# The Folklore Behind Ecology, or Why Scientists in Ecology Need Help from Folklorists

Our laws, policies and the fundamental scientific ideas about nature derive from ancient myths and modern folklore. We "save" endangered species and manage our natural resources based on beliefs about a balance of nature that never existed and is continually disproved by scientific observations, but strangely still forms much of the basis of the science of ecology. In his Benjamin Botkin Lecture sponsored by the American Folklife Center, Daniel Botkin addresses his view on how this came about, and why folklorists need to open a dialogue with environmental scientists.

- Kind: Talk
- Year: 2006
- By: American Folklife Center
- Genres: Education, Science, History
- Archive: [Library of Congress](https://www.loc.gov/item/2021687857/)
- Licence or status: Rights statement at the Library of Congress (as the archive states it)
- Credit: Library of Congress
- Who can watch: Tweens profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

[Watch now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/watch/archive/loc/2021687857?play=1)