Date: May 21
Time: 12pm-1pm
Virtual Presentation – Online (Zoom)

Fire shapes the Boundary Waters — and how we care for it. Join researchers Nisogaabokwe Melonee Montano and Evan Larson for a conversation on fire ecology, land management, and what it means to be in relationship with this wilderness.

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Presenters

Nisogaabokwe Melonee Montano
Nisogaabokwe “Niso” Melonee Montano is a mother, grandmother, and an enrolled member of the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe. She has spent the majority of her life living and learning in her community of Gaa-Miskwaabikaang (Red Cliff), on the southern shores of Lake Superior. Niso holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Northland College and is currently a Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy student of Natural Resources Science & Management at the University of Minnesota. She has spent many years focused on treaty rights, traditional ecological knowledge, climate change, and environmental issues. Niso’s current passions, advocacy work, and research are centered on learning from the gift of fire as a historical and contemporary land caretaking tool for the Anishinaabeg.

Evan Larson
Evan Larson is a father, husband, teacher, and scientist who celebrates learning with heart and mind. Of European ancestry, Evan’s childhood took place in the woods of central Minnesota, helping his parents tend 80 acres of mixed hardwood forests. Drawn by mountains, oceans, and forests, his formal education includes an Environmental Science bachelor’s degree from Willamette University, and graduate degrees in geography from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville (M.S.) and the University of Minnesota (PhD). Less formally, Evan’s philosophy of life has been informed by significant doses of reflection, books, chainsaws and firewood. As a Professor and Chair in the Department of Environmental Sciences & Society at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, the work currently at the center of Evan’s thoughts and energy is fueled by the enthusiasm of amazing Indigenous and non-Indigenous collaborators who are together working to re-story the interwoven relationships among people, fire, and pine in Great Lakes Forests, and translating this work to more good fire on the ground.