NEXT EVENT
David Montgomery on “Growing a Revolution: Bringing Our Soil Back to Life”
Sunday, September 24, at 4 p.m. in Orcas Center
Book-signing after the lecture.
Throughout history, civilizations have withered and even disappeared after destroying their once-fertile soils. We now risk repeating this age-old trauma on a global scale due to ongoing soil-degradation, climate change, and rapidly rising populations.
But UW Professor David R. Montgomery offers reasons for hope in this lecture, based on his recent book, Growing a Revolution: Bringing Our Soil Back to Life, published in May by W. W. Norton. This Orcas Currents event will begin at 4 p.m. on Sunday, September 24, 2017, in Orcas Center.
Professor Montgomery will lead his audience on a fascinating journey through history and around the world, demonstrating how innovative farmers are ditching the plow, mulching cover crops, and adopting complex crop rotation schemes to restore their soils. Merging ancient wisdom with modern science, they have developed simple, cost-effective ways to pull carbon from the atmosphere and feed the world, meanwhile stashing an impressive amount of it underground.
“In the past couple of years, an awful lot of smart people have started talking very seriously about the state of the planet’s soil,” says New Yorker staff writer Bill McKibben on the book’s dust jacket. “If you want to understand what’s at stake, and learn about the exciting possibilities, this book is a fine starting point.”
David R. Montgomery is Professor of Earth and Space Sciences at the University of Washington, where he leads the Geomorphological Research Group. A distinguished MacArthur Fellow, he is the author of King of Fish: The Thousand-Year Run of Salmon, Dirt: The Erosion of Civilization , and The Rocks Don’t Lie: A Geologist Investigates Noah’s Flood — which all won Washington State Book Awards. With his wife Anne Biklé, he coauthored The Hidden Half of Nature: Microbial Roots of Life and Health, on which they spoke in a May 2016 Orcas Currents lecture.
This event is cosponsored by Janet Alderton, Orcas Island Public Library, and Orcas Food Co-op. Admission to the event is free, but donations will be gratefully accepted at the door. Afterwards, Montgomery will sign copies of his book in the Orcas Center lobby.
RECENT EVENT
Hedrick Smith and Sarah Stillman on “The Future of Journalism in a Post-Truth Environment”
With journalism under increasing siege in the United States, two of its leading practitioners met to discuss “The Future of Journalism in a Post-Truth Environment.”
read more2017 EVENTS
Following an extremely successful second year of Orcas Currents lectures in 2016, we are looking forward to an equally strong and enlightening series of events this year. Those lecturers included such nationally renowned figures as Hedrick Smith and Barry Barish, as well as one of our own local authorities, Brad Hanson.
This year, the Orcas Currents Steering Committee has been working diligently to bring you the best lecturers on science, technology, and culture we can find and afford to bring to Orcas Island. Our special focus has been on broadening our offerings into the cultural arena implied by our mission statement.
UPCOMING EVENTS
James Elser on “Phosphorus, Food, and Our Future”
October 28, 2017. Details to come.
PAST EVENTS
Hedrick Smith and Sarah Stillman on “The Future of Journalism in a Post-Truth Environment”
With journalism under increasing siege in the United States, two of its leading practitioners met to discuss “The Future of Journalism in a Post-Truth Environment.”
read moreRobert Dash, photographer and author, on “An Acre Shy of Eternity: The Small, Wild Beauty of Orcas Island”
Author and photographer Robert Dash takes nature exploration to new levels in his book On An Acre Shy of Eternity…
read moreAniruddh Patel, Tufts University Professor of Psychology, on “Singing and the Brain”
Humans may be the only species that speaks, but we are just one of many that sing, observes Tufts University Professor Aniruddh Patel.
read moreJonathan White, author, sailor, conservationist, and Director Emeritus of The Resource Institute, on “Tides: The Science and Spirit of the Ocean”
After nearly losing his 65-foot schooner Crusader in a strong Alaskan tide, local author Jonathan White vowed to understand these mysterious, implacable sea surges.
read more