contents Director’s Note Matthew Dennis and Alan Dickman
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New Master’s Students
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New Doctoral Students
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Faculty and Student Achievements
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2014 Ecotone Information
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Student Advising Center Update
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Tribal Climate Change Project Update Kathy Lynn
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Environmental Humanities Update Louise Westling
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Environmental Science Institute Update Scott Bridgham
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Environmental Leadership Program Update Peg Boulay and Kathryn Lynch
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2013-2014 Environmental Leadership Program
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Environmental Education Projects Critters and Currents Canopy Connectsion
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Community Engagement Projects River Stories
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Conservation Science in Action Projects Stream Stewardship River Restoration Sustainable Farms Wetlands Webs
contents
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program
director’s
note Dear friends and members of the Environmental Studies Program: I HOPE THAT YOU ENJOY this second installment of our annual newsletter. As I look outside now in mid-April and see the Oregon white oak coming into leaf and the Violet-green Swallows swooping, the snow, sub-zero temperatures, and ice that brought down trees and even closed campus for a couple of days this past winter are a distant memory. This Director’s note is a fitting reflection of the year for me. I am fortunate to have the opportunity to take a study leave this Spring term, during which time Professor Matthew Dennis has kindly offered to fill in as Interim Director. And we decided to share the writing of this note, so I’ll offer some of the highlights of the first part of the year with you, and Matt will close. The year started with the largest incoming cohort of graduate students in many years: we welcomed ten master’s and three doctoral students. As you read their profiles on pages 6-8 you will understand one of the reasons that our program remains strong and vibrant, even as it continues to change. Our undergraduate program is similarly strong. With eight years of increases in enrollments, we had close to 600 environmental studies and environmental science majors in Fall of 2013, and we awarded nearly 160 undergraduate degrees—a number that is sure to increase in the next few years.
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Although these enrollments have stretched us in some ways (particularly in terms of office and classroom availabilities) we will soon have additional help. We were fortunate this year to have successfully recruited a new tenure-track Assistant Professor, Sarah Wald, who will have a 60 percent appointment in Environmental Studies and a 40 percent appointment in English. Sarah is currently completing work on a book, The Nature of Citizenship: Race, Nature, and Citizenship in Representations of Californian Agricultural Labor. With her broad interests in food studies and ethnic studies, as well as in literature, ecocriticism, and environmental justice, Sarah will complement and advance Environmental Studies’ unique interdisciplinary collaborations across the sciences, social sciences, humanities, and professional programs. She starts officially this summer, but we look forward to having Sarah on campus later this Spring. This year also marked the start of the Graduate Specialization in Food Studies, which has its academic home in Environmental Studies. And although Stephen Wooten, who serves as the Food Studies Program Coordinator, has taken on a new position as Associate Vice President and Study Abroad Director, he remains committed to his leadership of the Food Studies Program. Food Studies at Oregon is distinctive, rooted in the arts and humanities as well as the natural sciences, considering food at the center of community life, health, and justice, in the Willamette Valley and more broadly. Among Sarah Wald’s first classes at Oregon will be a graduate course for the program, on “Food Matters” in Winter of 2015. To support the new graduate specialization, Food Studies funded several graduate research projects this year, and it has aspirations to add a minor and major in the future. Professor Wald’s arrival will enhance another exciting initiative, advanced by several ENVS faculty members this year, to bring the Environmental Humanities into greater prominence at the University of Oregon, nationally, and internationally. Oregon has been a leader in the field for decades, as innovators in the study of environmental literature and ecocritism, environmental philosophy, history, art and design. Professors Molly Westling, Stephanie LeMenager, Gordon Sayre, David Vazquez, Ted Toadvine, Scott Pratt, Marsha Weisiger, Matthew Dennis, Brook Muller, and Carla Bengtson have begun a fruitful collaboration to imagine new curricula, new media for promoting and sharing interdisciplinary work, new possibilities for expanding our faculty, and new ways of engaging the public and addressing pressing environmental problems. The Environmental Science Institute, under the direction of Professor Scott Bridgham, continues to gain momentum, as it facilitates interdisciplinary research and graduate education in the environmental sciences. Major research themes within ESI include climate change, conservation ecology, ecological restoration, water resources, landform
director’s note
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Celina Stilphen
