Plants for the Future: Adapting to Climate Change |
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Our vision is a world where all people and wildlands are healthy and interact positively, biological diversity flourishes, and environmental challenges are met with a social commitment to solving problems with scientific principles. |
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"We must be free not because we claim freedom, but because we practice it." - William Faulkner |
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Plants for the Future: Climate Adapted Plant Materials |
During an overcast and rainy January day, Institute for Applied Ecology staff are hard at work collecting cuttings of red osier dogwood (Cornus sericea), and other shrub species native to the Pacific Northwest. Though today this work is being done in the rainy, cold environments these plants have spent so much time adapting to, in a few decades these same habitats are expected to be much warmer and drier. These collections are part of a study coined the Climate Adapted Plant Materials (CAPM) project, which is designed to determine the viability of plant populations to deal with increased weather fluctuations in the face of a changing climate. Read More
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Shedding Light on Occultation at Oak Basin |
It’s been an uphill battle implementing the solarization project in Meadow D at Oak Basin. Part of an upland meadow complex managed by the Northwest Oregon BLM (Bureau of Land Management) District’s Upper Willamette Field Office in the hills just east of Brownsville, Oregon, Oak Basin has all the challenges that come with a hillside location: exposed, windy, rocky, thin soils, and difficult to access. Read More
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Announcements
& Brief Updates
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Episode 1 of our monthly podcast Seeds for Change—hosted by Cierra Dawson—is available now! This month's episode is special not only because is it the first full episode of our podcast, but it also features the person that made our conservation work possible. And that person is none other than Tom Kaye.
Tom Kaye is the Executive Director of the Institute for Applied Ecology. He founded our growing conservation nonprofit back in 1999. You’ll hear him say it in this episode, but as he recalls it, IAE started with him, a couple of grad students, and a dream of studying rare plants here in Oregon. Curious to learn more? Take a listen to Tom's journey here, and please share and help us get the word out about Seeds for Change!
New episodes debut monthly! In each, you’ll hear stories from restoration ecologists and field technicians, farmers, educators, and more!—with a focus on the work we do here at IAE to cultivate plants and the relationships with people that help sustain and recover ecosystems on-the-ground. Keep your ears tuned for Episode 2, an interview with Sara Alaica, Restoration Ecologist—coming soon!
Seeds for Change is available on Spotify, Amazon Music, Castbox, RadioPublic, iHeartRadio, and anywhere else you listen to podcasts (RSS Feed available here).
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Sagebrush in Prisons Project Update
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During the slower months of the Sagebrush in Prisons Project, typically January through March, our goal is to deliver quality educational curriculum to our incarcerated crews and volunteers as schedules allow.
Last month, I decided to dive into our “Jobs in Horticulture” workshop at two of the sites I work with: Idaho State Correctional Center in Kuna and Snake River Correctional Institution in Ontario, Oregon. We transformed what was formerly one lesson into a series of three workshops to go deeper into each focus area and enhance learning potential. This also allows more time for group discussions and sharing. Each workshop lasts approximately 60-90 minutes.
Topics included the therapeutic benefits of working outdoors, social benefits such as connecting with others who are making a positive difference for the environment, and the native plant propagation skills provided while working in SPP that can be directly transferred to a nursery job upon release.
We talked about the variety of jobs within this field, how to gain the experience and knowledge to qualify for these jobs, and how to locate the job listings. Finally, we discussed how to create a resume that will allow their skills to shine through and beat the competition.
I was pleasantly surprised we had a lot of open sharing and discussion in all of the sessions presented thus far. Many of the residents mentioned past jobs they worked and we discussed why they did or did not enjoy these positions—as well as what types of jobs they desire to pursue most in the future. The participation, critical thinking, and enthusiasm observed felt rewarding and continues to give me a sense of accomplishment and motivation to keep doing this challenging work.
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IAE Education Coordinator Releases New Book, "Trees are Bridges to the Sky" |
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IAE's education coordinator, Frederick Livingston, will be releasing his newest book "Trees are Bridges to the Sky", winner of the Prism Prize for climate literature:
Underneath the technical expertise and funding schemes of conservation work, there are humans and their Earthly relations. Braiding science and poetry, "Trees" challenges industrial culture's fascination with overpopulation, apocalypse, and humanity's role as parasites. The book offers alternative metaphors drawn from other cultures and species, to deepen the soil we can dream and plant seeds for more fruitful futures.
