Episode #13 From Classroom to Canopy: Rosalind Philips on Nature, Teaching, and Tenacity

In this episode, host Hava Gurevich talks with wildlife photographer, teacher, scientist, and software engineer Rosalind Phillips, who has spent her life “exploring the connections between art, science, and education.” Rosalind shares stories from growing up in Inwood in upper Manhattan near the Cloisters, attending a progressive school based on John Dewey’s laboratory school, and spending summers at a Quaker camp in Vermont, where her deep love of nature took root. She recalls getting her first camera as a child from her amateur-photographer father, becoming a national leader in using computers in the classroom, and the hummingbird nest photograph that re-ignited her passion for photography in 1992. Rosalind talks about her project-based teaching, her move into software engineering after serious illness, three decades on the art fair circuit in Olympia and Seattle, her philosophy of intent in photography, and the belief that “every living creature…deserves the same respect that we give other human beings.” She also speaks candidly about navigating racism, building long-term relationships with collectors, and her current passions: astrophotography, abstract nature work, and her annual Juneteenth images.https://www.instagram.com/rosalind.philips/   https://rosalindphilipsphotography.com/shop-art/