and landscape dynamics, landscape ecology, and hazards science. Through active collaboration, among both faculty and graduate students, ESI scholars are developing new understandings of how environmental systems operate and are helping to craft solutions to environmental problems. As you read through ReNews, don’t miss the accounts of this year’s Environmental Leadership Program, under the able leadership of core faculty members Peg Boulay and Katie Lynch. ELP is a keystone feature of Environmental Studies, as it integrates the academic and the practical, embodies applied interdisciplinary study, and brings together faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, our community partners, and the larger community itself in a unique form of collaborative education. It produces knowledge, experience, public service, hard work, and lots of fun. Seven projects this year advanced environmental education, not merely at the UO, but among local school children—getting them outside to learn about and experience the natural world in new ways, engaged with local communities to conserve and tell their stories about place and the natural world, contributing vitally to local ecological restoration, and promoting stewardship and sustainability. Thanks to the resourcefulness and initiative of Raj Vable, an ENVS graduate alum and current undergraduate coordinator, Environmental Studies held its first annual career development and networking event in late April, bringing together ENVS students and some nineteen environmental organizations—including nonprofits, government and public agencies, and private businesses—many represented by ENVS alumni. We look
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forward to building connections between Environmental Studies and the environmental community beyond campus, while helping our students find practical ways to apply their study in a world that needs them. This Spring term has been unusually packed with a wealth of Environmental Studies programming, scholarly exchange, and public outreach. Among the notable events were the Third Annual Climate Change Research Symposium organized by Ron Mitchell (Political Science and ENVS); the Third Annual Northwest Women’s Writers’ Symposium, organized by Molly Westling under the theme, “Family, Animal, Story”; a conference, “Alternative Sovereignties: Decolonization through Indigenous Visions and Struggles,” which featured papers by a number of ENVS faculty; and the culmination of a series of workshops on the theme, “Biodiversity at Twenty-Five,” organized by ENVS Professors Ted Toadvine (Philosophy), Nicolae Morar (Philosophy), and Brendan Bohannan (Biology), to encourage a rethinking of the ethics, scientific basis, and usefulness of the concept of biodiversity. And in late May we will convene the Joint Campus Conference of environmental studies programs from the University of Oregon, Portland State, and Oregon State. This event, “Seeing the Forest for the Trees: Broadening Perspectives to Tackle Current Environmental Issues,” is organized by Professor Dave Sutherland (Geological Sciences) and graduate students Maya Rommwatt and Sam Moore, and it features presentations by the entire first-year class of graduate students. As you’ve read through this note, you’ve followed the blended voices of Program Director Alan Dickman and myself, filling in during Spring term. By now it’s mid-May, the camas has pooled up in nearby meadows in glorious ponds of violet, and those Oregon white oaks are in full leaf. Summer is near. Through these natural and academic cycles, Environmental Studies thrives, sustained by its students, faculty, dedicated staff, alumni, and community partners. Thank you and stay tuned. Sincerely,
Alan Dickman
and
Matthew Dennis
adickman@uoregon.edu / mjdennis@uoregon.edu
director’s note
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new
master’s
students
AYLIE BAKER: I’m a first year master’s student in Environmental Studies. I come to Oregon with a background in radio, media education and public folklore. As an aspiring media-activist and educator, I’m frustrated with what I see as the limits and shadows of mainstream media genres as they take up environmental issues – primarily, the ways in which they displace and disembody local realities and knowledges and have a confined and often privileged resonance. I am interested in media initiatives that expand authorship and production as they “touch down” in physical geographies – in projects that initiate participatory, place-based, interactive and embodied experiences. TIM CHEN: Growing up, I split my time between Ithaca, NY and Taipei, Taiwan. After double-majoring in biology and art at a tiny liberal arts school in Western NY, I decided to dive into the wildly lucrative field of social work instead. Three years of work as a counselor for at-risk youth in the Great Northern Woods of New Hampshire and inner-city Buffalo, NY convinced me that social justice and structural inequality were areas in which I had enough passion to be willing to plunge back into academia.Through my studies in ENVS, I hope to gain a better understanding of the processes which create environmental injustices, and explore ways to begin to counter such issues. JENNY CRAYNE: I received my undergraduate degree in environmental humanities in 2008 from Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington. Since then I have worked as an environmental educator, most recently for the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, where I traveled around Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, impressing kids with dinosaur fossils and dry ice bombs. I am a Northwesterner at heart and enjoy hiking, biking, cooking and drinking beer. When I’m not engaging in one of the aforementioned activities (and sometimes when I am), you can find me reading, writing, and thinking about climate change, environmental education, and nonprofit management. DAVITA FLOWERS-SHANKLIN: I’m from Milwaukee and graduated from Macalester College with a BS in environmental science and biology. After college I served in AmeriCorps for two years at Public Allies Milwaukee, partnering with local environmental organizations, where I helped build capacity and expand programs. For this program, my concentration areas are Environmental Justice and Environmental Restoration. My thesis will look at the role Inclusive Restoration can play in broadening the environmental justice framework. CHRISTINA GOOCH: I received my bachelor’s degree in geology from Smith College in Northampton, MA. After graduating I began a career with the National Park Service, and have worked as a wilderness ranger in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks for the past seven years. During this time, I spent several winters pursuing an interest in sustainable food production, volunteering on organic farms in the US and abroad. My years of visitor interactions and reflection upon my own foodand environmentally-related travel experiences have led me to think critically about the interface of global experience and community-based action. At the University of Oregon I am exploring the connection between food studies abroad and students’ subsequent engagement in local food issues.
