• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
  • Shop
  • A Rocha Intl

A Rocha USA

A Rocha USA

  • About Us
    • What We Do
    • Who We Are
    • Contact Us
  • Get Involved
    • Events Calendar
    • Join the A Rocha Community
    • Tackle Plastic Pollution
    • Take Climate Action
    • Wild Wonder Curriculum
  • Donate

Resources for Sheltering at Home

Our aim for this resource page is to provide you with opportunities for learning, engagement, encouragement, and hope from our perspective as a creation care organization. We’ll add new content on a regular basis and you can follow us on social media for updates: Facebook, Instagram, & Twitter.

At Home 2020, Early July
Grant Shellhouse | July 6, 2020
The early-July refresh of the Resources for Sheltering at Home page brings a series of recommended readings. There are now three reading lists to be found under the “Read” tab. The first compiles books authored by A Rocha staff and friends. The next is a list of recommendations from the A Rocha community of books they’ve found to be good companions in these months… [More…]

Cultivating Life

  • Emily Dickinson’s Hope is the Thing with Feathers: A Visual Interpretation by Julian Peters [Article]
  • Living the Sabbath by Love Your Place [Book Club]
  • Loving What You Know by Jubilee Dueck Thiessen [Article]
A Rocha Artists & Friends

  • Butterfly Project: Milkweed by Heidy Sumei Chuang [Video]
  • I Will Sing by Sandra McCracken [Music]
  • Reflections: Saying Yes to Life by Ruth Valerio [Article]

Theological Insights

  • Holy, Wholly Holey Ground by Karen Curry [Video]
  • Home Delivery No.2: Davis, Harris, McCracken, Neder hosted by Laity Lodge [Video]
  • The Third Place: Our Place in a Changed Society hosted by CEEP Network [Webinar]

Spiritual Exercises

  • All Things Reconciled by Nate Gerhardt [Video]
  • “Investing in the Real Future” by Ellen Davis [Sermon Video]
  • Reflections by Curt Thompson [Website]

Schedule

August 27: Plastic Pandemic: Strategies & Solutions In Times of COVID-19

August 14: A Rocha Talks: a Panel Discussion on Godspeed and the Art of Neighbouring

August 6: Faith Communities & Climate Resilience – Virtual Summit

July 29: Trivia Night: Plastic Free July

July 18-26: National Moth Week

July 10: Laudato Si: Faith, Plastic and a Regenerative Society by Plastic Bank Faith Program

July 6-11: Black Botanists Week

June 22-28: National Pollinator Week by Pollinator Partnership

June 22-27: Black Hikers Week

June 8: World Oceans Day

June 6: American Hiking Society’s National Trails Day® by American Hiking Society

June 5: World Environment Day 2020 by UN Environment Programme

June 5: The Challenges of Covid-19 and the Opportunity for Renewal host by Plastic Bank Faith Program

June 1-7: International Nature Journaling Week

June 1: World Reef Day

June 1: Virtual Fireflies Event hosted by Discover Life in America

May 31-June 5: Black Birders Week

Learn

Lausanne Global Classroom: Creation Care [Video]

International Dark Sky Week [Video]

Cornell Lab | Joy of Bird Watching [Online Course]

Earth LIVE Lessons [Video]

Backyard Ecology: Earthworms! [Video]

The Ocean Agency [Google Earth Required]

 

Record

You can use any number of science apps to do citizen science in your own backyard, on a “social distance” walk, or even out your windows. A Rocha uses several that we’d encourage you consider.


iNaturalist is an application used for mapping and sharing observations of biodiversity. It’s great for helping you identify plants and animals around you. There’s a huge community of scientists and citizen that provide quick feedback on questions you might have. They have some great recommendations for species identification even when you’re “stuck at home.”

We’ve created a new project inside iNaturalist called A Rocha Pollinators. Be sure to add this project on any observations you make.


eBird is a popular application for tracking and sharing your bird sightings. With spring migration starting, now is a great time identify birds flying to their summer homes. Here’s a good introduction from the folks at eBird. We will be participating in the Global Big Day on May 9th.


