Wendy Todd: [00:00:00] You are listening to KALX Berkeley 90.7 fm, university of California Listener Supported Radio, and this is Berkeley Brainwaves, a show that brings you different stories from the Cal campus. I’m your host, Wendy Todd. Today we’ll talk about a program I think is so very special and important for Cal students to know about, especially students who are curious about all the beautiful, magical outdoor spaces in the Bay Area and have not had the opportunity or felt comfortable going off campus and into the woods or up on the mountains or out to the bay.
I have two fourth year students in the studio with me, Evelyn Fontan and Lila Cohen. Hello, Evelyn.
Evelyn Fontan: Hi. Thank you for having us.
Wendy Todd: Yes, hi, Lila.
Evelyn Fontan: Hi
Wendy Todd: Evelyn and Lila lead the Student Environmental Resource Center’s NEWT Program. NEWT stands for [00:01:00] Nature EdUCation Wellness Together, and I’m gonna read NEWT’s mission statement because has a lot of thoughtful words in there. Um, and then I’m gonna ask you to interpret what, what that means in your own, in your own language. So NEWT’s mission is to hold space for UC, Berkeley’s marginalized communities to safely, mindfully, and joyfully access the abundant benefits that nature and outdoor activities provide by breaking the barriers that have historically made outdoor enjoyment inaccessible for many.
SERC NEWT Fosters collaboration with the many wonderful outdoor health. and cultural groups affiliated with UC, Berkeley, and beyond to make this happen. So today we’ll talk about why NEWT is so special and how Cal students can get involved with exploring the Great Bay Area beyond campus. Evelyn, in your own words, will you describe NEWT to our [00:02:00] listeners?
Evelyn Fontan: Yeah. Thank you for reading, um, our mission statement because that really drives the intention of the work that we do. And, um, for Lila and I. I really knew is just hoping to erase the barriers of access to outdoors for all students on campus. Um, whether those barriers are financial barriers, um, our trips are completely free for students to go on.
We offer transportation to be covered and free lunches when we’re, um, going on our trips and or whether those experience or like experience barriers, we hope to end those two or community barriers. Like you’re not seeing people, um, like you represented in outdoor spaces. We’re really hoping to make, make a big community spaces when NEWT goes on our outdoor trips.
Wendy Todd: Very cool. Lila, what does NEWT mean to you?
Lila Cohen: Yeah. Um, well, I think a big part of why NEWT is so special is that we try and facilitate events that are kind of. open to what students wanna get out of the experience. So we try, we like do hikes like to the Peaks of the Bay program, which we’ll introdUCe soon, I’m sure.
Um, [00:03:00] and just allow students to like hike and like do our programming, but then also give time for them to explore and engage with the outdoors in whatever way is important to them. Um, so we do like journaling and like just give free time to be on the, in these awesome spaces that are like, far from Berkeley.
If you don’t have a car, it’s hard to get there. And for me too, like a lot of the, our, my first time at a lot of these places was with NEWT and um, yeah, I think it’s really a beautiful way to experience the Bay area.
Wendy Todd: Hmm. And so give me some taste of where you’ve gotten to go and how you’ve. Explored and gotten to experience the outdoors Evelyn do you wanna go first?
Evelyn Fontan: Sure, definitely. NEWT has brought me into so many more places than I could have ever imagined. When I first, um, became a student at UC, Berkeley, uh, Lila brought up our peaks of the Bay trip, and just on those trips we’ve been able to go to Mount Tam, Mount Tam, um, Mount Umunhum, Mount Diablo, Mount Hamilton.
So we’re really going all around the Bay Area and exploring, [00:04:00] um, these places and the histories that they carry with them. We’ve als I’ve also, through new, been a part of kayaking trips in our Berkeley Marina. There’s just so much that we’ve done and it’s, it’s just been a really great experience to be a part of.
Wendy Todd: And what about for people that like hear you say Mount This and Mount Tam, like, it kind of sounds scary. You go all up these big mountains, so how do you, you know, kind of engage with people that might be curious but have never climbed a mountain before.
