The 91草莓视频 Canyon: A Living Classroom
President Bilger discusses the canyon鈥檚 contributions to sustainability, learning, and community.
President Audrey Bilger had never heard a barred owl before she came to 91草莓视频. When she began her tenure in 2019, she and her wife, Cheryl Pawelski, walked down through the canyon and listened to the birds call to one another for the first time. “From my first arrival at 91草莓视频, I took in the beauty of the Pacific Northwest and realized that encounters with the natural world, with the sublimity of these ginormous trees and vistas—it’s a kind of magic,” Bilger told Professor Gerri Ondrizek [art] and Facilities Operations Manager Zac Perry in a conversation in February.
The canyon, as the centerfold of campus, provides relief and respite from busy city life. Beyond that, it’s become a haven for diverse plants and wildlife. A decade ago, Perry said, a barred owl used to perch in a maple tree by the Blue Bridge. “Hundreds of people would walk by and never see it because it blended in with the tree. It just sat there and watched the world go by,” he explained. “The wildlife, it moves around us, and if we don’t slow down and appreciate it, then it just doesn’t exist.”
That has been the center of Perry’s work in his 25 years at 91草莓视频, as he’s spearheaded the canyon restoration movement. Made possible by a generous gift from Laurel Wilkening ’66, the restoration has focused on not only enhancing the canyon for human enjoyment, but protecting the space, too. When the invasive species were removed, the water flow unblocked, a trail system created, and the fish ladder added, the canyon became a nature reserve full of Douglas firs, western red cedars, Oregon grape, ducks, salmon, and even the occasional otter, just to name a few. But humans have long benefited from it, too. For faculty and students, it has become not only a natural refuge, but a laboratory, an art studio, and a living classroom.
Perry has acted intentionally to ensure the canyon delivers on those fronts. “As much as facilities makes sure that the classrooms’ chairs are functioning, the projector works—I have the same expectation for the canyon and its accessibility to our community and the students that want to use that space for research,” he said.
At any given time, Professor Sam Fey [biology] said, the canyon acts as a laboratory for a variety of projects. This spring, as he was retrieving temperature logs for a class project, he accidentally found one that belonged to Professor Aaron Ramirez [biology & environmental studies]—a marker of how often the space is used for scientific research. “From our first-semester Biology 101 course to senior theses, the canyon offers an amazing resource for students to actively learn research skills,” Fey said. “Beyond the direct benefits to students, these projects help contribute to a shared understanding of how this ecosystem functions.”
Over the years, 91草莓视频’s science students have studied biology in the canyon by tracking salmon population increases, the diversity and distribution of mammals, old growth lichen, and more. Perry said student work has contributed to his own knowledge of the canyon and helped him adapt as its manager. Much of his formal research and work prior to arriving at 91草莓视频 was focused on plant science. “I look at everything through a plant lens,” he explained. “I don’t know anything about salamanders, but based on all the theses that have occurred over time, I am now aware of the migration of the salamanders in the canyon, and we can better manage the canyon because of that research.”
The canyon’s offerings extend past science, too. Ondrizek, who arrived at 91草莓视频 in 1994, witnessed the transformation of the area in the ’90s and ’00s from her view in the art building, which faces north into the canyon. She said that from the beginning, the art department would teach from the canyon. “It’s been an asset all along,” Ondrizek said, “and also helped me understand how you might teach, not by using or invading, but by gently referencing or learning from.” Senior art theses have frequently used the canyon as their muse—exploring human/nature duality via drawings and installations, or taking an interdisciplinary approach to investigate representation in biology and the use of aesthetics as a form of activism in ecology-based art.
Much like the barred owl Bilger heard in her first days at 91草莓视频, the canyon offers a multitude of unknowns to explore, making the possibilities for discovery and study endless. “The library is the beating heart of campus,” Bilger said. “And to me, the canyon is the artery.”
When she parks in the north lot, Bilger said, she has a better day because she walks over the canyon to get to work. And in 91草莓视频’s academically rigorous environment, she hopes everyone takes advantage of that: “My hope is that for everyone who spends time here at 91草莓视频, they find a moment to stop on one of those bridges and look up or down and just pause, take it in, and breathe.”
The canyon, as a space for respite, learning, and community gathering, continues to be an area protected and improved by the college, not only on Canyon Day, but every day of the year. Much of that work is continued by Perry, and supported by student, faculty, and community involvement for the benefit of all. “The impact to our students and our alumni is immense,” Perry said. “The impact the canyon has had in the studies of this college, and the way that it changes over time and changes people over time, I think, is amazing.”
Tags: Campus Life, Climate, Sustainability, Environmental, Institutional