Thomas Condon Lecture | Thinking in Mammoth Time: What Lost Ecosystems Can Teach Us About Our Living Planet by Jacquelyn Gill, Professor of Paleoecology, University of Maine (12 Nov 2026)

Fri, 13 Nov 2026 02:00:00 GMT

Thomas Condon Lecture | Thinking in Mammoth Time: What Lost Ecosystems Can Teach Us About Our Living Planet

Thursday, November 12

Lecture begins at 6 p.m.

In-person reception begins at 5 p.m.

Location: The LaSells Stewart Ctr & Zoom

Twenty thousand years ago, North America was home to mammoths, giant beavers, massive ice sheets, and ecosystems unlike anything found today. This long-lost world is much closer to us than most people realize, and its legacy is still shaping the ecosystems we live in today. By reading clues preserved in ancient pollen, bones, lake mud, and even DNA recovered from frozen feces, scientists can reconstruct these vanished landscapes in astonishing detail, revealing new insights into how ecosystems respond to profound environmental change. In this journey through the Pleistocene, paleoecologist Dr. Jacquelyn Gill reveals how we study these lost worlds and invites us to think in "mammoth time," discovering what the fossil record can teach us about our own changing planet.

Details and registration

FEATURED SPEAKER

Jacquelyn Gill

Professor of Paleoecology, University of Maine

Director of the BEAST Lab (Biodiversity and Environments Across Space and Time)

Jacquelyn is an ice age ecologist who uses fossils, ancient DNA, pollen, and other clues preserved in the Earth's natural archives to reconstruct past ecosystems and understand how life responds to environmental change across millennia. Her research has transformed our understanding of the ecological consequences of Ice Age extinctions and has been recognized by the Ecological Society of America and the National Academy of Sciences. A passionate science communicator, she co-created the award-winning climate podcast Warm Regards and is co-host of the forthcoming Earth history podcast Jax & Phoebe Make a Planet.

For questions or accommodations for disabilities, please contact:

Des Anderson, Director of Alumni Relations

College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences

des.anderson@osualum.com

Register Now https://ceoas.oregonstate.edu/thomas-condon-lecture

The Archaeology of Early ‘Persistent Places’ in Central Oregon, by Anne Dowd, Ph.D. (19 Nov 2026)

Fri, 20 Nov 2026 01:30:00 GMT

The Archaeology of Early ‘Persistent Places’ in Central Oregon.

Anne Dowd, Ph.D.

Abstract:

People have been drawn to certain parts of the Ochoco National Forest and Crooked River National Grassland for their reliable resources, and they returned to these locales repeatedly over thousands of years. U.S. Forest Service archaeologists have now recorded examples of Western Stemmed Tradition sites dating from 13,000 to 8,500 years before present. People living at these locales, ranging from large base camps to smaller resource processing sites, made Haskett and Windust styles of points tipping handheld spears. These archaeological sites provide new data on alternative generalist lifestyles to compare to the big game adaptations of contemporaneous Clovis hunters in the western United States. Anne Dowd will discuss how these sites have the potential to expand our understanding of how people used persistent places to tether their communities to key predictable resources as part of seasonal rounds. In addition, Anne connects recent research on cave sites with these new data from open air sites to show the importance of protecting archaeological sites with the potential for illuminating variable human adaptations to changing climate conditions.

Archaeological Society of Central Oregon upcoming events

Thomas Condon Lecture | Thinking in Mammoth Time: What Lost Ecosystems Can Teach Us About Our Living Planet by Jacquelyn Gill, Professor of Paleoecology, University of Maine (12 Nov 2026)

The Archaeology of Early ‘Persistent Places’ in Central Oregon, by Anne Dowd, Ph.D. (19 Nov 2026)