ReNews
An Environmental Studies Program
Update
Spring 2013
2012-2013 Donors Karen Austin ‘59 Donna ‘72 and Leo Bauer Evan Bisho ‘11 Colleen Burgh ‘79 and James Stratton ‘79 Gregory Clark ‘02 Lorri and Kevin Cornett Robert Emmons Jr. ‘67 Falling Sky Brewing Rita ‘71 and Dennis Fiedler ‘75 Sheryl Heffner Della-Rose and Thomas Della-Rose Virginia and Thomas Hofmann Jr. ‘66 Patrick Hurley ‘01 Robert Liberty ‘75 Catherine and F. Robert Miller ‘64 Robert & Catherine Miller Charitable Foundation Mary Minniti ‘75 and Michael Shippey ‘89 Claudette Naylor JoAnn ‘60 and Edwin Nelson Kirstin and P. Thomas Pinit ‘99 Mary Priest Carrie ‘02 and Phillip Ramirez Louise Seguela ‘89 Pamela and Ronald Swisher ‘76 Cheri Van Bebber ‘83 and Daniel Puffinburger ‘83
On The Covers
Front: Emerging Mason Trinca Back: A Cabin in the Fall Cassidy Ventura
Contents 2 6 10 11 14 18 19 24 26 28 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 48
pReNews 2013q
Director’s Note Alan Dickman New Master’s Students New Doctoral Students Student Advising Center Update Faculty and Student Achievements 2013 Ecotone Information MyMcKenzie Kathryn Lynch & Peg Boulay Vanities of her Highness Elissa Kobrin Islands in Time Geoffrey Johnson Tribal Climate Change Project Update 2012-13 Environmental Leadership Program Environmental Education Projects Canopy Connections X-Stream Team Community Engagement Project River Stories Conservation Science in Action Projects Stream Stewardship Oregon Oaks Wetlands Wildlife Recovering Restoration An Anonymous ENVS 202 Student A Tribute to Nickolas Gillespie Kathryn Lynch & Jamie Messenger
1
Director’s Note
Program Director’s
Note
Ripples, Angelina Hellar
D
ear members and friends of the environmental studies community,
With the growth and maturation of our program and our journal, The Ecotone, we have decided to produce two separate publications this spring. The Ecotone contains scholarly and creative contributions from several of our undergraduate and graduate students, staff, faculty, and friends. This year’s Ecotone is in a new, more compact format. Thanks and
2
congratulations to The Ecotone’s staff members, contributors, and Editor-in-Chief, Lisa Lombardo, for this professionally produced issue. See page 18 for more information about The Ecotone and how to obtain a copy. This newsletter is the second publication. Our intent is to provide an annual report to alumni, donors, prospective students, and general supporters and friends about our program, our people, and some of our accomplishments. Environmental Studies’ nineteen core faculty are drawn from the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences within the College of Arts and Sciences, and from planning and architecture in the professional schools. As the largest and most interdisciplinary program on campus, we serve as the hub from which a wide range of courses, collaborations, and events related to environmental studies are conceived and developed here at the University of Oregon.
We continue to draw more than one hundred applicants per year to our graduate program but we accept only a small number of the very best students so that we can provide them the financial and advising support they need to flourish. If you read, on pages 6-10, the brief biographies of the students who joined us last fall, I think you will agree that we are fortunate to have such a diverse, vibrant, and dedicated group. We have admitted ten Master’s students and three doctoral students who will join us in the fall of 2013.
pReNews 2013q
We currently have about 600 undergraduate majors in our program. A little over one third are environmental science majors; the rest are environmental studies majors.
3
Our Environmental Leadership Program (ELP), under the direction of Kathryn Lynch and Peg Boulay, continues to develop exciting new courses and projects that involve students, faculty and community members locally and catch the attention of educators nationally. You can read more about ELP, including descriptions of each of this year’s teams, on pages 31-40. The Environmental Science Institute (ESI), under the direction of Scott Bridgham, got its official start this year and we envision a strong collaboration between the ESI and our program, especially in terms of recruiting interdisciplinary graduate students in the natural sciences. The institute’s goal is to enhance research and graduate education in the natural sciences by bringing together faculty and graduate students from Anthropology, Biology, Geography, Geological Sciences, and Landscape Architecture. Stephen Wooten, working with faculty from around campus led an initiative to develop a graduate specialization in food studies, which will have its academic home in the Environmental Studies Program. This specialization was just formally approved and will be available to students beginning fall term of 2013.
pReNews 2013q
4
The second annual UO Climate Change Research Symposium, organized by Ron Mitchell, took place in April and many graduate students and faculty of our program, as well as many from other parts of campus and the community participated. The Climate Change Research Group also hosts monthly meetings and informal talks throughout the year. In conjunction with the Climate Change Symposium, Kathy Lynn, Coordinator of the Tribal Climate Change Project (which
you can read about on pages 28-30), along with Mark Carey of the Honor’s College, hosted the second annual Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples student symposium in April. Kathy and Mark recently received funding from the Williams Council to continue this work in the coming year. Molly Westling helped to organize and host a conference here in May on Biosemiotics and Culture that brought in scholars from several countries for two days of talks and conversations. Many people from our program attended and learned about this burgeoning new interdisciplinary area of study. These are just a few of the things happening in and around Environmental Studies. If you want to know more about what we’ve been up to and you haven’t seen our website recently, go to envs.uoregon.edu to see the collection of archived news events and featured stories. If you see anything there that excites you that you’d like to help support financially, please get in touch or visit envs.uoregon.edu/reference/supportenvs. And if you are an alumnus or alumna of our program and have not put your profile on our alumni page, envs.uoregon.edu, alumni please send me an email memo to learn how to do that. Or just write and let us know what you are up to these days.
