Date: Wed, Nov 20th, 2024
Time: 7 pm
Location: Alberta Rose Theatre
Tickets: $15-$45
Event Website: https://www.scienceontaporwa.org/events/alberta_nov_20_seeds/
Many ecological restoration projects are one-size-fits-all: kill the weeds, then plant native seeds. But across the West, native plants have unexpectedly reestablished themselves via wind, water, or underground seed banks at restored properties in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and California within various ecosystems.
Scientists, in particular Indigenous scientists, have found that native seeds can regerminate after decades of dormancy underground and that some species—even federally endangered ones—will regrow once invasive plants are removed, or water is returned.
This approach, known as “natural regeneration,” is understudied and overlooked by Western scientists. Yet Indigenous-led projects show that it is a more effective and more affordable way to restore degraded lands. This show will discuss a handful of tribally led restoration projects where native plants have returned on their own.
Josephine Woolington is a writer and musician based in her hometown of Portland, Oregon. She is the author of “Where We Call Home: Lands, Seas, and Skies of the Pacific Northwest,” which won the 2024 Oregon Book Award for general nonfiction. Her wide-ranging, long-form feature story on this subject was published in High Country News.
David G. Lewis (Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde), an OSU anthropology and Indigenous studies assistant professor who descends from western Oregon’s Takelma, Chinook, Molalla and Santiam Kalapuya peoples. Lewis has studied a Willamette Valley site, called Lake Labish, where wapato, a traditional food for PNW Indigenous peoples, has reappeared after a 120-year absence. He is the author of Tribal Histories of the Willamette Valley (2023).
Science on Tap is a science lecture series where you can sit back, drink a pint, and enjoy learning. Listen to experts talk about the science in your neighborhood and around the world. You don't have to be a science geek to have fun--all you need is a thirst for knowledge! For more information on this event or about Science on Tap, visit Science on Tap OR WA.