Remain Authentic

Sheila Myers with students sifting through sediments while on the William Scandling research vessel on Seneca Lake.

One of my first jobs out of college in the middle '80s was managing the data for a group of scientists monitoring the tributaries (rivers) that fed into the Chesapeake Bay. I asked to come along with a team who monitored the Anacostia River for a myriad of pollutants and water quality markers. 

I showed up to their office early one morning dressed in jeans, t-shirt and sneakers. Back then there were no weather apps and if you didn't watch or listen to the morning news (which why how could you when you had to shower and catch the metro before 7 am) there was no way to know what was in store unless you looked to the sky.

Two scientists met me at their dilapidated offices in a rundown building at the National Harbor. I knew something was up when they reached for bright yellow rain gear hanging on hooks on their office walls. I didn't ask if they had extra. I saw one of them snicker as they drove me to the boat that would take us on the river.

It was not exactly a cruiser. The vessel was a small outboard filled with equipment. There was barely any room for me to sit. While they barked out orders to each other and me, slinging various instruments over the gunnel of the boat and into the depths, I watched a refrigerator float by in water the color of sludge. At the time, the Anacostia River was a hot mess. Overloaded with industrial pollutants from years of neglect, the river was feeding it all into the Chesapeake Bay. Which is why the government cared. It was contaminating a vital shellfish industry.

The rain came. Heavily. A deluge. I was soaked and shivering and neither of the scientists showed any empathy while we were out in the elements. It was a lesson in humility for sure. 

After that, I knew I needed to learn more through field experiences. I switched my major from urban planning to environmental studies and pursued jobs that allowed me to work side-by-side with scientists in the field. I've monitored numerous streams and lakes with biologists. I've co-planned urban forest renewal projects with renowned tree ecologists. I've learned about climate change from geologists analyzing sediments dredged from the depths of the deepest lake in New York State. 

For me the most logical thing is to relay the knowledge I've gained from so many esteemed scientists into lay terms. That's why I went into education. Which leads me to the experiences of Rachel Carson.

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Source: deep sea diving gear 1940s. Wikimedia

To remain authentic to her writing, Rachel Carson worked alongside renowned scientists from her time to write her sea trilogy. She studied at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. She submerged into the ocean in one of those sci-fi looking wet suits with a big helmet. She cared about getting it right by learning from the experts but she also wanted to experience what it was like to be submersed in the sea. 

There's a lesson to be learned about opening yourself up to vulnerability, especially in the age of social media influencers. To remain authentic to something, you have to know you are doing it for yourself, not others, and not for some algorithm that might bring you 100s of thousands of impressions. Those were things Rachel never had to worry about in the late 1950s. Today, it's not like that. 

To remain authentic ad a creator is difficult when everyone is scrambling for attention. I imagine the scientists I worked with in the 1980s dedicating their careers to restoring the Anacostia River, considered a dumping ground at the time, had nothing more than their compassion to rely on. If I'd had access to social media when I witnessed that refrigerator floating carelessly downriver, I might have generated some outrage. 

However, the steady determination of these scientists are why we now have a river flowing through the Nation's capitol which is much cleaner. The pursuit of the truth is what made the difference. Data doesn't lie. 

I try to keep this lesson of humility in mind while navigating the tricky world of marketing my creative works. Because remaining authentic when everyone is grasping for attention is challenging. 

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