Alan Dickman adickman@uoregon.edu
pReNews 2013q
Sincerely,
5
Community
New Master’s Students Lokyee Au
I spent almost all my life in Southern California, growing up in Los Angeles and attending college in San Diego. I graduated from UC San Diego with a B.A. in Sociology with a concentration in Social Inequality and minors in Environmental Studies and Education Studies. I spent the past two years as an intern for a nonprofit called Citizens Climate Lobby, contributing to their efforts to ameliorate the acute need for effective climate legislation in the U.S. My experiences in sociology, environmental studies, and education have shaped my interests here at the university. My areas of focus at UO are public policy and environmental justice, focusing on how planning and policy can be used to fight social and environmental injustices.
Collin Eaton I was born and raised in rural New Hampshire and earned my undergraduate degree in political science from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. In my professional career I have explored the relationship between the politics, economics, culture and environmental impact of building through the lens of residential construction, historic preservation and most recently through my work to improve housing conditions and access for low-income populations in the developing world. I have spent several years working on housing and housing finance issues in South and Central America and my current research explores the potential obstacles and implementation strategies for low-cost, low-environmental impact housing and site waste management systems in Guatemala.
6
Brooke Havlik
I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Cultural Anthropology from DePauw University in 2009. After, I moved north and spent several years in Chicago working in “food education,” teaching cooking and nutrition classes and working at the local aquarium to educate the culinary and seafood industry on critical oceanic issues. While volunteering in city gardens, hosting my own cooking show and participating in a food sovereignty fellowship in Uganda, I became incredibly passionate about food and environmental justice. My research at the University of Oregon focuses on the intersections of race, food and social movements.
I was born in Sacramento, CA. My undergraduate education in geolog y, along with anthropology and sociology courses, helped me realize my desire to work on environmental justice issues. I would like to design environmental education programs that speak to the experiences of marginalized groups and help them develop skills to address those issues in a socially and environmentally healthy and sustainable manner. Long term, I would also like to help train other educators to design, implement and evaluate critical place-based environmental education programs. My interests outside of the classroom are with community service and helping rebuild marginalized communities, especially the black community. I also love traveling and experiencing other cultures and world views. That is why I will be returning to a community center that I volunteered at for 5 months last year for my master’s project. I will be teaching a class on the environment, society and tourism.
pReNews 2013q
Gabby McDaniel
7
Morgan Peach I was born under the white pines boughs, upon the granite bedrock of New Hampshire. My college years carried me across the Connecticut River, to Middlebury College in Vermont, where I cultivated a philosophical and synergistic outlook in my studies, as a scientist and humanist. I’ve since worked as an educator in various contexts, be it chemistry or ecology, in addition to serving under the master carpenters of Vermont. I aspire to the roles of teacher, builder, and agrarian, woven into the fabric of my community. I value wise participation in the environment, in the process of cultivating a deeper appreciation of the world, as we learn to live sensitively amidst the dynamic patterns of nature. Emily Sanchirico
pReNews 2013q
8
After 16 years in an insular community, I wanted out. I graduated high school early and moved to Argentina. The coin toss of an exchange program landed me in an area known for farming and mountains. Fate might have been telling me something, but I butted my head against it and, one year later, moved to NYC. Luckily, while at Barnard College, a Boren Fellowship took me back to Argentina, and a project on the informal recycling sector solidified my interest in environmental politics. While friends looked on in horror as I dissected garbage bags to see what could have been recycled, I knew I had found my calling. After graduation, I made the big move: Manhattan to Brooklyn. While not as mountainous as I had hoped, I stayed rooted. It took two years of work at the Social Science Research Council, looking over interdisciplinary fellowship proposals, to choose the right graduate program. I was happy to find that, unlike Brooklyn, Eugene has plenty of trees and a butte or two.
Allyson Woodard
pReNews 2013q
I studied English and Biology at Scripps College in Claremont, California. After graduation I moved back to my home state of Idaho and took a job at The Peregrine Fund, an international organization working to conserve birds of prey. While there, I designed interpretive displays and helped found a project aimed at fostering collaboration between professional researchers and citizen scientists. Here at the University of Oregon I am focusing on literary nonfiction writing and environmental reporting, and am currently researching a book on paleoclimatology. In my spare time I play roller derby and human fetch for my pet lovebird. 7
9
Community
New Doctoral Students Paul Guernsey
I grew up in the suburbs of San Jose, CA and started my academic career at a local community college. I completed a B.A. in Philosophy with a minor in Classical Studies at UC Santa Cruz and continued at the same institution as an M.A. student. I wrote my Master’s paper under David Hoy and Abraham Stone on the concepts of truth and appropriation in Martin Heidegger. After UCSC I co-founded a non-profit in northeastern Arizona in the Navajo Nation. I spent three years there as a farmer and environmental educator. My current philosophical interest is the confluence of phenomenology, ecology, and the critique of political economy, attempting to practice these disciplines in solidarity with women, children, minorities, and the non-human biotic community. In my spare time I enjoy beekeeping, gardening, mushroom hunting, dancing, and talking with friends.
Taylor McHolm
I grew up in a land of freeways. From there, I did my undergrad at UC Davis and left for New York to get an MS in Education and teach middle school. I worked in the non-profit education world for a few years and then decided to pursue an MA in English which has now turned into a PhD in Environmental Studies with English as a focal department. r
10
Update
Community
Student Advising Center The Environmental Studies Program (ENVS) launched the Environmental Studies Student Advising Center in fall 2011. Now in its second year, the Center incorporates seven Environmental Studies and Science undergraduate Student Advisers (SAs). The SAs answer questions from faculty and staff, prospective students, community members, and current undergraduate students. Environmental Studies and Science students drop in seeking advice regarding a broad spectrum of topics including major/minor/university requirements, registration issues, and practical learning opportunities such as the Environmental Leadership Program, internships, and study abroad. Beyond the routine advising concerns, students regularly stop by to share the stresses and successes of their college career. The Student Advisers willingly lend an ear to their peers as they relate to their experiences and genuinely hope to provide guidance and assurance. It’s a pleasure to coordinate the inner workings of the Student Advising Center, and to work closely with such thoughtful and intelligent students. Please enjoy reading a brief introduction to each of the ENVS Student Advisers on the following pages. ~Alyse Nielsen Office and Undergraduate Program Assistant
11
Ashley Adelman
I am in my second year here at UO, majoring in Environmental Studies and PPPM. I developed a love for nature working at my grandparents’ peony garden in Salem, Oregon. In my free time I enjoy gardening, hiking, getting to know new people, and hanging out with my cat, Ember. I plan to use my degree to promote sustainable community planning, guided by a deep care for nature and all it has to offer. I also intend to use my degree to assist in educating today’s youth about current environmental issues.
