These three naturalists have one common goal

Spring and summer are the busiest time of year for perhaps the most loved government employees in the Tri-Cities region. Environmental educators Connie Deegan, Jeremy Stout and Marty Silver all hold different titles, but each serve their respective communities as professional naturalists. Deegan is Park Naturalist for the city of Johnson City, Stout serves as the manager of Steele Creek Park Nature Center for the city of Bristol, Tennessee, and Silver is a park ranger at Warriors' Path State Park in Kingsport. If you add up the number of programs on Deegan, Stout and Silver's yearly calendar, the sum is easily thousands. However, for one hour in April, all three were available at the same time for a sit-down interview. Despite being household names in each of their communities, the naturalists of the Tri-Cities are extremely humble. Neither Deegan, Stout nor Silver could believe they deserved to be named in the same sentence as the other two. Under the pavilion at Jacobs Nature Park in Johnson City, the trio of naturalists — and friends — explained the importance of their role and gave insight on the job that has shaped the region's day trip, summer camp and classroom memories. 'A companion on the pathway of discovery' When asked to define the role of a naturalist, Silver chimed in first. "I guess I could speak for all three of us," Silver said. "Our job is anything to do with preserving, protecting and sharing the natural cultural resources of our region." Silver has worked with Tennessee State Parks for more than 46 years with most of that time being spent at Warriors' Path. He presents more than one thousand programs in a given year for class field trips and in-school activities. In fact, Stout first met Silver in the third grade when he visited his class. "Well, the Old National Park Service saying was: 'Through understanding comes appreciation; through appreciation, there is protection," Silver said, loosely quoting the words of Freeman Tilden, who's widely accepted as the father of heritage interpretation. His philosophy shaped modern park visitor experiences and is so integral to the NPS mission that the agency hands annual service awards named after Tilden. "We all depend on the same natural resources of our Earth," Silver said. "If we don't protect what we have, then we're not saving what our future generations need. "You know, we could spend all day long staring at screens and learning about stuff second-hand, but unless you've been out there yourself and smelled that garlic mustard or tasted that wild mushroom, or heard the sound of a wood thrush sing in the early morning, you know — it's not like, 'Look at me, I'm the wonderful naturalist!'," Silver continued. "It's more like, 'Hey, let's go experience something awesome together, and I'll be sort of like your friend along the way.' "A companion on the pathway of discovery. How's that?" "I like it," Deegan said, both her and Stout approving the ranger's definition. "Sharing that space and these stories and the appreciation of nature with the public — that's important everywhere. But there's something that hits a little harder about doing it here," Stout added, noting Southern Appalachia's unique biodiversity and culture. Stout has worked with the city of Bristol for 20 years. While in college, he worked at the old Hands On museum in downtown Johnson City, interned with Tennessee State Parks, and eventually worked for Silver at Warrior's Path before getting the job in Bristol. As head of the nature center, his days include anything from nature education programs for kids to in-house environmental research. When it comes to the role of a naturalist, Deegan said she feels her role has changed over time. "My job has changed as far as how I think it's perceived by the public," Deegan said. "When I first started working as a naturalist, I feel like I was considered fluff … And now people have changed." Both Stout and Silver agreed. "And I think people want people like us. I think they want our opinions more and they listen more — and speaking engagements have changed too, as far as audiences," Deegan said. "We're not just talking to kids all the time, we're talking to universities and people want to know. People seem to value what we do, there's a bigger interest." Deegan has been the park naturalist for Johnson City for more than 15 years. Before moving to Johnson City, she worked in Mystic, Connecticut, in the same role. Her nature summer camps are known for filling up within a few hours after registration opens. In speaking with Deegan, Stout and Silver, it's clear that even though they're employed by different entities, they work together as a team. "We all come to each other's programs and events, and we all help each other out," Stout said. "I'm so thankful in this area, especially with you two, that there's never been any kind of, like, toxicity," Stout said. "That has existed in other regional parks in the past, but not with anyone here." Throughout the interview, "I'm sorry, we're getting off topic," was said in between inside jokes and shared memories. "I always call it sharing each other, like when I describe us in our relationship ... We share each other because if you're going to have a wildlife weekend or you're going to have a spring festival, somebody has to show up and help that happen," Deegan said. "And it's like, 'hey, can you–?', 'hey, can you–?', 'hey, can you–?'. And everybody's like, 'yep!', 'yep!', 'yep!' if they're free." "And I love that." A naturalist's impact Twelve-year-old Isaac Holbrook has attended Deegan's nature camps for the past four years. He said the camps have helped him learn about the world around him. "It's just a really great camp to learn about nature and how to protect nature. Almost every day at the camp we have a speaker who comes and speaks about the thing they specialize in," Holbrook said. "I really like that part because we get to listen and learn about what the people do, alongside Miss Connie, because she knows them. What their jobs are and what they do with their job." His mom, Lisa Holbrook, said Deegan's teaching has inspired her son to care more about nature. "The things she shows them and teaches, they carry with them, and they notice other times and tell people about it," Holbrook said. "She's passionate about the natural world, and she cares about kids and helps them to care and understand and be in awe of the natural world. That doesn't just happen at camp, but carries forward to other times in nature and with other people." When asked about the biggest lessons he's learned at nature camp, Isaac Holbrook echoed the same principles the naturalists spoke of at Jacobs Nature Park. "We need to protect nature, that we don't just pick anything that's on the side of the road or on the side of the trail because it's there," Isaac Holbrook said. "Miss Connie would say the bees will pollinate it and it's all part of a food chain because the bees get eaten by something. And If the flowers die, then the bees die and it just keeps going on. "And the flowers are really pretty, and if everybody picked one, there'd just be none left."