Temperate Rainforests, Fall 2009

*Note to all: We will be meeting to leave for the Olympic Peninsula Field Trip at lot C  at 6:45 am on Monday, October 19, 2009 . Van drivers need to meet at lot C on the same day at 6:30 am.

Olympic Peninsula Field Trip handout

Dr. Reinhard Stettler is a forest ecologist/geneticist from the University of Washington. He has recently written an engaging book called “Cottonwood and the River of Time” and will be on campus tomorrow for a lecture on the ecology of trees and streams Thursday, Oct. 15 at 12 noon in Lecture Hall 5.

Below is a synopsis of his new book “Cottonwood and the River of Time”:

“Cottonwood and the River of Time” looks at some of the approaches scientists have used to unravel the puzzles of the natural world. With a lifetime of work in forestry and genetics to guide him, Reinhard Stettler celebrates both what has been learned and what still remains a mystery as he examines not only cottonwoods but also trees more generally, their evolution, and their relationship to society. Cottonwoods flourish on the verge, near streams and rivers. Their life cycle is closely attuned to the river’s natural dynamics. An ever-changing floodplain keeps generating new opportunities for these pioneers to settle and prepare the ground for new species. Perpetual change is the story of cottonwoods – but in a broader sense, the story of all trees and all kinds of life. Through the long parade of generation after generation, as rivers meander and glaciers advance and retreat, trees have adapted and persisted, some for thousands of years. How do they do this? And more urgently, what lessons can we learn from the study of trees to preserve and manage our forests for an uncertain future? In his search for answers, Stettler moves from the floodplain of a West Cascade river, where seedlings compete for a foothold, to mountain slopes, where aspens reveal their genetic differences in colorful displays; from the workshops of Renaissance artists who painted their masterpieces on poplar to labs where geneticists have recently succeeded in sequencing a cottonwood’s genome; from the intensively cultivated tree plantations along the Columbia to old-growth forests challenged by global warming. Natural selection and adaptation, the comparable advantages and disadvantages of sexual versus asexual reproduction, the history of plant domestication, and the purposes, risks, and potential benefits of genetic engineering are a few of the many chapters in this story. By offering lessons in how nature works, as well as how science can help us understand it, “Cottonwood and the River of Time” illuminates connections between the physical, biological, and social worlds. Reinhard F. Stettler is professor emeritus of forestry at the University of Washington.

August 28, 2009

To:                     Students enrolled or interested in Temperate Rainforests

From:               Nalini Nadkarni and Kevin Francis

We are hoping that you are enjoying the summer and managing to stay cool. This letter provides some additional details about Temperate Rainforests—weekly schedule, equipment lists and field trip dates—beyond the previous letter (July 20, 2009).

We have included information from the previous letter for those students who have enrolled since this date. Please note the modified dates for the overnight field trips.

Website

Our class website is http://blogs.evergreen.edu/temprain09/ — please consult for updates on the program.

First Class Meeting

Our first class meeting will be on Monday, Sept. 28, 10-12, in Seminar 2, C1105. Students must attend the first class session to keep their seat in the program.

Weekly Schedule

Our program will typically meet during the times below. Note that our schedule will be different during week 1 and week 4 to accommodate our overnight field trips. We have scheduled Thursday morning as a time when students can collaborate on group projects and meet with faculty to discuss their progress.

Equipment List

During the first week, we will spend Wednesday and Thursday in the field. We will camp at Brown Creek Campground in the Olympic National Forest for one night. Students should bring the following equipment for this outing:

Tent (If you have a tent, please plan to bring and share it.)

Sleeping bag

Sleeping pad (recommended, but you can rough it)

Hiking Boots

Warm clothes

Rain Gear

Water Bottle

Flashlight

Notebook, pencil, seminar book

Food for Wednesday lunch and dinner, Thursday breakfast and lunch

Compass (You will be able to check out a compass if you don’t own one.)

Good Cheer!

Book List

We will be using the following books in our program. All of these books are required. They can be purchased from the Evergreen bookstore or from on-line distributors.

Nalini Nadkarni, Between Earth and Sky (University of California Press, 2008)

Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gathering Moss (Oregon State University Press, 2003)

Peter Schoonmaker (ed.) The Rain Forests of Home (Island Press, 1997)

David Perry, Forest Ecosystems, Second Edition (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008)

William Dietrich, The Final Forest: The Battle for the Last Great Trees of the Pacific                                     Northwest (Penguin, 1993) Hardcover and paperback are same edition.

Samir Okasha, Philosophy of Science: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford, 2002)

Some important notes on the reading:

1) Summer Reading: We would like you to read Nalini Nadkarni’s Between Earth and Sky prior to class. We will be discussing this book during the first week of the quarter.

Note to those students who took the program “Trees and Humans” in the Winter/Spring Quarter: You have already read “Between Earth and Sky”. We’d like you to read and bring to that discussion an alternate book that will complement “Between Earth and Sky.” This is “The Hidden Forest: Biography of an Ecosystem” by Jon Luoma. It is available in paperback in the regular outlets – amazon, powells, and you can probably find it used in our local bookstore. We have not ordered it through the TESC bookstore.

2) Check out your local used bookstore or library for William Dietrich’s The Final Forest. This book is currently out of print. The bookstore has ordered some copies and there are some copies available on-line. You might save yourself some trouble if you find a copy this summer. We will be discussing this book during the fourth week of the quarter.

3) Change in assigned books: One of the books on our original book list was Paul Hirt’s Conspiracy of Optimism (University of Nebraska Press, 1996). This book is out of print and we cannot find sufficient available copies to use it as a text. We may add an additional book to use toward the end of the quarter—we will let you know by the first day of class.

Field Trips

We will be taking two required overnight field trips during the quarter.

Week 1            Wed., Sept. 30 to Thurs., Oct. 1                       Eastside of Olympic Peninsula

Week 4            Mon., Oct. 19 to Wed., Oct. 21                        Westside of Olympic Peninsula

Please make sure to reserve these dates on your calendar.

NOTE!! We need van drivers for both trips. To do so, you must have an Evergreen driving permit, which takes about one hour at Motor Pool to obtain. We value student drivers highly. Please contact Nalini or Kevin by email if you are willing to do this.

We are looking to an interesting and productive quarter! If you have any questions, you can reach us by e-mail.

Nalini Nadkarni            nadkarnn@evergreen.edu

Kevin Francis                 francisk@evergreen.edu