Cameron Church
It’s my first year as a Student Adviser. I grew up in West Linn Oregon, just outside of Portland and I’m currently in my second year at the University of Oregon. I’m a devoted backpacker and hiker and I love to spend my free time outdoors. I also have an unhealthy love of Discovery Channel’s Shark Week and Sriracha Hot Sauce. I’m super excited to be a part of the Environmental Studies team and community!
Jordan Grace I hail from the land of the sun: Huntington Beach, California. Currently I’m a junior at the UO working toward a double major in Environmental Science and Planning, Public Policy, and Management (PPPM). Whenever I have free time I’m either enjoying the outdoors or watching the latest TV show I’m addicted to. A few of my favorite activities are skiing, hiking, biking and documenting my adventures through the lens of my camera.
pReNews 2013q
12
Adrian Robins I’m a third year Environmental Science major with a minor in psychology. I’m from central California and came up to beautiful Oregon to be around tall trees and wonderful, adventurous people. I like to hike in old growth forests, garden in my backyard, make rainbow stirfries, and watch Miyazaki movies.
Christa Linz I am a senior in the Environmental Studies Program whose passion for the outdoors began in Cincinnati, Ohio through fireflies, sycamore trees, and long canoe trips down Midwest rivers. My time in the Environmental Leadership Program has sparked my interest in environmental education and involvement with youth. I get excited about dance parties, bike trips, raspberries, and rainbows. Ashley Sosa I am from Oakland, California, and I am a senior at UO working on my double major in Environmental Science and Geography and a minor in geology. I hope to work as a hydrologist in the future, and was fortunate enough to work with Professor McDowell as an assistant in her research on the John Day River. I am also currently an RA in Riley and was previously a Desk Assistant at the Hamilton Area Desk. Taylor West
pReNews 2013q
As a proud native of the Pacific Northwest from Beaverton, Oregon, I enjoy hiking in the fresh Oregon air, eating juicy fruits, and taking long naps. I am fascinated by the relationships between humans and the environment, which is why I became an Environmental Studies major. I am also studying Anthropology and Economics, and am currently involved in the Environmental Leadership Program. It is exciting to be a part of the UO! y
13
Community
Faculty & Student
Achievements Photo: Kirsten Vinyeta
Core Faculty Brendan Bohannan and team published the findings of a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Scott Bridgham became a Fellow of the Society of Wetland Scientists. Trudy Ann Cameron became a Fellow of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists. Matthew Dennis was awarded the Provost’s Senior Humanist Research Fellowship by the Oregon Humanities Center.
14
Kathryn Lynch was one of ten U.S. educators to win a 2012 Chevrolet GREEN Educator Award, given by Earth Force and the General Motors Foundation. Ron Mitchell served as a key organizer for the UO Climate Change Research group. In addition to hosting monthly talks, the group hosted the 2nd Annual UO Climate Change Research Symposium in April. Nicolae Morar coedited a collection of essays entitled Perspectives in Bioethics, Science, and Public Policy. Kari Norgaard won a 2013 Excellence Award for Outstanding Mentorship in Graduate Studies and a 2013 Faculty Research Award from the University of Oregon. Josh Roering and Ted Toadvine both received Fund for Faculty Excellence Awards from the University of Oregon. Marsha Weisiger received the Hal Rothman Prize from the Western History Association and a 2013 Faculty Research Award from the University of Oregon.
Molly Westling organized and hosted a conference on Biosemiotics and Culture in May. Featuring international scholars, the conference focused on the cultural dimensions of Biosemiotics, a new interdisciplinary field that explores meaningful relationships and communication throughout the living world.
pReNews 2013q
Richard York received the Rural Sociology Best Paper Award from the Rural Sociological Society, as well as a Teaching and Mentorship Award and an Allan Schnaiberg Outstanding Publication Award Honorable Mention, both from the American Sociological Association.
15
Graduate Students Julie Bacon spoke at Whitman College’s annual Gender Studies Roundtable. Keats Conley presented at the 49th Annual Meeting of the Oregon Chapter of the American Fisheries Society. Andrew Dutterer spoke at the International Symposium on Society and Resource Management and received The John and Karen Baldwin Family Scholarship in Environmental Planning. Shane Hall received the Jane Campbell Krohn Essay Prize. Kelly Sky and Megan Toth won a Northwest Regional Emmy award for their documentary film, “Canopy Connections”. Kirsten Vinyeta presented at the Traditional Knowledge and Healthy Ecosystems Summit hosted by the Snoqualmie Tribe of Washington.
Undergraduate Students Megan Gleason, Emma Newman, Briana Orr (’11), and Kristin White presented at the Oregon Higher Education Sustainability Conference. Souvanny Miller received the Ernest F. Hollings Scholarship for the 2012-13 academic year, offered through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
pReNews 2013q
16
Clare Chisholm, Ellen Ingamells, Geoffrey Johnson, Kelsey Ward, and five 2013 ELP teams (Oregon Oaks, River Stories, Stream Stewardship, Wetlands Wildlife, and the X-Stream Team) presented at the 2013 Undergraduate Symposium:
Aaron Poplack was named one of two Experiential Category winners in the UO Study Abroad Program’s 2013 International Projects Fair for his work in Monteverde, Costa Rica. Sierra Predovich and three 2012 ELP teams, the Stream Stewardship Team, the Restoration Research Team, and the Sustainable Farms Team each published an article in OUR Journal, the Oregon undergraduate research journal. The ELP’s 2012 Sustainable Farms Team received an Undergraduate Library Research Award. Michelle Rau served on the student congress for The Nation Possessed: The Conflicting Claims on America’s Public Lands, a conference put on by The Center of the American West and the Public Lands Foundation.
