Passport to Texas

That’s right, just spending time outdoors like this can make you smarter.

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This is Passport to Texas

Did you know time spent outdoors can make you smarter? Outreach & Education Director Nancy Herron says when we say “smarter”, we don’t necessarily mean increasing one’s IQ.

Being outdoors helps you with focus, and concentration – it clears your mind in a little different way. So when you come back inside, you’re actually more ready to work. And they have neuroscientists who talk about the importance of before an important meeting … a job interview …something you anticipate is going to be stressful: take a walk around the block. Get outside. It clears your mind a little bit. I don’t think you can find a more fertile ground for creativity than nature and outdoors. So, if you want to spark wonder – and that’s the key to learning – that’s getting outside in nature. Put these things on your calendar. Make a commitment to that in those resolutions sop, once a day you’re getting outside to be a little healthier. Once a week you’re going to do something that will help reduce that stress. And once a month get out there – put it on the calendar – you can do this. And they’re fun. They’re really fun resolutions to have.

Here’s to your best New Year ever!

We record our series at the Block House studio in Austin, and our healthy, happy and smart engineer is Joel Block.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Getting outdoors to explore builds strong minds and bodies.

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This is Passport to Texas

Healthier…happier…smarter: that’s what you will be this new year when you commit to spending time outdoors.

There’s a whole bevy of benefits from being outdoors.

Nancy Herron, Outreach & Education Director at Texas Parks and Wildlife, says to make spending time outdoors one of your resolutions.

One of the most fun resolutions is to get a little dose of “vitamin N” every day – and that’s vitamin Nature. Being outdoors in nature, even 30 minutes a day, will make a big difference. If you get outside and take a nice walk, a stroll in the park. If you break it up even in three ten minute chunks, it just helps in a lot of ways physically. It reduces your stress. I have seen you taking a little stroll around the building before. I do try and take a little break. And you know we actually know that little walk around the block – wherever it is – there’s nature everywhere. There’s nearby nature in a city block. Just getting outdoors, just getting a little fresh air – even if you’re checking out the sky and making some shapes out of the clouds: it’s a good break for you and gets you physically moving. And that’s the biggest problem we have is we’re just not moving around. So, let’s get outside and move. And it’s as simple as thirty minutes a day, three ten minute breaks. Give yourself some recess and have fun.

Getting smarter with nature. That’s tomorrow.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Kids getting happy learning about nature.

Happiness is Spending Time in Nature Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

We hope 2017 will be the happiest year yet. Nancy Herron, Outreach & Education Director at Parks and Wildlife says resolving to be happier is as easy as spending more time outdoors.

Allowing yourself a little playtime outside does so many great things for you. If you put it on your calendar that once a week I’m going to do something fun for myself and it might be laying out in the grass and looking up and listening to birds, or maybe it’s riding a bike again, or trying another kind of fishing or something like that. You just feel better about yourself; you actually do feel more confident when you’ve been able to be out.

Nancy is outdoors regularly as you might imagine; she told me about coming across a sprawling live oak tree while on a walk in the woods with her granddaughter.

It was the best climbing tree ever. And my little monkey granddaughter just ran right up…and yes…I couldn’t resist, and I climbed up, too. It was so much fun. I felt pretty good about myself – I could actually do it at my age.

How spending time outdoors can make us healthier …that’s tomorrow.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation supports our series and helps keep Texas wild with support of proud members across the state. Find out more at tpwf.org

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Getting healthier, happier and smarter by spending time outdoors.

Getting Healthier, Happier and Smarter in 2017 Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

Adults and children can achieve a better quality of life by committing to spending time in the wide open spaces…or the forested spaces…or watery spaces…or…any outdoor space. Even their own backyards.

Outreach & Education Director, Nancy Herron, shares some thoughts on how individuals and families can make 2017 the healthiest…happiest…and smartest year yet by spending time outside.

When you spend time outdoors you can be healthier, happier and smarter. What do we mean by that? Well, actually there is a lot of research that’s out there that shows that people of all ages actually do have benefits from being outside in nature, and that does include improvements to your health, your stress level, your sense of self esteem and confidence. Even being more cooperative. Can you believe that? Communities are more cooperative; families bond better in the out of doors. These are interesting things that we now know that we took for granted, and we just didn’t realize. That there’s a whole bevy of benefits from being outdoors.

Nancy Herron returns with resolutions to get you outdoors and help to make you and yours healthier… happier…and smarter.

That’s our show for today… Funding provided in part by Ram Trucks. Guts. Glory. Ram

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Bats emerging from Bracken Cave.

TPW TV - Bat Monitoring for White Nose Syndrome Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

Texas is home to 33 of the world’s more than 13-hundred bat species. Bats devour tons of agricultural insect pests, pollinate crops and native plants, and bring tourists to Texas.

We have the largest congregations of bats in the entire world. People travel all over the world to see Bracken Bat Cave, Old Tunnel State Park, Congress Street Bridge. It’s a wildlife phenomenon

But Jonah Evans, Texas Parks and Wildlife mammologist, says Texas bats face a serious threat: White Nose Syndrome, a fungal disease fatal to hibernating bats, discovered 10 years ago in the Northeast.

It’s right at our border. And during that time, it has killed an estimated 6-million bats. Which, in some states, amounts to a very high percentage of all the bats in their states.

Evans and other bat conservators discuss the problem of white nose syndrome next week on the Texas Parks and Wildlife TV series on PBS.

At this point, all we can do is monitor closely, learn what we can, and be prepared if an opportunity to apply some kind of treatment arises. There is currently no way to stop the spread of White Nose Syndrome. However, there are many smart people working really hard on trying to find ways of doing just that.

Watch this highly informative segment on Bat Monitoring in Texas on the Texas Parks and Wildlife TV series on PBS the week of January 1, 2017. Check your local listings.

The Wildlife Restoration program supports our series.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.