MIC Lecture Series
2023 MIC Lecture Series
Join us Thursdays at 5pm at the Moab Information Center for our free lecture series!
June 1 | “Moab is Sinking from a Wave of Incision” by Joel Pederson
It should be no surprise that geologically youthful canyon incision is a hallmark of Utah’s canyonlands. Yet, the timing and patterns of canyon cutting are only starting to be understood, revealing a connection to the formation of the Moab-Spanish valley and other graben along exposures of Paradox Formation salt. Our research utilizes stream terraces and basin-fill deposits dated by luminescence and cosmogenic methods to quantify incision rates, active faulting, and salt deformation. I will focus on new findings from Meander Canyon just downstream from Moab, Spanish Valley, and the city of Moab. Results identify a wave of incision passing through the system in recent geologic time, triggering faulting and driving ongoing subsidence in Moab city at measurable, high rates. From a geological perspective, Moab is actively sinking from a passing wave of river incision. Joel Pederson is a CNHA Discovery Pool Grant recipient.
June 8 | “Light Pollution Effects on the Colorado Plateau” by Rhodes Smartt
Southeastern Utah is home to some of the darkest skies in the country, with incredible nocturnal nightlife thriving under its stars. However, with urbanization and population growth, threats are on the horizon. Join Ranger Rhodes as we explore what makes the night skies of Canyonlands and Arches unique, how we can continue to protect them, and what differences we can make at home to save our night skies for future generations.
June 15 | “NASA’s Heliophysics Big Year” by Cris White
On October 14th, 2023, an annual solar eclipse will cross the Western United States, beginning in Oregon and leaving the US on the shore of Texas. Many sites in Southern Utah will be in the path of the annularity, including the four corners area. Following on April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse will cross from Texas through the Eastern United States, and leaving the US in Northern Maine. Join Cris White, Earth to Sky Interagency Partnership’s Eclipse Coordinator based out of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and learn more about NASA’s Heliophysics big year!
June 22 | “Focusing the Lens on Parks” by Kat Connelly
In many instances, photography helped shape political and social opinions to protect natural and culturally significant places. National park backcountry ranger, Kat Connelly, will discuss photography’s role in influencing the designation of Arches and Canyonlands as national parks and how the proliferation of sharing photos has both positively and negatively affected the use of public lands.
July 13 | “Bats: Masters of the Night” by Tom Haradan
We have them in our neighborhood. Creatures so sophisticated, so adapted to their environment, so elusive, and so misunderstood – elements of a total global ecosystem so influential that their absence would change the world as we know it. Come to see them as the beguiling, winsome creatures they are.
July 20 | “Soundscapes” by Robert Anderson
Beep! Tweet! Sounds are all around us and play an important role in our experience with the landscape. The National Park Service is beginning to understand the relationship between sound and the inherited resources within the park. By preserving the natural sound, we all can enjoy our natural wonders a little more.
July 27 | “Ecological Interactions between Mountain Goats and American Pikas” by Mallory Sandoval Lambert
Mountain goats and American pikas are naturally co-occurring across most of their overlapping distributions in Western North America. The southern limit of the natural range of mountain goats is in Idaho, whereas American pikas occur naturally as far as south as New Mexico. However, the mountain goat range has been extended southwards by establishing translocated subpopulations in Utah and Colorado. These mountain goats now share habitats with pikas, providing an opportunity to study potential ecological interactions between these two alpine specialists near the southern limits of their current ranges. Join Mallory Sandoval Lambert as she talks about how her research is exploring this previously unstudied system through field-based experimentation, with a focus on the La Sal Mountains in southern Utah. Mallory is a two-year recipient of the Canyonlands Natural History Association Discovery Pool Grant.
August 3 | “Light Pollution Effects on the Colorado Plateau” by Rhodes Smartt
Southeastern Utah is home to some of the darkest skies in the country, with incredible nocturnal nightlife thriving under its stars. However, with urbanization and population growth, threats are on the horizon. Join Ranger Rhodes as we explore what makes the night skies of Canyonlands and Arches unique, how we can continue to protect them, and what differences we can make at home to save our night skies for future generations.
