Natalie Ringel ’23 is one of 26 student fellows who completed research with a community-based organization in upstate New York this summer as a part of the Upstate Institute Summer Field School.
All of my most meaningful memories center around time spent in nature. From my first solo backpacking trip in the Adirondacks to camping with friends on the banks of rocky islands, my outdoor experiences always leave me with a profound appreciation for the natural world and an opportunity for self-reflection. The reflective and meditative experience of being in nature serves as an empowering way to engage with my environment while also offering comfort in times of need. The ability to fully engage with the outdoors plays an especially critical role in navigating my challenges living with a visual disability. When I was 12 years old, I was diagnosed with a rare form of retinitis pigmentosa (RP), a degenerative retinal disease that eventually leads to blindness. As an avid outdoors person, continuing to spend time in nature while living with RP offers a safe space for healing, reflection, and growth, while also instilling a sense of agency. Although my visual disability certainly creates some challenges, the inherent multisensory experience of outdoor recreation encourages me to continue to explore outdoor spaces with a sense of confidence and independence I desire as a disabled individual.
While learning how to best navigate outdoor spaces to have these fulfilling experiences, I am increasingly aware of the barriers to accessing the outdoors, especially for people with disabilities. Driven by my understanding of nature’s ability to comfort and inspire, I was drawn to working at the Paul Smith College’s Visitor Interpretive Center (VIC) in order to increase accessibility and equity for those visiting the Adirondack Park. As a Field School Fellow with the Upstate Institute, I partnered with Paul Smith’s VIC to increase Adirondack Park accessibility through physical landscape changes and educational programming reform.
My fellowship this summer had me work with VIC staff to target the systemic ableism prevalent in outdoor spaces in hopes of eliminating these barriers to better facilitate a positive outdoor experience for all visitors. Stemming from the VIC’s greater mission of offering accessible outdoor experiences through education, recreation, research, and arts, my work this summer aimed to increase accessibility and appreciation for this beautiful natural resource. Over the next few years, the VIC hopes to build on its 25+ miles of multiuse recreational trails with the intention of eliminating barriers to accessing the outdoors for visitors with disabilities and promoting knowledge and connectedness to the Adirondacks diverse ecology.
Identifying with the VIC’s mission on a personal level, I was eager to bring my own experiences living with a visual disability into my role this summer. Eliminating barriers to accessing the outdoors can take many different forms; my projects specifically focused on the creation of multisensory experiences for visitors in order to dismantle ableist outdoor practices. For example, I helped the VIC build and plant a scent garden outside of the classroom area. Not only does the scent garden work to educate visitors on native flora and fauna, but also allows those with visual disabilities to experience Adirondack ecology in an alternative way. The scent garden is also made accessible to visitors with mobility devices through a raised bed gardening approach and encourages the use of all senses to gain a deeper knowledge and appreciation of the Adirondacks.
I also developed a multisensory guided exploration of Barnum Brook Trail, which is one of the most popular Adirondack trails for young families and visitors with disabilities. My project focused on educating hikers on Adirondack ecology by valuing all senses as ways to absorb and enjoy the outdoors. By listening for loon calls or touching age-old lichen, this immersive experience aims to show alternative ways to engage with one’s environment in an accessible and fulfilling way.
Along with these projects, I also had the opportunity to develop an educational training program about facilitating positive outdoor experiences for visitors with disabilities. Drawing upon my own experiences as a disabled outdoors person, it was extremely gratifying to share my experiences with others in hopes of further increasing accessibility to outdoor recreational spaces. My program, called (Dis)ability in the Outdoors, included a seminar and training program for the VIC staff and the Paul Smith’s College community, and its is now available on the VIC’s website as a testimonial to the positive influence of engaging with outdoor spaces on a developmental and emotional level. As I shared my own challenges navigating built and natural landscapes, it became clear to me and my colleagues that dismantling institutionalized ableism in outdoor spaces requires a collaborative and ongoing effort across the disabled and able-bodied communities. By working at the VIC this summer, I hope that I served both of these communities and furthered the VIC’s mission of facilitating accessible and equitable outdoor experiences for all visitors.
As an Upstate Institute Fellow, I have had the opportunity to bring my passion for the outdoors into an area of work that has the ability to build positive and lasting reform. By working with Paul Smith's College VIC as a community partner, I feel that I now better understand the barriers to accessing the outdoors for visitors with disabilities, and am grateful to have worked on projects which begin to bring down those barriers. From my experiences this summer, it is clear that dismantling systemic ableism in outdoor spaces requires a collective and collaborative effort by all community members in order to promote equitable, accessible, and positive outdoor experiences for all.
Many thanks to the Upstate Institute Summer Field School for this opportunity, and to the wonderful team at Paul Smith’s College VIC for guiding me throughout this process this summer.