Oh yeah- there are some guys who know a little something about the Urban-Wildland Interface talking at it this presentation, too. Didn't we have a little local issue related to the U-WI around Southern California just recently? Hard to remember. Anyway, we highly suggest the following public forum:
Southern California Wildfires: Protecting Our Homes and the Natural Environment
A special event with Richard W. Halsey and Jon E. Keeley
Co-Sponsored by the Theodore Payne Foundation and the City of Glendale Public Works Department
On Saturday, November 7, from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m., the Theodore Payne Foundation and The City of Glendale Public Works Department will present an important and timely lecture that is free to the public -- Southern California Wildfires: Protecting our Homes and the Natural Environment. Richard W. Halsey and Jon E. Keeley, Ph.D., two of the region's most respected experts on fire, local ecology and post-fire regeneration, will present science- and research-based information about wildfires and how to best adapt one's home environment.
Richard W. Halsey is the Director of the California Chaparral Institute, a nonprofit research and educational organization focusing on the ecology of California's shrubland plant communities, wildland fire, and how Mediterranean-type ecosystems have helped shape human culture. He has given more than 300 presentations over the past five years concerning chaparral ecology, how communities can adapt to fire-prone environments, and the importance of nature education. Mr. Halsey taught biology for over thirty years in both public and private schools and was honored as Teacher of the Year for San Diego City Schools in 1991.Mr. Halsey earned undergraduate degrees from the University of California in environmental studies and anthropology. During graduate work he received teaching credentials in life, physical and social science and a Master's degree in education. He has also been trained as a Type II wildland firefighter. The second edition of his book, Fire, Chaparral, and Survival in Southern California, was awarded the 2008 Best Nonfiction-Local Interest Book by the San Diego Book Awards Association.
Dr. Keeley is a Research Ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, stationed at Sequoia National Park. He earned his Ph.D. in botany and ecology from the University of Georgia in 1977. He also holds a Master's degree in biology from San Diego State University. Prior to this appointment in Sequoia National Park, Dr. Keeley served one year in Washington, D.C. as director of the ecology program for the National Science Foundation. A professor of biology at Occidental College for 20 years, Dr. Keeley has over 250 publications in national and international scientific journals and books. His research has focused on ecological impacts of wildfires as well as other aspects of plant ecology, including rare plants, rare habitats such as vernal pools, and plant physiology. In 1985 he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship and is a Fellow of the Southern California Academy of Sciences and an Honorary Lifetime Member of the California Botanical Society. He has served on the Los Angeles County Department of Regional Planning Environmental Review Board, the State of California Natural Communities Conservation Program (NCCP) Board of Scientific Advisors.
Clark Magnet High School Auditorium
4747 New York Avenue
La Crescenta, CA 91214
November 7, 2009, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