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ALICIA KRISTEN: Long ago, a young girl put on her best adventuring gear. She had read about travelers, role-played as an elven ranger, and written stories of wilderness heroics. Hair braided and backpack on her back full of a bug-collector’s gear, now was her time to explore the wilds and reclaim the forests from litter and pollution.As a young woman, she sought waterfalls hidden in the cliffs with the shamans of Tepoztlán, she sang ancient songs for rain and sun with the pedagogical descendants of Ingwe, she made decoctions of nutritious herbs she’d never before heard of, and she tasted the wild foods of Shenandoah’s sweet. While attending the University of Oregon, she delves again into her anthropological, technical, and creative backgrounds to implement a program that helps young adults connect with nature, culture, and their communities. For a fun interactive quest to learn more about Alicia, visit www.greeninprogress.com and click her profile. SAMUEL MOORE: I grew up in Massachusetts in the snow and on the beach, and got my bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies and Studio Art from Tulane University, in New Orleans. Urban farming and environmentalism in Louisiana introduced me to exciting new concepts but also to overwhelming social injustice. Likewise, doing field ecology in South Africa as an undergrad solidified my passion for conservation, but raised questions about my own position and led me to the work I’m engaged with now—trying to unpack the histories and iterations of international conservation, using environmental history, ecology and photography. That’s the big stuff, but mostly I love bikes, tripods, charismatic megafauna and college radio. WENHUI QIU: I’m from a highly forested mountain area of Fujian, a coastal province in southeastern China. In 2009, after receiving my bachelor’s degree in English Language and Literature from Peking University, I worked as a volunteer for an antidesertification project in Ordos, Inner Mongolia for nearly four years. The desert forestation project, in collaboration with China, Japan and Korea, has been one of the most successful such projects in China. I love traveling and nature photography. In the ENVS program, I’m interested in ecology and environmental education. With professional interpretation of nature and ecology, plus photography, I hope to enable others to see the natural world in different light and encourage their love for it. JALEEL REED: I graduated from Northwestern University with a B.A. in environmental science and a minor in business institutions. Growing up in Los Angeles, but having spent the last four years in the Midwest, I was excited to return to the west coast. As a graduate student, I am broadening and deepening my understanding of the interplay between natural resource management and economics, as it pertains to decision-making and policy implementation in both the public and private sectors of developed and developing countries. In the long run, my goal is to continue to share the knowledge and experience I gain throughout my career in order to have a positive impact on communities in need, while also working to inspire the next generation of scholars from those communities. MAYA ROMMWATT: I’m a first-year masters student working on the issue of marine dead zones from the perspectives of marine ecology and environmental law. I’m a lover of all things aquatic, which has sustained me through a bachelor’s degree in biology and a graduate certificate in fisheries management. I’m also a fervent lover of the Pacific Northwest, in part because I grew up in Portland, but also because the land comforts me. I hope to use my graduate training to work on contemporary environmental problems while keeping an eye to the social dimensions of those problems.
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doctoral
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JEAN FAYE: I am a farmer from Senegal, West Africa, a country confronted with multiple environmental, socioeconomic, and cultural problems due in part to the loss of traditional survival skills and climate change. I hope to address these problems by applying sustainable agroforestry techniques to improve livestock conditions, increase crop production and diversity, and thus mitigate climate change to enhance overall quality of life in the Sahel. I completed my BS in Conservation and Resource Studies at UC Berkeley with an emphasis on Sustainable Agriculture. I have done extensive community development work in West Africa, especially Senegal and The Gambia, as well as in the US, the Bay Area of California. At the University of Oregon, I earned my MA in International Studies, with an emphasis on development studies and agrarian change, exploring Agroforestry and food security in the Sahel. For my dissertaion, I intend to look further into the interplay between indigenous heritage and applied agroforestry (on-farm experiments) in stressed environments to mitigate climate change and improve agricultural productions. SONJA KOLSTOE: I grew up in Western Washington State and my childhood was filled with outdoor recreational outings, primarily hiking and skiing. The biology, chemistry and marine biology courses I took in high school inspired me to pursue a B.S. in Biology at Washington State University (WSU). For my UNLV Master’s thesis I worked with Dr. Mary Riddel on Risk Preferences. My current research is a non-market valuation study about the influence of seasonal bird populations on the value of bird watching destinations to bird watchers.This model will make it possible to address the potential welfare effects of processes such as urbanization and climate change that may impact bird watching opportunities. Compared to plant populations and terrestrial animals, birds are highly mobile and thus provide a unique way to observe more immediate responses to environmental changes in their habitat areas. These changes can be valued indirectly by observing the choices among alternative destinations by bird watchers and controlling for a measure of the travel costs people are willing to incur to be able to see different types or numbers of birds. BRIANA MEIER: Through interdisciplinary work in environmental studies and geography, my research interests focus on the following: the relationships between public space and political-cultural economies; the social production of nature; cultural landscapes, particularly conceptions of land as commons and as sacred, as compared with conceptions of land as resource or commodity; and philosophy of nature and environmental ethics in general. My professional background is in urban planning and sustainable urban development. I moved to Oregon in 2007 and completed a master’s degree and certificates in urban planning, design and development at Portland State University. Before that, I worked in Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin with a few NGOs, including the Center for Resilient Cities, where I helped to develop outdoor public spaces, including restored natural areas, community gardens, green school grounds and city parks. My roots remain firmly connected to the wooded hillsides of northeast Iowa.
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faculty
and
student
achievements core faculty BRENDAN BOHANNAN, NICOLAE MORAR and TED TOADVINE organized a
seminar series entitled Biodiversity at Twenty-Five. The series was designed to help rethink our understanding of the ethics, scientific basis, and usefulness of the concept of biodiversity. SCOTT BRIDGHAM received a 2014 Faculty Research Award. STEPHANIE LEMENAGER’s course “The Cultures of Climate Change” was featured in The New York Times. She was also featured in Cascade, the alumni magazine for the College of Arts and Sciences.
BROOK MULLER published a book entitled Ecology and the Architectural Imagination. KATHY LYNN served as a lead author on the National Climate Assessment. Her and Kirsten Vinyeta‘s literature synthesis, entitled “Exploring the Role of Traditional Ecological Knowledge
in Climate Change Initiatives,” was also published as a General Technical Report by the USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station.
RON MITCHELL organized the Third Annual Climate Change Research Symposium. DAVID SUTHERLAND and graduate students MAYA ROMMWATT and SAMUEL MOORE organized the Joint Campus Conference of environmental studies programs from the University of Oregon, Portland State, and Oregon State.