pReNews 2013q
Carson Viles was chosen as a McNair Scholar. o
17
Community
2013 Ecotone Body & Environment
The Ecotone is the journal of the Environmental Studies Program and is created by graduate students at the University of Oregon. The journal provides a venue for communication and exchange within and beyond the Environmental Studies Program among undergraduates, graduate students, faculty, staff, and alumni. The Ecotone serves as a venue for sharing professional interests, discussing environmental concerns, and posting creative expressions. The 2013 issue’s theme is “Body and Environment.” In poetry, essays, research articles, photography, and more, contributors explore the connections between bodies and environments through topics ranging from ginkgo trees to religious festivals, dust to environmental justice, and orangutan gestures to jogging. A digital version of The Ecotone is available on the Environmental Studies Program’s website, envs.uoregon.edu. If you would like a free hard copy of this year’s Ecotone, please contact us in any of three ways: By email: ecotoneuofo@gmail.com In person: 144 Columbia Hall University of Oregon Campus By mail: The Ecotone Environmental Studies Program 5223 University of Oregon Eugene, OR 97403
18
MyMcKenzie
MyMcKenzie A new interdisciplinary initiative of the UO Environmental Leadership Program By Kathryn Lynch and Peg Boulay
19
Photo: Alyse Nielsen
W
e are the McKenzie. Literally. Living here in Eugene, the McKenzie River provides us with our drinking water. And since a significant proportion of the human body is water, in essence, we are the McKenzie. What happens to the river, happens to us. Yet this awareness – this connection to place – is generally (woefully) absent. Students are transient and often lack an understanding of how they are inextricably linked to this stunning 90-mile stretch of river. To help foster students’ connection to “place,” we launched the MyMcKenzie Environmental Leadership Program (ELP) initiative this academic year. The initiative began with a new fall course titled “Understanding Place: the McKenzie Watershed” and culminated with four complementary servicelearning projects linked to the McKenzie River. We called this integrative initiative MyMcKenzie to reflect both the complex relationships residents and visitors have with this river, as well as the understanding and sense of stewardship that students gain as they build their personal connection to the river.
pReNews 2013q
20
The McKenzie watershed provides a great laboratory for interdisciplinary, place-based education and service learning. Using the McKenzie watershed as the integrating context for a suite of projects gives us an opportunity to expand our project offerings to address a full spectrum of topics in natural science, social science, planning and policy, humanities, and design. The McKenzie Watershed offers fascinating and complex geology and geomorphology; multi-faceted and controversial land use issues; a strong sense of community and history tied to place; and a thriving arts community. Many organizations and agencies are doing work in the watershed, which provides
“Understanding Place” class members by the McKenzie River. Photo: Dave Blackwell
During “Understanding Place: The McKenzie Watershed”, we examined the geological, ecological, historical, social, and political influences that shape the McKenzie watershed. Six field trips took us from the headwaters to the confluence where we explored lava flows, springs, hiking trails, dams, hatcheries, restoration projects, historical sites, and more. Drawing upon expertise from within the UO and the broader community, we developed a lecture series that introduced students to diverse disciplines, concepts, perspectives, ideas, and values. Through field trips and interactive lectures, 28 guest speakers provided diverse perspectives on Kalapuya culture, salmon restoration, water quality and management, sustainable agriculture, and many other topics. We wanted students to hear directly from the farmers, anglers, residents, scientists, policy makers and regulatory agencies that shape the watershed’s past, present and future. Through diverse hands-on, student-led activities, the class gained a spatial and temporal understanding of the McKenzie, and contemplated the meaning of “place,” what contributes to a sense of place, and how it influences people’s worldviews and choices.
pReNews 2013q
diverse opportunities for students to directly engage in local conservation issues.
21
By focusing on a single watershed, students interacted with diverse people and organizations and understood how their efforts and perspectives interrelated. Through class discussions, we were able to highlight repeated themes. For example, students were able to understand how the area’s unique geohydrology allows the McKenzie to be a relative stronghold for the endangered Spring Chinook salmon, provides a resilient source of drinking water in the face of climate change, and contributes to the McKenzie and Willamette Rivers’ status as the only remaining Oregon rivers with unallocated water rights. Other emerging themes included the interrelated controversies around dam and fish hatchery management. Although we focused on a single watershed, we learned about difficult issues—salmon, water management, rural economies—that ripple throughout the Pacific Northwest.
pReNews 2013q
22
Like many courses, students were asked to write a research paper with the goal of gaining an in-depth understanding of one facet of the McKenzie watershed. Unlike other courses, this assignment was due in the middle of the term and then served as the foundation for their final group project, the creation of a photo “story book” on the McKenzie. The class published their work via Blurb, an online publisher (see inserts by Elissa Kobrin and Geoffrey Johnson). This final project was designed to help the students synthesize their new understandings of the McKenzie, provide them a space to reflect on their own relationship with the river and provide a mechanism for the class to share back with the community. In addition, a unique feature of this class was our partnership with the McKenzie River Trust, with whom we worked to create a Living River Film Festival session that explored the
watershed’s history, and a family-friendly film and activity day. These events reached approximately 200 members of the public. Building on the fall course, ELP offered four service-learning projects during Winter-Spring 2013 focused on the McKenzie watershed: Canopy Connections, River Stories, Stream Restoration, and X-Stream Team (see following pages for project descriptions). These projects allowed students to gain hands-on experience and professional training, all while serving the community.