Lila Cohen: Yeah. So actually one of my favorite experiences with NEWT was when we went to, um, Mount Umunhum and which is like just beyond San Jose.
I believe. Yes. Yeah. Um, and I was like talking to some students on like the beginning of our hike and they were like, I’ve never hiked before. And that was a, sUCh a wonderful, beautiful experience of being like, this is their first hike ever. And we try and make our like trips as accessible as possible, like we say Mount, but is like we have different. Um, like you’re not [00:05:00] climbing a mountain. We’re not mountaineering up these mountains. Um, we have different like, I guess, length of hike options. Um, so like one group will do like, maybe like a one or two mile loop hike, and then we’ll like drive to the summit and do some activities up there. And then also provide an option for people who wanna like, push themselves in a different way, more physically.
And like that could be like a five to seven mile hike. Like often like these peaks because we’re so coastal, they’re not super like craggy. Like you need to ax to get up it kind of thing. Um,
Evelyn Fontan: Definitely I think when I came to UC Berkeley, I would never be a self-identified hiker or outdoors person and it’s told SERC NEWT has definitely shifted my mindset in that, that we’re all outdoors people, everyone has the chance to explore this and that’s what’s beautiful about new is that they’re accessible hikes.
They’re for beginners or they’re for everyone. And really our goal is not the peak. It’s more the experience and being there together.
Wendy Todd: Mm. So fun. Yeah. [00:06:00] Tell me about the, the origin story of NEWT. NEWT is a relatively new group, right? How did it, how did it begin? Lila, you wanna.
Lila Cohen: Yeah. Um, I think, let’s see, our, the previous like founder of NEWT was Jed, um, who just left the program last year and they created it with two other students, I believe.
Evelyn Fontan: Mm-hmm. Um, two,
two years ago. Two, oh, when we joined the position, that was the second year of NEWT. So this is fall 2025 is third year of NEWT. All, all started by Jed Lee.
Lila Cohen: Yeah. Their, their concept was like to create. Like we’ve been talking about making outdoors more accessible for all students and like approachable and comfortable providing lunch, providing all these things and yeah, I think that was their main
Evelyn Fontan: and yeah, exactly.
And also emphasizing the edUCation part of it too. Mm-hmm. Like learning about the indigenous history of the spaces that we’re going to.
Lila Cohen: Yeah.
Evelyn Fontan: Um. As students, I think a lot of us aren’t [00:07:00] from the area, or even if you are, a lot of these histories are definitely important to learn about and just engage with.
And so our trips offer an opportunity to do that.
Wendy Todd: I mean, even if you’ve lived here all your life, a lot of times you don’t know the indigenous history. So how do you learn and then share with people that participate?
Lila Cohen: Yeah, so we, um, for the Peaks of the Bay programs, we have, um. A documentary that we watch in the morning before we leave campus in like a classroom actually here in social sciences.
And um, yeah, it’s like, it’s usually a local documentary focusing on indigenous histories, usually by indigenous peoples, talking about the plants, talking about the different things going on and the place that we’re gonna be. And also just like some of the things that we’ve shown has also talked about like military history of these peaks.
But that is a big, occupational history is part of. kind of what went on there. And so we try and talk about, or we provide background for a lot of that, [00:08:00] and then we give space once we’re up at the peak to talk about and engage in conversation and discussion about how we feel differently being in this space now that we know have some background and what kind of, it makes us wonder what, yeah,
Evelyn Fontan: definitely.
I think it’s those conversations that drive the, the envir, the. The edUCational aspect of it,
Wendy Todd: like the whole experience. Yes. It’s not that you’re just going out with a friend and hiking on a trail.
Evelyn Fontan: Yeah.
Wendy Todd: There’s a sense of community. You’re learning about the land, the history.
Evelyn Fontan: Exactly.
Wendy Todd: Yeah.
Evelyn Fontan: Last spring we hosted with, um, another group in SERC called DEN, which is our de-Colonial Environmental Network.
We hosted the lessons from the land retreat, which was a BIPOC centered retreat for students on campus. And that was really great because we gotta work with, um, the Esselen tribe. Um, we got to help. The stewardship that they’re doing on a site near the Hastings Field Reserve, which is a [00:09:00] UC, Berkeley, um, reserve, so, or a UC reserve.
