Learning in the Umpqua
LEARNING IN THE UMPQUA WATERSHED
By Ryan Kincaid
Thank you to everyone who helped make our second annual Learning in the Umpqua Watershed (training for local educators) a success. Fourteen teachers and homeschooling parents participated in this year’s training, and we had presenters from various communities in Oregon, as well as a couple from California [...]
Teaching Teachers and Connecting Kids with the Environment
Last year, we held our first training event for local educators, which we called “Learning in the Umpqua Watershed: Engaging K-12 Students through Nature Connections & STEAM Activities.” This is now an annual event, and this year it will take place over three days (April 13th – 15th), allowing us to focus our attention on [...]
Education Update Dec 2021
Lots of Learning in 2021
Director of Education & Outreach ~ Ryan Kincaid
2021 saw lots of change and growth in terms of Umpqua Watersheds’ educational programs! With COVID still going strong, we created new opportunities for youths and adults to learn about local environmental issues. Here are a few highlights from the [...]
Update from the Education Committee
Wrapping Up & Continuing On…..
The past couple of months have been a whirlwind as I completed my AmeriCorps term of service and stepped into my new role as the Director of Education and Outreach! I have enjoyed being a part of Umpqua Watersheds for the past year and am so grateful to be able [...]
Archie Creek Fire Recovery Project position opening
Archie Creek Post-Fire Recovery Project
Umpqua Watersheds is a lead partner in a collaborative project with Phoenix Charter School and Umpqua Community College to promote shared stewardship of public lands impacted by the Archie Creek Fire, providing service-learning opportunities for local students and community volunteers by increasing outreach, education, and engagement related to riparian habitat [...]
Umpqua Watersheds President Ken Carloni will be on a panel discussion about wildlfires.
Wildfires in 2020: What set the stage for this historic event and what can we expect in the future?
The fires that broke out and spread across nearly 1 million acres of western Oregon this month are terrifying and devastating. We know from forest research and history that western Oregon’s forest ecosystems naturally burn. But [...]
Edutourism
EDUCATION REPORT: Is the Time Right for a UW Edutourism Initiative?
The following two short-term activities are listed in Umpqua Watersheds’ strategic plan for our Education program:
“Conduct feasibility study re: infrastructure necessary for Educational Ecotourism.”
“Acquire a vehicle(s) for field trips and ecotourism in the Umpqua [...]
Biochar: An Ancient Solution to a Modern Global Crisis
Ken Carloni, Ph.D.
biochar /ˈbīōˌCHär/ noun: charcoal produced from plant matter and stored in the soil as a means of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. (Online Dictionary)
When the Portuguese first arrived in Amazonia, they discovered small islands of dark, highly productive soils associated with indigenous villages. Unlike other notoriously poor soils [...]
…not everyone gets to PET A WHALE…
Ken Carloni, Ph.D.
Baja tour evaluation comment
As many of you know, I retired from full-time teaching at UCC in June. My plan was to continue to teach the field courses I’ve reported on in the pages of past 100 Valleys newsletters as a part-time instructor. Unfortunately, that plan has been dashed.
For a variety [...]
FIRE IS NOT THE ENEMY PART II:
Ken Carloni, PhD.
The 2013 Douglas Complex Fires Revisited
New science reverses conventional wisdom that old growth forests burn more severely than plantations.
Four years ago, I wrote an article for the Summer 2014 100 Valleys entitled “Fire Is Not The Enemy” analyzing the Douglas Complex fire that burned through a BLM/private industry checkerboard northwest [...]