Acknowledgements: We would like to thank the funders who made this initiative possible: Steve Ellis and other private donors, The Gray Family Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation, College of Arts and Sciences Program Grant, and the Environmental Studies Program.
pReNews 2013q
Over the past 10 years, the ELP has focused on building an academically rigorous, pedagogically sound, and financially stable program. The ELP model searches for mutually beneficial relationships with diverse community partners, and the MyMcKenzie initiative was developed in response to both student demand and community needs. Students gained professional training and hands-on experience, explored career goals and built professional networks, which sometimes lead to post-graduation jobs. ELP has established a reputation for high-quality work and has successfully built strong connections between the UO and local community non-profits, governmental agencies and businesses. The MyMcKenzie initiative has allowed us to further ELP’s role as an ambassador, promoting UO’s educational mission and community contributions. b
23
MyMcKenzie
Vanities of Her Highness: A River’s Reverie MyMcKenzie story and photo by Elissa Kobrin
B
ehind her chandelier veil, her voice is loud. Here she is boastful. She pours the force of her life into the aventurine pool below; the nebulosity feeding her mossy robes. The narration of her journey flows onward: subterranean silence, chattering whitewater, the long sigh of soft pools.
Seasons color and shape the life she makes, but they are not the sum of her substance. Her story is old, told in the wearing of stone. She has watched the Standing Nation cycle from seed to soil more times then are comprehensible in the human mind. The passing of fish still tickles her ribs.
24
The little beings pass: the finned, the winged, the four-legged, the two-legged. They partake of her essence, dipping hands, feet, and faces. Their stops are brief. They all look the same to her. The two-legged beings have dared to change her path. She has been confused. She has ached for the limbs and light that once touched her in places. She has grown accustomed.
pReNews 2013q
She is unaware of the greater alterations once planned. She knows not of the intent to cement into silence her chandelier veil, her gloried plunge where all may see her might. She will be incognizant of the two-legged beings who have stood, immutable, to safeguard the sacrosanct: her passing at this place. Her millennial expansion ventures boldly onward with no perception of things inconsequential nor things significant.w
25
MyMcKenzie
Islands in Time: Restoring the Changing River MyMcKenzie story and photo by Geoffrey Johnson
R
ight here, and there too, the McKenzie River meanders into the Willamette slowly and in bursts: a fluvial maze of side-channels, and main channels, old and new, and seemingly isolated ponds where groundwater percolates gently through the gravel. Almost 100 years of farming labor cleared Green Island of most tall trees, which clung to coarse soils through the yearly floods. Far beyond recorded history, those trees stood, while the river mixed its cobbled alluvium.
26
Now, as the river shifts its banks, farm fields retreat and the forest moves slowly in; restoration is beginning. In this place, between forces of nature and human endeavor, is the McKenzie River Trust. They steward special lands, accepting easements and deeds in perpetuity. In this paradox of preserving the river’s constant motion, we must choose between side channels, potential building sites and family farms. Our priorities do change, just like the river. On this island in the river, 65,000 newly planted trees are stretching skyward, and most of the dikes are dug out so the floodplain can flourish here amidst the interplay of erosion and deposition. While we look to preserve the motion of nature, softening our own tension between conservation, economics and social justice is tangent to this bend.
pReNews 2013q
For the Western Pond Turtle, the Meadowlark, and the inconspicuous Oregon Chub, this place is perfect in diversity and flux. In shifting river sands, our culture and place need our multilateral decisions and sincere, neighborly discussions. Somewhere between the river and the land—between our present and our future—is an agreeable, dynamic shore.t
27
Tribal Climate Change Project
i
The Tribal Climate
Change Project
Update By Kathy Lynn
The Tribal Climate Change Project (TCCP) is a collaborative project between the University of Oregon Environmental Studies Program and the USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station focused on understanding and communicating the impacts of climate change on tribal culture, sovereignty and traditional ways of life. Indigenous peoples in the United States (and around the world) have contributed little to the causes of climate change, and yet face disproportionate risks. For American Indian, Alaska Native
Tribal Climate Change Project Student Researchers Kirsten Vinyeta and Carson Viles present during a Climate Justice panel during the April 10, 2013 Climate Change Research Symposium. Photo: Kathy Lynn
28
and other indigenous peoples in the U.S., the environmental impacts of climate change and some of the proposed solutions threaten subsistence, lands rights, future growth, cultural survivability, and financial resources. The TCCP conducts research on a range of issues confronting tribes in regards to climate change. Most recently, in May 2013, the USDA Forest Service released “Exploring the role of traditional ecological knowledge in climate change initiatives,� authored by Kirsten Vinyeta and Kathy Lynn, as a General Technical Report. This literature synthesis explores the relationship between Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and climate change and describes the potential role of TEK in climate change assessment and adaptation efforts. On April 10, 2013, the TCCP and UO Environmental Studies Program co-hosted the 2nd Annual Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples Lecture with the UO Robert D. Clark
pReNews 2013q
Keynote Speakers Kyle Powys Whyte and Frank Kanawha Lake engage participants during the 2nd Annual Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples lecture on April 10, 2013 at the University of Oregon Many Nations Longhouse. Photo: Kathy Lynn
29
Honors College. The lecture served as the keynote for the University of Oregon Climate Change Research Symposium and featured two distinguished native researchers and scholars, Dr. Frank Kanawha Lake of the USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Research Station and Kyle Powys Whyte of Michigan State University. Drawing from their varied experience, the speakers discussed how indigenous people are disproportionately affected by climate change yet are often marginalized from policy and academic discussions. The Symposium included a panel on climate justice and indigenous peoples’ issues featuring presentations about media coverage of climate change and Alaska natives, traditional ecological knowledge and its role in climate change initiatives, and climate change impacts on traditional foods and indigenous Northwest culture. The 3rd Annual Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples Lecture will include a student symposium and take place in fall 2014. z
pReNews 2013q
30
ELP
ELP 2012-13 This year, the Environmental Leadership Program (ELP) featured six exciting projects in three categories: Environmental Education, Community Engagement, and Conservation Science in Action
Learn more by visiting the teams’ websites: envs.uoregon.edu/elp_program/projects/currentprojects
Wetland Silhouette, Jordan Grace
31
In our Environmental Education projects, UO students develop and implement transformative learning experiences for children- both in the classroom and on field trips. Our goals are to: 1) provide UO students experience in curriculum development and implementation, with a focus on experiential, place-based, inquiry-based methods; and 2) provide high-quality environmental education programs for local youth that strengthen their connection to the place they live and inspire stewardship. This year’s education projects focus on integrating a focus on the McKenzie River and its importance as the source of our drinking water.
