Lunch & Learn

The Lunch-and-Learn series features topics that Urban Ecology and Conservation Symposium attendees indicated they most wanted to learn more about. Unless otherwise noted, talks are held from 12:15-1 pm and generally involve a 30 minute presentation followed by 15 minutes of Q&A/discussion.

Lunch & Learn 2022

Three of the five talks will be held virtually and hosted by Metro, while two will be in the field, with locational information to follow via the UERC listserv closer to those dates. Thank you to all the presenters.

Friday June 3 - Spatial and Seasonal Variations of Microplastic Concentrations in Portland's Freshwater Ecosystems; Rebecca Talbot | Portland State University

Friday July 8 - Carbon Sequestration Potential After Riparian Restoration-A Baseline Study of Carbon Stocks and Mycorrhizal Communities; Guenevere DiGioia | MS graduate in Sustainable Forest Management, Oregon State University

Friday July 29 - Whitaker Ponds Natural Area Remediation Project: A Brilliant Example of Successful Partnership, Communication and Realization of Goals; Laura Guderyahn | Portland Parks and Recreation (IN THE FIELD)

Friday September 9 - Quantifying Impacts to Water Quality from the Introduction of an Invasive Wood-boring Insect; Dominic Maze/Julia Bond | Environmental Regulatory Coordinator, City of Portland Environmental Services (IN THE FIELD)

Friday October 7 - Predicting Urban Air Temperatures Using Land Cover Type and Satellite Observations of Surface Temperatures; Garett Pignotti | Washington State University

Lunch & Learn 2021

These presentations will be noon-1pm over Zoom and we will send out connection information to the listserv at the beginning of the week of each presentation.

June 18 - Heejun Chang - Putting beavers into urban streams to improve water quality

 July 9 - Katie Holzer - Tadpoles survive urban pollutants and cages to show conservation value of altered landscapes

August 6 - Serina Fast Horse - Collaborating with indigenous community to restore our landscapes

September 3 - Adrienne St. Clair - Considerations when mixing source populations for plants in restoration

October (date TBD due to field season) - Stefanie Steele - Nest preferences of solitary cavity nesting bees in Portland, Oregon

Lunch & Learn 2019

May 3
Sabrina Ortiz Luna
Designing Hydro-logical Community Resilience

 June 7*
Katie Holzer 
Who does it best? Engineers vs. beavers in a stormwater treatment facility
* discussion in the field

July 12 (the 2nd Friday)
Noah Jenkins
Dam, it's hot in here! Human vs. Beaver-Constructed Dams and Stream Temperature

August 2
Aaron Ramirez
Hydraulic vulnerability of native trees is increased by urban heat

September 6
Laura McMullen
Interaction of climate change with restoration action maturation in an urban environment: Impacts to salmon habitat

October 4
Janine Castro
Streams without biology: How physics inadvertently usurped river restoration

November 1
Alex Staunch
Exploratory Noxious Weed Survey of the Middle and Upper Columbia Slough Watersheds

December 6
Jason King
Design for climate: an interdisciplinary approach

Lunch & Learn 2018

May 4, 2018
Laura Guderyahn, Portland Parks and Recreation
Elk Rock Cliff: Vegetation surveys on a vertical cliff face

June 1, 2018
Lauren Senkyr, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Habitat restoration for natural resources in the Portland Harbor Superfund Site

July 6, 2018
Leslie Bliss-Ketchum, Portland State University
Metro habitat connectivity toolkit: Bringing connectivity to an actionable scale 

August 3, 2018
Meenakshi Rao, Portland State University
Air pollution exposure and mitigation potential in Portland, Oregon 

September 7, 2018
Melissa Brown, City of Portland - Bureau of Environmental Services
Monitoring ESA-protected species in the City of Portland using eDNA 

October 5, 2018
Katie Holzer, City of Gresham
Pavement that can clean water 

November 2, 2018
Aaron Anderson, Oregon State University
Screening native PNW wildflowers for attractiveness to pollinators and natural enemies
Note: optional forum-in-the-field will take place afterwards at the North Willamette Research and Extension Center in Aurora

December 7, 2018
Elaine Stewart, Metro - Conservation Program
So many weeds, so little time: Prioritizing use of limited resources