KARI NORGAARD received a 2013 Faculty Research Award and was also awarded the Marquina Faculty-Graduate Student Collaboration Award in conjunction with Ph.D student Julie Bacon. MARSHA WEISIGER received a 2013 Faculty Research Award. LOUISE WESTLING published a book presenting the philosophy of Maurice Merleau-Ponty
as a theoretical grounding for studies in environmental humanities, and edited The Cambridge
Companion to Literature and the Environment. She also organized the Third Annual Northwest Women’s Writers’ Symposium.
RICHARD YORK received the Thomas F. Herman award (also known as the Crystal Apple Award), which is given to UO faculty members who have demonstrated excellence in teaching. He also received a 2013-14 Fund for Faculty Excellence Award.
achievements
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graduate students JULIE BACON was awarded the Marquina Faculty-Graduate Student Collaboration Award in conjunction with Kari Norgaard.
ANDREW DUTTERER received an Oregon Fellowship award. BROOKE HAVLIK was awarded the 2013 Food Studies Graduate Research Grant. SAMUEL MOORE and MAYA ROMMWATT, with professor DAVID SUTHERLAND, organized the Joint Campus Conference of environmental studies programs from the University of Oregon, Portland State, and Oregon State.
TIM CHRISTION MYERS published an article on the well-respected blog BioDiverse Perspectives. LIZ VEAZEY co-wrote a report with Eugene-based The Resource Innovation Group entitled
“Willamette Valley Food Systems: Opportunities for Increasing Climate Change Mitigation and Preparedness, Food Security, and Economic Development.”
CHITHIRA VIJAYAKUMAR received the The Margaret Wiese Graduate Research Award. KIRSTEN VINYETA and Kathy Lynn‘s literature synthesis entitled “Exploring the Role of
Traditional Ecological Knowledge in Climate Change Initiatives” was published as a General Technical Report by the USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station.
ALLYSON WOODARD was a finalist in the Student Category of the Oregon Quarterly’s annual Northwest Perspectives Essay Contest.
undergraduate students ELP’s 2011 MYMCKENZIE students’ photos were featured at Townsend’s Tea House. ELP’s 2014 RIVER STORIES team designed an exhibit for the Lane County Historical Museum. MATT KEELER contributed to the development of a “Mobile Repair Trike” in collaboration with the University of Oregon’s Bike Program, the Center for Appropriate Transportation (CAT), and the Student Sustainability Coalition.
SOUVANNY MILLER was selected as a Marshall scholarship finalist. ADRIAN ROBINS presented on his time in India at the UO Study Abroad Program’s fifth annual International Projects Fair.
FRANCESCA VARELA published a young-adult novel entitled Call of the Sun Child. CARSON VILES’ research on native language learning was featured in an article on Indian Country Today‘s website.
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ecotone the
2014
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 undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty, staff, and alumni, and facilitates cross-campus dialogue between disciplines and departments. The Ecotone serves as a venue for sharing professional interests, discussing environmental concerns, and facilitating creative expression. The Ecotone is published annually and includes journal articles, nonfiction, fiction, poetry, art, and other creative submissions. A digital version of The Ecotone is available on the Environmental Studies Program’s website, and 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
ecotone information
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Jordan Grace
student advising center
update
THE ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES PROGRAM launched the Student Advising Center in Fall 2011. Finishing up its third year, the Center has a team of five undergraduate Student Advisers (SAs), with two more recently hired to replace graduating seniors.The team answers questions from students, prospective students, faculty and staff, and community members. Current students in the Program’s two undergraduate majors—Environmental Studies and Science—drop in for advice on anything and everything including major/minor/university requirements, registration issues, and practical learning opportunities such as internships and study abroad. Beyond the routine advising, students regularly visit the Center to share the stresses and successes of their college career. The Center strives to provide a personalized experience for the 600+ undergraduates who are part of the ENVS program.
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student advisors CAMERON CHURCH: Hey I’m Cameron and it’s my second year as a Student Advisor. I grew up in West Linn Oregon, just outside of Portland and I’m currently in my third 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 and I’m looking forward to meeting all of you this year! ADRIAN ROBINS: I am a fourth-year Environmental Science major and am happy to be returning to the Student Advising Center for another year. Originally from California’s central coast, I find myself at home amongst the coniferous trees, fertile soils and mindful people of Eugene. Looking forward, I hope to use my experiences at the university to study agroecology and work for food security. TAYLOR WEST: As a proud Pacific Northwesterner from Beaverton, Oregon, I enjoy hiking in the fresh Oregon air, eating juicy fruits, and taking long naps. This is my last term as a student at the UO, and I have thoroughly enjoyed the inspiring journey as an Environmental Studies major learning about the relationship between humans and the environment, as well as gaining perspective from my minors in Economics and Anthropology. The ENVS program has provided me with a very well rounded and enriching experience that has enabled me to further pursue my interests in environmental health and food security issues. I look forward to the adventures ahead! ASHLEY ADELMAN: I developed a love for nature working at my grandparents’ peony garden in Brooks, Oregon. My family has a long history of farming - the Adelman Farm in Gervais, Oregon has been in the family since 1904. I am finishing up my third year at UO, majoring in Environmental Studies and PPPM with a minor in Geography. In my free time I enjoy gardening, hiking, cooking, reading, and getting to know new people. 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, sustainable agriculture and empower them to make a difference! JORDAN GRACE: I hail from the land of the sun: Huntington Beach, California. Currently I’m a Senior 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.
