(upbeat music) - [Rick] Coming up next on NewsDepth, it's our Earth Day episode, so we hike around Ohio's National Park.

Plus, learn the deliciously sweet secret to making maple syrup.

Margaret nerds out about mystery birds with an ornithologist.

And this abstract artist uses fire to symbolize human impacts on the Earth.

NewsDepth is now.

(upbeat music) We're celebrating Earth Day, the NewsDepth way.

Hello everybody, I'm Rick Jackson.

Thank you for joining us.

Now we've got plenty of packages about our blue planet for you, but before we head out doors for Earth Day, a bit of sad news to cover.

The United Kingdom is mourning a great loss.

Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, husband to Elizabeth the second, Queen of the United Kingdom was laid to rest over the weekend at St. George's chapel in Windsor, England.

Normally the death of someone so high in the monarchy, would mean a large ceremony with a huge public turnout.

But because of the pandemic, the ceremony was kept small with only 30 guests including the prince's children, and grandchildren.

Prince Philip's personal touches featured throughout the service, reflected his military affiliations and his interest.

He passed away April 9th, at the age of 99.

He stayed by the queen's side for more than 65 years making him the longest serving Royal consort in British history.

A consort is a wife, husband, or partner, especially to a Monarch.

Nadia Romero has more on his life.

- [Nadia] The Duke of Edinburgh was born as the Prince of Greece in Denmark in 1921.

His family fled to Paris when he was an infant after they were overthrown from power.

Eight years later, Phillip was sent to England to be raised by his grandmother and uncle.

He served in the British Royal Navy from 1939 to 1953 and fought in World War II.

The Queen and Prince Philip met before the Second World War when he was a young Naval cadet.

The couple married in 1947.

- I was always struck by how much he was committed to supporting the queen on every occasion, whether it was a happy one or more difficult task with members of the family or sad occasion.

But he was always there.

- [Nadia] During his time with the Royal air force he logged almost 6,000 flight hours and 59 different types of aircraft over four decades.

Famous for his energy, the Duke's health inevitably deteriorated as he headed into old age.

In the summer of 2017, Prince Philip effectively announced his retirement, saying he would give up official Royal duties.

Prince Philip was the oldest serving Royal consort.

He was known for his love of painting, horses, flying, sailing, and environmental conservation.

Prince Philip, serviceman, campaigner, great-grandfather and a beloved husband.

- Thanks Nadia.

Prince Phillip was a big champion of conservation.

Conservation is the protection of animals and environment.

You'll hear it mentioned a couple of times in this episode.

So I'm sure he would appreciate these next stories we have lined up to celebrate Earth Day.

The holiday began in the United States in 1970 as a way to promote awareness about taking care of the planet.

It has since grown into a global movement to promote recycling, conservation, clean energy and all things good for our planet.

Let's start with an appreciation for the amazing natural wonders right in our state.

Mary's got the scoop on a special spot in this week's Know Ohio, Mary?

(bright music) - California has nine, Alaska has eight, Utah has five and Ohio has one.

Can you guess what I'm talking about?

National parks of course.

A national park is a historic or scenic area of land protected by the federal government.

Ours is called the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

It's a whopping 33,000 acres and stretches along the Cuyahoga river between Cleveland and Akron.

At first, the area was designated as a national recreation area by president Gerald Ford and Congress in 1974.

At the time, cities were expanding and folks wanted to be sure that the area was kept wild.

Then in the year 2000, the spot was re-designated as a national park by president Bill Clinton.

Let's take a tour!

Throughout the park are the remains of the Ohio and Erie Canal.

A major transportation system in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

- And we're riding exactly where the mules would pull the boats up the Erie Canal.

It's really neat.

- [Mary] Today you can hike and bike the route of the old canal on the Towpath trail.

This 87 mile trail extends all the way from Cleveland through the park and down to Bolivar.

The trail attracts more than 2.5 million hikers and bikers per year.

Along the trail are visitor centers, where you can learn about the history of the canal.

Another park attraction is the Brandywine Falls.

The 60 foot waterfall is one of the most popular places to visit, especially during the warmer months.

There's also a trail that goes around the falls and underneath them, where visitors can view the falls head on.

Pretty cool.

