At that moment I became aware how I had perceived my role as a nature guide so far solely as a communicator of facts. I had been diligently learning all the species names in five languages, reading up on Wadden Sea ecology as much as I could and then trying to spit it all out to my audiences. But my colleague with an aural pen stroke sketched a scene of characters ready to perform a play, to tell a story. It forced me to question what I wanted the tourists and the school groups to take home: the knowledge to recite, say, the life history of the Shore Crab, or the feeling that the Wadden Sea is this mysterious and intriguing place that has fascinating stories to offer?
Of course, there was room for both. But in science, the dichotomy often remains. In order to communicate our findings in a credible way, we do not allow ourselves much artistic freedom, let alone anthropomorphize snails. A good story on the one hand and scientific rigour on the other easily seem to be opposite poles. This is not an issue for the happy few who exclusively love facts and are satisfied only living in a world of cognition. However, most people have a hard time understanding, or even caring about facts, about science.
On the contrary though, everybody loves a good story. And this to me, is the attraction of BirdEyes. BirdEyes aims to bring science to society by reconciling scientific rigour with storytelling, without compromising either. And this is not a contradiction, because the birds in fact do tell a story if you know how to listen. As we follow them in time and space, a sequence of events unfolds: where and when they rest, moult, nest, forage and so on. And this raises questions: Why there and then? What does that teach us about the environment? And about the impact of human activities? And so, stories naturally unfold.
My role in BirdEyes will be to unlock the stories of the “Waakvogels” (Brent Goose, Spoonbill, Sanderling, Bar-tailed Godwit, Black-tailed Godwit, Red Knot) to every conceivable stakeholder, including the general public. To be the interface between science and society, in order to ultimately bring knowledge and insights not only to people’s minds, but foremost to their hearts. Because what is in our hearts, we care for.
