Environmental Speaker Series Presents: Artistic Community Mapping from 19 Islands in the Salish Sea

Exploring How Local and Regional Maps Highlight Important Qualities of Nature, Culture and Ecoregion

Tripartite artwork depicting: vibrant marine life, a watercolor map of Gambier Island, and a painted orchard landscape.  Apples feature prominently.

Event Details

When:

-

Location:

Online: Zoom

In-Person at WWU:
Academic West 204

Price:

Free

Brought to you by:

College of the Environment, Salish Sea Institute, The Foundation for WWU & Alumni

Description

Check out this video to watch the Artistic Community Mapping from 19 Islands in the Salish Sea.

In the late 1990s, communities across the Canadian Islands in the Salish Sea came together on a creative mission to map what they cherished at the turn of the millennium. Led by a small group of islanders, artists and community members from 18 of the islands began mapping their home places, creating an atlas of beautifully rendered maps that revealed a unique way of understanding what is important to the people who lived there. Now, almost a quarter century later, those maps have been presented in a digital atlas so they can be shared more widely, allowing a larger audience to reflect on how community mapping can show cultural values, inform conservation, and inspire creativity. This presentation will talk about the initial motivations and outcomes of the original project, how and why the project was digitized, and the benefits of wide-spread community mapping projects to connect with the land and the people who live there.

The Environmental Speaker Series is free and open to the public. Talks are held each Thursday at 4:30pm in Academic Instructional Center West, room 204. Join us at WWU or online on Zoom!

Featuring:

Smiling woman with shoulder-length gray hair, wearing a purple top and silver necklace, against a rocky, mountainous backdrop.

Sheila Harrington, Presenter

Sheila Harrington has lived on the islands, sailed around and written about the Salish Sea for several decades. While living on Salt Spring, she was co-editor and coordinator of the award winning, Islands in the Salish Sea, Community Atlas. She published a national magazine, Positive Vibrations, in the early ‘90s and went on to be the founding Executive Director of the Land Trust Alliance of BC for 12 years. In June of 2024, Sheila authored, Voices for the Islands, Thirty Years of Nature Conservation on the Salish Sea, published by Heritage House. 

A freckled woman with curly auburn hair smiles, hand on cheek.  She wears a black top and sunglasses, nestled amongst vibrant purple lavender.

Olivia Hobson ('22), Presenter

Olivia Hobson graduated from WWU in winter of 2022 with a BA in environmental journalism and her GIS certificate. She works for Blue Water GIS in Bellingham, a GIS consulting company that works with a variety of organizations on resource conservation, science communication and spatial storytelling.

Close-up of a gently smiling older man with curly gray hair, wearing glasses and a light blue button-down shirt.

Bert Webber, PhD, Presenter

Bert Webber, Professor Emeritus at Western Washington University, earned a degree in marine biology from the University of British Columbia before spending two years at Stanford's Marine Laboratory. He worked at Wake Forest University before returning to the Pacific Northwest in 1970 to join the new Environmental Studies program at WWU. His early interest focused on oil spill threats and the interconnectedness of the Salish Sea ecosystem, when it became clear that the Strait of Georgia, Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Puget Sound were best described as a world class estuary with very high levels of natural resources. 

Questions and Accommodations

  • Your point of contact for this event is The Foundation for WWU & Alumni. Call (360) 650-3353 or email Alumni@wwu.edu.
  • Advance notice for disability accommodations and special needs is appreciated. Please mention your needs when registering.
  • There will be auto-captions for the Zoom webinar.

Visitor Parking at WWU on Weekdays

  • Mon-Fri, 7:00am-4:30pm: limited paid parking is available at the south C lots and north 6V and 7G lots.
  • Purchase your permit at the lot pay stations or use the Parkmobile app.
  • More parking details for campus visitors are available online.
     

Parking at WWU on Weekdays for Visitors with Disabilities

  • Mon-Fri, 7:00am-4:30pm: both a WWU permit and state disability placard are needed.
  • Purchase your permit at the pay stations in lot C or 6V or use the Parkmobile app (use Zone 1200). This allows parking in any disability space. If these are full, you can use a non-reserved space nearby.
  • More parking details for campus visitors with disabilities are available online.

The views expressed by our speakers do not necessarily reflect those of Western Washington University.