Long-term ecological reflections: writers, philosophers, and scientists meet in the forest.

Abstract

Over the past 7 years, a strong collaboration has emerged between the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest ecosystem research group and the Spring Creek Project for Ideas, Nature, and the Written Word, an independently funded program for nature writing based in the Department of Philosophy, Oregon State University. The program is called Long-Term Ecological Reflections and it brings together scientists, creative writers, and environmental philosophers to consider new ways to conceptualize and communicate views of long-term ecological change in forests and watersheds and the participation of humans in that change. The program is designed to parallel the Long-Term Ecological Research program, a national science program initiated in 1980 and involving the Andrews Forest. Both programs focus on primary inquiry and have 200-year planning horizons, which have resulted in some uniquely farsighted perspectives and astute ecological observations.

Citation

Thompson, Jonathan. 2008. Long-term ecological reflections: writers, philosophers, and scientists meet in the forest. Science Findings 105. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 5 p