Talk on Northwest Beach Ecology

Stewart Schultz leading shoreline science workshop.\Photo by Michael Coe.

Coastal ecologist Stewart Schultz will speak on “The Natural History of Northwest Beaches” at the North County Recreation District building (36155 9th St.) in Nehalem on Saturday, Aug. 31, 5-6:30 p.m. This CoastWatch event is free and open to all. 

Following the lecture, Schultz will lead a beachwalk on Manzanita Beach, starting at 7 pm.

Dr. Schultz is author of The Northwest Coast: A Natural History, and a leading expert on the coastal ecology of the Pacific Northwest. He will describe the life found on the shore and within the sands. Tidepools are fascinating to many, but beach ecosystems are an equally fascinating realm.  The information he will provide will be of particular value to CoastWatchers observing the shoreline, but of interest to anyone who loves the Oregon coast.

Dr. Schultz has wide-ranging experience in studying Pacific Northwest coastal ecosystems, making him a knowledgeable guide to the shoreline environment. An Oregonian who grew up playing on the shore near Gearhart, he went to Reed College and obtained his doctorate in botany from the University of British Columbia. He worked on the Oregon coast for the Nature Conservancy, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, gaining wide field experience before pursuing an academic career as a professor at the University of Miami, and now the University of Zadar in Croatia. During the academic year he studies marine ecology, as well as his specialty of plant evolution and genetics, but every summer he returns to the Oregon coast to teach shoreline science.

The event will also be an opportunity to meet new CoastWatch Volunteer Coordinator Jesse Jones, who will introduce Schultz and speak briefly about CoastWatch and its citizen science projects. 

For more information about this event or about CoastWatch, contact Jesse Jones, (503) 989-7244, jesse@oregonshores.org.