CER September Lunchtime Lecture
The Natural History of an Urban Creek

Please note NEW Location for these first Tuesday Lectures for the rest of 2012 – Dougherty Arts Center, 1110 Barton Springs Road, Austin, Texas, 78704


Sept 4 Tuesday – NOON to 1pm
Lecture repeated -

Sept 18 Tuesday – NOON to 1pm AT CITY HALL Boards and Commissions Room 1101

The Natural History of an Urban Creek: Waller Creek

Urban creeks are common places for nature encounter in the city. Trail systems draw people to and along creeks as “greenways” through the urban landscape. These riparian corridors are potentially rich habitats for urban wildlife, and also for the practice of natural history. Austin’s Waller Creek is one of the most studied urban creeks in America and, currently, the focus of an international design competition for the lower reach of the creek. In this lecture, I will discuss the role of urban creeks in urban natural history, and, specifically, the natural history of Waller Creek as it flows through residential areas, the University, and down to the Colorado River.

Urban Natural History

Join me at Austin City Hall (Boards and Commissions Room on the first floor) at noon on Tuesday August 28, 2012 for my monthly Lunchtime Lecture.

This month I will be giving an overview of urban natural history which will primarily be an explanation as to why urban natural history is not an oxymoron.  Thoreau famously declared, “In Wildness is the preservation of the World” and that “cities import it at any price.”  Urban nature is incorporated into the urban landscape in parks, gardens, and preserves as official sites of sanctioned nature. Additionally, nature emerges in the shadows and alleyways as unofficial sites of unsanctioned and often unwanted nature. All of this urban nature has a rich tradition of study exemplified in urban natural history. The natural history of European cities like London, Berlin, and Paris has been studied for centuries, and the more recently created cities of America have also been documented through the work of naturalists. Join us for an overview of the history of urban natural history and a bit of Thoreau!