Observe
Field Notes, News, & Essays || Nature Directory
This is a subdirectory of the HOME | Nature Directory on Substack. This sub-page lists publications that share nature-inspired field notes, news, and essays.
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Canada
Biodiversity around our towns with news of wildlife gardening.
From the author: As a biologist, I try to help people open their eyes to the wildlife around our homes.
United States
John Muir has said: “When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe.” I love the interconnectedness of all natural life.
From the author: Research is a wonderful rabbit hole to tumble down. One element learned leads to so much more. This post combined many elements coming together when my research began.
Norway
Using objective details of our natural world as a lens through which we can understand our subjective world. And vice versa.
From the poet: Here is a good starting place. Anthropomorphism might be just another form of zoomorphism. We are animals, after all.
France
I write at the intersection of creativity, herbalism and alchemy from a hamlet in a forest.
From the writer: I'm a poet, novelist, publisher and herbalist and love helping others on their transformative paths; here’s a piece with a wonderful exploration of the ‘language of the land.'
France
Join me on my quest, via words and photography, to get to know the places I live and travel, from the smallest leaf to the highest mountain pastures. Also plant ecology.
Author’s note: This piece is a love letter to the synergy of living in a place and writing about it, and also gives an overview of my most beloved essays from my first year on Substack.
By: James Evarts
Spain (Catalunya)
We are a group of over 50 scientists and we do: inventory of species (3,500 so far), two weather stations, digital monitoring of river systems, & ongoing counts of butterflies, birds, & flowers across an area of approximately 4,500 acres which represents the entire river valley of the Río Catllar.
Scientist’s note: Visit our site (in Catalan and English) to learn of our discovery of a robust population of Thyreophora cynophila (Bone Skipper), our monitoring of the extremely threatened Galemys pyrenaicus (Pyrenean Desman), and our study of two populations of Bombus gerstaeckeri (feeds on Aconitum riparian).
Europe and UK
Bee-Witched is an eclectic mix of beekeeping tales, nature writing zines, art-making for mental health, and field notes from the meditative art of crafting with your hands.
From the writer: This is a post I feel perfectly demonstrates what my Substack at least tries to be like. Bringing different elements that I love together, and grounding them all in nature and mental health...all while sharing my art!
United States
From the writer: Start here.
United States
A field biologist (and boy explorer) writing at the intersection of the natural world and human nature.
Author’s suggestion: Start here.
United States
Looking beyond carbon reductionism to see Earth's climate in all its living complexity.
From the author: This post is not only about a one-of-a-kind scientist who is no longer with us, but a full introduction to the living climate and why we've heard so little about it.
United States
Reflections on climate anxiety and spiritual resilience by a professor of religious studies and Indigenous studies.
From the author: This post introduces readers to why comparative religions and Indigenous studies need to be part of our conversations around climate anxiety and eco-grief.
United States
A celebration of more-than-human life and invitation to remember that we too are creatures.
Author’s note: This essay tells symbiotic stories and considers relationships involved in the pleasure we often feel when we encounter the fragrance of damp soil in spring.
United States
Conservation Works is about the difficult, rewarding, crucial, and seriously undercovered work of repairing and protecting the ecosystems we depend on. I write about what’s working (and what’s not), share new findings from research, and reflect on where conservation has been and where it’s going. Whether you’re a conservation practitioner or simply care about your fellow species, you’ll find ideas, connections, and purpose in Conservation Works.
United States
Walk with the animals. Talk with the animals.
From the author: The Critters luvluvluv Turtles.
United States
Immersive perspectives on the fine art of a joyful existence.
From the author: Start here. How we relate to our world is expressed in our traditions, those we celebrate and those we no longer notice.
Scotland, United Kingdom
United States
Cricklewood is our basecamp nestled in a forest hollow from which we go forth following trails of curiosity.
Author’s note: This year, as I explain in this post, Cricklewood is going on expedition in our nature journals and nurturing a deep connection with the environment through drawing and writing.
United States
Each day I write one sentence of gratitude and share those monthly words the first Friday of the month.
Note from the author: Start here.
Global/feral; Europe presently
Dispatches from the intersection of fiction, nature writing, and empowerment through ancestral skills.
From the author: This is the place to discover what lies behind each of the different tabs on my Substack homepage, a map or guide to the whole.
