The Community Library Lecture Room

“Alta California” a Conversation with Nick Neely

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In his new book, Alta California: From San Diego to San Francisco, a Journey on Foot to Rediscover the Golden State, Nick Neely chronicles his 650-mile trek on foot from San Diego to San Francisco, following the route of the first overland Spanish expedition into what was soon called Alta California. Led by Gaspar de Portolá in 1769, the expedition sketched a route that would become, in part, the famous El Camino Real. It laid the foundation for the Golden State we know today, a place that remains as mythical and captivating as any in the world.

Neely grew up in California but realized how little he knew about its history. So he set off to learn it bodily, with just a backpack, trekking through stretches of California both lonely and urban. For twelve weeks, following the journal of expedition missionary Father Juan Crespí, Neely kept pace with the ghosts of the Portolá expedition―nearly 250 years later.

Weaving natural and human history, Alta California relives his adventure, tells the story of Native cultures and the Spanish missions that soon devastated them, and explores the evolution of California and its landscape. The result is a collage of past and present, of lyricism and pedestrian serendipity, and of the biggest issues facing California today―water, agriculture, oil and gas, immigration, and development―all of it one step at a time.

Join us for a conversation with Nick Neely and Scott Burton, a literary interviewer based in San Diego.

Books will be available for sale and signing, courtesy of Iconoclast Books.

This program was recorded, and can be viewed on our LIVESTREAM ARCHIVE.

 

Nick Neely holds an MA in literature and the environment from the University of Nevada, Reno, and MFAs in nonfiction and poetry from Hunter College and Columbia University. He is a recipient of PEN Northwest’s Boyden Wilderness Writing Residency, a UC Berkeley–11th Hour Food and Farming Journalism Fellowship, and an AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Award. His first book, Coast Range, was a finalist for the John Burroughs Medal for natural history writing. Originally from San Francisco Bay Area, he now lives in Hailey, Idaho.

National Energy Transitions: What Have We Learned about Champions, Time & Industry?

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Energy transitions are now a common aim in policy and planning. Yet in the 1970s, the concept was barely in use. As today’s energy decision-makers weigh choices about strategic and unanticipated change, insights can be gained from early leaders in low carbon energy shifts. Building on new research and her book Low Carbon Energy Transitions: Turning Points in National Policy in Innovation, Dr. Kathleen Araújo outlines critical junctures that have shaped energy development in Denmark, Iceland, Brazil, and France over nearly five decades.     

Dr. Kathleen Araújo is Associate Professor of Energy Systems and Policy at Boise State University, and Director of the Energy Policy Institute, the policy arm for Center for Advanced Energy Studies, a consortium of public universities plus Idaho National Laboratory. 

Dr. Araújo’s work focuses on critical decision-making relating to safety, sustainability and security amidst regional development. This includes national cyber and drone policies in relation to nuclear plants, wildfire-grid risk, electric vehicles, and energy jobs. Her book Low Carbon Energy Transitions: Turning Points in National Policy and Innovation (Oxford University Press) provides an in-depth look at four country-level shifts that occurred since the global oil crisis of 1973. Dr. Araújo’s approach considers early vs. late adopters, science and technology policy, and industrial cluster or innovation system development. Dr. Araújo is also Book Series Editor for Routledge’s Studies in Energy Transitions. She earned her Ph.D. at MIT, and completed post-doctoral research at the Harvard Kennedy School in science-technology policy and international nuclear safety.  

**Note special start time of 5:00 pm**

Wolves, Sheep and Local Coexistence Solutions

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The Wood River Wolf Project: 12 years protecting both sheep and wolves in the Wood River Valley

Join us for an evening learning about a local project that has gained international interest through its pioneering nonlethal measures protecting domestic livestock and wild predators like wolves. Project leaders Larry Schoen, former Blaine County Commissioner, and Suzanne Stone, project co-founder, will explain why sheep losses to wolves in the local area are among the lowest in the state and how this benefits both local agriculture and our resident wolf packs.

The Wood River Wolf Project has just quietly completed its 12 year in the valley while serving as a model for livestock and wildlife conflict management across the west and around the world. Find out how you can become involved in this effort and why it matters to our ranching, ecological and tourism efforts.

“Legacy of War” with Ed Marohn

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In the novel Legacy of War ​a new patient triggers Psychologist John Moore’s traumatic memories of his last days of the Vietnam War. Moore is forced to return to modern-day Vietnam, a journey confronting his past war demons: the dying on the killing fields, a rogue CIA agent, corrupt South Vietnamese Army officers, the father he never knew, and the war’s perverted killing machine—the Phoenix Program. In the decaying jungles he fights his anguish compounded by his wife’s death and his growing attraction to a national police agent.

Come meet the author, Ed Marohn, for a reading and discussion around the novel, military veteran PTSD, and his experience facilitating a PTSD group for the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.

Books will be available for sale and signing courtesy of Chapter One Bookstore.

Ed Marohn served in the Vietnam War with the 25th Infantry Division and the 101st Airborne Division. He was later an Assistant Professor of Military History at the University of Nevada. Legacy of War is his first book.

Criminal Justice and Education Investment in Idaho: What’s the price of our priorities? with Lauren Necochea

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Over the last 25 years, Idaho K-12 school spending has grown by 87 percent and higher education by just 26 percent, adjusted for inflation. Prison spending has increased by over 200 percent. Even as the number of young Idahoans receiving post-secondary education is ticking up, progress is slow. Meanwhile, incarceration has skyrocketed, putting up barriers in education, employment, and housing for Idahoans returning to their communities. This talk will discuss these policy choices and their implications for long-term economic growth.

Lauren Necochea is the director of the Idaho Center for Fiscal Policy and concurrently directs Idaho Voices for Children. Both are programs of Jannus, Inc. Lauren previously oversaw and evaluated programs addressing children’s safety and health hazards for the Baltimore City Health Department. Prior to that, she was a policy fellow with joint appointments at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Princeton University’s Center for Health and Wellbeing. She has evaluated anti-poverty programs internationally and was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to study microfinance in Peru. Lauren earned her Master in Public Affairs at Princeton University and holds a B.A. in Economics from Pomona College.

This presentation will be LIVE STREAMED and ARCHIVED for later viewing on our Live Stream page.

Panel Discussion on the Science of Sagebrush and Trout in Idaho

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Join us for a public presentation and discussion on the science of sagebrush and trout genetics, ecology, and habitat in Idaho. Researchers from the University of Idaho, Boise State University, and Idaho State University will discuss their own work and a new, statewide research project funded by the National Science Foundation. They will introduce the GEM3 project, its objectives and teams, then answer questions from the community on the science, important species, and their environments.

The institutions of higher learning in the state of Idaho have been awarded an Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) grant by the National Science Foundation, titled “Linking Genome to Phenome to Predict Adaptive Responses of Organisms to Changing Landscapes” (GEM3).

The aim of this project is to understand the impacts of environmental and social change on Idaho’s landscapes, wildlife, and people. The overall focus is on sagebrush ecosystems and trout habitat. The project also entails working with decision makers and communities to develop potential solutions to key issues.

A panel discussion will follow the brief research program presentations, and the event will be moderated by David Griffith from the Center for Resilient Communities at the University of Idaho.

The reading will be recorded and ARCHIVED for later viewing on our Live Stream page.

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