The Winona County Historical Society (WCHS) and Winona State University (WSU) collaborated on applying for a Heritage Partnership grant to support educational projects that will explore the unique ecological history of the Driftless area of Minnesota. Included in this grant project is a lecture series that will host ecological experts. The lecture series was to occur in the spring of 2020 but was postponed and converted to a webinar series due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In addition to hosting a lecture series, the grant includes digitizing and preserving items that highlight the Driftless area as well as collaborating on shared resources, such as the GIS story map, Exploring the Ecological History of Winona, Minnesota (arcgis.com). WSU and WCHS partnered with St. Mary’s University Geospatial Services to reconstruct a map of the vegetative communities in the city of Winona based on an 1855 land survey and other available data.
The Ecological History Online Lecture Series, March 23 – April 21, 2021, was made possible in part by the people of Minnesota through a grant funded by an appropriation to the Minnesota Historical Society from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. We thank the generosity of the people of Minnesota. The webinar series is open and free to the public. Registration is not required; the 500 virtual seats are available on a first-come-first-serve basis. Learn more and attend at winonahistory.org/to-do. Links will open a few minutes before each program.
Seeds for Seven Generations | Tuesday, March 23, 2021 | 6:30 – 7:30 pm
Diane Wilson, Dakota writer, Mdewakanton descendant enrolled on the Rosebud Reservation, and Executive Director for Native American Food Sovereignty Alliance (NAFSA)
Minnesota’s Driftless Area: a Biodiversity Hotspot | Wednesday, March 24, 2021 | 6:30 – 7:30 pm
Michael Lee, Minnesota Biological Survey Botanist/Plant Ecologist with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
Mapping Ecologic History in the Driftless Area of Minnesota | Tuesday, April 6, 2021 | 6:30 – 7:30 pm
Andy Robertson, Kevin Stark, Roger Meyer, and Kathy Allen, Executive Director, Assistant Director, GIS Developer/Analyst, and Natural Resource Specialist with Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota’s GeoSpatial Services
Oak Savanna and Woodland: Using the science of disturbance ecology and silviculture to help restore unique Driftless Area ecosystems | Wednesday, April 7, 2021 | 6:30 – 7:30 pm
Gregory Edge, Forest Ecologist/Silviculturist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
A View from the Minnesota Woods | Tuesday, April 20, 2021 | 6:30 – 7:30 pm
Eli Sagor, Extension Specialist for the Cloquet Forestry Center at the University of Minnesota and the Program Manager for the Sustainable Forests Education Cooperative
Learning from the Indigenous Roots of Sustainable Forestry in the USA: Promoting Sustainability, Community Healing, and Partnerships | Wednesday, April 21, 2021 | 6:30 – 7:30 pm
Dr. Michael Dockry, Member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation with traditional territories around Lake Michigan and a reservation in central Oklahoma and Assistant Professor in the Department of Forest Resources at the University of Minnesota
This lecture is co-sponsored by the All-University Arboretum and Land Stewardship Committee as part of the Annual Arbor Day celebration and WSU’s “Tree-Campus USA” recognition.