August 10 | “Petroglyphs” by Ash Hightower
Have you ever wondered about the meaning of petroglyphs? National Park Ranger Ash Hightower will not be translating these rock inscriptions or dissecting their existence. Instead, they will be presenting a wide array of rock markings across time, as well as the overlap of historic and modern graffiti. Join us for an evening of personal introspection on how we can leave our mark in the parks!
Check Out Videos from Previous Lectures!
“Torry in the Land of Arches” by Lisa Horstman
Lisa Horstman discusses the story of developing the characters in her book “Torry in the Land of Arches.”
“Public Lands: Where, Why, and How?” by Walt Dabney
National Park Ranger and Superintendent and Texas State Parks Director, Walt Dabney answers these, and more, questions: Where did our Public Lands come from? Why do the western states have lots and other states almost none? How were states formed? What does the Constitution say about these lands? What was the effect of the Homestead Act and the Railroad Act? How were National Parks and Forests established? Why are these lands held “in common”, so important to us today? These and other questions and past and current issues are addressed in this hour long presentation.
“Tiny Fossils and the Big Picture: Mammals from the Age of Dinosaurs” by Brian Davis
Every kid knows that dinosaurs were the biggest, fiercest, and most inspiring creatures to ever have walked the earth, but they are only part of the story. The ancient world was a diverse and vibrant place, and dinosaurs lived alongside a cast that included the earliest mammals. Come and learn what our ancestors were like and what their tiny fossils reveal about their lives. While most survived by scurrying between the feet of dinosaurs, others swam, glided, and even had dinosaurs for lunch!
“Ecological Interactions between Mountain Goats and American Pikas” by Mallory Sandoval Lambert
Mountain goats (Oreamnos americanus) and American pikas (Ochotona princeps) are naturally co-occurring across most of their overlapping distributions in western N. America. The southern limit of the natural range of mountain goats is in Idaho, whereas American pikas occur naturally as far south as New Mexico. However, the mountain goat range has been extended southwards with the establishment of translocated subpopulations in Utah and Colorado. These mountain goats now share habitat with pikas, providing an opportunity to study potential ecological interactions between these two alpine specialists near the southern limits of their current ranges. Join Mallory Sandoval Lambert as she talks about how her research is exploring this previously unstudied system through field-based experimentation, with a focus on the La Sal Mountains in southern Utah.
“Geologic History of Canyonlands” by Rhodes Smartt
Have you ever wondered how Canyonlands was formed? National Park ranger and geologist Rhodes Smartt will take us on a journey through the geologic history of Canyonlands National Park. He will discuss the geology of the greater Colorado Plateau area and the Island in the Sky district of Canyonlands and how it’s unique geology led to uranium mining.
“Common Southwest Native Plants” by Jennifer M. Bousselot
Native plants are often overlooked as viable options that can provide many benefits to pollinators and people alike. Discover the basics of native plant gardening – selection, care, and cultural requirements. Join Jennifer Bousselot, Assistant Professor in the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture at Colorado State University and co-author of the Colorado Native Plant Society published 3rd edition of Common Southwestern Native Plants, as she discusses this important topic.
“Fear! Creepy Crawly Creatures of Canyonlands” by Devon Dunajski
Join Ranger Devon for a talk about all the things that scare us. Moab is in the heart of a vast desert wilderness. The sparseness of the landscape allows our imagination to run wild with “what-if” scenarios, from spider bites to predators creeping up on us in the canyons. However, the organisms that scare us the most have an important role in the desert ecosystem. Can a little bit of understanding of the critters that give us the creepy crawlies change our perspective?
“Guzzlers 101″ by Jon Blanc
Guzzlers are a type of water development that provides water for wildlife. They are a tool to mitigate negative impacts, habitat fragmentation and loss, drought, and human disturbance. Providing water improves occupied habitats and reduces the need to move to other areas seeking water. The BLM Moab Field Office Wildlife Program helps maintain more than 40 guzzlers that benefit bighorn sheep and pronghorn antelope. Jon discusses the importance of guzzlers, how they are built, and more.