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tribal
climate change
project update BY KATHY LYNN
Dr. Myrna Cunningham Kain
Patricia Cochran
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THE TRIBAL CLIMATE CHANGE PROJECT (TCCP) is continuing its work to understand and communicate the impacts of climate change on tribal culture, sovereignty and ways of life. The program is a collaborative project between the University of Oregon Environmental Studies Program and the USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station. This year, TCCP Project Coordinator Kathy Lynn served as a contributing author to two articles in a special issue of the journal Climatic Change: Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples in the United States: Impacts, Experiences and Actions. This is the first time a peer-reviewed scientific journal has exclusively devoted an entire edition to climate change and its impacts on indigenous communities across the United States. The journal explores issues currently experienced by indigenous communities in the U.S. due to climate change, including loss of traditional knowledge, forests and ecosystems, food security and traditional foods, as well as water, Arctic sea ice loss, permafrost thaw, and
relocation. The issue also highlights how tribal communities and programs are responding to the changing environments. The research presented in this special issue supplements the “Impacts of Climate Change on Tribal, Indigenous, and Native Lands and Resources” chapter in the Third National Climate Assessment, to be released in 2014. For more information on the TCCP and these publications, visit http://tribalclimate.uoregon.edu. The TCCP is also preparing for the Third Annual Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples’ Conference, to be held December 2-3, 2014 at the University of Oregon. This year’s conference will feature keynote speeches from two leading thinkers on climate change and indigenous peoples, as well as research presentations by indigenous students from the UO and elsewhere. The conference will feature Dr. Myrna Cunningham Kain, an internationally renowned advocate for indigenous peoples’ and women’s rights who has recently served as chair of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (20112013), and Patricia Cochran, Executive Director of the Alaska Native Science Commission (ANSC). The presence of two such distinguished scholars and indigenous leaders will aim to expand understanding and raise awareness about climate issues facing indigenous peoples in the Americas. For updates and information about the conference, visit http:// ccip.uoregon.edu/.
Celina Stilphen
tribal climate change project
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environmental humanities
update
BY LOUISE WESTLING
ACROSS THE UO CAMPUS Environmental Humanities activities have been surging during the 2013-2014 academic year. Some events, such as the 32nd Public Interest Environmental Law Conference (PIELC), February 28-March 2, and the 22nd Holistic Options for Planet Earth Sustatinability (HOPES), April 1-5, were annual gatherings that brought hundreds of visiting speakers, faculty, students, and community participants to share interdisciplinary research in many aspects of environmental law, and the relationship between ecology and architectural design for a sustainable future. Other symposia and conferences included: • Annual meeting of The International Association for Environmental Philosophy, in conjunction with the annual conference of The Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy, October 24-28. • “The Third Annual Climate Change Research Symposium,” April 16, organized by Political Science professor Ron Mitchell, including a keynote address by Kate Larsen on climate negotiations and four multidisciplinary panels featuring 26 UO presenters from fields such as biology, literature, philosophy, and political science. • ‘Family, Animal, Story, the Third Annual Northwest Women Writers’ Symposium,” May 1-3, organized by the Center for the Study of Women and Society and featuring PEN/Faulkner Award-winning author Karen Joy Fowler discussing her novel We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves with a panel including biological anthropologist and primatologist Frances White, animal law specialist Caroline Forell, literature and animal studies scholar Louise Westling, and UK researcher Joan Haran. • “Alternative Sovereignties: Decolonization Through Indigenous Vision and Struggle,” May 8-10, a conference organized by Native American scholars Kirby Brown (English)
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and Burke Hendrix (Political Science) and held at the Many Nations Longhouse. This conference placed Native people at the center of discussion, building intellectual and institutional relationships in the broader Pacific Northwest. • “Biodiversity at Twenty-Five--A Series of Workshops,” November 21, March 12, and May 12, organized by philosophy professors Ted Toadvine and Nicolae Morar, and Biology professor Brendan Bohannan, designed to help rethink our understanding of the ethics, scientific basis, and usefulness of the concept of biodiversity. • Joint Campus Conference, “Seeing the Forest for the Trees: Broadening Perspectives to Tackle Current Environmental Issues,” May 30, 2014. Faculty and graduate students in environmental studies from the University of Oregon, Oregon State University, and Portland State University share their research in a day-long meeting including poster sessions and papers. Keynote: “Nature’s Trust: Environmental Law for a New Ecological Age” by UO Professor Mary Wood, Director of the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Program. • IN THE WORKS: A SYMPOSIUM FOR 2015: “Rethinking Race in the Anthropocene,” supported by a generous grant from the College of Arts and Sciences and collaboratively proposed by Stephanie LeMenager (English), David Vazquez (English) and Marsha Weisiger (History and Environmental Studies). HOT NEWS: On April 1, a New York Times story featured Stephanie LeMenager’s Winter Term seminar, “Cultures of Climate Change.” The story explained that course readings included nonfiction by Sontag and Derrida and cultural media as well as climate fiction or “Cli Fi.” LeMenager and graduate students Shane Hall and Steven Siperstein were quoted, and the story was reprinted in major newspapers in Germany, Spain and Italy. Professor LeMenager, Siperstein, and Hall were asked for interviews by such media outlets as ClimateWire, CBC radio in Canada, and two Portland, Oregon stations. NEW FACULTY BOOKS include Brook Muller’s Ecology and the Architectural Imagination (Routledge 2014), Stephanie LeMenagers’ Living Oil: Petroleum Culture in the American Century (Oxford 2014), Louise Westling’s The Logos of the Living World: Merleau-Ponty, Animals, and Language (Fordham 2013) and Westling’s edited volume, The Cambridge Companion to Literature and the Environment (2013).