So that was really a great opportunity as well.
Wendy Todd: Wow. So many different activities and events that you’re planning. Definitely, yeah. Can you think of one of your favorites? Does one stand out to you?
Lila Cohen: I would say honestly, just because of like what I was talking about before, like going to Mount Umunhum um, uh, last. Spring I believe was really sweet just because there was a lot of newcomers that had never been hiking before and it was just a really beautiful experience, like getting to like talk with them and like share the wonder and like the, oh my feet hurt, but this is so fun, but this is so cool, but oh, I’m sweaty.
Like, I don’t know the whole everything, it just like is reinvigorating and exciting to like, I don’t know, excites me to keep doing this kind of work, I guess.
Evelyn Fontan: Exactly. Um, one of my favorite, um, experiences was last year I got to lead a hike with CHE, which is another group on campus that stands for the [00:10:00] Community that for Health Equity.
So that was really great because I got to bring, um, my own, um, like classmates and friends from that club and just really bring like the Latinx community outside and that was just like. A great experience. ’cause it really, um, brought my two interests of environmentalism, health equity all together in one.
And we went to, um, a state regional or regional park in Oakland, so not far at all, but everyone on that hike was like: ” didn’t know this existed, or there was redwoods in Oakland?” So it was just like a really great opportunity of just bringing people, bringing my friends, my community outside. So that was, that was great.
Wendy Todd: Wow. There’s so much to explore in the Bay Area.
You’re listening to Berkeley Brainwaves on 90.7 K-A-L-X listener supported radio. We are talking with Evelyn and Lila about NEWT and a program that helps students at Cal Berkeley go explore the Bay Area. So what happens [00:11:00] when folks do feel challenged and their feet hurt? Like Lila was just saying, or they feel like. Ooh, maybe this is a bigger hike than they anticipated or something unexpected happens. What, tell, maybe tell me, how do you work through that, that challenge?
Evelyn Fontan: I think that’s a great question. I, I feel like I, um, a, I kind of see myself towards more of, I was a beginner when I first came. Um. to UC, Berkeley as a hiker in the outdoor space.
So I totally understand that feeling, and I’m definitely the one on these hikes where I know what it feels like to be at the back of the hike, the last person. But we’re right there with them. We’re no one’s saying that this is a speed run. We’re all there together to support each other. If your feet are hurting, let’s take a break and let’s stop for a minute.
Let’s, let’s stop for two minutes. Like we’ll take a break and we’ll be there with you. There’s no sense of urgency or no sense of that. This is. This is like a competition in any way. This is just a space to build community and there [00:12:00] shouldn’t be any stress involved in a new trip.
Lila Cohen: Yeah, we kind of try and like push back a little bit against like the kind of hard-core-ness that can come with like a lot of outdoor spaces and can make, can be like a barrier to entry for a lot of people.
And yeah, just try and make people feel as much like comfortable and welcome to like. Say, Hey, I need to stop and not be like, oh, I don’t wanna say it ’cause I don’t wanna seem this way or that way. Like we’re all just like there to connect with each other and connect with like the place we are in. And so, yeah, we try and center that as much as possible, so we hope. people feel comfortable enough to like say when they’re ready for a break kind of thing.
Wendy Todd: Mm-hmm. And snacks.
Lila Cohen: Yes. Yes. Lots of snacks trader Joe’s snacks. Yeah.
Wendy Todd: Yeah. So you provide snacks and other like gear if people need it. Right. Maybe talk more about what you provide so that folks who, you know, are curious but maybe don’t have the experience or feel like they have the tools. They can, they can still participate in NEWT.
Evelyn Fontan: So really the central goal of [00:13:00] NEWT is. The only requirement is for you to show up. That’s, that’s it. There’s no, um, prerequisite to joining a new trip. And so we try to make that as easy as possible. So if we’re going on an all day trip, we’ll provide lunch, we’ll provide, um, like breakfast bars when we start, and we usually always end our trips with a, a sweet treat too. So we’ll go get, um, some yogurt or ice cream, so you’ll be well nourished on a new trip.
