PORT TOWNSEND — Guest speaker Lorna Smith will describe why education and understanding are key to large carnivore survival in a changing world at the AAUW Port Townsend branch meeting Saturday.
The meeting will be from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the Elks Lodge, 555 Otto St.
Smith’s presentation is entitled “Bears, Wolves, Cougars, Coyotes and the Politics of Conservation.”
Since 2012, Smith has served as executive director of the nonprofit wildlife conservation organization Western Wildlife Outreach (WWO), which is devoted to maintaining healthy populations of large carnivores — including grizzly and black bears, cougars and gray wolves — in Washington state and the Northwest.
WWO provides science-based information about the ecology, behavior, safety and recovery of these elusive animals, and helps communities and individuals understand how to safely coexist with wildlife.
In the third of several AAUW programs on “Heroes in our Midst,” Smith will explain the science behind the need for more education on large carnivores, and why, without that education, these animals have become political flash-points in some Washington state communities.
She will describe what lies ahead for carnivores in the political arena of both Olympia and Washington, D.C.
Smith is a fifth-generation Washington native who grew up exploring the shores of Puget Sound and the Cascade and Olympic Mountains.
She and her husband, Darrell, are a wildlife biologist/ecologist team and have spent their careers working on endangered species management as well as wetlands, streams, watershed, ecosystem and wildlife habitat issues.
They returned to the Northwest in 2012 after spending four years working in tropical Costa Rica on projects related to the conservation of the Meso-American Biological Corridor, and running a successful ecotourism business.
AAUW Port Townsend and its affiliate, The University Women’s Foundation of Jefferson County, promote education and equity through various scholarships and awards, middle school career days, and elementary school projects in literacy and math.
For more information on AAUW projects and membership, visit http://pt-wa.aauw.net or contact Anne Englander at 360-390-5896.