By: Willa Köerner
United States
Dark Properties is a personal newsletter illuminating personal and planetary ecologies, from writer, editor, and gardener Willa Köerner. Each dispatch aims to brighten our vision for the future(s) we can collectively grow.
From the author: I started gardening about 5 years ago, and quickly found it to be a portal into a deep exploration of our planet's shifting, mutating ecologies; this piece is about discovering invasive worms in my garden, and the personal "worm hole" I went down as I tried to learn how to remediate them.
New Zealand
General Wizarding and natural history field notes from the South Coast of Wellington
A note from the writer: My thoughts on the art of finding, with reference to my decade-and-a-bit-long local beach-combing practice.
United States
From the artist: Here’s a great place to start.
United States
Exploring how flowers, trees, meadows, rivers, and mountains transform and restore our lives.
Author’s note: I post weekly essays and photo stories about nature, combining naturalist and spiritual observations plus bi-weekly releases of chapters from my manuscript in progress, “Dreaming In the Real: How Love from the Earth Set Me Free.” “Marnie reads the earth and cultivates a sort of deliverance that is bred into the environment.” ~ H.Rile
United States
Inspiring environmental action by focusing on solutions.
Note from the writer: The Yurok Tribe is not giving up, and neither should you.
United States
Stories about People, and Places with a focus on Nature's Wonders and Wisdom
From the author: Whether exploring the mystical depths of a hidden forest, witnessing the breathtaking spectacle of a starlit sky, or simply savoring the gentle rhythm of a babbling brook, "The Earthmonk Journal" inspires readers to slow down, reconnect with the natural world, and rediscover the beauty and wonder that surround us every day.
United Kingdom
A journal of everyday auguries and under-reported miracles
Author’s note: Here are some miracles I found on my doorstep.
United States
I guide people overwhelmed by our always-on world on setting up a slower life they don’t need to escape by restoring Nature to the center of their lives.
From the author: Start here for a short manifesto on why this movement is so critical now.
United States
It's up to us; an environmental lawyer talks wildlife and forest magic with an occasional digression into rewilding the Earth.
From the author: My post about the tiniest bunny and its struggle to bounce back in the American northwest was one of my favorite pieces to research and write, and readers seemed to enjoy the ride too.
United States
A field guide is a tool for identifying what can be observed in the world: a resource for identifying the features of this new world we’ve inherited and are passing on, and for discussing the solutions, both cultural and technological.
From the writer: My work articulates the disrupted world to you in language that is both direct and poetic, and my essays, such as this one, toggle between describing the disrupted world and reminding you of how beautiful and astonishing that world is.
United States
A novelist's journal of urban nature and life in the edgelands of Austin, Texas, with occasional trips to other places.
From the author: This post reflected on the hottest summer in recorded history, as it began to end, and is a pretty good example of how the newsletter tries to balance clear-eyed witness to what's happening around us with a persistent hopefulness drawn from the evidence of nature's resilience to be found wherever you look (once you learn to do so).
United States
I write about building and designing a garden, and the magic of living in the woods and growing things.
Author’s note: This is the short history and outline of the gardens; a useful place to start.
United States
A botanically inspired newsletter for plant passionate people.
United States
Florida Native discusses backyard ecology, local history, natural gems, and all things flora and fauna in the Sunshine State.
From the author: Suburban wildlife brings so much awe to our lives and this post captures an avian rivalry in the neighborhood.
Europe and UK
Florist and writer, Sarah, shares what it's like to be a florist. What's the best way to keep flowers alive? You're welcome to ask!
Artist’s note: Being a florist gives you an insight into intimate moments in other people's lives: I started working as a florist when I was 14, which meant I was confronted with death and grief from a young age. It's made me have a lot of strong thoughts about dying and British people's fear to talk about it.
Ireland and France
Twice monthly newsletters on a mix of wildlife & conservation, sustainable food, art & culture from Wildwood Trust Kent, Ireland and France
From the writer: I have been a teacher and a veterinary nurse; I love all wildlife but am absolutely passionate about cats domestic & wild
United Kingdom; Global
A worldwide gardening club, where we get to explore the world of gardens and gardening.
Note from the writer: The Gardening Mind is aimed at all levels of gardeners, and this post was intended to give ideas to even the newest gardener as well as to inspire those with more experience.
