Biology graduate students Alexis Sullivan and Rachel Berner, and Caretaker Lewis Payne, had a lovely time on a native plant walk with the Palouse Matters group to explore our Palouse Prairie remnant on Smoot Hill. We look forward to future visits!

Palouse Matters is a new program in the Washington State University Center for Environmental Research, Education, and Outreach, organized by an interdisciplinary team of WSU faculty. The program allows undergraduate students to explore the geologic, ecologic, social, and cultural history of the Palouse Prairie to foster a stronger connection to place. Dr. Jolie Kaytes is an associate professor in the School of Design and Construction and is leading the project. She and her colleagues hope to illustrate how engage students in conversation about what it means to be part of a community. To quote Jolie from her interview for the article by Eric Lozaga, Jolie highlights…

‘”Many students graduate from WSU unaware of the region’s histories, cultures, and ecologies, or their own relationship to this place,” she said. “It’s a place that can be overlooked.”

“Yet, deep study of the area can reveal much about issues and history of the American West, geological time, environmental degradation, and tribal injustices, she said. “They illustrate how social, cultural, and biophysical processes shape all places,” she added.’

See below for photos from our Native Plant Walk.