How about a stop at Ritchie Ledges?

Here, you can see the parks geology up close.

Covered in thick moss and fern, the ledges are massive walls of rock, the result of sand and quartz pebbles that were left behind by the rivers and seas that covered the area millions of years ago.

All right, one last stop, Beaver Marsh.

This part of the park used to be less than scenic.

Before it became part of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, there was an auto repair shop there.

So instead of birds and wildlife, the land was covered with rusty mufflers and dented bumpers.

To clean up the area, people had to team up with some furry friends.

Beavers built a system of dams, which in turn helped bring water back into the area and created a new wetland.

Today, the beavers can still be spotted in the home they helped to build along with some diverse wild neighbors.

And luckily we can all visit their neighborhood and so many more stunning natural treasures in Ohio's one and only national park.

(animation music) - Thanks, Mary.

We are so lucky to have a national park nearby.

Well for this week's poll, we wanna know which spot in Cuyahoga Valley National Park would you most like to visit.

Head online to choose from Brandywine falls, the Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath, Ritchie ledges or Beaver Marsh.

And how about we take a look at last week's poll results.

We asked what signs of spring have you noticed in your neighborhood?

Well 75% of you said, you saw folks doing yard work.

48% of you said, you saw flowers in bloom.

One of the best signs of spring, fresh maple syrup of course, yum!

When the weather's just right, the sap starts flowing inside maple trees and farmers get to tapping.

Our Jean Marie Propoy put together this special making it segment, all about an Ohio maple company.

And boy, is it a sweet one.

Take a look.

- [Nate] Sometimes I have to take a moment to look around and go, "Holy cow, how did we get here?"

It's been a long journey, it's been rewarding.

You know, the problems don't go away, they just become more interesting.

But for the most part, for this maple syrup wonderland and I get up every day excited to go to work.

(bright music) I am Nate Bissell.

I am a chief instigator and owner of Bissell Maple Farm.

Growing up, dad always made syrup.

I did not know it was in my family's history.

Then I found some old photos and my family's been making maple syrup for over 100 years in Ohio.

And that even gave me the maple syrup bug even more.

These are actually pictures from the 1800's.

It would be my great-grandfather and great-great-grandfather make maple syrup here in Northeast Ohio.

The only reason I sell maple syrup is so I get to make more maple syrup.

So I'm gonna try to explain this from tree to table.

There's a lot of preparation even before you tap a tree.

So you wanna be prepared for the first sap run.

So you need all of your tubing fixed.

Making sure everything's tight and drawn tight and is sloping the right way.

And then they go out and tap the trees.

We're going out there and we're looking for trees that will produce sap.

We're drilling a 5/16 hole.

(drill drilling) This year, we're at 9,600 taps.

So it probably comes down to about 8,900 trees.

- 'Cause I do like a hundred a day.

These guys do like 600 a day.

- [Nate] We wanna tap well before the first thaw of the spring.

We actually tapped trees in January.

It doesn't hurt to tap early.

It's better to catch the first sap run than the last sap run.

- 'Cause this is the first run.

Usually by now, we've made sure.

(man hammers) - If you think of the tree as your home, you have a little spout, which would be the driveway.

And then from the spout, you have a drop.

That would be like your street.

From the drop, that goes to your road, which is the lateral.

From your lateral it goes to the main line, which is like a highway, and then from the main line, it goes to a wet dry line which is like a super highway.

So that little droplet of sap travels all down.

I think we have 35 miles of tubing in all the land that we manage.

And that little droplet goes all the way down and gets collected in the tank.

And that's where the vacuum and the sap part ways.

That sap is then pumped to larger collection tanks and we'll collect sap with a tanker.

Then we'll haul that sap to our facility here in Jefferson.

They pump the sap through a flow meter so we know how much sap we've collected.

From there it will go into large collection tanks, so I think we have 30,000 gallons of sap storage at this facility.

And we will process that sap into two things.

So raw sap will go into a reverse osmosis, pure water is our rejected product, and all of the sugar that doesn't make it through the filter, that becomes the concentrated sap that we boil.

So the boiling process is where the flavor's made.

That is the most exciting part, and we're making caramel.

So maple sugar is about caramel.

