Speaker Series

Natural History Institute Speaker Series inspires, informs and engages audiences with a wide range of topics.

The goal of the Speaker Series is to enrich understanding and appreciation of the importance of natural history and to encourage exploration of our diverse world. Most events are free to the public and presented online and/or in our beautiful historic building located at 126 N. Marina St. in downtown Prescott, Arizona.

The following lists also include our “Stories of Nature and Culture” webinar series events.

Upcoming Events

NHI is limiting the number of people inside our building and is requiring masks and physical distancing.

2022:

From Predatory Shrikes to Acrobatic Mice: Case Studies in Conservation

Thu, Jun 16, 2022 7:00 PM

What do San Clemente Loggerhead Shrikes and Salt Marsh Harvest Mice have in common? Both species are endangered, and both provide prime ground for the field of ecomorphology to intersect with conservation and natural resources. In this talk, Diego Sustaita presents snapshots of two case studies that show how studying animal form and function can inform wildlife conservation and management.

Past Events

2022:

The Natural History of the San Francisco Peaks, a Sky Island of the American Southwest, a talk with Gwendolyn Waring. Video
The Brothers Boutelou and the Grass they Barely Knew, a talk with Debbie DeWolf Allen. Video
Bearing Witness, an artist talk featuring Randy L. Waln. Video
Science and Poetry of the Sierra Nevada, a conversation with Richard J. Nevle and Steven Nightingale. Video
#Findthatlizard: Ecology, Science Outreach, and Supporting Underrepresented Groups in Herpetology and Natural Resources, a talk by Dr. Earyn McGee. Video
Natural History and the Respectful Roots of Ecological Theory, a conversation with Mary Power. Video
The Nature of Three Deserts – Sonoran and Arabian and the Desert Within, a talk by author Gary Paul Nabhan. Video
Parched: The Art of Water in the Southwest Documentary Screening, with comments by curator Julie Comnick and the producer Jane Marks. Video
A Woven World: Making and Unmaking our Histories Through Science and Art, a conversation with poet and author Alison Hawthorne Deming. Video

2021:

January 14, (Online) Thursday, 5:30pm (AZ/MST): Snakes of Arizona – Andy Holycross Video
January 28, (Online) Thursday, 5:30pm (AZ/MST): A New Vision for Environmental Learning – A Conversation with Mitch Thomashow Video
February 18, (Online) Thursday, 6pm (AZ/MST): Poetry & The Wild: A Reading and Conversation with Jane Hirshfield Video
April 1, (Online) Thursday, 5:30pm (AZ/PDT): Wolves, Wildfire, and Climate Change: A Conversation with Jon Trapp Video
June 3, (Online) Thursday, 5PM (AZ/PDT): Earth’s Wild Music: Celebrating Life in a Time of Extinction, a conversation with Kathleen Dean Moore Video
October 21, (In-Person) Thursday, 7pm: Collaborating with Place – Shawn Skabelund. Video
November 18, (In-Person) Thursday, 7pm: The Forgotten Botanist: Sara Plummer Lemmon’s Life of Science and Art – Wynne Brown. Video
December 2, (Online) Thursday, 5:30pm (AZ/MST): Ways of Seeing: The Practice of Observation in Natural History and Art – Lynn Alleva Lilley and Tom Fleischner. Video
December 9, (In-Person) Thursday, 7pm: The Fascinating Life of Javelinas and Other Peccaries: Ecology, Natural History, Behavior and Conservation – Mariana Altrichter. Video

2020:

