Talk on the Wild Side
with Eric Foht

Transcription

Vikki Locke

Hi, I’m Vikki Lockee with C2 Communications, and this is Talk on the Wild Side, brought to you by the Florida Wildlife Federation. Today, we’re talking to Eric Foht. I’m so excited because I’m a member of the Naples Botanical Gardens, and he works there, and his title is natural resources director. Hi, Eric.

Eric Foht

Hi, Vikki, how are you doing?

Vikki Locke

I’m doing great. Now, first, before we tell everybody why you’re going to be burning down the gardens, I want everybody to know the background, what happened to you? When did you know that saving the planet was in your blood?

Eric Foht

I was thinking about that, and I guess it was not just one moment, but it was a culmination of my childhood. I think it’s really just, I played outdoors so much that it did end up being this part of my being, and then, later on, my parents started taking us to natural areas and parks. We went to this amazing springs in North Florida, and I had never seen water that clear, and just taken with some of these trips that I had in my younger years. Then, when I went to university, I think that’s when I was like, “Hey, I could do this for a degree and maybe a job.”

Vikki Locke

Speaking of jobs, you had a job kite surfing in some tropical place, and you got paid for it. Tell me more.

Eric Foht

I did get paid, not well, but I did get paid, but that’s really not the point is it when you’re getting paid to kitesurf, but I will say that back to the play thing that I mentioned, when just playing outdoors, playing in the woods, and that sort of thing. The ocean has really been my place where I have connected the strongest with. My wife and I, we weren’t married at the time, but we traveled to Aruba together, and it’s one of the windiest places in the world. We just started learning what to do there. We found some work, and I was a huge kite surfer. I got a job doing that, and the rest is history. It’s been my passion forever, but I will say it does tie back into my desire to help the planet because when you’re that connected to the ocean, to the woods, to nature, you can’t help, but want to save it or help it. I would say, don’t take your passions or your interests too lightly. Those things can really lead you into a great job, which it has in my case.

Vikki Locke

In your case, I find it hard to believe that you didn’t even know what a botanical garden was before you got the job.

Eric Foht

That’s definitely true. Not only did I not know what they were and I hadn’t been to one, but I really didn’t know their potential was either. They’re much different. For our listeners that don’t know what a botanical garden is, they’re not just a pretty place like a park to walk around. There’s a scientific research-based side to them and a conservation side. I just didn’t know all that.

I didn’t know that they recorded where every plant came from. It’s like a piece of artwork. They know where this tree came from, who owned it, who grew it, what seed it came from, where that seed came from in the world, and that gives value to it because if we want to restore, say, the natural area with that genetic source, we know about it. A botanic garden is so much more than just a beautiful place, but it’s a wonderful blend because sometimes, that beauty draws people in and then they dig deeper and they learn about all the conservation work, the environmental side to it, and I think it’s just really a diverse place to work.

Vikki Locke

Take us behind the scenes then, because as you said, to me, it’s just a beautiful place. The orchids are outstanding, everything is so beautiful. What would be the surprise to learn behind the scenes when it comes to conservation in the gardens?

Eric Foht

There’s a lot. We have a seed bank, which is a place to store rare seeds. We do conservation horticulture. We grow plants in our display gardens that are maybe, for instance, there could be 20 trees of this left in the world, and we have a specimen that people can walk up to and look at, but that means that we could actually share seeds back to the place where we got it, to help conserve it. Then, back to your earlier question, you’re like, “Why would Eric want to start a fire in the garden?”

Vikki Locke

[laughs] That’s what I was going to wrap up with, 90 acres, you’re going to be burning.

Eric Foht

People would say, “Well, why would you set a beautiful forest on fire?” I would say the short answer to that is that fire is as natural to Florida’s upland ecosystems as rain. It’s not like we’re doing something weird or different, it’s something that had been happening for eons. What we’re doing is just giving the forest what it needs, in a way. Just like a child needs love when they’re being raised to be healthy and thrive, forests need fire. When you look at it like that, it’s not something strange at all. It’s actually perfectly clear.

To our listeners out there, I would say that, when you get into this environmental field, there’s a lot of ways and branches that you can go to. I happen to end up at a botanical garden, but there are a lot of other places like state parks. Locally, there’s the conservancy or the wildlife hospital. Some advice I would give to people looking to get into this field or if you have a passion for the outdoors and you don’t know what to do, I would say, you really need to just follow your passion if you can. Sometimes that works for you, and sometimes it doesn’t, but at least it’s worth a shot.

If you have talent in art or science or business, or you’re just creative mechanically, there’s a place for you to help the earth. It’s not just one facet that we need to approach it from. We need to come from every different angle and have really all types of people doing this type of work. Back to your thing about me not knowing about a botanical garden, I’m sure many of our listeners won’t know either. Check that out.

Vikki Locke

If they are thinking, “I’d like to save the planet, I like animals, I’m into water, I’m into whatever,” are there a lot of internships? Is that what you would suggest that they do?

Eric Foht

Yes. I would say yes. I started out doing an internship after I was teaching kite surfing. I did an internship at Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, which is just south of the Naples Botanical Garden, and gosh, I was doing all sorts of cool things, going on boats and helping them with some crab research. I was getting to snorkel and count seagrass underwater, which is a strange thing to put on your resume, but it was very cool. I met people, I got to go out and see places I probably wouldn’t have seen otherwise.

An internship is a wonderful way. Volunteering is also good. Then, just going out and joining clubs, maybe even. There’s a lot of groups that do bird walks and plant walks, and there’s even people that go out and do mushroom walks and learn about the fungi and the forest. With Facebook and the internet, There are so many ways to connect with groups. I would say, get out there and be met and be seen and ask questions. You really don’t know who you’re going to meet on one of these things and where a job could come from. Those are many avenues.

Vikki Locke

Is there anybody strange or fun that you met along the way that has laid your path?

Eric Foht

Oh, too many to count or to list.

Vikki Locke

Networking’s important.

Eric Foht

What’s that?

Vikki Locke

Networking.

Eric Foht

Networking, but I would say that I have met many people. When you say strange or different, I would say it’s because they’re so passionate about what they do. Anytime you’re very passionate about something, you might appear strange or different, but that’s a good thing. I’ve met lots of people, from my professors who were just quirky, to different scientists that I’ve met that showed me things that I wouldn’t have ever known or noticed and taught me how to see the world. Those people were invaluable in shaping who I am and where I’ve gone.

Vikki Locke

That’s great. Thanks so much for spending some of your day with us and good luck with that fire.

Eric Foht

Oh, my pleasure. I brought a hat just in case. I forgot to put it on, but I got my fire hat here. You can see that. When it’s an intense fire, you can put it over you. I would end by saying, I get to wear a lot of different hats in my job, and it’s been really great. I appreciate the time getting to speak with you.

Vikki Locke

Thanks so much, Eric.

Eric Foht

All right, Vikki, take care.

Vikki Locke

Let’s all do our part. When it comes to conservation, there’s so much more we can learn. Check it out at floridawildlifefederation.org.