Local Author Talks Marcy Cottrell Houle
Grab a drink and join us for some literature! Local author Marcy Houle reads selections from her book, Forest Park: Exploring Portland's Natural Sanctuary, and leads a panel discussion with Chris Prescott, Pamela Slaughter and Hannah Prather on urban biodiversity reserves and their importance in a time of wildlife crisis. After, stick around for a Q&A and the chance to buy a signed copy of the book!
ABOUT THE BOOK
Forest Park: Exploring Portland's Natural Sanctuary
Situated in the rugged hills west of downtown Portland, Forest Park is one of the largest urban parks in the world and the only city wilderness park in the United States. The park is home to hundreds of native plants and animals and offers more than eighty miles of trails-all within minutes of the downtown core. Forest Park: Portland's Natural Sanctuary includes twenty-one hikes grouped by theme and providing additional content to educate visitors about wetlands, native plants, wildlife corridors, and more.
ABOUT THE PANELISTS
Marcy Cottrell Houle is a writer and wildlife biologist. Her books have been honored with the Christopher Award, the Oregon Book Award, the Oregonian's Best Books of the Northwest, and New York Times Best Books for Earth Day. She has written articles for the New York Times, Nature Conservancy Magazine, and Cricket Magazine for Children. Marcy lives with her family in Portland, Oregon.
Chris Prescott is an environmental scientist with 30 years of experience working in watershed ecology, water quality, risk assessment, environmental monitoring and data analysis, marine ecology, and fisheries issues. He is presently a watershed ecologist for the City of Portland's Bureau of Environmental Services, where he provides technical support in protecting and restoring Portland's watersheds. Previous positions include an environmental scientist for the Columbia Slough Sediment Project providing risk assessment, water and sediment quality, and monitoring expertise; chief scientist and program manager for the Puget Sound Ambient Monitoring Program; and environmental scientist for the Aquatic Toxicology Unit of the North Carolina Department of Environment, Health and Natural Resources.
Pamela Slaughter was born and raised in Portland and graduated from Linfield College. After raising her family and retiring from her 23-year career as an Adult Protective Services investigator, she founded the nonprofit organization People of Color Outdoors (POCO). POCO provides Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) with a healing outdoors community in a city that no longer has a physical BIPOC community. POCO hosted 67 outings in 2022, including hiking, camping, fishing, paddling, bird watching, outdoor yoga, sensory walks, backpacking and hiking optional community gatherings centered around elders, children and people with different abilities. POCO also offered 45 days of nature education to K-5th graders through a nature education and wellness program for children called the People of Color Outdoors Guardians. The Guardians program started as a summer program but is now offered during summer, winter and spring breaks. Outside of leading POCO, Slaughter is also a proud grandmother, public speaker, facilitator of two conversations with the Oregon Humanities Conversation Project, and author of a children's book.
Hannah Prather is an NSF postdoctoral research fellow and visiting assistant professor of biology at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. Her current research focuses on plant hydraulic trait acclimation in Pacific Northwest native tree species, with particular focus on urban environments and tall trees species. She received a PhD in biology from Portland State University, where she explored the use of biotic communities as ecosystem indicators, with interest to understand the functional role of epiphytes (lichens and mosses) in Pacific Northwest arboreal communities and the polar landscape of Antarctica. She has worked locally and internationally guiding and teaching tree climbing techniques, as well as developing K-12 science inquiry curriculum. She holds a B.S. in natural resources from Oregon State University and regularly leads local lichen hikes and classes. In her spare she time enjoys mountain biking, traveling, skiing, and climbing trees.