Full Ecology
REPAIRING OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE NATURAL WORLD WITH MARY M CLARE AND GARY FERGUSON
WHAT IS FULL ECOLOGY?
Founded in 2014 by social scientist Mary M. Clare and best-selling science writer Gary Ferguson, the Full Ecology project is devoted to reclaiming our human nature. Drawing on what science and other traditions have learned about the brilliance of the natural world, Full Ecology reveals those same inclinations to be hard-wired into each of us. Full Ecology suggests that healing the planet depends on tending our social ecologies – those within us, and between us. And further, that the natural world, of which we’re unquestionably a part, is a reliable guide.
“Mary M Clare and Gary Ferguson offer an eloquent truth: To be disconnected from the rest of nature is to be alienated from our true selves. The health of all life, and the planet itself comprise one health, indivisible.”
Richard Louv, author of Our Wild Calling and Last Child in the Woods
Dear All,
Here we are in 2025. Times appear chaotic and unpredictablity is daily in our faces. Fear arises.
The impulse to meet aggression with aggression dances with the impulse to withdraw and give up.
Full Ecology has a plan.
Our programs draw directly on the fact of humans as nature. And it turns out that, on the whole, the natural world isn’t fussed. This isn’t due to any lack of consciousness. On the contrary, nature has the wisdom of billions of years to rely on — the guarantee that, one way or another, life persists. Come spend time with us, in person or virtually. Check out our Summer 2025 Retreats. Read the Full Ecology book. Listen to the How it Looks from Here Podcast. Sign up for the Newsletter at the bottom of this page, and then come to one of our free monthly Deep Dives on Zoom.
Yes, it’s a mess. But don’t let the destruction, disrespect and foolishness steal the fire of your life. Take a moment in comfort, knowing that it’s the natural world that keeps our hearts beating.
Interdependence is our lifeline — nature, our reliable guide.
Together, we act from here.
~~
Gary & Mary
Explore our Montana Retreats
JUNE 16 – 20, 2026
The Nature of a Writer’s Life
Full Ecology and the Written Word
JUNE 21 – 25, 2026
The Gifts of Full Ecology
Meditation, Inquiry, Right Action & Food
JULY 5 – 9, 2026
Retreat with your Inner Elder
Living from the Inside Out
Words from past participants
“The teaching, stories and outdoor time in nature blend in an alchemical way to create deep learning, inspiration, and heartfelt community. A treasure of a life experience.”
Leslie, CA
Dick, TX
Lisa, AZ
“I would absolutely recommend this retreat to other writers and nature lovers. It was the perfect blend of learning, crafting, savoring nature, enjoying great food, and connecting with the ranch folks, fellow participants, the dynamic duo of Mary and Gary. Thank you.”
Katie, RI
“Go, go, go! This workshop was the most productive and satisfying retreat I’ve ever attended, due to the unique teachers and accommodations. Mary and Gary have exceptional rapport. Their different backgrounds combined bring a wealth of experience to the classroom; like getting two teachers for the price of one! The themes, writing examples and writing prompts covered make for a great crash course that really sparked my creativity.”
Karen, NJ
We have been producing a podcast
HOW IT LOOKS FROM HERE – Life in the time of Climate Change
Listen in on the lively and timely conversations we’ve been having since September, 2020.
Hear perspectives of people from all walks of life.
Each offers insight and refreshing uplift.
Check them out here.
New Offering!
MEET UP WITH YOUR INNER ELDER, THE RELIABLE GUIDE WITHIN
Full Ecology Update
Full Ecology Focus
Online courses focused on the fundamentals of the 4 Behaviors & the 8 Instructions. These LIVE and pre-recorded courses provide opportunity for personal inquiry and practical experience with cultivating your human nature.
Check out our current course offerings.
Full Ecology Deep Dive
Conversations for a deeper dive into the monthly update. Interactive, real-time and free. Second Tuesday of every month @ 6:00 p.m. Mountain Time. Inquire to connect.
“The Full Ecology Deep Dive is truly a gift. I emerge from each session with new and enriching ponderings. Thank you.” J Courteau, plant biologist
Full Ecology Connection
The Full Ecology Connection is a membership that offers a cyber portal through which you can connect with us and others in active community. Together we’re better able to reclaim and live well from our truest nature – as nature in nature.
We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.
~T. S. Eliot
Building from the 8 INSTRUCTIONS of the natural world Mary & Gary create customized workshops, keynotes and retreats for professional
“Kudos and massive gratitude to Mary & Gary for bringing the concepts of Full Ecology to the general population.”
Linda Grimm, certified public accountant
Books by Gary Ferguson and Mary Clare
JUST OUT!
“Those of us lucky enough to have wandered these forests in their prime are grateful for this graceful elegy. It’s more than that, of course—it’s also a deep warning about what we’re doing to all the landscapes of the earth as we rapidly warm this planet. May we remember, mourn, and organize.” BILL MCKIBBEN, author of Here Comes the Sun
ON BOOKSHELVES NOW!
“Full Ecology is one of the most important books ever written on the climate crisis. Honest, eloquent, touching, free of acronyms and jargon, it goes straight to the heart of cause and cure, the profound disconnect from each other and the natural world. Mary Clare and Gary Ferguson enfold our hopes, fears, and confusion into the splendor and beauty of the natural world from where we can see, feel, and understand how to meet this extraordinary moment in human history.” PAUL HAWKEN, editor of Drawdown: The most comprehensive plan ever proposed to reverse global warming and author of Blessed Unrest and Regeneration
A riveting manifesto for the millions of people who long to forge a more vital, meaningful connection to the natural world to live a better, more fulfilling life.
POPULAR FAVORITE
Award-winning. “The beauty is on every page. A big-hearted soul-searching memoir about grief and ritual and identity.” LA Times
Science writer Gary Ferguson has been exploring the natural world and sharing it through writing for over thirty years and 28 books. Across those same years, Mary M Clare was deep in investigation of social, cultural and developmental psychology as they apply to supporting people in everyday lives.
With Full Ecology, the two combine their considerable forces to address the increasingly urgent realities of climate change.
Full Ecology at the International Brainwash Festival: Amsterdam
Join Mary Clare and Gary Ferguson in their exploration of our relationship with the natural world at Amsterdam’s Brainwash Festival.
Full Ecology TEDx Talk: Bozeman Montana
Watch the TEDx Talk that introduces Full Ecology. Mary & Gary urge us to reclaim our human nature. When we live from connection, we are better able to support each other and the living world that supports all of us.
NATURE KNOWS YOU BETTER THAN YOU KNOW YOURSELF. LEARN ITS LESSONS.
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