FORKS — Olympic Natural Resources Center interns will talk about their summer experiences at 7 tonight.
The hour-long talk will be in the Hemlock Forest Room of the center, 1455 S. Forks Ave.
Refreshments will be served and a potluck of attendees’ favorite desserts is encouraged.
This summer, the Olympic Natural Resources Center (ONRC) has had four interns and their supervisor spending time at ONRC and the Long-Term Ecosystem Productivity (LTEP) sites at Hebo-USFS in southern Oregon along with a training day at a second DNR/LTEP site in Sappho, investigating coarse woody debris data and processing lots of soil samples for further analysis and seed collections.
The story of the LTEP is ongoing and is a unique in-depth long-term study to help researchers understand what has happened in the forest over time and the effects on soil at the site.
This year the intern program was overseen by Chloe May and supported by University of Washington doctoral student Courtney Bobsin.
May will support undergrad interns for their Evening Talk on their summer field experience at ONRC.
She will present her capstone project as a specific Evening Talk in the fall.
The interns are Alyson Bergomi, Tyler Fung, Kaitlin Huo and Allson Phillips. Their summer experience is part of the 200-year LTEP study comparing the effects of forest management techniques on ecosystem productivity, soil systems and biodiversity.
The study was originally set up more than 20 years ago by Bernard Bormann, director of ONRC, and others in response to questions of the 1990s on conventional methods of forestry.
Questions began to develop: Can there be a balance between timber production and ecosystem health? What are the best management styles to manage our forest to maximize ecosystem services?
This ongoing LTEP study is designed to help determine a better way of providing financial, recreational and cultural values to the people on the Olympic Peninsula.
Evening Talks at ONRC is funded through the Rosmond Forestry Education Fund, an endowment that honors the contributions of Fred Rosmond and his family to forestry and collegiate education for the Forks community.
For more information, contact Frank Hanson at 374-4556 or email fsh2@uw.edu.
