LEWISTON, Idaho – The Lewis-Clark State College Environmental Studies Speaker Series will hold two talks on climate change during the spring semester at the college.
The first talk is “The Changing Climate, Snow, and Flow in Idaho” and will be presented by University of Idaho professors John Abatzoglou and Tim Link. The talk, which will look at observed changes and future projections of climate change, snow pack, and water in the region, will be on Feb. 22 at noon in room 100 of Meriwether-Lewis Hall on the LCSC campus.
Abatzoglou is an associate professor in the UI Department of Geology and has a doctorate in earth system science. He has been studying the climate in the region since 2009 when he joined UI. He is working on a five-year, $15 million National Science Foundation project that applies climate science to better understand water resources and climate change.
Link is professor of hydrology in the UI Department of Forest, Rangeland and Fire Sciences. He has taught at UI since 2001 and has taken part in numerous projects and studies on watershed science.
The second talk, “Climate Odyssey: Communicating Coastal Change through Art, Science, and Sail,” will be on March 9, at noon in room 115 of Sacajawea Hall at LCSC. Climate Odyssey is a year-long sailing expedition and continuing collaboration aimed at using overlaps in science and visual art to communicate coastal climate change impacts and solutions. Visual artist Lucy Holtsnider and climate scientist Zion Kloss, the co-directors of the Climate Odyssey, will lead the talk.
In July of 2015, Holtsnider and Klos embarked on the sailing portion of Climate Odyssey. They began in Lake Michigan and continued along the eastern seaboard before they finished the trip in May of 2016 in the tropics. During the trip, they photographed climate change impacts and adaption strategies, and also interviewed stakeholders, scientists, and artists. They have shared the photos and information they collected through an artist’s book, an interactive digital map, a blog, and talks like the one on March 9. The talk will integrate a discussion exploring the trade-offs in art-science collaboration as they apply to furthering science-informed decision making in society.
Holtsnider is a Master of Fine Arts candidate and teaching assistant at the University of California Santa Barbara. Kloss graduated from the University of Idaho in May of 2016 with a doctorate in environmental sciences in hydrology. He is a visiting faculty member of Colorado College and Quest University in Canada.
Question and answer sessions will follow both talks.
The LCSC Environmental Studies Speaker Series is sponsored by the LCSC Social Sciences Division. For more information on the Series or the two talks, contact Laura Earles, an associate professor of sociology at LCSC, at either leearles@lcsc.edu or 208-792-2340.