“Ecology is science. Deep ecology is ethics. It's the philosophy behind the science,” asserted Marge Kaiser, founder and executive director of the Sierra Nevada Deep Ecology Institute of Nevada City.

It's the difference between “I-it” and “I-thou,” she explained. We are not separate from Nature. We are part of Nature.

“For us to think we're separate from — and better than — Nature is not only an illusion, but dangerous to ourselves and our planet,” she said with her characteristic intensity.

Kaiser believes people of all ages must realize people are an integral part of the ecosystem. It's not just something that exists around us.

“If we want to survive on this planet, we need to respect and understand our place in it — and love it,” she said.

Already a mother with two daughters, Kaiser graduated in 1989 from California State University, Sonoma, with a master's degree in wilderness psychology, also known as “eco-psychology.” She had previously earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1975.

By the time she was a grandmother of two, Kaiser had founded the ecology institute — she pronounces the acronym SNDEI as “Cindy” — in 1999. Within the next few years, she assembled a prestigious board of directors and advisors, including George Sessions, co-founder of the Deep Ecology movement in 1986. SNDEI was incorporated as a 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation in 2002 (which means contributions are tax-deductible).

Every year since 2000, the institute has sponsored several events throughout the year ranging from a prominent speakers and film series to Native American prayer ceremonies to its annual Green Awards.

‘Kids and Critters'

Kaiser's favorite event every year, however, is EcoKids, an ecology fair for children ranging from 3 to 13.

“We're all about education,” says Kaiser, who admitted her soft spot for “kids and critters.”

Scheduled for next Sunday afternoon at the Imaginarium in Nevada City, the seventh annual EcoKids Fair has been months in the making, involves dozens of volunteers and a veritable roundup of birds, bunnies, goats, miniature horses and a baby bull named Tank.

Jazzy Willis, 11, and her mother, Grass Valley 4-H Club leader Lora Willis, promised to bring a bowl of green, blue, beige and brown eggs laid by their exotic chickens. They're bringing the multicolored chickens, too.

Erin Dettner, 15, also of the Grass Valley 4-H Club, will be showing her rabbits, including a rare breed that recently came off the endangered species list.

Members of the Kentucky Flat 4-H Club near Nevada City also will participate in the fair.

Aldo the friendly goat will give carriage rides, and children can pet the miniature horses from the Rock'n'Horse Ranch of Grass Valley.

In addition to a Haute Trash show, the fair will have displays of a red-tailed hawk and a great horned owl by Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation.

More events, animals and activities are lined up, Kaiser promised.

Putting the fun in fundraising

As vivacious and sincere as a teenager on a mission, Kaiser tells everybody she sees everywhere she goes about EcoKids. She is always armed with posters and postcards to hand out about the ecology fair.

“We're going to auction off a chocolate world!” she tells people happily.

Lazy Dog Ice Cream is donating a chocolate Earth to this year's EcoKids event, Kaiser said.

As any nonprofit executive knows, funding is a perennial loose end. Kaiser attacks her fundraising role with friendly humor and enthusiasm. Her tactic is to get people excited enough to donate money or services or both to the institute's educational activities.

“I'm just an old geezer,” she shrugged with self-deprecating humor. “I'm doing this because it's my baby.”

Tom Durkin is a freelance writer based in Nevada City. For comments on this article, e-mail tkleist@theunion.com or call (530) 477-4230.