Sat, Aug. 6, 2022 | 11am | Tickets $10 | Cheatham Hall, World Forestry Center
What can art teach us about wildfire?
Join Arizona-based artist Bryan David Griffith and USFS Research Ecologist Dr. Paul Hessburg as they discuss the causes and impacts of severe wildfire, Griffith’s work, and the use of art as an entry point to engage the public on forestry issues. Stay after the talk to explore this and other exhibits in our newly reopened Discovery Museum. Light refreshments will be provided.
Sat, Aug. 6, 2022 | 11am | Tickets $10 | Cheatham Hall, World Forestry Center
- 10:30 am – Check-in opens in Cheatham Hall
- 11:00 am – Discussion in Cheatham Hall
- 12:00 pm – Guided exhibit walkthrough in Discovery Museum
World Forestry Center is committed to making our events inclusive and accessible. Please contact Vivian Bui at vbui@worldforestry.org or 503-488-2161 for discounted tickets, accommodation requests, or general inquiries.
Explore the Exhibit
About the Speakers
Dr. Paul Hessburg is a Senior Research Ecologist with the USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station (PNWRS). He is also affiliate Full Professor at the UW, OSU, WSU, and UBC. Paul has worked in R&D for 44 years. He leads a research team that studies management influences on forest landscapes and their disturbance regimes, the landscape and disturbance ecology of western US and North American forests, climate change effects on forests and nonforests, wildfire resilience mechanisms and their persistence under climate change, and forest fuel succession and reburning influences on wildfire behavior. Paul holds a PhD in Botany and Plant Pathology from Oregon State University (1984), and a BS in Forestry from the University of Minnesota (1978). He has authored more than 225 refereed articles, books, and book chapters. In 2017, he received the PNWRS and USDA-FS Chief’s Distinguished Scientist awards. Paul resides in Wenatchee, WA, is married with grown kids, and he and his wife Mary have seven nearly perfect grandchildren.
Bryan David Griffith explores complex issues using simple forms and materials across multiple media. His work has been widely exhibited and is held in museums across the U.S. (including the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Phoenix Art Museum, University of Michigan Museum of Art, Fresno Art Museum, Center for Creative Photography, and Fort Wayne Museum of Art). Before becoming an artist, Bryan earned a BS in Engineering from the University of Michigan and built a successful career with an international management consulting firm. But he found his job unfulfilling and was troubled by the environmental impact of his clients. He ultimately resigned to follow his conscience. In order to pursue art full-time, he adopted a simple nomadic life, camping out of an old van and saving every dime for gas and supplies. When Bryan’s van broke down in Flagstaff, Arizona, he fell in love with the mountain town—and then his wife, Tasha. He never left. In 2016, Bryan received the Flagstaff Arts Council’s Viola Award, the city’s highest honor for outstanding achievement in the arts.