The book is available for preorder now, and will be released on April 25, 2024. Copies are available from your local bookstore, directly from the author, or online at: https://bit.ly/3GfCj14. Homebound Publications will plant a tree for each copy sold. More information on Frederick's writings can be found online here.
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Caterpillar Creativity at the Columbia River Correctional Institute |
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The Ecological Education team recently participated in a spring educational event hosted by Columbia River Correctional Institute (CRCI), located outside of Portland, Oregon. This event was an opportunity for the families and loved ones of the incarcerated individuals to spend time together and participate in crafts and other art projects from a variety of programs within prisons such as Life Skills and Roots of Success.
At the event, the EE team brought in some examples of the Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly (TCB) molts as they go through each instar stage as well as posterboard about TCB, highlighting what the women at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility (CCCF) do on a daily basis and how they are supporting recovery efforts for the butterfly. Many of the adults in custody (AICs) and their families were really interested in this program and applauded the efforts of the women at CCCF. As a companion art activity, we set up a “create your own caterpillar on a leaf” activity, where the kids could choose colors for their caterpillar, attach it to the paper leaf of their choice, and with some fancy taping and gluing, their caterpillar came to life!
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Staff Highlight: Lauren Berger |
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Lauren Berger is the Willamette Valley Seed Collection Technician with the Northwest Plant Materials Program (PMP) of the Institute for Applied Ecology. She leads scouting, seed collection, and seed cleaning for the Northwest PMP throughout the year. You can learn more about her work here.
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IAE: Was there an experience or memory that helped steer your career into conservation?
Lauren: There have been multiple experiences that pushed me towards the field of conservation. I was lucky to grow up in a household that emphasized spending time outside and connecting to the ecosystems found in the canyons and lagoons behind my home. I didn’t come to realize that this was something I could pursue as a career until later in life - during my junior year of college when I started working in environmental education. Since graduating I’ve been able to continue on the career path of conservation, a move to the PNW for an AmeriCorps stint focused on salmon habitat restoration reaffirmed that this was the career path for me and I've continued to pursue opportunities in the field since.
IAE: What do you love about working at IAE?
Lauren: Not only does working for IAE allow me to spend time in some amazing places throughout the Willamette Valley (and beyond!), it's also a great place to work because of the collaborative nature of the workplace. The staff, along with project partners and community members we get to work with, continually inspire me with their knowledge, skills, and dedication to conservation. Specifically, the hardworking crew of the Plant Materials Program makes work all that much more rewarding and has been a great team to work with for the past year!
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Staff Highlight: Liz Olson |
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Liz Olson is the new Native Seed Network Coordinator with IAE. Over the coming months, she will be rebuilding the Native Seed Network, an online database and resource hub that connects habitat restoration practitioners with native seed producers nationwide. You can learn more about Liz here!
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IAE: Was there an experience or memory that helped steer your career into conservation?
Liz: I have been interested in conservation for as long as I can remember. I don't remember learning about climate change or conservation, likely because it was always implicit whenever I engaged in learning about the natural world. I'll credit my mom for getting me a subscription to Ranger Rick magazine and taking me to Up Yonda Farm, the local environmental education center where I learned to identify animal scat and tap sugar maples.
As a young child growing up in the shadow of the Adirondack mountains, I spent a lot of time outdoors, squatting on the sidewalk outside my house to get a closer look at sprawling ant colonies and having "conversations" with earthworms unmoored by the rain. My interest in conservation has taken several forms over the course of my life. While completing my B.S. in Environmental Science at Northeastern University, I spent a semester conducting marine biodiversity and conservation research in Woods Hole, Massachusetts and on a tall ship in the Sargasso Sea, where I studied high seas fisheries policy and genetic variation in Sargassum seaweed.
I recently finished my M.S. in Applied Anthropology, where my research focused on the relationships between Oregon fruit and vegetable growers and the insect pests and beneficials they work alongside, and what those relationships can tell us about farming sustainably in a changing climate. Currently at IAE, I am working on building a Native Seed Network to facilitate connections between native seed growers and restoration practitioners nationwide.
IAE: What do you love about working at IAE?
