Saturday, October 5th, 2019

Conference Venue

Southeast entrance to Memorial Union – takes you right to Horizon Room Lounge for check-in. Entrance is on SW Jefferson Way

The 2019 Oregon Master Naturalist Statewide Conference will take place at the Oregon State University Memorial Union. It is located at 2501 SW Jefferson Way, Corvallis, Oregon 97331.

Conference check in will be in the Horizon Room Lounge located in the east wing of the Memorial Union, starting at 7:30 AM on Saturday, October 5th. The entrance is accessed off of SW Jefferson Way on the south side of the building. Field trips will also leave and return from this same location on Friday, October 4th.

Click HERE to see a floor plan for the Memorial Union. The Conference will occur on the Mezzanine Level (Horizon Lounge and Horizon Room) and the Second Floor (La Raza Room – 208 & Allworth Conference Room – 207).


Conference Schedule

The following is the conference schedule for Saturday, October 5th, 2019. All times and locations are expected to be the same on the day of the conference, but are subject to change as circumstances warrant.

TimesHorizon LoungeHorizon RoomLa Raza Room (208)Allworth Conference Room (207)Outdoors (Meet in Horizon Lounge)
7:30 – 8:30 AMCheck-in and Registration
8:30 – 9:30 AMWelcome and Opening Keynote: Bill Weiler – Columbia Gorge Ecology Institute. On the Trail to Awesomeness: Master Naturalists at Work in the Columbia Gorge Horizon Room
9:30 – 9:50 AMBreak – Refreshments and Socializing Horizon Room
10:00 – 10:50 AMiNaturalist: A window into biodiversity

Lauren Hull

Mushroom ID and Common Fall Mushrooms of the PNW

Quinn Colling

OMN Roundtable – The Ups-and-downs of OMN: imagine the next 5 years

Jason O’Brien

Bird Walk and Intro to eBird

Joe Liebezeit

11:00 – 11:50 AMThe Klamath-Siskiyou Mountains: Remote, diverse, and geologically/botanically unique

Jeff LaLande

Portland Audubon Community Science Opportunities

Joe Liebezeit

OpenSignificant Trees on the OSU Campus

Patrick Breen

Noon – 1:30 PMLunch and Free Time Horizon Room
1:30 – 2:20 PMMarine Mammals Ashore: Responding to strandings in Oregon

Jim Rice

Oregon Lichens (Part 1)

Bruce McCune

OMN Roundtable – Find Your Niche as an OMN Volunteer

Ann Harris

Campus BioBiltz with iNaturalist

Lauren Hull

2:30 – 3:20 PMThe Oregon Bee Atlas: To boldly go to find the bees that no Oregonian has seen before

Andony Melathopoulos

Serpentine Ecology: Wacky soils build glorious places

Kristi Mergenthaler

OMN Roundtable – Entering Your Volunteer Hours and Other Drudgery

Deb Shallert

Oregon Lichens Field Walk (Part 2)

Bruce McCune

3:30 – 3:50 PMBreak – Refreshments and 10-Year Anniversary Cake Horizon Room
4:00 – 4:50 PMClosing Keynote: Heather Fischer – OSU Center for Research on Lifelong STEM Learning Coastal marine debris collection to measuring snow in the Cascades – Exploring Community-engaged Science programs across Oregon Horizon Room
4:50 – 5:00 PMClosing Remarks and Safe Travels Home

Meals and Breaks

Lunches and breaks are provided for this Conference. In your registration, you were asked to provide dietary preferences and restrictions (e.g. vegetarian, gluten free, no preference). We will use these responses to accommodate for the different lunch items available. Please review your registration confirmation so you know what you chose.

Field Trips: Box lunches will be provided and dietary preferences will be used to determine the exact number of each. Lunches will be labeled. Please be sure to take the kind of lunch you indicated on your registration.

Conference: Morning hot beverage service (coffee/tea) will be provided during morning check-in. A morning break will continue coffee/tea service, plus snacks. A lunch buffet will be provided, with accommodations made based upon your dietary preferences. There will also be an afternoon break with snacks and beverages, plus cake to celebrate our 10-year program anniversary.

If you have any questions or concerns about meals, please email ormasternaturalist@oregonstate.edu.


OSU Campus

The Oregon State University campus is a beautiful setting to have a conference. With its outdoor courtyards and quiet sitting areas, plenty of walking paths, and the earliest hints of fall colors on its thousands of trees and shrubs, take some time to wander around campus during breaks and other times while you are in Corvallis. Here’s a handy Campus Map for your reference.