Emerald Chapter is hosting the Annual Meeting this year. It will be held in Eugene on June 2nd, 3rd and 4th. Make sure to save the dates! Chapter members have been working diligently for many months to put together an exciting and memorable event. A special website dedicated to the annual meeting is currently under construction and will be available very soon. The website will be a comprehensive source of information about the event including everything you need to know about field trips, evening programs (the Saturday night banquet, Friday night social mixer), how to register, and more. A link to the website once it's completed will be available here and on the State NPSO website. Thanks for your patience!

* Friday, April 21st, 7:30PM - 9PM. Sounds Wild and Broken: What Listening Can Teach Us About Ecology, Evolution and Ethics. Presenters: David Haskell, Author and Forest Biologist. Location: 221 Allen Hall on the University of Oregon campus. Sonic communication was a late-comer to the story of animal evolution. But once song got started, it became a powerful generative force. The diversity of sounds around us – from chirping crickets, to birdsong, to the human music in our earbuds – reveals the many layers of this evolutionary and cultural creativity. Today, sonic diversity is massively threatened, especially in rainforests and the oceans. Sound is also often undervalued in conservation efforts and, more broadly, in our society that privileges sight over all other senses. I will explore both the long and fruitful past of sound on Earth and consider its future. (Program sponsored in conjunction with Eugene Natural History Society).

* Sunday, March 26th, 1PM – 3PM. Buford Park East Trailhead Ramble. Leader: Karl Anderson, Emerald Chapter Board Member. Location: Meet at Public Market in Pleasant Hill (see below for directions) Rambles are casual walks where participants identify and share their knowledge of plants they encounter as a group. All levels of experience are welcome. All we ask is that you are interested in plants! We'll walk on the gravel access road past the wet prairie, and then bear left on Trail 3 across the lower edge of Meadowlark Prairie. We won't go further than Buckbrush Canyon, about a mile-and-a-half in. There should be an abundance of early wildflowers. Since parking at the East Trailhead is limited, we'll meet up 2 miles away at the Pisgah Public Market in Pleasant Hill, and carpool from there. From southbound I-5 take exit 188 for OR58 East, "Oakridge-Klamath Falls", and continue on OR58 for just under 4 mi. The Pisgah Public Market is on the left as you enter Pleasant Hill. Please call Karl Anderson at 505-257-0554 if you have questions. Sign up here.

* Saturday, April 8th, 9AM – 10AM. Amazon Park Family Plant Walk. Location: Meet at Amazon Community Center Entrance, 2700 Hilyard St., Eugene. Join NPSO members Jenny Lippert and Karl Anderson on a family-oriented plant walk around Amazon Park to learn what grows in your neighborhood.

* Saturday, April 15th, 1PM – 2PM. Museum of Natural and Cultural History Native Plant Garden. Leader: Jill Paulson. Location: Meet at 1680 East 15th Avenue on the U of O campus in Eugene. The property surrounding this museum, on the University of Oregon campus, bears an excellent native plant garden that is little known to the community. In partnership with the museum, Emerald Chapter members will be leading this short walk in and around the museum's Glenn Starlin Native Plant Courtyard. With over forty species, the courtyard offers a rich array of plant life that have provided nutrition and material for tools, shelter, and more for millennia. This is the first of a monthly series of walks at this location. Limited free parking is in a designated lot located just west of the mammoths on East 15th Avenue, and metered parking is available on the street. Sign-up is not needed, and the tour is free to NPSO members.

* Saturday, April 15th, 9AM – 3PM. Brice Creek Trail. Leader: Bruce Waugh. Location: Meet Meet at South Eugene High School to carpool. Join State Board Member Bruce Waugh hiking in an old growth forest on a streamside trail through a scenic rocky canyon. We will primarily see forest flora with the occasional rocky bald. The walk is 3 miles round trip on an easy to moderate trail. The trail is narrow trail with steep drop offs, so this hike is not suitable for those with vertigo or balance issues. Meet at South Eugene High School at 19th and Patterson Street in Eugene to carpool. Bring lunch, water, boots, rain gear and hiking poles if desired. Sign up here

*PLEASE NOTE* - You can watch Emerald Chapter's recent program on how to use the iNaturalist app here. You can also view other previously recorded NPSO Emerald Chapter Programs here, including Dr. Christine Buhl's recent (Feb. 2023) presentation on the Emerald Ash Borer. A PDF of her presentation is available here. Both contain links at the end for reporting new sightings of Emerald Ash borer as well as other references.