Lila Cohen: So like, I mean, for the most part, we don’t really need, we’re not doing like gear oriented like trips other than kayaking or like stuff like that. And then of course we’ll provide, but yeah, we just say bring a water bottle if you can.
Exactly. That’s it. Bring yourself.
Wendy Todd: And how often do you do events? What’s the schedule like?
Evelyn Fontan: So we’re currently planning all of our events for this upcoming semester, but. We’re hoping for a couple events, um, each, each month. Our first like major upcoming event is our Peaks of the Bay to Mount Tam, um, this October 25th.
So we’re really excited and looking forward to [00:14:00] that one.
Lila Cohen: Yeah. So yeah, we’re gonna do, we try and do all four peaks throughout the year, so we’ll do two of our peaks, um, this semester and then throw in some other stuff, which are still in the works. So check out the Instagram
Evelyn Fontan: Yes.
Lila Cohen: For updates on that. Yeah.
Wendy Todd: Yeah. What’s the Instagram handle?
Evelyn Fontan: @SERCBerkeley That’s our handle. Okay. And so we’ll be posting, um, all of our events there. You could also find our events on the website, and there’s also a SERC newsletter that you can, um, get to through the website as well. It’ll keep you updated.
Wendy Todd: Great. And it sounds like you really get around in the Bay Area, so if you don’t have a car, how does transportation work?
Lila Cohen: Yeah, so we, um. We just carpool basically. And if there’s not enough seats, we just rent a car, which is really lovely. Being part of like SERC and connected with the university, we have a lot of opportunities in that way. Um, so yeah, it’s never been an issue.
Evelyn Fontan: All transportation completely, um, organized by [00:15:00] us.
Wendy Todd: Yeah. Wow. What a gift. Um, who comes to NEWT events? Maybe describe a little bit more about, you know, the people that are in community with you on these events?
Evelyn Fontan: I think it’s such a diverse group of students. There’s undergrads, graduate students who are there. Um, it’s open to everyone on campus, so we always have a wide array of people and returners too, which is great to see.
Um, I think it’s people who have, like Lila mentioned, never been on a hike before and others who are like, this is what I do and I’m so glad you guys are doing it too. So it’s just a wide array of students on. Who come on our trips and it’s just a great experience to just meet people. And although we’re such a diverse group, we all have that similar mindset of we wanna go outside and we wanna be in this space.
So you meet some really cool people who are, share the similar values of environmentalism and community.
Wendy Todd: Maybe that you wouldn’t have met in your classes.
Evelyn Fontan: Yeah, exactly. Like different majors. Just a wide array of people.
Wendy Todd: Mm-hmm. And you’re [00:16:00] both fourth year students? Is this your last year here?
Evelyn Fontan: Yes.
Wendy Todd: So, so what happens next?
What, what’s in the pipeline like for leadership of NEWT?
Lila Cohen: Um, I think we’re, we’re talking about it right now, um, actually, but we’re going be hiring new people to take on the program next year. Potentially spring. Potentially fall. So if you’re interested in like getting more involved, um, now’s a great time too.
There’s gonna be some job openings for sure. Um, yeah,
Wendy Todd: it sounds super fun. Um.
You are listening to Berkeley Brainwaves on 90.7 FM KALX Listener supported radio. We are talking with Evelyn and Lila about NEWT, which is a program that helps folks get outside enjoy the great outdoors in the Bay Area. [00:17:00] What do you feel like, um, people really take away from the experience from the events?
Lila Cohen: Um, yeah, I think like talking to students and like we do feedback form afterward and something that always comes up is like, oh, I was so stressed this week. I’m so tired. I felt like I was like going underwater with all my stuff. And like it’s a opportunity to like get out of like the bubble, the Berkeley bubble of like school, of like even just like the city and just be like, okay, there’s a world out there. I’m okay, everything’s okay. Like put everything into perspective a little bit and just provide time for people to like, yeah. Connect with each other outdoors and kind of reprioritize what feels important to them, I think. And that’s what I get out of it usually. Mm-hmm. Every time I’m like, wow, okay. I really know what things I wanna value after today. ‘Cause it just gives. A good perspective, I feel.
