SPEAKER: Bruce A. Byers, Fall 2018 Ecology Resident at the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology

Topic: Cascade Head, Oregon’s Biosphere Reserve: A Laboratory for Exploring the Relationship of People and Nature

Cascade Head Biosphere Reserve one of an international network of 686 biosphere reserves in the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Program. Its designation as a Biosphere Reserve in 1976 was based on the record of scientific research by the U.S. Forest Service that began in 1934 at the Cascade Head Experimental Forest and on the establishment of the unique Cascade Head Scenic-Research Area in 1974. The Cascade Head Biosphere Reserve is not well-recognized, and its potential as a model of a resilient socio-ecological system is not being fully realized. Significant opportunities exist for scientists to become more involved and for broader collaboration of local, regional, and international stakeholders and partners. The history of the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology is intertwined with that of the Cascade Head Scenic-Research Area and the Biosphere Reserve, but opportunities to deepen the dialogue between scientists and artists are also yet to be realized. This presentation will summarize the mission of the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Program and discuss how Cascade Head fits in, how additional scientific research by both natural and social scientists could support its mission, and offer some speculation about how to explore further the relationship between ecology and art.