32
Photo: Erica Elliott
ELP
ELP 2012-13 Environmental Education Projects
Canopy Connections MyMcKenzie Project
The Pacific Northwest is home to magnificent old-growth forests. Unfortunately, many local children have never had the opportunity to explore this enchanting ecosystem firsthand. In response, the Canopy Connections Team developed and facilitated a unique field trip experience, which took middleschoolers not only to the forest, but to a remarkable perch within the forest: the top of its canopy. In conjunction with the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest and the Pacific Tree Climbing institute, the team visited classrooms in April and lead full day fieldtrip climbs every Thursday and Friday in the month of May. Curriculum this year focused on water, rivers, and the local importance of the McKenzie.
pReNews 2013q
Front row left to right: Jaclyn Rushing, Adam Haw, Nick Pai, Laura Bofill, Allyson Woodard (Project Manager). Back row: James Puerini, Michael Foster, Elissa Kobrin. Not pictured: Anne Le.
33
X-Stream Team MyMcKenzie Project
Front row left to right: Nora Kaywin, Kailyn Haskovec, Taylor Coronel, Ariana Nelson, Madison DeLong, Madison Brachvogel. Back row: Angie Duncan, Hayden Hockett, Nico Hall, Derek Leung. Not pictured: Lokyee Au (Project Manager), Kathryn Lynch (Project Director).
pReNews 2013q
34
In this age of electronic media, children are too often disconnected from nature. Many local children have not had the opportunity to develop a personal connection to our beautiful McKenzie river, the source of our drinking water and home to endangered salmon. In this collaboration with Adams Elementary, ELP students developed and implemented age-appropriate, place-based curricula, which entailed both classroom visits and field trips to explore the McKenzie firsthand.
Photo: Marissa Williams
ELP
ELP 2012-13 Community Engagement Project In our Community Engagement projects, students collect and share information with different audiences using creative methods, such as interpretive signs, social media, technical assistance documents, and oral histories. Students build communication skills and influence environmental issues through conservation within the community.
35
River Stories MyMcKenzie Project
Front row, left to right: Megan Younge, Shannon Flowers, Hannah Holloway, Kathryn Lynch (ELP Director). Back row: Jason Vanzwol, Starr Hathaway, Adrian Robins, Randy Dersham (Community Partner, McKenzie Drift Boat Museum), Chris Slotte, and Jacob Sembler. Not pictured: Morgan Peach (Project Manager).
pReNews 2013q
36
The mission of this team was to document the rich cultural heritage of the McKenzie River by capturing the experiences and insights of people who live and work along the river in video and photographs. Working in collaboration with McKenzie River Drift Boat Museum, this team learned documentary film and archiving methods, and also collected river photographs aligned with their river stories. The team shared their work through various public outreach events.
Photo: Kirsten Vinyeta
ELP
ELP 2012-13 Conservation Science in Action Projects In our Conservation Science in Action projects, students assist community partners by completing hands-on restoration projects, creating assessments and management plans, or acquiring and analyzing needed environmental data. In each of this year’s science projects, students revisited sites that were monitored by previous ELP teams. Comparing postrestoration data to baseline data allows for a meaningful assessment of change and effectiveness. Restorationists will be able to apply these lessons to improve important conservation actions. In addition, all 3 teams got their hands dirty by conducting habitat stewardship activities such as invasive plant removal and native tree protection. These projects demonstrate the value of long-term monitoring partnerships.
37
Stream Stewardship MyMcKenzie Project
Front row, left to right: Geoffrey Johnson, Drew Thompson, Kadie Hayward, Laura Marti, Taylor West, Kimina Jamison. Back row (on log): Ashley Sosa, Jennifer Vargo, Matt Keeler, Robbie Lascheck, Bre Senate. Not pictured: Andrew Dutterer (Project Manager), Peg Boulay (Project Director).
pReNews 2013q
38
Restoration of streamside vegetation improves water quality and benefits fish, wildlife and people. Enhancing in-stream habitat is important for salmon and other aquatic species. In partnership with the McKenzie Watershed Council and U.S. Forest Service, the Stream Stewardship Team got wet and made a difference by assisting with several stream monitoring projects – from evaluating the success of riparian plantings to conducting fish surveys. They learned about restoration techniques and challenges, as well as how to identify local native and non-native plant species, assess fish populations, and evaluate in-stream habitat. Their monitoring data helped the Council understand the effects, limitations and successes of restoration projects.