Globe at Night is an international citizen-science campaign to raise public awareness of the impact of light pollution by inviting citizen-scientists to measure & submit their night sky brightness observations. They have instructions on their site for getting involved.

Earth Challenge 2020
A global citizen science initiative that will demonstrate how small acts of science can add up to global change.

Read

Below are books by A Rocha authors, a curated list by theme of books to consider in these times, and book recommendations from A Rocha friends and staff for these days of sheltering in place. You can make a recommendation of your own on our Facebook page.

Books by A Rocha Staff

Recommendations from the A Rocha Community

Books for Sheltering at Home by Theme

Listen

A Rocha USA

Steven Purcell

 

Jeff Johnson

Nathan Tasker

 

Considering Birds

Instagram

by Kenny Benge, minister and A Rocha board member

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Bird of the Day: Carolina Wren. In summer it can seem that every backyard or forest in the eastern United States rings with the exuberant teakettle-teakettle-teakettle! song of the Carolina Wren. Our backyard, Dec 2018.

A post shared by Ken Benge (@kenbenge) on Jul 23, 2020 at 6:38am PDT


by David Braud, professional photographer and A Rocha artist partner

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Prairie Warbler – Natchez Trace Parkway, Franklin, TN Saw my first Prairie Warbler at Radnor last year and today was my second a bit closer to home just off the Natchez Trace Parkway. Thank you @kenbenge for meeting me out there and showing me this great new spot. At least 12 species (not including the more common birds) and one lifer (Yellow Breasted Chat). #ethicsbeforeimages #kings_birds #birds_illife #bestbirdshots #live_love_wildlife #birdsoftennessee #feather_perfection #eye_spy_birds #your_best_birds #nuts_about_birds #bird_brilliance #perfect_birds #birds_adored #pocket_birds #bns_birds #bb_of_ig #planetbirds #explore_wildlife #marvelouz_animals #florafauna_in #abcmyphoto #natureartist #naturearts #nature_worldwide_birds #arochausa #arocha #loveyourplace #prairiewarbler #warbler

A post shared by davidbraud//finches2falcons (@finches2falcons) on May 7, 2020 at 7:52pm PDT

by Fernando Ortega – Musician and Amateur photographer

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Ladies and Germs, I present to you a Lazuli Bunting. I’ve had them in my yard the last several years, so I figure they must nest close by, if not in one of my trees. The first time I saw one of these buggars several years ago, I figured it was an exotic escapee from someone’s cage or a pet store. I was so impressed by that shocking blue hood. For some reason, this year has been different. This little bunting appeared one day and started singing his fool head off almost nonstop. This happened for more than a week and I figured he was looking for a lady friend. Anyway – he finally disappeared altogether and I have not heard him since. I hope he found what or whom he was looking for – someone to settle down with, raise a family, argue with on the way to church. Stuff like that. #nature_birds #birds_lovers #birdsintheworld_ #nuts_about_birdbird #best_birds_ #birdspotting #king_birds #bird_captures #bird_freaks #almightybirds #raw_birds #best_birds_of_world #best_bird_of_ig #nature_worldwide_birds #thebirdingsquad #best_bird_shots #best_birds_planet #best_birds #birding_photography #explore_wildlife #explore_wildlife_ #nature #naturephotography #beauty #beautiful #lazuli #lazulibunting

A post shared by Fernando Ortega (@phernandeau) on Jun 13, 2020 at 9:20am PDT


Feature photo by Cuong Doan on Unsplash 

Note: We have made a concerted effort to provide a range of voices on this page. With that, we do not necessarily endorse every idea or opinion presented. As always, we are open to your input and recommendations via hello@arocha.us

Footer

A Rocha USA
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • ABOUT US
  • What We Do
  • Meet the Team
  • Careers and Internships
  • Contact
  • RESOURCES
  • Blog
  • Join Love Your Place
  • Multimedia
  • GET INVOLVED
  • Donate
  • Events
  • Join Our Community
  • Take Climate Action
  • Marine Conservation
  • Camp Curriculum
  • Projects

© 2016 A Rocha USA Environmental Stewardship

A Rocha USA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, EIN 31-1751509
  • ECFA |
  • GuideStar |
  • Privacy Policy |
  • Faith Statement