Canada
Chickadees eating out of my hand, a newborn foal peeking around her mother's side - this is just a glimpse of the beautiful nature and animal connections that I'd love to share with you through photography, non-fiction, and poetry.
Author’s note: Birdwatching at Buttertubs Marsh is always a special experience. I wrote this piece a long time ago and it remains one of my and others' favourite articles. Paired here with recent photos, it explores the mystical and contradictory beauty of the marsh and life in general.
The Netherlands
[About this publication, translated from Dutch]: Weekly newsletter about nature and nature experience. In my newsletter I answer the questions: “How can we return to our wild roots in nature? How do we get back in the primal forest? How do we get rid of our screens?”
From the writer: Start here.
United States
I write about the ways the natural world, always in movement, influences my paintings and artist's books, and leads me to philosophical musings.
From the author: This post catches it all - a walkabout at the Hidden Pond, the paintings that it's inspired, and links to some previous posts for new readers.
France
Light hearted nature journaling and field notes from small holding on a hill in France…
United States
Exploring ways that we, trapped and complicit in destructive systems we hate, might find a way forward— holding our grief, fear, and anger in the same trembling hands as wonder, humility, and awe.
From the author: After a difficult week, I reflected here on the rich, inspiring, enlightening interactions I had with the wonderful writers here in the Substack community.
United States
Weaving nature writing, ecology, and philosophy to better understand hope: why we lose it, and how we might regain it.
Author’s note: This post is the best place to start; it explains what Hopecology is and is not, and what I'm aiming to address.
France
My only near neighbours are my wild kin – birds, animals, trees, plants, weathers, seasons and elements...I write about all this.
From the artist: Here is a good place to start.
United States; Global
Essays on practical holistic gardening and farming with esoteric spiritual insights into ways of healing the Earth.
From the writer: Here is a good place to start; some posts are more contemplative, others extremely practical, and still others more ecological and scientific.
Canada
From the author: Despite the nuisance of their invasive nature, dandelions still bring some charm and value to us and nature...
Canada
Becoming better gardeners one rabbit hole at a time.
From the writer: Start here!
United States
An oasis of peace and beauty in an otherwise busy world.
United States
A newsletter about birds and birding in the western U.S.
United States
Jeff Rennicke was, for two decades, an award-winning travel writer for publications such as National Geographic Traveler, Backpacker, National Parks and more. Now, instead of traveling widely, he travels deeply into a single place to find home.
From the author: This piece is a good place to start: It is human nature to seek to feel at home in a place, finds its beauty, meaning, and importance in your life.
United States
Stories heal. This is a community for sharing stories.
Note from the artist: Start here; I am still learning what it means to let go and having a good laugh along the way.
United Kingdom
Discover Anne’s writing from her experience as a herbal grower, practitioner, researcher and permaculture designer.
Writer’s note: Here’s a good place to start. I love to write about fantastic medicinal trees such as juneberry!
United Kingdom
Weekly words and photography from adventures and encounters with nature in the Lake District and beyond. Field notes, thoughts on nature connection, slow adventure, foraging and nature knowledge.
From the artist: I think this post sums up the kind of nature based, slow adventures we typically go on and write about. Plus, the light was glorious for the photography.
United States
Like the human body, and the earth's surface, this newsletter is mostly, but not entirely, water.
Author’s suggestion: Start here!
Europe/Global
Moving Mountains is about noticing the small and the slow, living with unpredictability and instability. It is not about overcoming or conquering, but of living with and connecting.
From the author: Start here.
United States
I'm a children's book author / mystery writer who has increasingly turned to nature for inspiration; my Substack explores the intersections of mystery and nature writing.
Author’s note: I'm often out looking for ideas in nature, wondering if these seeds will grow into essays, stories, or entire books. Sometimes my mystery writing mind takes over, as it did when I encountered owl feathers strewn through the woods one day.
Australia
Flower teachings, plant spirit messages, herbal wisdom and connections with nature, land and our mythic place within it.
Writer’s note: I love this post as it’s simple and short but contains the essence of my experience with plants.
United States
Answers to questions we all wonder about nature.
Artist’s note: I was surprised by the answer to this question (as I often am) and I love how it illuminated the complexity of the natural world.
[Naturaleya]
Trinidad and Tobago
Ethnobotanical musings about plants and nature in the Caribbean diaspora.
Note from the author: Start here!