Wendy Todd: Hmm. That’s great. Evelyn, what about you? What do you feel like are [00:18:00] takeaways?
Evelyn Fontan: I think joy, just like genuine joy, just being outside, spending time with others. It’s a moment to be like, I am a person besides being a student at school too, and the stresses of that.
I think it’s just an opportunity to just put those away for a couple of hours and just really have fun and just explore the wonder that these outdoors um, have to offer to us and getting to learn too about the history of the pace spaces that we’re entering. So I think it’s just a mixture of that, just, just genuine joy and learning too.
Wendy Todd: Mm-hmm. And when you, how do you pick where to go or what events to put on?
Evelyn Fontan: So, our Peaks of the Bay program was established before we became the new associates. So that was in, uh, locations that we inherited, but so lucky to have such intentionally placed and each space. That we go to for the peaks of the Bay.
We actually have a sticker for each one that we go to, and that’s part of our, um, sticker program. So students, if you come on that trip, you’ll get a sticker and it’s [00:19:00] all designed by, um, an indigenous artist who, um, she graduated from UC, Berkeley, I think, uh, before we 2022. So it’s all designed by her with unique, um illustrations on each of them describing the environmental and cultural history of the mountains. So those are established locations that we’ll be continuing to go and if you don’t collect all the stickers this year, you’ll be able to collect. The year following.
Wendy Todd: Wow. What else? What, how else do you decide what, um, where to go?
Yeah. What events to put on?
Lila Cohen: I feel like what we’re excited about honestly, and like what we hear students talking about um, there’s definitely like a lot of talk on our hikes of being, like, listening to what people are like, oh, I wanna go check this out. And we’re like, okay, let’s do a trip there.
Let’s make it happen. Um. Especially now with like the Bay Pass, um, opportunities of getting free ferry. We’re hoping to do a trip that’ll take advantage of that um,
Wendy Todd: Oh, I haven’t heard what’s the Bay Pass?
Lila Cohen: Yeah, so it’s a recent like, [00:20:00] um, like funding situation where all students now have free, um. Clipper cards so they can go on ferry on BART..
Whereas before it was just bus in Berkeley. So kind of our opportunities are expanded for sure. Exactly.
Evelyn Fontan: Mm-hmm. Yeah, so it’s, it’s definitely guided our. Well, we wanna do this year too yeah, we’re definitely exciting. Yeah.
Wendy Todd: Wow. And how did the kayaking trip come to be and how did that go?
Evelyn Fontan: So that one I actually, we didn’t help facilitate. That was were the new associates before us.
And so that was my first event that I went on as a participant of NEWT and. I loved it. I saw the post about it and I was like kayaking with other people and it was with Outsiders too, which is another on-campus, um, club and they’re guided towards students of color experiencing the outdoors. So it was a collab between Outsiders and, um, new.
So I knew about Outsiders. I didn’t know about new, but when they collabed it was, I had the best time. It was amazing. We got to just, um, go out in the Berkeley Marina play games. [00:21:00] Throwing balls, splashing water on each other. It was just a crazy time, but it was so much fun. And when I went on that trip, I was like, I love NEWT.
And when I saw that the NEWT position was open, I think the following semester after that, I was like, I need to apply. I wanna be a part of that.
Wendy Todd: Wow. That sounds so fun. Lila, how did you hear about NEWT and get involved?
Lila Cohen: Yeah, so I was part of one of, uh, SERCs, uh, membership teams when I was a freshman. Which is like basically a program where, um, they’re weekly meetings led by SERC staff members and they talk like they’re kind of themed membership programs and we just like go and we’re like in community and we talk about like, um, the specific one I was a part of was environmental justice.
And so we’re talking about like different things that were going on in the world and how our experiences like impacted the way we’re perceiving what’s going on and like what we can do and like how to get, you know, the student body involved. And so we would like plan some little events like that. Um, [00:22:00] and yeah, and then that was just freshman year and then after that I applied for the position or I think, yeah, I applied I guess junior year, sophomore year I got busy ugh. So many things and I, I, I came back around to SERC for sure and I’m really happy that I did and it’s a wonderful experience. Yeah.
