0824_Life By the Water feature - FINAL_Profile ( Dept . ) 8 / 30 / 24 11 : 10 AM Page 3 Karl Russek is the conservation direc - rally drawn to the water because we need focuson what see through the windshield tor with the French & Pickering Creeks it to survive , and I think at some basic and on the phone versus these natural sys - Conservation Trust , headquartered in the level people understand that , whether tems all around us . ” Chester County community of Devault . He , consciously or not . ” like Smith , treasures his connection to the PRESERVE AND PROTECT local landscape . PEACEFUL PLACES Russek characterizes the Philadelphia area , “ I grew up in a mining area where all Kapil Nayar , LPC , a staff counselor and ad - including the collar counties , as “ truly the water was heavily polluted , so it really junct faculty member with Villanova Uni - blessed ” with abundant natural resources , informed my career choice , ” says Russek , versity , meets with students daily to work including lakes , rivers , and other water - whose career also involved work in fi - withthem on concerns they may have . Na - ways . nance for other environmental projects . “ At yar , too , believes in the value of time spent “ Thosewere part of the reason this this point in my career , I wanted to come by the water . areawas settled by Europeans in colonial back to working in the landscape where I “ There are large bodies of research in - times , ” he says . “ Despite centuries of in - live to help preserve what is really a trea - dicating the direct correlation with the dustrial activity and agriculture , despite sig - sure for folks in this area . ” more time we spend in nature the more nificant suburban development over the Russek is responsible for working with mental stimulation , neurochemically , we last decades , these are still exceptional wa - municipalities , landowners , and funders to receive and transitive benefits , ” he shares . tersheds that provide clean water and a protect the landscape in northern Chester “ There are many benefits to spending host of other important services . ” County . He recently took over the position time by the water . There are a multitude One such service : flood control . from Pam Brown , a long - time conserva - of mindfulness moments — being present , “ Watersheds with less pavement or de - tion leader in the area . slowing down , focusing on our breathing , velopmentabsorb water and release it STATE “ Protected areas along the water tend and having stimulation of our senses that more slowly , ” Russek adds . “ These areas to be quiet places that enable people to benefit us , mentally , emotionally , and become important tools for resilience in slow down , cut out the noise , and appre - even physically as it triggers a positive re - the face of changing precipitation patterns ciate the natural systems that work hard sponse in our brain . It is through our sen - due to climate change . We’re getting more for us that are all around us that a lot of sations being flooded , no pun intended , water , more intense rainstorms , so we people don’t even really notice , ” Russek that we heal . ” need healthy watersheds to mitigate some says . “ There’s a reason kids gravitate to Beyondopen skies and fresh air , of that impact . playing in creeks — some people like me Nayar says time in nature provides a “ Thesewaterways do a tremendous never grow out of that . People are natu - respite from the hectic world around us , amount of hard work for the folks who in which our lives are inundated with live in the area , ” he continues . “ Water - stressors and distractions . ways in suburban Philadelphia generally drain into the Schuylkill , the Delaware , or the Brandywine , at least on the Pennsylva - “ I T ’ S S O C A L M I N G nia side , where they go on to become a source of drinking water to millions of T O T H E N E R V O U S people . In addition to that , healthy water - ways serve as important educational and S Y S T E M T O J U S T recreational locations . ” In Pennsylvania , nature and humans S I T A N D F L O A T have long coexisted in relative harmony , A N D B E P R E S E N T thanks in large part to local waters . “ A lot of our protected landscape along I N T H E waterways is not just an experience with nature but history as well , ” Russek says . M O M E N T . ” “ Wehave a number of old mills , canal “ I would argue that technology im - locks , etc . Most of the settlement , even pre - pacts our body inversely to that of nature , ” European , was along these waterways so he says . “ Things like anxiety , depression , it really is a walk through history . and even insomnia all have been indicated “ A lot of our trails that are quite popu - to be linked with the overuse of technol - lar in the Philadelphia area are along wa - ogy — not to mention loneliness [ or ] isola - terways , ” he continues . “ Where decades tion , which our surgeon general has an - before , these areas were considered mere nounced is our newest current drainage , more and more people are now plague . Conversely , basking in nature accessing these resources . ” phy seems to … stimulate neuronal reactions Russekconcludes with some advice for togra that seem to balance us , bring us positivity anyonewho is interested in having a closer Pho and peace , and , further , heal us . ” relationship with their local waters : “ Start Bell Russek agrees , noting that spending whereyou are — what watershed you’re in , Don time in and around local waterways “ re - what your local creek is . Helping people by it ally helps ground folks to get a better understandwhere they are in their water - ortra ? sense of where we all live . It’s too easy to shed is an important first step . ” p Lasco 7 0 | S U B U R B A N L I F E M A G A Z I N E | V O L U M E 1 5 I S S U E 1 1 | S U B U R B A N L I F E M A G A Z I N E . C O M