United States - traveling
60-second nature videos featuring Earth
From the artist: Visit the original "Listening Point" and discover the story behind the newsletter.
Oceania
Dreaming big, asking hard questions and charting a path to biodiversity and abundance for all species.
Note from the writer: Start here.
United States
Rethinking our relationship to nature | Cultivating reverence & an open heart
From the author: This piece brings together all my favorite themes: Why it's so hard to listen to your own heart, how following authorities became the norm in Western education, and how Indigenous examples show a different way—cultivating "sovereignty of mind."
Europe and UK
A fortnightly newsletter describing sightings of some of nature's most amazing phenomena and the astronomical, meteorological and ecological causes behind them.
From the author: Here is a good place to start.
United States
An eclectic mix of outdoor topics, from environmental issues to deer hunting to Zen Buddhism and fur trapping in Quebec.
Author’s note: This post showed how excited people are to get outside and be prepared for these adventures.
United States
Writing on natural history, birds, plants, and experiences outdoors
England
The birds of folklore, mythology, history, and the English countryside.
Author’s suggestion: Start here!
Europe and U.K.
A poetically philosophical look at farming, nature, ecology, and localism - with a few other things thrown in too.
United States
Where art and outdoor culture come together in Pittsburgh
United Kingdom
Connecting to nature through the lens of Paper Botany
Author’s note: Without plants, we are nothing. This post shows the humblest, most every day plants and flowers — daisies and dandelions — are as wonderful as the most exotic orchid!
United States
A first generation farmer's reflections on finding our way back to ourselves by renewing our connection to nature and digging our hands into the earth.
From the author: My essay on death and the cyclical way of life as seen in nature remains close to my heart and the path I have chosen to walk on my journey as a farmer and grower of plants and animals.
United States/Global
Share the joy of our planet's beauty while recognizing the existential threats to the only home we have.
Suggested post: A mix of memories, hiking, travel, nature, history, and fascinating people I have met.
United States
Join me to explore nature and spirit, reconnect with the earth and our love for the planet and the lives we share it with, and heal ourselves along the way; I'm a botanist who has been writing about the nature of life for a long time — 13 books and hundreds of articles and essays.
Note from the author: This post explains my Year of Spiritual Thinking project, a yearlong exploration of spirituality and nature, a personal journey that seems to be really resonating with my audience (thank you, readers!).
New Zealand
Australia
Musings on cultivating awareness of our belonging in the living world, engaging with climate and eco crises from a place of psychological wellbeing and connection.
Author’s note: Here’s a story about how we can come to know the feeling of being held within a network of communities, alive with purpose, energised by love.
United Kingdom
I encourage nature connection and gentle creativity to support wellbeing and the planet.
African continent
Lifting up - through art and storytelling - the work of dozens of community organizers, farmers, trainers, artisans and teachers in Africa who are changing the lives of others and improving their communities.
Note from the writer: Start here, at the Launch Post for RainMakers & ChangeMakers.
United States
A couple of naturalists from the swamps of Louisiana writing about their new life moving to a ranch in Oklahoma.
Authors’ suggestion: Start here!
Canada
The explosion of life in spring cannot be ignored!
United States
At age 59, I dramatically changed my life by returning to horseback riding. On the back of Jasper, a willing buttercream palomino quarter horse, I ponder our connections to this wild, wide world and share musings and essays on this publication.
From the author: This post details an accident with a horse named Buck, which I follow throughout my journey.
Europe and UK
Suggested: Start here.
United States
Rock and Hawk recounts encounters with birds and features researched essays that help facilitate a greater understanding of the natural world.
From the author: My post "Birding by Ear" captures the way birding incorporates hearing as a way to find and identify birds, in conjunction with your vision.
England
Weekly dispatches from the avian frontier. Subscribers can choose to receive the ‘Birds’ newsletter or the wide-ranging, but often nature-related, ‘Six Things.’
From the author: I love writing about the everyday encounters with birds on my local urban patch. Try this piece for a start.
France
Working through our entangled lives with the rest of the natural world through poetry.
From the writer: Here’s a good place to start.
United States and Caribbean
Explore with a liveaboard Sailor the deep blue oceans and the challenges of a Classic Sailing Yacht.
Note from the writer: I live an unusual life with a unique language, unforgettable adventures and unforeseen challenges; best of all, every day is a new view!
