Introducing “Orcas Currents”

New Speaker Series on Science, Technology and Culture

— by Michael Riordan —

Orcas Island needs a series of public lectures, seminars and workshops reaching the broadest possible audiences and appealing to the wide diversity of people who live and work here. In recent months, a group of islanders has been planning such a series, focused initially on science, technology and culture.

Orcas Currents aims to reach wide audiences of interested islanders. An outgrowth of a seminar series presented in the fall of 2012, it will appeal to the diverse sectors of the community wanting to hear what local, regional, national and international authorities have to say about science, technology and their influence upon human culture. Like the seminars, these events will be free and open to all, with donations possibly accepted at the door. We want the broadest possible audiences to attend. Interested participants should not be turned away by their inability to pay entry fees. Possible venues for these lectures include Orcas Island Library, Emmanuel Parish Hall, Odd Fellows Hall, the Orcas Island Community Church, Orcas Center and the Seaview Theater.

Orcas Currents began in November 2014 with an outstanding lecture by Apollo astronaut Rusty Schweickart on potential asteroid collisions with Earth. It resumes in the spring of 2015 with the following presentations:

• March 15: Naomi Oreskes — Harvard University and UC San Diego
  Geologist and historian of science; lead author, Merchants of Doubt and The Collapse of Western Civilization
  Topic: Why Should We Trust Climate Science?
• May 14: Thor Hanson — field biologist, San Juan Island
  Author, Feathers and The Impenetrable Forest,
  and The Triumph of Seeds (to be published March 2015)
  Guggenheim Fellow, Switzer Environmental Fellow
  Topic: The Triumph of Seeds
• June 11 Gary Greene — Moss Landing Marine Lab and SeaDoc Society
  Marine geologist and Director, MLML Center for Habitat Studies
  Topic: The Sea Floor Around Us