The Environmental Resource Center’s (ERC) 4th annual Spring Science Series offers exciting and interactive presentations on scientific topics ranging from plant and animal adaptations and life histories, to unique conservation strategies.

This week of the Spring Science Series features Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve. Hester Mallonee, Park Ranger, will present on volcanism and planetary geology, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the moon landing and a visit in 2019 from the Apollo astronauts to Craters. Craters of the Moon is a vast ocean of lava flows with scattered islands of cinder cones and sagebrush, where yesterday’s volcanic events are likely to continue tomorrow. This program is offered in conjunction with the ERC’s Spring Exploration Series which brings presenters from across the Northwest to all 2nd and 3rd grade classrooms in Blaine County during the school day. This program is FREE, family-friendly and open to the public! Don’t miss your opportunity to learn about the natural world from visiting experts!

Hester Mallonee, is an experienced seasonal Park Ranger with Craters of the Moon National and Preserve.

In Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter, author Ben Goldfarb reveals that our modern idea of what a healthy landscape looks like and how it functions is wrong, distorted by the fur trade that once trapped out millions of beavers from North America’s lakes and rivers. The consequences of losing beavers were profound: streams eroded, wetlands dried up, and species from salmon to swans lost vital habitat. Today, a growing coalition of “Beaver Believers”―including scientists, ranchers, and passionate citizens―recognizes that ecosystems with beavers are often far healthier, for humans and non-humans alike, than those without them. In his presentation, Goldfarb will describe beaver biology, ecology, and history; detail the many environmental benefits provided by beavers, including habitat creation, water storage, and pollution filtration; and detail how landowners and municipalities around the country are learning to coexist with these keystone rodents.

Presented in collaboration with the Wood River Land Trust.

Rick Bass, the 2019 Visiting Distinguished Writer at Boise State University, will give a reading with his graduate students. Bass is currently teaching the fiction workshop in the MFA Program in Creative Writing with Professor Mitch Wieland. Rick and his students will be reading from their work as the culminating event of the semester.

Rick Bass has written over 25 books of fiction and nonfiction, including The Watch, For a Little While, and Why I Came West. His fiction has appeared in the Atlantic, Esquire, The New Yorker, and The Paris Review, as well as The Best American Short Stories, The O. Henry Awards, The Pushcart Prize, and New Stories from the South. In 2016, he was awarded the prestigious Story Prize in Los Angeles. In addition to writing, Bass is a well-known environmental activist who lives in Montana.