environmental humanities
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Celina Stilphen | “Belknap”
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environmental science institute
BY SCOTT BRIDGHAM
update
mission The mission of the Institute is to promote excellence in research in environmental sciences at the University of Oregon by facilitating interdisciplinary research and graduate education in the environmental sciences, building a shared identity for the environmental sciences and thus increasing its visibility, and enhancing shared research facilities.
history and background In response to the “Big Ideas� initiative of Senior Vice President and Provost Jim Bean, a group of faculty from several departments and programs within CAS and AAA submitted a proposal in the spring of 2009 for the formation of a new institute to integrate the environmental sciences at the University. An ad hoc committee was formed in the summer of 2009 to pursue this initiative, and this committee met numerous times over the following two years to form a consensus on the research and education mission and operating parameters of ESI.
On April 19, 2011, the committee met with Jim Bean, Richard Linton, and then Associate Vice President for Research and Innovation James Hutchinson. They verbally endorsed the formation of ESI, but given that Richard Linton soon was leaving his position as Vice President for Research, it was decided to postpone further discussion until his successor was on board. On July 8, 2011, the committee met with Vice President for Research & Innovation and Dean of the Graduate School, Kimberly Andrews Espy and Assistant Vice President for Research Moira Kiltie. The VPRI endorsed the concept and the formal process to initiate formation of ESI was begun.
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rationale for an environmental sciences institute One of the greatest challenges facing human society today is developing effective solutions to environmental problems, especially considering that their magnitude and complexity demand solutions that transcend traditional disciplinary boundaries. The University of Oregon is at the forefront of interdisciplinary environmental scholarship with nationally recognized programs in such areas as environmental law and sustainable design. However, in one crucial area we substantially lag behind our peers—interdisciplinary environmental science. Interdisciplinary environmental sciences are the foundation for sound environmental policy, yet the environmental sciences at the University of Oregon have significant unrealized potential because they are fragmented across departments and colleges in the current administrative structure, and thus lack visibility consistent with their expertise. The environmental science faculty at the University of Oregon currently are divided among several academic units across different colleges, including Geological Sciences, Geography, Biology, Anthropology, Landscape Architecture, and the Museum of Natural and Cultural History. This division limits their ability to perform integrated research and education. Moreover, environmentally-oriented laboratory facilities are of poor quality and outdated, with no central shared user/core research facilities. Although there are many successful environmental science faculty at the University of Oregon, their dispersed nature reduces the visibility of the environmental sciences both within and outside of the University.
Jordan Grace
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ESI will enhance the mission of the University of Oregon by increasing faculty collaboration, enhancing interdisciplinary inquiry and improving the availability of shared research facilities and resources. The institute structure of ESI will facilitate higher quality collaborative research and increased grant funding within the environmental sciences. ESI will improve graduate education by systematically exposing students to a wide range of cutting-edge techniques and questions that bridge the traditional academic disciplines within the environmental sciences While the immediate focus of ESI is on research and graduate education within the environmental sciences at the University, our long-term vision includes significant improvements in practical learning experiences for undergraduates. research foci Primary research foci within ESI incorporate both cross-cutting academic sub-disciplines and topical themes. Academic sub-disciplines within ESI include organismal ecology and evolution, and physical sciences in light of human forces and impacts. Major research themes within ESI include climate change, conservation ecology, ecological restoration, water resources, landform and landscape dynamics, landscape ecology, and hazards science. All emphasize human-environment interactions and are addressed from both modern and historical/geological perspectives. One of the primary goals of ESI is to have faculty and graduate students in these diverse subject areas actively collaborate and, by doing so, develop new understandings of how environmental systems operate and solutions to pressing environmental problems. graduate education Enhancing interdisciplinary graduate education in the environmental sciences is a central goal of ESI. This goal will be largely met through the Environmental Sciences, Studies, and Policy (ESSP) Ph.D., and master’s degrees within the Environmental Studies Program. Both degrees have existed for a number of years but have had relatively few natural science students for a number of reasons, including the lack of a vibrant, crosscutting research agenda in the natural sciences that ESI will fulfill. The ESSP program has been revamped so that it will be more appealing for natural science Ph.D. students through increased exposure on the web, association with ESI, and a more focused set of course requirements. Our goal is for the environmental science component of the ESSP program to have 15-20 Ph.D. students at its full strength.