February 6, Thursday, 7pm: Passion, Devotion, Intimacy: Art and Natural History – Melanie Campbell-Carter Video
July 16, (Online) Thursday, 4pm PDT/AZ: Not Just Birds, Not Just Science, Not Just Politics – Susan M. Gaines, Ana Luz Porzecanski, Scott Slovic, and moderated by Tom Fleischner Video
July 22, (Online) Wednesday, 6pm PDT/AZ: Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World – Tyson Yunkaporta Video
August 4, (Online) Tuesday, 4pm PDT/AZ, Story and the Ecological Imagination – Julia Corbett, Tom Fleischner, Susan M. Gaines, Cylita Guy, J. Drew Lanham, Nalini Nadkarni, Richard Nevle and Stephen Trimble Video
August 20, (Online) Thursday, 5pm PDT/AZ, Conversation on the Edge: Wildness, Reconciliation, and Love of the World – J. Drew Lanham Video
December 10, (Online) Thursday, 5:30pm MST/AZ, Fire and the Future of Piñon-Juniper Woodlands – Lisa Floyd-Hanna Video

2019:

January 17: Honey Bee Natural History and Conservation – Jordan Twombly Ellis Video
February 7: Slave Raiding Ants of Prescott: Natural History of the Ants, Their Slaves, and the Parasites That Attack Them Both – Peter Sherman Video
February 27: The Biocultural Riches of the Gulf of California – Lorayne Meltzer Video
March 7: Frog Stories: Natural History as an Amphibian Decline Research Tool – Andrea Adams Video
March 21: Scallywags, Gloryhounds, Visionaries and Conservationists: Stories from the Arader Collection – Melanie Campbell-Carter Video
April 4: Saving Seeds, Saving Ourselves, Saving the Earth – Bill McDorman Video
April 25: A Tale of Two Pikas: From the Rockies to the Roof of the World – Andrew Smith Video
May 2: Three Decades of Science on Polar Ice: A Personal Perspective – Steve Munsell Video
May 9: Where Have All the Turtles Gone, and Why Does It Matter? – Jeff Lovich Video
July 11: Biomimicry: Observing and Learning from Nature’s Genius – Lily Urmann
August 8: The Intersection of Art and Conservation – Walt Anderson Video
September 5: Fire History and Historical Stand Reconstruction of the Mogollon Highlands Ponderosa Pine – Lisa Floyd-Hanna, NHI, and Dave Huffman, Ecological Restoration Institute (ERI)
October 24: Alpenglow: The Practice of Art & Natural History in the Range Of Light – Brian Scavone, Eric Smith and Ryan Alonzo Video
October 25: The Biophilia Hypothesis Comes to the Periodic Table – Deborah Ford Video
October 31: Ancient Arizona – Wayne Ranney Video
November 14: Cuatro Ciénegas: An Oasis of Biodiversity in the Chihuahuan Desert – Matt Valente Video

2018:

January 11: Ladybugs and Big Data: Tracking Harmonia axyridis in Space and Time – Jordan Twombly Ellis
February 1: The Gulf of California: A Natural History Treasure – Lorayne Meltzer
February 15: Lighting the Fire: A Natural History of Story – Bob Ellis
March 5: Restoration Ecology: Goal Setting, Climate Change, and the Significance of History – Bill Throop
March 29: The Mogollon Highlands: A Frontier of Field Ornithology – Felipe Guerrero
April 26: Feathers and Beaks, Bars and Streaks: Form and Pattern in Birds – Mark Riegner
May 7: Grand Canyon: A Geologic Puzzle Extraordinaire – Lon Abbott
September 13: Tracking Wildlife in the Verde River: Using Environmental DNA, A New Tool for Biodiversity Assessment – Katie Benson, Hillary Eaton and Matt Valente
September 27: Food from Radical Center: Healing Our Lands & Communities – Gary Nabhan (in partnership with the Peregrine Book Company)
October 4: A Thinking Person’s Guide to America’s National Parks – Bob Manning
October 18: Natural History, Healing and Reciprocity – Panel discussion with Anna O’Malley, Laura Sewall and Sarah Twombly, moderated by Tom Fleischner
November 1: Heartwood to Bedrock: Artistic Intimacy with the Mogollon Highlands – Rebecca Davis and Roger Asay
November 15: Awe-some – A Buddhist look at Awe, Conservation, and the Natural World – Will Duncan
December 13: One Building, 90 Years, Many Stories: The Natural History Institute in Prescott – Bill Otwell