California’s Majestic Trees: An Interdisciplinary Journey through Our Most Valuable Resource
Channel: SJSUCollegeHA
Date: 28/02/2023

For many of us in the Bay Area, a place like Big Basin Redwoods State Park (est. 1902) is a beloved place where we can momentarily escape urban life and walk among giants. We invite you to a celebration and discussion about these magnificent trees and their California cousins.

Please watch the recorded interdisciplinary discussion from Friday, February 24, as speakers explored California’s Redwood, Sequoia, and Joshua Trees through music, photography, discussions about the threats posed by climate change, and offer information about wildfire management. During this hour, our performers, speakers, and scientists traced the importance and power of California’s mighty trees. Christopher Luna-Mega discussed his composition “Forestcover,” which combines climate change with musical composition. Robin Lasser explored heat in the woods through photography and film. Amanda Stasiewicz explored human interactions with wildfire policy. Craig Clements offered an opportunity to play on the radar truck parked on the Hammer Theatre's Paseo prior to the event. 

As we dream about these majestic trees and our impact, before and after the discussion we invite you to take a moment to discover how wildfire impacts your urban environment, especially after the three major Bay Area fires, the SCU, LNU, and the CZU Lightning Complex, collectively burned about 846,000 acres by mid-September 2020 and came up to many of our and our neighbors’ backyards. The Director of the Wildfire Interdisciplinary Research Center will be on hand to answer questions about their equipment and research to help you stay informed about the natural environment in an urban setting. Bring the kids to discover the WIRC research truck, which will be parked on the Paseo outside the Hammer Theater. 

After our engaging set of speakers, please join us for a reception with hors d'oeuvres, participate in activities offered by SJSU’s Office of Sustainability, Campus Community Garden, and our community partner, Our City Forest, and stay for the raffle of seedling trees native to California.

You might even wander over to the San Jose State University campus to visit our grove of Redwood trees near Uchida Hall and Tower Lawn. 

SPEAKERS:
Christopher Luna-Mega is a composer of instrumental and electronic music at San Jose´ State University. Interested in focused listening, performance strategies, audio technology, and interdisciplinary collaboration, his work analyzes sounds and data from natural and urban environments and translates them into music for performers and electronics in various forms of media.

Robin Lasser is a Professor of Art at San Jose´ State University. She produces photographs, video, site-specific installations and public art dealing with public health, environmental issues and social justice. Lasser often works in a collaborative mode with other artists, writers, students, public agencies, community organizations, and international coalitions to produce public art and promote public dialogue.

Dr. Amanda Stasiewicz is a Professor of Environmental Studies at San José State University; her research specializes in the human dimensions of wildfire. Dr. Stasiewicz’s research efforts particularly focus on citizen-agency conflict and cooperation during wildfire preparation/prevention and during wildfire response (e.g., suppression, evacuation). 

Dr. Craig Clements is a Professor of Meteorology and Director of the WIRC and the Fire Weather Research Laboratory. He leads research on fire weather, extreme fire behavior, fire-atmosphere interactions, and conducting wildland fire field experiments. 

RESOURCES:
-“What Big Basins Redwoods Mean to You (and Why They’ll be OK)”: https://www.kqed.org/news/11836117/what-big-basins-redwoods-mean-to-you-and-why-theyll-be-ok
-SJSU Fire Weather Research Lab: https://www.fireweather.org/
-Best Forest Trails in Alum Rock Park: https://www.alltrails.com/parks/us/california/alum-rock-park/forest
-Muir Woods National Monument: https://www.nps.gov/muwo/index.htm
-Midpeninsula Region Open Space Preserve: https://www.openspace.org/
Guadalupe Trail Conservancy: https://grpg.org/

**Thank you to our partners who donated their time and prizes to the raffle!

OUR PARTNERS:
*Geography of the Arts: https://www.sjsu.edu/ha-in-action/engage/public-programming-opportunities/geography-of-art.php
*H&A in Action: https://www.sjsu.edu/ha-in-action/index.php
*SJSU Office of Sustainability: https://www.sjsu.edu/sustainability/
*A.S. Campus Community Garden: https://www.sjsu.edu/as/departments/cesar-chavez-center/community-garden.php
*Our City Forest: https://www.ourcityforest.org/
*Sports Basement: https://shop.sportsbasement.com/
*Guadalupe River Park Conservancy: https://grpg.org/