Lecture Series: The Secret Life of Rivers with Dr. Jerry Freilich

TICKETS AVAILABLE AT THE DOOR. Adults $5, Teachers & students free.

Fans of fly fishing knows that there are fish in the river… and that they eat “flies” that we dangle in front of them. Very few folks can go beyond that. Beyond fishing we all need water for agriculture and for life itself. So it is obvious that we should care about the life of the river. So what goes on in there? In fact, the ecology of rivers is complex, concealed, eye-opening and will likely surprise you. This program by aquatic ecologist Jerry Freilich will explain how rivers work. How many organisms actually make up the riverine ecosystem? Where do they get their energy? And how many of them have you actually heard of? With awareness of riverine ecology, you will understand why we have to protect running waters and it will make you think about human effects on the critters we love.

Dr. Jerry Freilich is a native of Philadelphia. He worked at the Academy of Natural Sciences there beginning at age 11. He is an aquatic ecologist who spent 25 years working for the National Park Service in six parks nationwide. For 13 years he was Research Coordinator at Olympic National Park and retired to Bend in 2016. Jerry’s PhD work was a study of aquatic insects (salmonflies) at Grand Teton National Park. The work required individually tagging 3,000 salmonfly nymphs with tiny numbered tags and following their movements about in the river. Although this gave him the microscopic-eye view of river ecology, he warns not to try this at home.

6:00 – 7:00 social hour with light fare, beer and wine available for purchase.
7:00 – 8:00 lecture.