I gave a PowerPoint presentation for Rocktown History’s Coffee Mill Talks, (Harrisonburg-Rockingham Historical Society, Dayton, VA), which used photos I’ve taken over decades of observations to show how the forest remembers its past.
What better place to talk about forest history than a Historical Society?
Below is a small selection of photos from my PowerPoint presentation, “Forest Forensics: Clues to the Past in our Woods Today.” Most photos are from my own 112 acres. My presentation, […]
I was thrilled to be invited to the first Queen City Word Fest, a large gathering of writers in Staunton, Virginia, from the Shenandoah Valley and beyond, with their books on display and for sale. Staunton is the Queen City of the Valley, and she graciously made this event free to the authors and the public. It took place in a large old warehouse on West Beverley Street next door to The Book Dragon Shop, which was a […]
I was one of 5 local authors invited to discuss how I became a published writer, at Plains District Memorial Museum, Timberville VA. Preparing for it made me realize all the things I had done wrong. If I had taken creative writing classes, done workshops and internships, met people, made contacts, surely I’d be a rich and famous author by now. The other writers were Jean Cash, Ann Heap, Retta Lilliendahl, and Tammy Cullers. It […]
Oasis Gallery of Fine Art and Craft, at 103 S. Main Street, is the heart of art in Harrisonburg, VA, the closest city to my very rural home. The administrators of Oasis consider literature also to be an art, with shelves of books by local authors. On Friday, June 28, 2024, Oasis held a reception, free and open to the public, of short readings by several local writers. I was delighted to be one of them. […]
I was invited to speak at the weekly luncheon of the Harrisonburg Rotary Club, one of more than 46,000 Rotary clubs around the world. Their mission is to form a fellowship of business, professional, and community leaders to help address community problems through public service, economic growth, and promotion of education, environmental protection, and goodwill toward all. I wasn’t very familiar with Rotary, and was impressed by the commitment I saw and heard. Meeting weekly for lunch and a […]
Other Presentations
Every presentation is aimed at a different audience, but the theme is the same: how our forests can save us if we can save them:
- Spotswood Garden Club, Bridgewater, VA. It was on Valentine’s Day, 2020, so i featured the recent trend of women around the world marrying trees to save them.
- VA Master Naturalists, Sept. 2019 Annual Rally, Massanetta Springs Conference Center, Virginia, a stately and historic venue with just enough mold spores to catch in my throat, but still lovely to be there.
- JMU Faculty Emeriti, most of whom I knew from my 31 years at JMU, Feb., 2019
- Climate Action Alliance for the Valley, “Our Forests ARE our Future,” Nov., 2018.
- Eastern Mennonite University Biology Class, March, 2018.
- Sustainable Floyd, “Save the Planet, Get Rich … through forest conservation?” Nov., 2017.
- Afton Chapter, VA Master Naturalists, “The Great and Seriously Uncommon Appalachian Forest Commons.” July, 2017.
- Appalachian Studies Assn., “The Great Appalachian Carbon Commons,” March, 2017.
- Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards, “An Appalachian Journey from wilderness to Wilderness.” Oct., 2015.
- Readers Read Series, Eastern Mennonite University, Nov. 2014
- VA Sierra Club, “Developing a Southern Appalachian WWIMBY Response: Welcoming Wilderness in my Backyard.” Sept., 2014.
- "Developing a WWIMBY movement: Welcoming Wilderness in My Back Yard". 50th Wilderness Act Anniversary Conference, Albuquerque, NM, Oct. 2014
- Eastern Mennonite University Biology Class, “An Appalachian Journey: from wilderness to Wilderness.” Jan., 2014
- VA Environmental Educators Conference, Oct. 2013
- Colonial Garden Club, Harrisonburg, Dec. 2012
- Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge, July, 2012
- Virginia Forum (Historical Analysis), Harrisonburg, March, 2012
- Virginia Festival of the Book, 2012
- A Celebration of Wilderness, Blacksburg and Harrisonburg, 2012 (sponsored by the U.S. Forest Service)
- Maryland Native Plant Society Annual Conference, 2012 (one of three keynote speakers)
- Pinchot Institute for Conservation
- Hollins University Guest Lectures
- Washington & Lee University Luncheon Seminars
- Virginia Tech College of Natural Resources Seminar Seriesv
- Radford University Guest Lectures
- Eastern Shore (MD) “Journeys Home” Lecture Series
- Highlands (NC) Biological Research Station, Zahner Lecture Series
- Shenandoah National Park Nature Writing Workshop
- Southern Appalachian Biodiversity Project
- Mt. Rogers Naturalist Rally (when I emailed my husband about this upcoming talk, I made a type and he thought it was Mr. Roger’s neighborhood).
- Wildlands Conference
- Sierra Club Appalachian Task Force
- Appalachian Restoration Campaign
- Southern Appalachian Forest Coalition
- Nature Conservancy, Virginia Chapter
- Western North Carolina Alliance
- Georgia Forest Watch
- Potomac Valley Audubon Society
- Woodland Owners of the Southern Alleghenies
- Montebello Clean Mountain Coalition
- 6th Mountain Lion Workshop
- The Bergton Ruritan Club (one of the attendees walked out when I mentioned erosion from logging).
- An unnamed commune in western NC (they may have named themselves by now but I’ve lost touch and wouldn’t know how to contact them).
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- Talking with audience members after presenting at the 50th Wilderness Act Anniversary, Albuquerque, NM, Oct. 2014
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- Eastern Mennonite University Readers Read Series, Nov. 2014
Appalachia: A History of Mountains and People
Talking Head in Four-part PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) TV series by Jamie Ross and Ross Spears. Narrated by Academy Award Winner, Sissy Spacek. Premiered April 9, 2009, on PBS.
Available from Amazon.com.
Garden Story with Rebecca Frischkorn
Talking Head in Four-episode DVD. Published by Liseron Limited Partnership, 2005.
Host Rebecca Frischkorn visits gardens and talks with volunteers, teachers, and students who recount their love of these gardens and the many things they have learned from them.
Available from Amazon.com.