Maintaining CATCHments, Not waterSHEDS: the Effects of Wildfire Wednesday, Jan. 29 - Third Street Center, Carbondale Thursday, Jan. 30 - Hallam Lake, Aspen 6:00 p.m. Free and open to the public This presentation explores how changes in watershed condition immediately following a wildfire can result in increased erosion, flooding and debris flow potential. Pre-fire, forests absorb and CATCH precipitation. Changes in vegetation and soil properties following a wildfire can result in precipitation being SHED causing increased erosion, flood flows, and debris flow potential. Fortunately most forested ecosystems generally return to CATCHing precipitation within ten years after a fire. About the Speaker [...]

Too Hot to Trot? Pika Ecology in a Time of Global Change Wednesday, Feb. 5 - Third Street Center, Carbondale Thursday, Feb. 6 - Hallam Lake, Aspen 6:00 p.m. Free and open to the public American pikas are small mammals that typically live in rockslides and boulder fields at high elevations – you may have seen them hiking in the mountains around Aspen during the summer! These adorable animals are sometimes considered “canaries” in the “coal mine” of climate change because they are sensitive to warm temperatures and cannot disperse very far. But despite their reliance on cold climates, pikas are [...]

Feral Horses in the Western USA; Politics, Controversy, and Science Wednesday, Feb. 12 - Third Street Center, Carbondale Thursday, Feb. 13 - Hallam Lake, Aspen 6:00 p.m. Free and open to the public Dr. Schoenecker will present a history of how horses came to the Americas, changing values and attitudes toward animals, and evolution of the wild horse controversy across the West. She will present research from multiple ongoing USGS studies, as well as an update on some emerging solutions. About the Speaker Dr. Kate Schoenecker has been conducting research on the ecology of ungulates for 22 years. She studied [...]

No Boundaries for Birds: Saving Tropical Birds in the Roaring Fork Valley Wednesday, Feb. 19 - Third Street Center, Carbondale Thursday, Feb. 20 - Hallam Lake, Aspen 6:00 p.m. Free and open to the public Many of our most common summer species actually spend more of their lives in another country. Nic will compare and contrast tropical and native species of birds. He emphasizes population declines and the need for conservation here in the Roaring Fork Watershed, in the tropics, and on stopover locations along migration corridors. About the Speaker Nic Korte is a forty-year resident of Grand Junction, Colorado. [...]

Border Wall Impacts on Wildlife, Wilderness and Communities: A View From Both Sides of the Border Wednesday, Feb. 26 - Carbondale Middle School, Carbondale Thursday, Feb. 27 - Hallam Lake, Aspen 6:00 p.m. Bilingual Presentation Free and open to the public For millennia, the borderlands have been a crossroads for animals migrating across North America. A border wall will directly affect wildlife and because environmental impact studies are not required, the effects remain to be seen. The border wall has driven a wedge between borderlands communities, causing many to ignore the facts of this infrastructure and choose sides on a [...]

Snowmelt to Streamflow – How Vulnerable Are Our Mountain Rivers to Climate and Forest Change? Wednesday, Mar. 4 - Third Street Center, Carbondale Thursday, Mar. 5 - Hallam Lake, Aspen 6:00 p.m. Free and open to the public Watersheds within the Upper Colorado River Basin, like most snow-dominated headwaters, are considered especially vulnerable to climate change as evidence suggests warming trends are amplified with increased elevation. Dr. Rosemary Carrol will explore how climate-induced changes in snowpack and vegetation alters how high mountain watersheds store and release water, and implications for water management. About the Speaker Dr. Rosemary Carrol is an [...]