Anthropologist and author Harvard Ayers will speak at Western Oregon University on Thursday, April 7 at 3 p.m. in Room 211 of the Instructional Technology Center. The speaking engagement is part of Dr. Ayers’ book tour, discussing his latest book, “Arctic Gardens: Voices from an Abundant Land.”
The book focuses on how climate change brought on by petroleum development affects the native people of arctic regions. Dr. Ayers and his associates made two trips to the Arctic between 2007 and 2008, interviewing over 100 Gwitch’in, Inupiat, and Inuvialuit. He intended to learn about how these peoples’ environment, and the lifestyle it sustains, is changing; specifically, how changing climate affects the natives’ access to their traditional hunts, including caribou, whales, and fish.
“Dr. Ayers contacted us and offered to make WOU a stop on his book tour of the Northwest in conjunction with the Society for Applied Anthropology meetings in Seattle this week,” says Western Oregon University Professor Robin Smith from the school’s Department of Anthropology. She adds that they were happy to host his talk because of the school’s own commitment to arctic studies that are centered on the Paul Jensen Arctic Museum that is on campus.
Ayers has long been passionate about how the environment affects the people who still rely on it for sustenance. As a retired professor of anthropology and sustainable development at Appalachian State University, he is particularly attuned to the Appalachian environment. As senior editor of “An Appalachian Tragedy: Air Pollution and Tree Death in the Eastern Forests of North America,” Ayers helped examine how poor environmental controls impacted forest growth. He is also a leader in the Southern Appalachian Mountain Initiative, as well as director of the Northern Hardwood Damage Survey. He also founded Appalachian Voices, a nonprofit environmental organization dedicated to the preservation of the native forest ecosystems.
Smith hopes that Ayers’ work will motivate its participants “to think about how we are all connected as we make decisions about consumption and conservation in our daily lives.”
Ayers and his coauthors collected testimonies from Arctic inhabitants in Canada and Alaska who witness the effects of global warming on their community.
“His talk will put a human face on the issue,” Smith says.
Ayers’ latest book “Arctic Gardens: Voices from an Abundant Land” is available at Amazon.
BOOK TOUR
Who: Anthropologist and author Harvard Ayers
When: April 7 at 3 p.m.
Where: Western Oregon University
Instructional Technology Center, Room 211.
345 Monmouth Ave. N, Monmouth
More info: 503-838-8000
