On Jan. 10, Wilderness Workshop, the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies (ACES) and Roaring Fork Audubon will be kicking off this year’s Naturalist Nights, a free presentation series designed to bring experts and their research to the Valley community. This winter, the collaboration of organizations will bring speakers in from across the state and further for deep dives into subjects like wildlife, hydrology and public lands.
Each of the presentations will be hosted from 6-7pm on Wednesdays and Thursdays in Carbondale and Aspen respectively. In years past, the Carbondale presentations were held in the Third Street Center. However, since the Third Street Center is currently offering shelter for Venezuelan refugees, folks downvalley can instead head to the Roaring Fork High School auditorium. Those closer to Aspen can instead find the presentations in person at ACES’s Hallam Lake campus.
Naturalist Nights have been well received in past years as a joint effort between these outdoor-minded organizations. Registration is unnecessary and swinging by is absolutely free for those wishing to learn more about different facets of their local landscape and beyond — whether they be ecological, economic or otherwise. Presentations in past years have ranged from laser mapping of Colorado snowpack to balancing outdoor recreation with wildlife conservation to how to best coexist with black bears.
This year promises another line-up of subjects pertinent to our community. The series will kick off on Jan 10 and 11 with a presentation on the Yellowstone wolves and how researchers have observed their behavior for the last quarter of a century. This will be led by Taylor Rabe, a biological technician for the Yellowstone Wolf Project, who has been radio-tracking, observing and studying gray wolves in the field for the past five years. As the very first group of gray wolves was released in Colorado the week before Christmas on Grand County public land, Rabe’s presentation is a golden opportunity for those concerned and curious about the reintroduction of this long-absent species.
On Jan. 24 and 25, retired National Park Service Hydrologist, Jennifer Beck will be coming in to present on the ecological benefits of the “Wild and Scenic” status for rivers — especially pertinent for those in and around the Crystal River Valley looking to protect the river’s natural, as-of-yet uncontrolled beauty.
Thanks to the partnership with Roaring Fork Audubon, February will see a shift towards ornithology. On Feb. 7 and 8, attendees can learn about how cutting edge technology blending artificial intelligence, machine learning and high-precision imaging is being used to protect bird species around wind farms. This presentation will be led by Carlos Jorquera, founder of Boulder Imaging, who has been a significant part of engineering this technology which could allow for a safer coexistence between renewable electricity and protected species.
On February 24 and 25, University of Colorado-Boulder professor Nathan Pieplow will share the language of birds. Pieplow, a sound recordist and ethologist (a student of animal behavior) is also a teacher of writing and rhetoric, and will be coming in to reveal the secret signals of various species and how there’s far more to their musical language than one may assume.
The final presentation of the series will be held on March 6 and 7, and will be a deep dive into public lands — a subject relevant to all of us in the Valley. Dr. Evan Hjerpe, founder and director of the Conservation Economics Institute, has even performed studies in our specific region on the various economic factors concerning the usage of our public lands. He will be sharing how activities like mining, grazing, recreation and conservation can affect our local economy.
Naturalist Nights tend to be popular, and attendees are encouraged to arrive a few minutes early to find a seat and grab some cookies and tea before the talks begin. The experts will present for 45 minutes before the room is opened up for a Q&A, and generally, speakers will hang around for a brief moment afterwards for attendees to chat.
Those outside of the Valley or stuck at home are in luck, as these lectures will also be live streamed online, accessible on the Wilderness Workshop and ACES websites (www.wildernessworkshop.org and www.aspennature.org, respectively).