And people will talk about the different flavors and it's this simple.

The lighter the maple syrup color, the more delicate the maple flavor.

The darker the maple syrup color, the stronger the maple flavor.

But in essence, we're selling caramelized maple sugar, and it's all preference.

The skill of the farmer, the type of equipment, the soil your trees are in, the type of weather you have will all basically make an impact on the flavor of syrup you will make in any given year.

I wanna have that experience with my family, that's why I do this.

And it brings everybody together for a common goal.

This is hard.

This is not an easy thing.

And I'm talking about the maple syrup business.

But when you do it with family and you do it as a team, and you're trying to accomplish a common goal, that's really rewarding.

(bright music) (animation music) - Yummy, anybody else suddenly have a craving for pancakes or waffles?

Well, it just wouldn't be an Earth Day episode without a report from our science correspondent.

Margaret Cavalier met up with an awesome ornithologist for this week's spot on science.

Ornithology of course is the scientific study of birds.

So an ornithologist is basically a bird expert.

Pretty neat job, huh!

Let's see what it's all about Margaret.

(upbeat music) - So don't laugh, but this is a baby picture of me.

Pretty cute, right?

And, not surprising, I look a bit like my mom and dad.

That's because our genes are passed to us from our parents.

And guess what?

It's the same for every other animal, including birds.

But birds never take family photos like we do, so it's up to scientists to figure out their family relationships.

And, would you believe it?

I happened to know a scientist who studies that very topic.

No, not bird family photos.

Dr.Andy Jones is a curator of ornithology at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.

He studies bird genetics.

So I called him on up and started asking him about his career.

Take a look.

(animation music) - My job at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History is a curator of Ornithology.

So that means I curate a collection of bird specimens and this is really work that's behind the scenes.

When you come visit the natural history museum, you see birds that are on exhibit and that's not actually what I do.

Behind the scenes, we have another 35,000 bird specimens and my job is to take care of that collection.

Make sure it's in good condition.

Make sure it's accessible to other researchers.

And it's also for my own research.

So I do work with the museum specimens, I do work with DNA samples that come from them and try and answer all sorts of questions in ornithology.

- So when it comes to DNA and genetics, can you talk a little bit about your work with that?

- Yeah, so it's important that you know DNA is inherited.

So it tells us about these sorts of relationships from parents to offspring.

And a graduate student that I'm working with was doing field work in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

He was tasked with doing a survey of Cerulean Warblers and while he was out there, he got to know that species really well.

And then he heard one that sounded kind of weird.

And so he took a look at that bird, and from below you would see a white bird, white on the belly with kind of a blue bar across the chest.

And he looked up and he saw a bird that had a very thin blue bar across the chest, but then yellow on the belly.

So he knew something was odd, but it still sounded kind of like a Cerulean.

Well, because he's a researcher, he also had permits to catch birds so he could take a feather sample and a blood sample and take photos of this odd bird.

So he sent the samples to me and I worked with one of my colleagues in the museum in the lab, and we confirmed this was a hybrid between a Cerulean Warbler and a Northern Parula, which is another kind of warbler.

- Wow, and so it seems like really cool work to be able to look at these different characteristics through DNA and to find hybrid birds.

But what is so important about locating these hybrid birds?

- I mean there's just very basic natural history interests when we find hybrids.

It's just interesting, and it kind of challenges the way we think about what a species is in the first place.

So there's that kind of basic level of interest here, but also there's a conservation aspect of this.

So Northern Parula's are doing pretty well.

They're actually expanding their range, coming from Southern Ohio and moving North.

And then Cerulean Warbler is, I would say it's still fairly common, but their numbers are going down every single year.

We have fewer and fewer.

So we're worried about the species already.

But if you add a further complication of them hybridizing with the different species.

If that becomes more and more frequent, then we're actually losing the genes of Cerulean Warbler, and we might actually see that species start losing out against Northern Parula.

So we're not saying that's definitely happening, but we are sort of sounding a small alarm saying they do hybridize, it's time to pay very careful attention to make sure this is not a more widespread issue.

- Right, take a look at it now before it becomes a question of extinction.

- Yeah.

- And I wonder what got you interested in birds?

- So I was a natural history nerd as a kid.