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making a
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Accomplishments of the Environmental Leadership Program over the past year BY PEG BOULAY AND KATHRYN LYNCH THE ENVIRONMENTAL LEADERSHIP PROGRAM (ELP) is an interdisciplinary service-learning program housed in the University of Oregon’s Environmental Studies Program. Our mission is to provide undergraduates with an integrative capstone experience and graduate students with project management experience, while engaging with the community to address real needs. Since 2001, ELP has developed and implemented 68 projects addressing a wide array of topics. Currently, our projects fall within three primary tracks: conservation science (e.g. habitat restoration, conservation planning and environmental monitoring), environmental education (e.g. development and implementation of curricula about watershed and forest ecology) and community engagement (e.g. communication campaigns, interpretive materials, social media, oral histories and creative expression). Over the past year, our students have been busy making a positive difference in their community. Here are a few highlights from the past year: JUNE 2013: The 2013 ELP students shared their work at the Living River Festival, organized by McKenzie River Trust. The Living River Festival celebrated the 10-year anniversary of MRT owning Green Island, and over 800 people attended. AUGUST 2013: The MyMcKenzie initiative was featured on University of Oregon’s AroundtheO website. OCTOBER- NOVEMBER 2013: Photographs from the 2011 MyMcKenzie Photography team were on display at Townsend’s Tea House in downtown Eugene. The display was
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hung in time for the First Friday Artwalk. The manager said that people really enjoyed the students’ work, so Tea House staff are interested in showing more student photography in the future. DECEMBER 2013: Students who took the 2013 ENVS 411 Understanding Place: the McKenzie Watershed self-published a River Field Guide. Through this engaging fieldbased class, 30 students learned about and developed a deeper connection with the McKenzie River. A few were photographers who created beautiful new images for our MyMcKenzie photo collection. WINTER 2014: We expanded our partnership with the Emerald Photographic Society. Their members donated images for the River Field Guide. In addition, some of their experienced photographers mentored River Stories undergraduate students in nature photography techniques. APRIL 2014: McKenzie River Trust hosted a 3rd “McKenzie Memories” event on April 4th, building upon the first event created by ELP co-directors Katie Lynch and Peg Boulay during Fall 2012. This popular event sold out and over 300 people attended. ELP River Stories opened the evening, sharing the photographs and stories collected in winter term. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive—the audience really loved the photographs and audio clip stories. MAY 2014: Several of the ELP teams shared their work at the Undergraduate Research Symposium, May 15th. JUNE 2014: The River Stories team created their very own exhibit for the Lane County Historical Museum. The grand opening is scheduled for Saturday June 7, in the late afternoon, and the show will run through the end of the year. The exhibit will include the 8 story boards created last year, the 8 new boards created this year, and some interactive media—all with the mission of helping people make a deeper connection to the place they live, and promoting the stewardship of the McKenzie River. JUNE 2014: We have started planning our involvement in the summer 2014 Living River Festival in partnership with McKenzie River Trust. The event will be June 28th at Green Island. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: We would like to thank the funders who made this all possible: The John L. Luvaas Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation, the Robert and Catherine Miller Foundation, the Environmental Studies Program, Steve Ellis, and all of our private donors.
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environmental
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2013-2014
THIS YEAR, the Environmental Leadership Program featured 7 exciting projects.
Learn more by visiting the teams’ websites: http://envs.uoregon.edu/elp_program/projects/currentprojects/ http://envs.uoregon.edu/collaboration/elp_program/projects/mymckenzie/
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Celina Stilphen | “Carmen Reservoir”
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elp
2013-2014 categories
environmental education projects 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 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 highlighting the McKenzie River and its importance as the source of our drinking water.
community engagement projects 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 conversations within the community.
conservation science in action projects In our Conservation Science in Action (CSA) projects, students assist community partners by completing hands-on restoration projects, creating assessments and management plans, or acquiring and analyzing needed environmental data. This year, all of the CSA projects relate to one or more stages in the adaptive process of ecological restoration. Ecological restoration is a relatively new—but rapidly growing—interdisciplinary field of applied study. It is the science and art of attempting to recover the ecological function of ecosystems degraded by human activity. The teams’ work will inform and support our community partners’ important restoration work.
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environmental education projects
Left to Right: Back row – Makenzie Shepherd, Anna Morgan, Courtney Jarvis, Britney VanCitters, Tony Spiroski, Trevor Norman. Front row – Alicia Kristen (Project Manager), Claire Mallen, Leilani Aldana, Leah Greenspan, Cheyenne Whisenhunt. Not pictured: Katie Lynch (Project Director).
Critters and Currents 2014 – MyMcKenzie Project 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 the beautiful McKenzie River, home to salmon and the source of our drinking water. In this collaboration with Adams Elementary, ELP students developed and implemented an exciting place-based curriculum which combined both classroom lessons and field trips to explore the McKenzie first-hand. Children poked around in logs to learn about decomposition, went on scavenger hunts for local plants, and played games to learn about the “critters” and habitats found in the McKenzie watershed. The team’s overarching mission was to promote environmental awareness, inspire respect and compassion for the natural world, and encourage positive environmental action now and in the future. This project was generously funded by the John L. Luvaas Family Fund of The Oregon Community Foundation.
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Left to Right: Back row – Meghan Quinn, Justin Arios, Megan Hanson; Front row –Tanner Laiche, Jenny Crayne (Project Manager), Hannah Mitchel, Brandon Aye, Christy Stumbo, Jennifer Beard, Christine Potter. Not pictured: Katie Lynch (Project Director).
Canopy Connections 2014 – MyMcKenzie Project The Pacific Northwest is home to some magnificent old-growth forests. Unfortunately, many local children have never had the opportunity to explore this enchanting ecosystem firsthand. To address this, the ELP has worked in partnership with the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest and the Pacific Tree Climbing Institute since 2007 to offer the Canopy Connections project. In this project, ELP teams develop and then implement day-long field trips for local middle-schoolers – complete with a climb into the canopy of an oldgrowth tree and activities exploring the understory. The team’s mission is to help children build a personal connection to this magnificent place, with the end goal of inspiring an ethic of care and stewardship. This year, the team focused on “students as scientists” and highlighted some of the long-term ecological research and writing that is occurring at HJA. Activities included biodiversity scavenger hunts, building Leave No Trace debris shelters, and collecting riparian micro-habitat data. The team visited classrooms in April, and led full-day field trip climbs every Thursday and Friday in the month of May. This project was generously funded by a gift from Steve Ellis.
