Life-Long Learning Series
Professional Associates

FLC nuclear engineer Billy Nollet shares his perspective on how nuclear weapons have shaped global reality. For 76 years, a nuclear stalemate has existed between the global superpowers. Aimed in all directions at all times, these weapons shape our lives. Learn how nuclear weapons work, what their use would mean, and why Mutual Assured Destruction remains the unwritten law of our time.

Environmental sociologist Becky Clausen will outline how her research with global fisheries presents a timely critique to the oft-cited ‘Tragedy of the Commons’ and advances new understandings of the underlying causes of ecological depletion and social inequities. Using local case studies, she will demonstrate how people are reclaiming the commons to build equitable communities and regenerative food systems. 

Arriving in Durango after the Civil War, William T. Kirkpatrick became a prominent businessman, rancher and conservationist. In the late 1880s, he restocked trout in San Juan Mountains streams that had been decimated by “dynamite fishing.” Kirkpatrick may also have given Durango’s St. Mark’s Episcopal Church its first bell in 1906, but that is a tale shrouded in mystery. Physician and historian Kip Boyd will discuss this remarkable man. 

Fort Lewis professors Paul DeBell and Candace Nadon will share insights drawn from lessons learned over two years of SkyPEP programming. The SkyPEP partnership between the Skywords Visiting Writers Series and the Political Engagement Project was designed to link common reads of transformative texts with dialogue training and engaged citizen action on and off campus. Paul and Candace will provide opportunities for audience engagement and provide updates on future SkyPEP programming.

Barbara McLachlan is a fourth-generation Coloradan and former State Representative. Her great-grandfather helped start Colorado’s historical monument program in 1924, and approximately 100 of them were erected in her great-grandmother’s name. Barbara embarked on a challenging quest to find them all. Along the way, she also discovered unexpected stories, dirt-road navigation, and a new outlook on the wonders of Colorado.

Ruby Rain Williams, Karuk and Quartz Valley youth leader and Fort Lewis student together with Kira Tenney, Ríos to Rivers’ Director of Programs, share how the dam removal on the Klamath river opened cultural revitalization and kayaking to empower Indigenous youth leadership. Reflecting on the Paddle Tribal Waters First Descent of the undammed Klamath and the movement to protect and restore rivers, they share how the future is free-flowing.

Frank Lockwood is a retired attorney and a former leader of the legal mediation movement in Hawaii. He will discuss why most people are uncomfortable with conflict and how to better manage these difficult situations. Shifting our attitudes from negative to positive might encourage individuals to understand others better or even resolve the conflict itself. This talk will explore proven techniques on how to make and facilitate that shift.

Mining in San Juan County drove the development of present-day Silverton and Durango. Peter Butler, who worked on mine remediation in the Animas Watershed for 30 years, will explore some of San Juan County’s rich mining history with an emphasis on the environmental impacts. Much of the focus will be on the efforts to improve water quality over the 35 years since the last mining operation shut down.

A most remarkable phenomena in our atmosphere is the Aurora Borealis. Gary Rottman, a retired solar physicist from the University of Colorado Boulder, will describe the physical processes producing these stunning light shows. At certain times, streams of energetic particles from the Sun are guided toward Earth, where they penetrate and brighten our atmosphere. Ancient peoples observed these glowing displays with awe and fear, but only in modern times have we come to understand their true nature.

Cory Pillen and Amy Cao of the Center of Southwest Studies will highlight the collaboration between The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s (The Met) Department of Scientific Research, the Center of Southwest Studies, and the Fort Lewis College Chemistry Department. FLC faculty, staff, and students, along with select community partners, learned to conduct materials research locally, building long-term capacity for interdisciplinary teaching and ethical, community-centered collections stewardship in the Southwest. 

Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) is a new fungal pathogen currently decimating amphibian populations worldwide. As Bd has spread throughout Colorado, it has dramatically impacted local species, particularly the high-elevation Boreal toad. FLC Biology professor Tim Korpita will discuss the spread of Bd and its impacts, as well as probiotic skin treatments and other microbiological and molecular tools he is developing in collaboration with wildlife officials to conserve these threatened amphibians.

In Victorian England, the study of plant life was either “polite botany” as “an amusement for ladies” or “serious botanical science for men of enlightened minds.” By examining undistinguished “lower taxa” such as fungi, lichens and seaweeds, women created a backdoor into the world of botanical research. FLC Professor of Art Amy Wendland will focus on notable 19th century female citizen-scientists, plant artists, and the crossover between art and science.

Since being declared a National Monument in 2016, Bears Ears has become known as a controversial use of the Antiquities Act. Five tribes advocated for the designation, which is a first in the 120-year-history of the law. Bears Ears is now at the center of a debate on public lands policy. Andrew Gulliford, FLC Professor of history and Environmental Studies, will tell the Bears Ears story and provide recent updates.