I really got interested in seeing what was in my yard and then the creek around my house.

I have field notes from when I was age five.

I was counting the number of toads in my front yard.

I was encouraged by my dad to write things down.

He knew it was important if you're thinking about science at all to write down notes.

You know it's decades later and I still do that every day actually.

And so I got sort of bitten by this nature bug early, and then I was encouraged by a lot of people to stick with it.

- Wow, so it sounds like if you just follow your curiosity with science, you could end up with a really cool career.

- Yeah, I think if you have a passion for something, even if it's not the most common thing, if all of your friends are not following the same thing, that's fine.

There, it may not be clear exactly where your career is gonna go.

But the fact that you're passionate about it is really important.

And you just need to find the people who help encourage that, and help you along your way towards whatever that might become.

It might be a big hobby, it might be a career.

You never know.

- Definitely, well, thank you so much for sharing with us.

It's been fun.

- Yeah, thanks for the conversation.

(animation music) - Thanks Margaret.

Well, when I think about Earth Day, I think about beautiful forest and mountains, colorful sunsets and deserts, and of course, tropical beaches.

But the pandemic has put a pause on traveling to some of the world's most beautiful places, and that is where some folks hope that vaccine passports will step in and help.

We told you about those last week and asked if you thought they were a good idea or not.

Let's see what you had to say by opening up our inbox.

(clicks) Here's one from Sabina at Emerson Elementary in Lakewood.

"I do think that vaccine passports are a good idea.

They are a good idea because before you get on the plane, you can be sure that you are safe and everyone has been vaccinated.

Another reason why it is a good idea is because you cannot lose a vaccine passport because it is a code that the flight attendant scans.

And finally, my last reason why it is a good idea is because if you are only allowed to travel if you were vaccinated, that would persuade more people to get the shot."

Gavin from Gilles-Sweet Elementary in Fairview Park wrote, "I don't think think they were a good idea.

I think this is because not everyone has a phone.

It was enough to get everyone vaccinated.

So to have to get the app and get passport would be a pain.

That's why I think it's a bad idea."

Catherine, from Cassingham Elementary in Bexley wrote, "No, vaccine passport are not a good idea.

Some people don't have smartphones which means they can't show their vaccine passport.

But if we could come up with something to show like the paper you get when you get your vaccine, maybe we could use that instead."

Ella, from Melridge Elementary in Painesville wrote, "It's a great idea and a bad idea.

It's a good idea because it might make you feel safe that you are in a room with people vaccinated.

It's a bad idea if people might not fee safe or comfortable with getting the vaccine.

They could possibly not be able to fly on a plane and miss there trip or ride."

And finally, here's Autumn from Greenbriar Middle School in Parma.

"I think it is a great idea!

I think this because it is keeping more people safe by knowing if you have the COVID vaccine or not.

It is keeping more people safe because you can know if they are safe from it too and you don't have to worry about giving it to someone or getting it.

That is why I think it is good."

Excellent support you guys.

I liked that we got a good split of pro and anti passport answers, and I can imagine your class discussions got pretty exciting.

Well, this week's write in might require some collaboration in the classroom.

It's about this next story.

I feel like we've had some history and science lessons so far, but what about an art lesson about our Earth?

Human impacts on the environment are the inspiration for abstract artists, Mira Lehr.

Abstract means art that does not try to represent exact images of our world.

Mira uses shapes and color and textures to symbolize what she sees happening to the Earth.

Oh, and she uses a little fire too.

You're just gonna have to see it in this week's sketchbook.

(sketch sound) (gentle music) - [Mira] The beauty is very important to me, but I have to take the bloom off the rose.

I'm Mira Lehr, I'm an artist.

All of my work has burning of some kind in it, and I think it does reflect both sides of creation.

Creation, and destruction.

And that's what nature is all about.

It's always related to the environment.

(gentle music) I always drew when I was a little kid, I never really knew I would be a professional artist.

As I grew older, I decided I was gonna study art history in college.

I was so lucky because at the time I graduated the abstract expressionists were holding forth in New York, and it was a major movement.

So I was right in the middle of this really wonderful scene.

So from then on, I did art.

And I was not really into the environment as much in the beginning.