Oregon Oaks
Once common, Oregon’s oak habitats are important to an amazing diversity of wildlife, insects, and plants. Over 95% of oak habitats have been lost in the Willamette Valley, and the remaining areas need to be conserved, managed and restored so that we can maintain our oak heritage. In partnership with the City of Eugene, the Oregon Oaks team collected habitat mapping and assessment data, and they compared their findings to baseline data collected in 2010 by the ELP Ridgeline Oaks Team. The team also “ground-truthed” a new habitat map for the beautiful Ridgeline system, a series of parks and natural areas forming Eugene’s southern border. The students learned about oak restoration methods and challenges, as well as hands-on techniques such as silvicultural measurements, creating maps, and identifying native and non-native plants. Their data and recommendations helped the City evaluate the success of oak enhancement activities
pReNews 2013q
Front row, left to right: Hannah Fuller, Alayna Linde (Project Manager), Jamal Keuter, Regan O’Reilly. Middle row: William Brennan, Caleb Fraser Curry, Corey Guerrant, Jack Washer. Back row: Everett Baker, Brooke Bilyeu, Ari Horowitz, Brittany Hunt. Not pictured: Peg Boulay (Project Director)
39
Wetlands Wildlife
Front row, left to right: Gail Tinkham, Erin Engbeck, Katie Ferra, Terri Berling, Garrett Pemstein, Natalie Otto, Collin Eaton (Project Manager). Back row: Alex Gregory, Johnmichael Lahtinen, Jessica Scott, Wayland Tan. Not pictured: Peg Boulay (Project Director)
pReNews 2013q
40
The Delta Ponds area is a rich complex of wetland habitats, and the City of Eugene and its partners have implemented several restoration projects to improve hydrological connectivity between ponds and the Willamette River, remove invasive non-native vegetation, reshape steep banks to create riparian benches, enhance habitat for western pond turtles, and plant native riparian and wetland vegetation. In partnership with the City of Eugene, the Wetlands Wildlife team evaluated amphibian, reptile, and vegetation response to the enhancement activities. They compared their findings to data collected by the 2004-05 ELP Delta Ponds Team. The 2013 students gained an understanding of wetland and riparian restoration, wildlife survey and habitat assessment methods, and species identification. Tracking wildlife response to habitat restoration requires a long-term effort, and this team’s data not only provides an initial assessment of success, but will allow the City to track change over time. T
Recovering Restoration
CCC
h
An anonymous ENVS 202 student reflects on a Classroom-Community Connections volunteer event Tree Planting and a River, Marissa Williams
41
T
he alarm is ringing, and I’m rolling out of bed. Trapped in my sheets, I fall onto my floor and proceed to knock over a week-old mason jar of tea (indispensable accoutrement in many a Eugene room). Minutes later, I’m flying down the street toward the Willamette River. When I was smaller, the river was where I went to play on rocks. There were a few running creeks in my hometown of Ojai, California, but nary a running river to be seen. During El Niño years, the Ventura river bottom swelled, took to our street, and flooded our house. However, in the summertime I would visit my Aunt Dee in Bremerton, Washington. Water everywhere: the Puget Sound (where I would dig for geo-ducks and try to catch cormorants), lakes, streams where you could still go out and see Chinook. Somehow, for college, I found myself stuck between Bremerton and Ojai, farther North than South, in a town with a real, running, watery river… Wait, where was I? Oh yes, I am arriving at the river, crossing the Autzen Footbridge where many an illicit, intimate, inexplicable Eugene moment has been spent, and gliding down into the cottonwoods.
pReNews 2013q
42
River vegetation is strange here—it’s so…so green! Ojai is a sagebrush chaparral town, lots of silvers and browns and reds, white flowers and coyotes so fat they drag their stomachs around on the pavement at night looking for housecats. When I first got to Eugene, I sat by the Willamette, staring at the alders and the cottonwoods, fumbling through the blackberry, snowberry, thimbleberry, you-name-it berry, to the water’s edge. Ducks floating by on that watery stuff that still amazes me. And now here I am again, river’s edge, work to be done.
Photography
43
Photo: Alayna Linde
Well, no I’m not, not just yet. I’m surrounded by my classmates, as our facilitator guides approximately 30-40 hungover, I mean, college students to the Himalayan blackberry, English ivy, and loads of garbage we are meant to remove. I’m skeptical, but I know I can get into this again. This ain’t my first rodeo with invasives. After my first three years in the university, I had had enough. I left. Goodbye, no more of this. I was out to Idaho with Northwest Youth Corps, where I trained, and was trained to lead restoration crews in some of the most beautiful wild places of the United States. I still firmly believe that Idaho has the most beautiful wilderness areas on the planet, and although I have, well, a few places left to go, the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness Area is my second home. And oh, how I have pulled invasives. From tumbleweeds in the Birds of Prey National Recreation Area, to Scotch broom on the Oregon coast, to yellow iris corms out of the muck of elk swamps, I have faced back-breakers, finger-prickers, and mind-dullers across several states.
pReNews 2013q
44
But now here I am, back on the edge of the Willamette, loppers in hand, with my most confusing foe: Himalayan blackberry. I always believe I am prepared, Carhartt’s, X-tra Tough boots, Woolrich—a veritable Pacific Northwest suit of armor. But the thorns are always stronger, pierce deeper than I can anticipate. My classmates speak of sports. They are apparently not engaged in the same cognitive dissonance. You see, blackberries are iconic and iconoclast. Invasive and food to native and non-native alike (from the rodents and birds to the last tie-dyed Eugenians). They’re incredibly resilient, they
follow the train tracks, they protect themselves and yet offer such fantastic rewards. They’re like my friends. They are my friends. And they follow disturbance. Just like so many invasives, they don’t just run blitzkrieg on natives, covering everything in their path. They follow the train tracks, the roads, the trails; they sleep under sidewalks until they begin to creep up the sides of homes; they go where we go.
The Ventura River bottom is dry so many years in a row that many people live down there. Recently, a coalition of campus kids and law enforcement did “restoration work” in the river bottom, and removed “several thousand hypodermic needles” according to the local papers. The papers didn’t mention the removal of countless beds, couches, sleeping bags, jackets, and necessities--clearly not garbage. What does restoration even mean here? Forced relocation? Americans have a grim history of this with many a marginalized population. And I’m not talking about the blackberries. But perhaps our policies with plant life are eerily similar to our policies with people. What is real “restoration” or “restorative” work? How can we do habitat restoration at a river’s edge where there are people with no other place to live? And if people are living there, won’t the blackberry find
pReNews 2013q
Ok, apparently my classmates weren’t hungover, because now this is what we’re talking about. We’re wading through the blackberries, trying to avoid the alder shoots and snowberries, and tripping on old 40-ounce bottles. It’s confusing, the trashpickers are obviously stumbling upon people’s belongings, it’s confusing, we’re hacking through summer sustenance, it’s confusing, we say they’ll just grow back anyway.
