- Listen to Larry Merculieff’s interview on KSFR Santa Fe’s Radio Cafe: http://www.santaferadiocafe.org/podcasts/ (Larry’s portion of the show begins at about 23 minutes)

- Sunrise Springs Retreat - keynote speaker at 5:30pm, Wed. May 7th

WHERE: Portland State University, Native American & Community Center

WHEN: Monday May 5th at 10:00am

Come hear Larry Merculieff, born and raised in traditional Aleut culture in Alaska’s Pribilof Islands. This activist puts a human face on climate change as he describes the urgent, immediate changes that are happening in his environment now and how they affect the traditional ways of indigenous people in Alaska

Larry Merculieff (an Aleut, one of Alaska’s indigenous peoples) tells stories about his traditional upbringing in the Bering Sea, and how wise elders helped him understand the importance of addressing climate change now. Larry has decades of experience bringing together Alaska Native traditional wisdom, science, and environmental concerns, using his first-hand perspective to put a human face on this complicated issue.

In addition to climate change, excessive carbon dioxide emissions are causing ocean acidification. In the past 200 years the world oceans have absorbed half of all CO2, resulting in the surface layers of our oceans being almost 30% more acidic.

Merculieff’s visit is part of The Alaska Speaking Tour Project sponsored by the Alaska Marine Conservation Council with funding from the Pew Institute for Ocean Science at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science.

Larry Merculieff is Co-founder and former chairman of the Alaska Indigenous Council on Marine Mammals; former chairman of the Nature Conservancy, Alaska chapter; former co-director of the Native American Fish and Wildlife Society, Alaska chapter; as well as co-founder of the International Bering Sea Forum, the Alaska Forum on the Environment, and the Alaska Oceans Network.

]]> http://amcctour0809.wordpress.com/2008/04/23/larry-merculieff-to-speak-may-5th-in-portland-or/feed/ http://amcctour0809.wordpress.com/2008/04/23/hello-world/ http://amcctour0809.wordpress.com/2008/04/23/hello-world/#comments Wed, 23 Apr 2008 04:13:52 +0000 amcctour0809

The Alaska Marine Conservation Council is proud to kick off their first Climate Change & Ocean Acidification Speaking Tour in May of 2008.

Return to this site for information about speaking locations and venues, video and audio clips, and more.

The purpose of the tour is to raise awareness about warming and acidification in Alaska and implications for indigenous peoples, fisheries and the globally significant Arctic ecosystem. The storytellers will put a human face on the issues to move citizens from perceiving the problem as something either beyond their reach or not real to one that demands their positive political action.

Please visit www.akmarine.org for more information about the AMCC.

Soon, there will be streaming video or audio of our speakers as they travel around the country - instead of my daughter singing “Puff the Magic Dragon!”