Wendy Todd: And tell me about SERC. I don’t think we talked much about that. Yeah. So maybe you can explain what that is.
Lila Cohen: SERC is a Student Environmental Resource Center, and so that’s like who we are nested under, that’s who we’re a part of, and we’re like a department within SERC.
Um, and they do so much, I can’t even like begin to like. I feel like understand all the things that they do, they’re so far reaching. They, um, they give out a lot of grants through
Evelyn Fontan: the T-G-I-F.
Lila Cohen: Yes.
Evelyn Fontan: So that’s our, like Green Initiatives Fund. So it funds a lot of the sustainability projects on campus.
So if, um, you’re a club on campus and you want funding for your, um, events, whether that’s for food or you’re doing an activity, you can apply to the TGIF fund for, [00:23:00] um, money towards your sustainability, um, focused event. And yeah, SERC is huge. There’s so much going on and it’s all about students just putting in their visions for, um, this future of our environmentalism.
Wendy Todd: Wow. That’s great. And is that something that people from different, um, majors participate?
Evelyn Fontan: Oh yes, totally. A hundred percent.
Lila Cohen: All students. It’s like, yeah, it’s nested within the ACC, I believe.
Evelyn Fontan: Mm-hmm.
Lila Cohen: And so we’re in MLK is our like office and yeah, it’s open to all students.
Evelyn Fontan: Yes. Our physical location is MLKB North.
Yes. In, um, the student center. Open to anyone. You don’t have to be an environmental major at all. If you wanna even come, just use a SERC space as a study space. We’re open Monday through Thursday, um, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Wendy Todd: Wow. So it’s just an open invitation.
Evelyn Fontan: Mm-hmm. Exactly. Yes.
Wendy Todd: Mm-hmm. And when you do your NEWT events, what days of the week?
Like when does that usually happen?
Evelyn Fontan: Um, I would say primarily the weekends, but we’ve also had some weekday [00:24:00] events. We did a tennis intro to Tennis day, um, last semester. I think that landed on like a Thursday. So we were at the Clark career tennis courts, just playing tennis together, but I would say primarily on the weekends so when students are not in class and hopefully have some more free time to come and enjoy the events with us.
Wendy Todd: Wow. I mean tennis? So many different types of events that you’re doing
Evelyn Fontan: a lot and it’s great. That’s what I love so much about NEWT is that it’s really guided by our own interests and what we wanna do and what we wanna see on campus. Yeah.
Wendy Todd: Mm-hmm.
Lila Cohen: Like appeal to every or as many students as we can, I guess is the idea.
Wendy Todd: How many members do you have now? Do you call them members or participants or people?
Evelyn Fontan: We don’t actually have like a strict membership. I think you’re a part of NEWT when you come on the trips. So it, it changes a lot. But we’ve had a lot of returners too who just come on the events and familiar faces who’ve been at every event or every other event.
So there’s not a strict number, it’s, it changes and fluctuates. But at our Peaks of the Bay trips, there’s always about like 25 plus students, 20 [00:25:00] ish students who come.
Wendy Todd: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. What’s your vision for NEWT now you’re, you know, your fourth years and you’re gonna pass the baton. What, what do you hope to accomplish this year?
Lila Cohen: Yeah, um, I guess something we’ve been talking about that a little bit, like what impact we wanna leave on the program and I’m excited about like incorporating more like learning onto some of our events, which we already do some, but we’re excited to kind of like, ’cause last year we were kind of still figuring out the program and this year we’re excited to kind of take some changes and make it our own a little more.
And part of that for me is like I, um I love plants and I love trees, and I love the outdoors. Obviously I’m here. Mm-hmm. And I wanna incorporate more like environmental learning onto our events for students that are interested in learning about like the plants we’re seeing. And I’m not really sure exactly how that’ll materialize, but,
Evelyn Fontan: well, I think we did it last, or not last weekend, but the weekend before we did a bio blitz Oh yeah. At Tilden Regional Park. [00:26:00] So we did a bunch of plant identification. Mm-hmm. Onto, what’s the app called? I know. Naturalist. Naturalist, yeah. So we were identifying plants, so I feel like we did that too. Yes, yes, yes. That was really great. Yeah. But I love that.
