Olympic National Park continues it 2015-2016 ‘Perspectives’ series

Published 2:00 am Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Program topics and presenters have been announced for this year’s Perspectives Winter Speaker Series, offered free of charge on the second Tuesday of each month through April.

Talks take place at 7 p.m. and are free of charge. With the exception of Jan. 12, all programs are offered at the Olympic National Park Visitor Center, 3002 Mount Angeles Road, Port Angeles; the Jan. 12 venue will be announced.

“As we celebrate the centennial year of the National Park Service, we invite our neighbors and visitors to see Olympic National Park through new perspectives,” said Olympic National Park Superintendent Sarah Creachbaum. “Art, science and technology provide new windows on the park and are all featured in this year’s series.”

The series, which started Nov. 10 with geomorphologist Andrew Ritchie of Olympic National Park and his “Elwha River Restoration” presentation, is sponsored by Olympic National Park and the Friends of Olympic National Park.

For more information about visiting Olympic National Park, see www.nps.gov/olym.

Remaining presentations include:

• Jan. 12 — “Olympic National Park Inspiration” with filmmaker Eliza Goode

Eliza Goode is a recent graduate of the Montana State University MFA in Science and Natural History Filmmaking Program. Her recent film, “Smell of Cedars Steeped in Rain” is a wordless love letter to the park and the region, and to finding renewal in nature, with live music by Wild Rabbit. The film is followed by a question and answer session and more music. Location TBA.

• Feb. 9 — “The Olympic Mountains Experiment: OLYMPEX” with Angela Rowe, Ph.D., University of Washington

Hear about a high-tech and multi-pronged effort by NASA, the University of Washington Atmospheric Science Program and others to measure precipitation across the Olympic Peninsula and improve a new NASA weather satellite.

• March 8 — “Interpreting Olympic National Park in Words and Photographs” with poet/author Tim McNulty and photographer Pat O’Hara

The National Park Service celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2016. From the very first national parks the role of art, photography and inspirational writing has been essential to the preservation and enjoyment of park landscapes.

• April 14 — “Science, Technology and Salmon in Olympic National Park” with Sam Brenkman, fisheries biologist at Olympic National Park

Explore innovative technologies used to reveal the distribution, abundance and migrations of salmonids. Learn findings from headwaters-to-sea snorkel surveys and thermal imaging in major Olympic Peninsula rivers.