45
Photography Photo: Alayna Linde
46
its way back, tracked in on a worn work boot? I’ve watched the blackberries and Scotch broom follow the highways, the logging roads, the developments, and heard the moans of cityslick ecologists as the invasives trek onward, the poisonous compromise with herbicide manufacturers to do “restoration” that only leaves another trophic level we cannot see bleeding. And yet, what a morning. The sun was out, it was over 30 degrees, a few light sprinkles, but for the most part, mild mild Oregon. Crisp, green, gorgeous. Something I can enjoy in my trail clothes with a warm room waiting at home. Perhaps we need to enjoin our definitions of restoration (returning ecosystems to certain “historical states”) and our definitions of restorative (making whole again) in order to work for native species and people, and let the invasives live with us in our cities, which are, after all, the most invasive growth on the land. u
pReNews 2013q
Begun in 2009, the Classroom-Community Connections initiative (CCC) gives students in introductory Environmental Studies Program courses the opportunity to apply the concepts learned in the classroom by volunteering with environmental organizations in the Eugene/Springfield community.
47
Community The Forest Team on Lookout Creek Old-Growth Trail at HJ Andrews Experimental Forest. Front: Richard Burton; Middle: Kathryn Lynch, Katie MacDiarmid and Nick Gillespie; Back: Rithy Khut. (Photo : Kathryn Lynch)
A Tribute to
Nickolas Gillespie December 13, 1982 – January 27, 2013
N
ick was one of those students you love to have in class. His bright positive energy always lit up the room. In winter 2006, Nick took my course focused on the cultural and ecological importance of non-timber forest products – all those amazing plant foods, medicines, and cultural materials the forest provides. Nick enthusiastically shared his passion for gathering huckleberries with everyone and generously shared some of his harvest at our final class potluck.
48
The next year, he applied to be part of the Environmental Leadership Program’s Forest Team. Working in collaboration with the HJ Andrews Experimental Forest, he helped design an interpretive brochure for the Lookout Creek trail, along with lesson plans that teachers could use along the trail. This brochure is still available as a resource for the general public and focuses on the structure and ecology that make the old-growth forest ecosystem so unique and amazing. Nick’s contribution, entitled “A Forest Beyond the Trees,” unsurprisingly built on his love and knowledge of non-timber
pReNews 2013q
The Forest Team cooling their feet after a long hike on Lookout Creek Old-Growth Trail. Clockwise from Right: Nick Gillespie, Katie MacDiarmid, Rithy Khut and Richard Burton. (Photo: Kathryn Lynch)
49
Nick Gillespie (right) investigating tree rings and talking tree biology with Rithy Khut (middle) and Richard Burton. (Photo: Kathryn Lynch)
forest products and encouraged children to connect with the wild places near them. He dove into the challenges that inevitably spring up in a team service-learning setting and came up with creative ideas that went above and beyond the project parameters.
pReNews 2013q
50
Nick lived life fully and brought such a beautiful energy to everything he did. We shared some really great experiences together. Whether on the Oregon coast marveling at the diversity of life in the tide pools or hiking Lookout Creek and reveling in the joy of a sunlit old-growth trail, Nick brought such a joyful enthusiasm for learning, sharing, and being in nature. As his teammate Katie MacDiarmid noted, he was such a kind, joyous, wonderful person. He will be enormously missed. ~Kathryn Lynch
Nick Gillespie on the Environmental Education coast field trip in the tidepools of South Cove with Jamie Messenger. (Photo: Kathryn Lynch)
pReNews 2013q
S
ome people grace your life and in doing so, they leave an everlasting impression. Nick Gillespie was one of those people. Everyone who encountered him was inevitably struck by his zest for life. His ever-present smile seemed to have something extra behind it, a deeper joy and appreciation for that moment in time. As a member of the Environmental Leadership Program, he touched many of us. His love for nature was undeniable; he spent his free time exploring the outdoors and satisfying his ardent lust for playing out in the thick of it. Nick’s enthusiasm encouraged others to see the beauty surrounding us and to connect with the natural environment. In his memory, may we strive to live our lives to the fullest by doing what we love. Nick, your presence will be missed immensely, but your inspiration to all of us will continue to carry on. ~Jamie Messenger w
51
Community
About the
Contributors
Eco, Angelina Hellar
❉❉Dave Blackwell is an instructor in the Department of Geological Sciences. ❉❉Peg Boulay is Co-director of the Environmental Leadership Program and core faculty in the Environmental Studies Program at University of Oregon. ❉❉Alan Dickman is Director of the Environmental Studies Program.
52
❉❉Erica Elliott is a doctoral student in environmental studies and English. ❉❉Jordan Grace is a third-year at the University of Oregon pursuing a double major in environmental science and Planning, Public Policy and Management (PPPM). ❉❉Angelina Hellar is an environmental studies major. ❉❉Geoffrey Johnson is a biology and environmental science major at the University of Oregon. ❉❉Elissa Kobrin is a planning, public policy & management major and environmental studies minor at the University of Oregon. ❉❉Alayna Linde graduated from the University of Oregon in June with a Master’s degree in environmental studies. ❉❉Kathryn Lynch is Co-director of the Environmental Leadership Program and core faculty in the Environmental Studies Program at University of Oregon. ❉❉Kathy Lynn is an adjunct faculty member in the Environmental Studies Program and directs the Pacific Northwest Tribal Climate Change Project. ❉❉Jamie Messenger graduated with an Environmental Science major in 2007. She was a member of the Environmental Leadership Program’s 2007 X-Stream Team. ❉❉Alyse Nielsen is the Undergraduate Program Assistant for the UO Environmental Studies Program. ❉❉Mason Trinca is an environmental studies major.
❉❉Kirsten Vinyeta is a Master’s student in the Environmental Studies Program. ❉❉Marissa Williams graduated from the University of Oregon in June with a Master’s degree in environmental studies.
w
pReNews 2013q
❉❉Cassidy Ventura graduated with an Environmental Studies major in 2012.
53
ReNews University of Oregon
Environmental Studies Program 5223 University of Oregon Eugene, OR 97403-5223
Nonprofit Organization U.S. Postage PAID Eugene, OR Permit No. 63