I just did nature, a lot of nature studies.

But eventually I heard of Buckminster Fuller, a man who was very much about the planet.

And I saw an opportunity to work with him in 1969.

I went to New York and I worked with him on something called the world game.

And that was about how to make the world work in the most efficient way, and doing more with less.

So from then on, I was hooked.

(gentle music) I'm feeling two urgencies.

One I'm getting older, that's an urgency.

You know, how many years do I have left?

And the other urgency is how many years does the planet have left?

So we've converged.

Every day I get up raring to go.

(gentle music) And so now I'm back in the studio and I'm turning to something I'm calling planetary visions because I'm doing images of Earth masses.

I've also added writing, which some of it is from Bucky Fuller about the planet.

Some of it is just poetry about nature.

(gentle music) I've always felt abstraction as I as foreign, even though I like representation.

But to me abstraction gets the essence, the essence of everything.

And you can take it and go on with it.

And it's more spiritual to me.

(gentle music) You know, if the world falls apart and people are concerned just with their little everyday existence, I don't see a great future.

But I'm hoping there's still time.

The clock is definitely ticking.

And I'm not a politician and I'm not a scientist.

The way I can express it is through my art and that's what I'm trying to do along with having a wonderful experience making it.

(gentle music) (animation music) Thanks to our friends from WPBT in South Florida's PBS station for that story.

Mira has us inspired for this week's write in question.

We wanna know, how would you represent the Earth in a piece of art.

Bonus points if you submit your artwork with your answer.

You can upload a photo or a video or a drawing right through the inbox form .

But Hey, no fire allowed okay?

That would be dangerous.

We'd burn Margaret down and she doesn't want to do that.

Okay, what do you get when you combine a NewsDepth story about declining fish populations, and a group of nature loving fifth graders?

That's this week's NewsDepth A-plus winners.

When Rory and Emma were in fifth grade last year at Botkins Local School, their teacher watched NewsDepth with them.

"There was a story about fish populations and how they were dropping" said Rory.

"It worried us and we wanted to do something to help nature," added Emma.

Emma and Rory got right to work.

When school's shut down last year, they gave a presentation to their classmates about fish.

"We wanted people to learn about fish and why the population was dropping," explained Emma.

When school returned this year, Emma and Rory kept making presentations about animals, nature, and how to help save them.

Their teacher, Ms. Brown told us that they've done presentations on climate change, bees, reefs, pollution and trees just to name a few.

"I'm really proud of their work this year.

They took what was important to them and created a save nature club," said Ms. Brown.

The club has been recycling old T-shirts into toys for dogs at their local shelter.

So far, the class has made nearly 50 toys.

Nice work.

Rory, Emma and the rest of Ms. Brown's sixth grade class told us, they plan to continue their work next year when they're seventh graders.

So this week's NewsDepths A-plus goes to Rory, Emma and Ms. Brown's sixth grade class at Botkins Local School, for taking their love of nature to the next level.

Well, how about a check-in with news cat.

She loves nature.

Let's see what she's pawed up for this week's petting zoo.

(instrumental music) (cat meows) Hey there news cat!

Oh, you're typing away already.

That's new.

She must be excited about this story.

(cat clicks) Ah!

A video about a new baby sloth born at the zoo, way up in New Hampshire.

Can he get any cuter.

I mean the little guy's name is Beanie.

So adorable.

To hear about Beanie's birth story, just click the petting zoo button on our website.

(bright music) (animation music) And thank you news cat.

And now it's up to you to get outside and celebrate Earth Day.

Pick up some litter, fill up the bird feeder, make a dog toy, send us your artwork.

Because we definitely want to hear from you.

And there are plenty of ways to stay in touch.

You can write to us.

We're at 1375 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio our zip code 44115.

You can email us at newsdepth@ideastream.org or you can tweet us.

Our handle is @NewsDepthOhio Plus you can catch all of our special segments on YouTube and if you're old enough hit subscribe.

So you don't miss out on any of our new videos.

Thanks for joining us.

I'm Rick Jackson.

We'll see you right back here next week.

(upbeat music) - [Narrator] NewsDepths is made possible by a grant from the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation.

(upbeat music) (dramatic music)