CIR's Environmental Experts Webinar Series Presents

Discovering Ourselves Through Nature

with Richard W. Halsey, the director of the California Chaparral Institute

Wednesday, September 17, 2025 | 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm

For over two million years, we evolved outside, in Nature, driven by our instincts. Over the last several thousand years, our conscious minds have tried to reconcile the demands of civilization with our ancient, wild selves. Yet within each of us remains an intimate connection with the natural world that can help us discover new possibilities, enhance our joy, and extend our lives. Many of the most influential philosophers, from Epicurus to Nietzsche to Jung, have reflected on these ideas, revealing answers to most of the fundamental questions challenging us today. Join Richard W. Halsey, the director of the California Chaparral Institute, as we explore how to enrich our lives by understanding our past and connecting with local native habitats, especially the chaparral, California’s most extensive and characteristic habitat.

Richard Halsey

Besides being the director of the California Chaparral Institute, an educational/scientific non-profit dedicated to providing a voice for the chaparral, Richard W. Halsey is also a writer, photographer, and most importantly, a teacher who strives to unleash our innate creativity as inspired by Nature.

Halsey has given more than 500 presentations and written numerous books, research papers, and articles over the past 20 years concerning chaparral ecology and the importance of reestablishing our connection with Nature. Richard also works with the San Diego Museum of Natural History and continues to teach natural history throughout the state. He founded and has been teaching the Chaparral Naturalist Certification Program for the past ten years. The second edition of his book, Fire, Chaparral, and Survival in Southern California, was awarded the Best Nonfiction-Local Interest Book by the San Diego Book Awards Association.

Richard earned undergraduate degrees from the University of California in environmental studies and anthropology, and a graduate degree in secondary education. Richard taught biology, physics, and environmental science for over thirty years in both public and private high schools, was honored as Teacher of the Year for San Diego City Schools, and was awarded the Christa McAuliffe Fellowship. He has also been trained as a wildland firefighter.