Naturalist went from bottom to top of his class

Natural curiosity led Bob Bowles on the path to become environmental expert

Whether you’ve been a student in one of his courses, read one of his columns in a newspaper or magazine, or caught him out birdwatching, local naturalist and environmental expert Bob Bowles needs little in the way of introduction.

The 77-year-old Orillian has spent decades learning, researching, writing, and educating about the environment, and the plants and animals that live within it, in Ontario and around the world.

He’s led eco-tours in North, Central and South America, including through the Amazon River and Florida Everglades, produced TV shows on environmental science, worked extensively as an environmental consultant, and founded the Ontario Master Naturalist program with Lakehead University, on top of founding and serving with numerous environmental organizations and educational institutions over the years.

His encyclopedic knowledge of the environment, paired with a passion for sharing it with others, has led to him racking up numerous awards and honours from the City of Orillia, conservation authorities, and environmental organizations across Ontario and Canada.

However, his journey to becoming an environmental expert and educator was an unlikely one.

Bowles grew up outside of Markdale, a small farming community in what’s now known as Grey Highlands.

During his time in elementary school, Bowles said he struggled as a student, and he went into high school at the bottom of his class.

“There was no help at that time. We didn’t have educational assistants or anything like that. The one teacher had 25 to 30 kids in that one-room schoolhouse, (and) you either caught up or you fell behind,” Bowles said.

He committed himself to memorizing his school work through high school, which helped him finish at the top of his class in his Grade 13 exams. He can still recite numerous passages of poetry he learned, as well as the kings and queens of England through the ages.

“I made little mnemonics. I just kept memorizing anything I could see,” Bowles said. “By the time I came to Grade 13, we had a Grade 13 departmental exam, (and) I rated the highest in the class. I came into Grade 9 the lowest in the class.”

Following high school, Bowles earned an engineering technologist diploma from Ryerson Polytechnical College in 1968.

He did not have any particular interest in the environment until after he began his 32-year career with Hydro One, where he found himself working in isolated places across Ontario amidst a variety of plants, animals and trees.

“(My) work for hydro had nothing to do with the environment at all; it was putting real-time, intelligent systems into hydraulic river controls. I was kind of directing electricians, mechanics, and the fitters and everything. They smoked a lot, and they’d go to the bars at night … and that wasn’t my lifestyle, so I was kind of away from them,” he said.

“I was up on those plants all by myself, way out in the middle of the bush, and I started to see (different) things. I asked people; they didn’t know what they were, (so) I got books, I researched, I started to take courses.”

Bowles credits the learning style that made him a good student as instrumental in developing his broad knowledge of the environment.

“By 1970, I was starting to learn the birds and the plants. By ’70 to ’73, I learned the Latin names. I’ve got a mind now that if I can see something, I can remember,” he said.

Bowles also began keeping an extensive journal on mushroom species, replete with sketches, and continued expanding his knowledge through courses. Eventually, he found himself balancing his career with Hydro One with a growing number of environmental commitments.

“It was so interesting, so that’s kept expanding. I took the wetland evaluation course with the MNR (Ministry of Natural Resources), and took some other courses … and then MNR started to hire me to do contracts,” he said.

“Although (I was) working for Hyrdo through the week, for the weekends, I was doing eco-tours down in the Galapagos.”

While he considers himself an introvert, Bowles naturally grew into an educator and volunteer after spending decades amassing his knowledge of the environment.

“I really had that community drive, but I was working hard and I was leading trips. When I retired in 2000, I was here — I love Orillia, a beautiful city — and I wanted to give back all those years,” said Bowles, a 36-year resident of the city. “I started to volunteer in groups, and then I worked my way up to the chair, president of different organizations. I’d stay there for five years and say, ‘Well, I’ve implemented my ideas; now I can move on.’”

Bowles’s passion for the environment led to a passion for sharing his knowledge, and he has taught countless citizens of various ages about the environment through his experiences in ecotourism, the Master Naturalist program, and more.

“I would spend hours at night going through my books … If I can help somebody bypass all that so that they can move on, and their eyes open up in a revelation … that’s a great reward. That sharing of information, that I learned the hard way, it’s really rewarding to me,” he said.

“When I see a young person come up to me … and say, ‘Mr. Bowles, do you remember me? When you had Kids for Turtles, I was there. You told me all about the turtles. You know what I’m doing now? I’m the CEO of turtle conservation,’ or whatever, and I thought, wow, I’ve actually mentored those kids for their careers.”

With the pressing challenges of climate change, Bowles views environmental education as more important than ever. He recently spoke out against the province’s Bill 23, which will reduce wetland protections and open up sections of the Greenbelt to development.

“It’s so important. I wouldn’t have said that when I was 20 years old. Today, we need to understand our environment. We are losing our natural features, and we, as humans, depend on that,” he said.

“We need it, and these young kids are getting it. I’m teaching those young kids and they’re saying, ‘This is our future. We want to protect it.’”

Although he has been at it for decades, Bowles plans to continue teaching and learning for the foreseeable future.

“I don’t have too much longer left, I don’t think, (but) I’m going to keep going. Who knows? Right now, I am teaching and doing Rogers TV shows and sharing my knowledge,” he said.

“Every day that I get up just drives me to say, ‘Well, here’s a new challenge. What can we do today?’ It’s mainly environmentally focused because I want to have clear water; we have to grow our own food. We can’t keep developing those farms. We have to keep the farmland so that … we can be sustainable.”
read he

With the pressing challenges of climate change, Bowles views environmental education as more important than ever. He recently spoke out against the province’s Bill 23, which will reduce wetland protections and open up sections of the Greenbelt to development.

“It’s so important. I wouldn’t have said that when I was 20 years old. Today, we need to understand our environment. We are losing our natural features, and we, as humans, depend on that,” he said.

“We need it, and these young kids are getting it. I’m teaching those young kids and they’re saying, ‘This is our future. We want to protect it.’”

Although he has been at it for decades, Bowles plans to continue teaching and learning for the foreseeable future.

“I don’t have too much longer left, I don’t think, (but) I’m going to keep going. Who knows? Right now, I am teaching and doing Rogers TV shows and sharing my knowledge,” he said.

“Every day that I get up just drives me to say, ‘Well, here’s a new challenge. What can we do today?’ It’s mainly environmentally focused because I want to have clear water; we have to grow our own food. We can’t keep developing those farms. We have to keep the farmland so that … we can be sustainable.”

read here