Discover Nature's Secrets: Sense of Place Series Returns for Season 14 in Hood River
From Mt. Adams institute
By Sarah Fox
Hood River, Ore. (Oct. 2, 2023) — Sense of Place is excited to announce the line-up for the 14th annual Sense of Place Series. This season will feature a wide range of topics from beavers to wildfires and pears to insects. All events will be offered in person at the Columbia Center for the Arts in Hood River, Oregon, and via livestream.
Season 14 will launch with White Sturgeon: North America’s Largest Fish Lives Here on Oct. 18th with Donella Miller. Miller is an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation and is the Fishery Science Manager for the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission (CRITFC). Prior to that she served as Project Manager for the Yakama Nation Fisheries White Sturgeon Project.
Ticketing information is available online at the Sense of Place website. Advance purchase is encouraged as presentations often sell out. All lectures will also be offered online via live stream the night of the event. Lectures occur on the second or third Wednesday of the month, October through April. Following all presentations is a Q&A moderated by Sense of Place host, Sarah Fox.
“I have a deep belief that good things happen when people come together to experience a shared sense of wonder. For 13 years, Sense of Place has offered that, and when I look at the incredible line-up we have for Season 14, I know there’s going to be a lot of fun, learning, and even a few surprises ahead.”
In addition to the live/live-streamed events, Sense of Place also offers a companion podcast called Hear in the Gorge, which uses first-person interviews, archival audio, and narrative storytelling to dig into Gorge-related topics like mushroom hunting, the Oregon Trail, tribal fishing, and mountain search & rescue. The podcast has been recognized by the Oregon Heritage Commission, the Hood River Cultural Trust, Portland Monthly Magazine, and Huff Post, and was honored by Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) as one of the top 10 podcasts made in Oregon. Hear in the Gorge can be found at hearinthegorge.com or on most podcast platforms such as Apple podcasts.
Sense of Place is a program of Mt. Adams Institute, a Gorge-based non-profit that seeks to strengthen the connection between people and the natural world through education, service, career development, and research.
For more information on Sense of Place, please go to mtadamsinstitute.org/senseofplace and Instagram @senseofplacegorge. Sign up for the Sense of Place newsletter to receive the most recent updates, behind-the-scenes stories from the speakers and host, Sarah Fox, and info related to Sense of Place events and field trips.
SENSE OF PLACE, SEASON 14
Oct. 18 - White Sturgeon: North America’s Largest Fish Lives Here with Donella Miller, Fishery Science Manager (Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fishery Commission), an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation.
Nov. 15 - Beaver Power! Teaming Up With Nature’s Engineers to Restore Our Watersheds with Jeanette Burkhardt & Margaret Neuman, Wishpush Working Group
Dec. 13 - Mountaintop to Backyard: The Beauty of the Gorge’s Native Plants with Kristin Currin and Andrew “Drew” Merritt, authors of The Pacific Northwest Native Plant Primer, owners of Humble Roots Nursery
Jan. 17 - Salmon at a Crossroads with Miles Johnson, Legal Director Columbia Riverkeeper
Feb. 21 - Grow a Pear! with Lesley Tamura & Adam McCarthy, orchardists
Mar. 20 - A History of Wildfire in the Gorge with Christopher Donnermeyer, Heritage Program Manager & Tribal Liaison for the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. Additional speaker TBD.
Apr. 17 -Backyard Bugs: How Insects Impact the Gorge with Christopher Adams, Assistant Professor of Tree Fruit Entomology, OSU Mid-Columbia Agricultural Research and Extension Center (and surprise special guests…)
