CWU Hosting Northwest Scientific Association Meeting

March 24, 2004

Contact: Dr. Karl Lillquist (509-963-1184/fax 509-963-1047/e-mail: lillquis@cwu.edu)

ELLENSBURG, Wash.-- Central Washington University's department of geography and land studies will host the Northwest Scientific Association (NSA) 77th Annual Meeting, today through Saturday (March 24-27) on the Ellensburg campus.

Its meeting is being held in cooperation with the Society for Northwestern Vertebrate Biologists, Northwest Lichenologists, The Washington Chapter of the Wildlife Society, Natural Areas Working Group, Shrub-Steppe Working Group, Wenatchee USFS Forest Sciences Lab; and Washington State Department of Natural Resources.

Author Jack Nisbet will be the meeting's keynote speaker at Thursday's banquet. His most recent book, "Visible Bones: Journeys across Time in the Columbia River Country," which explores human and natural history in the Northwest, was named one of the best nonfiction books of 2003 by the Seattle Times. For the past decade, Nisbet has lived with his wife and two children in Spokane while he has taught public school, college, and Elderhostel classes around the region.

Raised in North Carolina, Nisbet moved to eastern Washington after graduating from Stanford University in 1971. For 10 years he wrote a weekly natural history column for the Chewelah (Wash.) Independent, and since then has published articles in numerous newspapers and magazines.

His 1994 book "Sources of the River: Tracking David Thompson across Western North America" was awarded the Murray Morgan History Prize. His 1997 work "Purple Flat Top" is a collection of short stories centered in the Intermountain West. "Singing Grass, Burning Sage," published in association with the Nature Conservancy of Washington, won a silver medal in the Environmental category of ForeWord Magazine's 2000 book awards.

At the conference itself, poster sessions will be held Friday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Science Building foyer. More than 100 papers will be presented in three concurrent morning and afternoon sessions on Thursday and Friday. Seventeen universities, 15 federal and tribal agencies, five county agencies, six state agencies and seven private environmental consultants are presenting talks and posters and more than 225 people are expected to attend the conference.

Founded in 1923, NSA has existed for the purpose of promoting scientific research and disseminating scientific knowledge.

The association produces the journal "Northwest Science," dedicated to regional topics involving anthropology, aquatic biology, botany, mathematics, computer applications, forestry, geology, geography, soils, wildlife biology and zoology. NSA is an affiliate of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

NSA is open to membership and participation by high school and college students, and all individuals interested in scientific discoveries. Its annual meetings provide opportunities to share recent findings and foster collaborative interactions.

For information about the meeting in Ellensburg, call (509) 963-1184, or (for the hearing impaired) TDD (509) 963-2143.