Liz: I love working for a science-based organization with an emphasis on applied work. IAE conducts its own research and uses the results to inform conservation and restoration efforts, some of which has led to the recovery of several endangered plant species. I learned during my master's studies that designing research with an emphasis on application is critical to solving humanity's most pressing issues, and I'm proud to work for an organization that does so.
I also love the folks I work with! I broke my ankle the day before starting my new position at IAE, which threw me for a loop, to say the least. I've been so grateful to work with a group of people that have been supportive throughout every step of the recovery process.
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Natural Areas Conference (NAC24): Where Science Meets Stewardship |
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The NAC24 Call for Proposals is now open. Land stewardship benefits from shared knowledge rich in diverse perspectives. NAC24 invites participation from all viewpoints, backgrounds, abilities, and experiences to enrich learning for all. We would like to encourage you, as a natural areas practitioner, to submit a proposal for individual presentation or poster. We are also accepting story maps to share with your land management colleagues.
Deadline for submissions is April 30, 2024. Scholarship opportunities are available for students and practitioners. Apply here.
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Wed. April 24, 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. in Santa Fe, NM. Join us for seed cleaning at the Southwest Office! Sign up
Wed. May 8, 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. in Santa Fe, NM. Join us for seed cleaning at the Southwest Office! Sign up
Sat. May 11, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at Champoeg State Heritage Area, OR. Join us to help restore indigenous First Foods in native prairie habitat, while contributing to the recovery of the land. RSVP required
Sat. May 18, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in Marys Peak Watershed, OR. The meadow is in the Corvallis Watershed near Alsea, and volunteers will remove encroaching daisies and other non-native vegetation from this habitat. Sign up
Sat. June 1, 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in Marys Peak Watershed, OR. Volunteers will remove encroaching daisies and other non-native vegetation from this habitat. RSVP required
Sat. June 8, 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at Marys Peak, OR. Volunteers will remove small conifer saplings to restore native meadow habitat. RSVP required
Sat. June 15, 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at Marys Peak, OR. Volunteers will remove oxeye daisy and other non-native species to restore native meadow habitat. RSVP required
Sat. June 29, 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at Marys Peak, OR. Volunteers will remove oxeye daisy and other non-native species to restore native meadow habitat. RSVP required
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Thurs. May 16, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., location TBD near Corvallis, OR. IAE staff will present outdoors at the plots about native plant production and management, weed control, use of fire, and lessons learned. RSVP to: info@appliedeco.org
Sun. May 19, 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. meeting at Lumos Winery, OR. Learn how ecologists have been working to enhance and expand habitat for the Fender’s blue butterfly and Kincaid’s lupine, two rare species endemic to the Willamette Valley. All are welcome! RSVP to: paulreed@appliedeco.org
Sun. May 26, 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. meeting at Lumos Winery, OR. Learn how ecologists have been working to enhance and expand habitat for the Fender’s blue butterfly and Kincaid’s lupine, two rare species endemic to the Willamette Valley. All are welcome! RSVP to: paulreed@appliedeco.org
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Sat. April 20, 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Common Fields in Corvallis, OR. Celebrate Earth Day in Corvallis at Common Fields with the Corvallis Environmental Center, Institute for Applied Ecology, Greenbelt Land Trust, and Willamette River Keeper!
Sat. May 11, 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Santa Fe Fairgrounds, NM. Please join IAE and the Santa Fe Extension Master Gardeners for the annual Garden Fair at the Santa Fe County Fairgrounds.
2024 Invasive Species Cook Off
Sat. Aug. 17, 5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Common Fields in Corvallis, OR. The Invasive Species Cook-off is an event to remember, with dinner that features all-too-common invasive plants and animals. Guests are frequently surprised that well-known foods are both edible and invasive, usurping resources from our native ecosystems. Tickets coming soon!
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Do you love plants and wildlife? Are you inspired by hands-on work in conserving and restoring threatened and endangered species and critical habitats? The Institute for Applied Ecology is currently growing our team in Oregon, New Mexico, and Arizona.
We are currently hiring for the following positions:
Visit our website to learn more about open positions and how to apply!
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Volunteer, Become an IAE Member! |
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If you'd like to show your business's support
for our work, please get in touch:
(541) 753-3099 x 701
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Ken Bierly, Brandy Humphreys, Cary Stephens, Jack Halsey, Jason Bradford, Anne Bradley, Shinji Kawai, Judy Li, John Savage, Sunia Yang, Graham Frank |
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