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community engagement projects
Left to Right: Back row – Randy Dersham (Community Partner), Forrest Hirsh; Front row – Kaley McCarty, Shahnaz Mooney, Jordan Heller, Katie Tanner, Katie Lynch (Project Director), Sierra Druley, Paige Walker, Aylie Baker (Project Manager).
River Stories 2014 – MyMcKenzie project Using photography, video and oral history methods, the River Stories team aimed to capture the experiences and insights of people who live and work along the McKenzie River. Working in collaboration with the McKenzie River Drift Boat Museum, their mission
was to promote the stewardship of the McKenzie River. To do this, they contemplated what it means to cultivate a sense of place, and how the stories we tell about a place (whether in photographs, audio or video forms) impact the way we feel about it and the way we take care of it. They explored how stories bring us into a community with others, as well as the responsibilities and ethics involved in media production. Their task was to share the stories they heard in ways that honor both the tellers of those stories and help connect others to the river. The team presented these stories at the McKenzie River Trust’s annual McKenzie Memories event, organized a public art project throughout Eugene, and was invited by the Lane County Historical Museum to curate a River Stories installation which will run through the end of December 2014. This project was generously funded by a gift from a private donor.
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conservation science in action projects
Left to Right: Hannah Wiser, Sarah McLain, Matthew Kauffman, Rhiannon Le Fay, Leela Hickman, Sigride Jenniska Asseko, April-Dawne Christen, Mika Mason, Chao Liu, Andrew Dutterer (Project Manager). Not pictured: Peg Boulay (Project Director).
Stream Stewardship 2014 – MyMcKenzie Project Restoration of streamside vegetation improves water quality and benefits fish, wildlife and people! In partnership with the McKenzie Watershed Council and McKenzie River Trust, the Stream Stewardship Team conducted a comprehensive site assessment, designed a riparian planting project, and wrote a grant application describing their proposed project. They also monitored the success of riparian plantings, conducted fish surveys and characterized reference sites. To gain additional insights, the team also participated in stewardship activities such as mulching plants and controlling invasive species. This project was generously funded by a gift from a private donor.
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Left to Right: Andy Archer, Sam Wozniak, Cameron Church , Maya Rommwatt (Project Manager), Austin Leep, James Millard, Ella Deck, Drew Yoxsimer, Oscar Hunt, Kaela Johnson, Emily Erickson, James Lauder. Not pictured: Peg Boulay (Project Director).
River Restoration 2014 – MyMcKenzie Project Functional floodplains are critical for water quality, flood control, and habitat for salmon and other aquatic species! In partnership with the McKenzie Watershed Council and U.S. Forest Service, the River Restoration team collected baseline data to inform a comprehensive restoration initiative for the South Fork McKenzie River below Cougar Dam. The team mapped side channels, floodplain inundation areas, and levee locations. They also assessed western pond turtle habitat, conducted fish and aquatic macroinvertebrate surveys, and monitored amphibian populations. This project was generously funded by a gift from Bob Erickson.
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Left to Right: Back row – Adrian Robins, Noe Contreras, Jesse Lynch, Ben Handy, Jordan Grace; Front row - Solveig Noll, Celina Stilphen, Erica Elliott (Project Manager). Not pictured: Peg Boulay (Project Director).
Sustainable Farms 2014 – MyMcKenzie Project Whitewater Ranch is a sustainably-managed Christmas tree farm, diversified with forestry, blueberry, and olive plantings. Due to the ranch’s management philosophy, existing habitat attributes, size and location, it has strong potential for environmental enhancement compatible with its agricultural management objectives. With the overall goals of providing shaded cool water for fish and diverse flowers for pollinators, the Sustainable Farms team created a comprehensive restoration plan for Goose Creek within the context of a working farm. The team assessed the history of the creek redirection and site management, collected information on environmental conditions, evaluated current values and challenges, outlined potential management actions, and designed a riparian planting project. This project was generously funded by a gift from a private donor.
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Clockwise from Top Left to Right: Jeff Kresse, Kathy Fioretti, Kathryn Alexander. Center: Golden Paintbrush (Castilleja levisecta). Not pictured: Peg Boulay (Project Director).
Wetlands Webs 2014 Wetland prairies are important for water quality, flood abatement, and wildlife habitat, yet less than 1% of the Willamette Valley’s historic wetland prairies remain today. Restoration will help conserve wetland values, but practioners need access to the best
methods for establishing diverse native wetland prairie vegetation. The Wetlands Web team consolidated our community partners’ research into an attractive, informative, easyto-use guide within the Cascadia Prairie Oak Partnership website. The students presented their website and provided assistance at a workshop that trained 45 professionals in wetland prairie restoration. To gain additional insights and experience, this team also assisted with several ongoing monitoring projects in the West Eugene Wetlands. This project was generously funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency through a Wetland Program Development Grant. Matching funds and assistance were provided by the Institute for Applied Ecology, the City of Eugene, Lane Council of Governments, and the Center for Natural Lands Management.
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