Friday: OSU Graduate Symposium
The busy run up to Earth Day starts this Friday, as Oregon State students present their latest research in fisheries and wildlife, ecology and forestry. This year, the annual Research Advances in Fisheries, Wildlife, and Ecology (RAFWE) is co-hosting with the College of Forestry’s Western Forestry Graduate Research Symposium (WFGRS), and the combined conference promises to show off more cutting-edge research than ever before.
The combined symposium is open to the public, and will be headlined by two keynote speakers, Gabe Sheoships from Friends of Tryon Creek and Oregon State Forester Cal Mukumoto. Sheoships is an enrolled citizen of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, and has helped Friends of Tryon Creek to incorporate Indigenous knowledge and cultural focus into their land management. His keynote talk is titled “‘Indigenous worldviews, western models of environmental management, and ecological futurisms.” Mukumoto has worked across every aspect of Northwest forest management, including extensive work with Tribal businesses. His talk is titled “‘Oregon Department of Forestry, Research Needs and Policy Development.”
The symposium opens at 8:30 am on Friday, April 14th at the Peavy Forest Science Center and Richardson Hall on OSU’s campus. The event runs into the evening, with Mukumoto’s keynote at 9:00 and Sheoships’ at 4:10 pm. The full schedule is available here. Details on virtual attendance here.
Saturday: Green Living Expo
If you’ve been thinking about a switch away from fossil fuels in your home or car, this weekend is a great opportunity to learn about the latest options and incentives to go electric. Electrify Corvallis is sponsoring the Green Living and Electric Vehicle Expo this Saturday at the Benton County Fairgrounds. Vendors will be showing off the newest models of electric cars, bikes and scooters, as well as home solutions like heat pumps and green building materials. Attendance is open to the public and free. The Expo runs from 11 am to 3 pm on Saturday, April 15th. More information is available here.
Monday-Tuesday: Water Symposium
If Friday’s event didn’t sate your appetite for the latest scientific research, this week offers yet another symposium, this one focused on the science of water. The 13th annual Pacific Northwest Water Research Symposium is a two-day student-centered conference highlighting the latest student research in the fields of water policy, resources and engineering. The symposium runs from 8 am to 5 pm on Monday April 17th, and 8:30 am to 4 pm on Tuesday April 18th, at the CH2M Hill Alumni Center on 26th Street. Full schedule and other details are available here.
Tuesday: Earth Day Lecture
Last but not least in this packed week of science and nature events, OSU’s College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences presents its annual Earth Day Lecture next Tuesday, with three speakers all focused on the topic “Bold Solutions, Better Planet.” Scheduled speakers are Julie Pullen from climate technology investment startup Propellor, Margaret Leinen from the Scripps Institute of Oceanography and oceanographer Rick Spinrad, who served as NOAA’s chief scientist under President Obama. The virtual event begins at 5:30 pm on Tuesday April 18th, and is free and open to the public, but registration is required over Zoom here.
By Ian Rose
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