regional Roots was created with the intention of not just teaching nature facts but helping people become more aware of our surroundings with a less human-centric perspective. In our modern world it is so easy to wake up in your house, walk to your car on your paved driveway, sit in your air conditioned office and not think about the world beyond the human-built infrastructure. This process repeats and too many folks go days or weeks without making contact with the soil or observing the wildlife and the plants that are growing and living adjacent to us. Our lives are far more reliant on the natural systems than the facade facilitated by the modern human existence allows us to see in our day to day lives.

If we want to protect the natural world, we first need to take steps that bring us closer to understanding our place within it. We must become aware of the shared ecosystem experience that is happening to all organisms on our planet. The best way to gain this perspective is an age old practice that all other species on earth use: having a more experienced mentor take you outside and pass on knowledge so you can become more rooted to your ecosystem.