CE: Ecology, Plants and Stories in the Nebraska Sandhills
Please join us this Saturday, October 26th for the program Ecology, Plants and Stories in the Nebraska Sandhills
10:30am - Hixson Lied Science Building Room 404; Creighton University Campus. See the abstract below for more information.
Hixson Lied Science Building can be accessed from Burt street (between 27th and 24th streets). I have attached a parking map with HLSB highlighted in pink and on-street and visitor parking highlighted in orange. I also think you could park in the parking lot for the CHI health clinic/McDonalds and walk across Cuming and Burt streets. There is a short staircase between Burt Street and HLSB. If that is a problem, I would suggest parking behind the Criss building.
I hope to see you all this Saturday! Please don’t hesitate to email or call me if you have any questions!
Mackenzie
Mackenzie Taylor, PhD
Associate Professor of Biology
Creighton University
2500 California Plaza
Omaha, NE 68178
Office phone: (402) 280-2157
Ecology, Plants and Stories in the Nebraska Sandhills
For the past three years, Mary Ann Vinton, Jay Leighter and John O’Keefe have been studying the ecology, culture and stories in the Nebraska Sandhills, with the goal of describing the complexity and functioning of this fragile ecosystem and, in turn, discovering broader lessons for a people and planet in environmental peril. In our talk, we will show how grass cover and biodiversity play a key role in Sandhills function, as well as recount stories that show how people interact with the vegetation and the natural system. Finally, we will attempt to draw some broader lessons from the Sandhills that may inform sustainability and resilience strategies for all of humanity.
Website: https://www.sandhills.place
Biographies:
Mary Ann Vinton is an Associate Professor of Biology and Director of Environmental Science at Creighton University where she teaches courses in biology, ecology and environmental science. She got her M.S. at Kansas State University and Ph.D. at Colorado State University. She grew up in the Sandhills, on the headwaters of the Dismal River, as a 5th generation ranch kid.
James (Jay) Leighter is an Associate Professor of Communication Studies and Director of Sustainability Studies at Creighton. He teaches courses in the ethnography of communication, communication practice, and communication research methods. In his research, he asks and tries to answer how culture and communication are inextricably linked, how communities make decisions, and how actions for social betterment should be designed with local communities
John O’Keefe is a Professor of Theology at Creighton University. He is interested in Ecological Theology and changing Christian attitudes toward nature. O'Keefe is also a documentary filmmaker. In 2009 he co-founded the Backpack Journalism Project at Creighton, which is an interdisciplinary collaboration with the Department of Journalism, Media and Computing. This student faculty collaboration focuses on social justice filmmaking in the developing world.