Wendy Todd: And what’s your vision, Evelyn?
Evelyn Fontan: I think just to continue what we’re doing and build off of it.
Like, I just want the, um, the imagination for SERC NEWT to continue and just the openness of, of it to continue. I love and everything that we did, and I feel so privileged to be a part of, um, NEWT as a whole. And I hope that whoever continues NEWT, um, whether that’s in the NEWT associate role like us or as participants, just leans into what NEWT has to offer and continues that and is really just open to the experiences that, um that it can come about, that can come about through NEWT.
Wendy Todd: Yeah. And when you think about the creativity and the imagination to dream up, where to go and what to experience, are there certain, um, I don’t know, books or [00:27:00] websites or leaders that inspire you to think about where to go in the Bay Area?
Evelyn Fontan: I think I learned a lot from Jed, our previous supervisor.
Um, their imagination, the way that they spoke about, um, going into the outdoors was really, really inspiring. So I, I, I, they were definitely a key factor in what we led last year, but this year I, that’s my goal. I’m interested in reading a lot more about the Bay Area, whether that’s like specific books or watching new documentaries.
That’s my goal too.
Lila Cohen: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Honestly, I’m like. I’m a big fan of All Trails. I just scroll on All Trails sometimes.
Wendy Todd: The app, All Trails?
Lila Cohen: Yes, the app, All Trails. And I know there’s a lot of other ones, probably better ones out there, but I just like looking at all of the pictures of places around the Bay and it’s fun.
’cause like people, um, they’re like recent pictures taken by people who are out there yesterday on this trail in Tilden and I’m like, oh, that’s so cool. And this like specific plant or something like [00:28:00] that, you know? I feel like that’s kind of where I’ve gotten some of our inspiration for trails for sure is going on.
Scrolling on the internet, I guess. Yeah,
Wendy Todd: And just wandering outside too?
Lila Cohen: And wandering. Yeah. As much as I can for sure.
Wendy Todd: Is there anything I didn’t ask you that you wanna be sure to share about NEWT?
Evelyn Fontan: Um, one thing that is coming up too for us is the Wilderness First Aid trainings that we offer. So Lila and I took those last year, so it’s training where you get to learn about emergency medical care and outdoor um.
Setting, and that’s for mainly geared towards like trip leaders or individuals who like, like to hike or like to be outside. And um, there is a financial barrier to those trainings. But NEWT is offering that training for 10 students on campus and that’ll be in November. So if anyone’s interested in that or wants to learn more about what Wilderness First Aid is, that’s being offered through new and it’s just a really great [00:29:00] opportunity experience we have coming up.
Lila Cohen: Wow. If you’re listening to this and you’re a student who wants to get outside, like, come join us. Like, again, there’s like, you don’t gotta be any kind of person, have any kind of experience to come to one of our events. Like just an open mind. Exactly.
Evelyn Fontan: We’re so excited to have everyone. Yes.
Lila Cohen: Yeah, for sure.
Wendy Todd: Especially during these times, right? Mm-hmm. When it’s very stressful.
Evelyn Fontan: Yes.
Lila Cohen: Mm-hmm.
Wendy Todd: And being able to decompress with nature sounds like a, a great solution.
Lila Cohen: Some really good conversations come out of it for sure when people are able to like get space and process what’s going on in a different context.
Wendy Todd: Well, thank you so much for coming in and sharing your experiences and doing all that you’re doing to make sure that people have access to the great outdoors and learn a lot in the process. Thank you.
Evelyn Fontan: Thank you.
Lila Cohen: Awesome. Thank you so much.
Wendy Todd: Yeah. Our guests today, were Evelyn Fontan and Lila Cohen Associates of Cal’s NEWT Program.
NEWT stands for Nature [00:30:00] Education and Wellness Together. You’ve been listening to Berkeley Brainwaves on KALX 90.7.