England
Writing my way around the Wheel of the Year, exploring green spirituality, animism, myth and folklore from a neurodivergent Traveller perspective.
Ireland
An animist archaeologist and artist writing from an ecocentric and decolonial perspective.
From the artist: This essay is an animist's intimate exploration of recognising and reclaiming our place in the natural world; as its subtitle says, it's been written in praise of the spirit of moss, trees, wind and rain.
United Kingdom
I write about my experiences as a conservation volunteer to highlight the importance of protecting “everyday nature” and discuss some of the threats it faces.
Author’s note: This post in which I discuss the benefits of conservation volunteering for wildlife and people and the impact it has had on me personally is a good introduction to what I write about, and one I particularly enjoyed writing.
United States
Ditch the box. Just think outside.
Author’s suggestion: Start here.
United Kingdom
This Party’s Over contains place writing, personal essays, memoir, environmental writing, nature writing, and a regular country diary.
From the writer: Start here.
England
Rediscovering nature; learning to live again
Note from the writer: This post felt like a culmination of all the reasons why I was returning to nature having just quit my job and facing the possibility of losing my dad, it was laying down the gauntlet of a new life to come.
Australia
From the collective: We know that the world is not as they tell us. What if we took that seriously?
By: Melina Sempill Watts
United States
Biodiversity first.
A note from the artist: “The Buddha achieved enlightenment while meditating under a tree. To what extent did the tree’s being contribute to the Buddha’s shift of consciousness?” I invite you to start here.
United States/Nomadic
Exploring the relationship between Consciousness and Nature
From the author: This is the inaugural piece, setting the tone for True Nature as a whole.
United States based; worldwide subjects
Twig & Ink features interviews with creative people from around the world, and also shares news of external organizations that explore the intersection of science, art, and writing.
From the author: In each interview on Twig & Ink, I encourage people to reflect on how science, art, and writing intertwine and inform each other in their work; Wriley's experiences and responses provide a fantastic example of how deeply enriched each part can be when these disciplines come together.
United States
I’ve learned from the best of the old ridge runners, to slip into the woods unseen. Though not a deer hunter or angler myself, my aims align with those who feel most truly alive in the great outdoors. For we all belong to this beautiful mystery & must learn to let it fill our hearts, as if our very lives depended on it.
From the artist: This post documents what I love most about going off the beaten track ... and how what we think we’re doing and what the universe has planned for us can be two very different things.
United States
The Weekly Anthropocene offers data-driven independent journalism sharing regular news roundups on climate and biodiversity progress from around the world, plus more in-depth interviews, deep dives, book reviews, travelogues, and more.
Writer’s note: Here’s a collection of all the articles from my 2024 sojourn to India, touching on subjects from Mumbai’s flamingoes to the record Delhi heatwave to human-elephant coexistence to a giant solar farm!
Australia (Tasmania)
Wild and wonderful stories from a little Island at the bottom of the world.
Author’s suggested starting point: Here you can find a series of short stories about a walk in a wild place that moved me deeply. If you walked in a wild place, would it change you?
United States
For those who find spirituality in nature: Includes in depth spirit animal interpretations. My publication is interspiritual, non-denominational, and for people who are spiritual but not religious; my background is in ecology and conservation, so I’m always weaving science into my writing about our spiritual connection with nature.
From the writer: This post explores how turkey vulture’s keen sense of smell relates to discernment and the ability to find resources; it’s also connected to purification and the exorcist archetype that helps us clear out our own inner demons.
United States
Rivers, wild things, and reflections from a life of rowing against the current.
United States - nature nomad
Naturally increase your health and well-being with Wildlands and help create a world of well-being.
Writer’s note: Reducing harm is Wildlands’ mission and this essay provided necessary information and increased networks to help stop the corruption of animal organizations.
United States
Photography and musings on the joy of all things creature-related to share my delight in our wonder-full world; connecting people with nature was the aim of my career as a zoo conservation director and now I'm focused on connecting readers to creatures from all over the world as a freelance conservation writer and photographer.
Note from the writer: After hanging out with a rare avian visitor to the Pacific Northwest, in this post I examined the birding world's obsession for “chasing” birds that wander far from their home ranges.
Canada
Supporting healing through connection with nature.
From the author: After years spent working in forests and gardens, it was my son's forest school that slowed me down and started my practice of nature journaling and writing nature-inspired poetry.
