Park Talks

NPCA is proud to bring you a collection of Park Talks. These live presentations provide an opportunity to hear from staff, park experts and partners about some of the park stories, victories and threats we most want to share.

If you can’t attend, check back here after the Park Talk for the recording.

Upcoming Park Talks

Beyond Boundaries: Restoring the Migration Routes of the Yellowstone Pronghorn Antelope, featuring Julie Cunningham, a wildlife biologist with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks

Wednesday, August 12 RSVP ›

The Amargosa River, Where Hydrology Becomes Biology, featuring Patrick Donnelly, Center for Biological Diversity’s Nevada state director

Thursday, August 13 RSVP ›

Women’s Rights National Historical Park and the 19th Amendment

• Date: Wednesday, August 19, 4 p.m. Eastern
• RSVP details coming soon!

Atlas of the National Parks, featuring Jonathan Waterman, author, filmmaker and adventurer.

• Date: Tuesday, August 25
• RSVP details coming soon!

Past Park Talks

April 2020

• Solving a Wilderness Puzzle: North Cascades National Park, featuring Lauren Danner. The April 9th recording is available here.

• Let It Not Happen Again: Lessons from the Japanese American Exclusion, featuring Clarence Moriwaki. The April 16th recording is available here.

• Tahoma & Its People: A Natural History of Mount Rainier National Park, featuring Jeff Antonelis-Lapp. The April 23rd recording is available here.

May 2020

• NPCA’s Work to Protect Parks from Oil & Gas Development, featuring Theresa Pierno and Matt Kirby of NPCA. The May 7th recording is available here. Additional reading and resources available here.

• The Atomic Frontier and Black Life at Hanford, featuring Jackie Peterson, guest curator for the similarly named 2015-2016 exhibition at the Northwest African American Museum. The May 14th recording is available here.

• Bears Ears to Hovenweep: Conserving a Connected Cultural Landscape, featuring Kurt Riley, former governor of the Pueblo of Acoma, and Amanda Podmore, consultant for NPCA’s Southwest and Energy teams. The May 19th recording is available here.

• Sound the Bugle, See the Stars: How History and Nature are Enjoyed at Fort Davis National Historical Park, featuring NPS rangers. The May 19th recording is available here.

• Wildlife Recovery and the Elwha River, featuring Kim Sager-Fradkin, wildlife program manager for the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe. The May 21st recording is available here.

• To Love and To Advocate: What It Takes to Preserve and Protect the National Parks and How You Can Turn Your Love of the Parks into Advocacy, featuring NPCA’s Senior Director of Cultural Resources, Alan Spears. The May 26th recording is available here.

• Searching for the Ghost Bear in the North Cascades, featuring Dr. Bill Gaines, lead biologist organizing the search for the great bear. The May 28th recording is available here.

June 2020

• Moosewatch Expedition: Stories from Isle Royale, featuring past Moosewatch volunteers who have traversed the park searching for moose and wolf signs to inform the longest running predator-prey study in the world. The June 3rd recording is available here.

• World Oceans Day Park Talk, A Conversation with Award-winning Photographer and Filmmaker Ian Shive, featuring behind-the-scenes photos and stories. The June 8th recording is available here. Additional reading and resources available here.

• Saving the Joshua Tree, featuring Brendan Cummings, conservation director of the Center for Biological Diversity. The June 12th recording is coming soon.

• Pebble Redux: Film & Discussion, learn how the best brown bear habitat in the world is threatened by the proposed Pebble Mine in Alaska. The June 16th recording is available here.

• Speaking up for the Swamp: What’s at Stake in Big Cypress, featuring Dr. Melissa Abdo of NPCA. The June 18th recording is available here.

• Connecting the LGBTQ Community to the Outdoors, featuring the Venture Out Project. The June 24th recording is coming soon.

• Julius Rosenwald: The Most Important Donor You’ve Never Heard Of, featuring Alan Spears, senior director for Cultural Resources at NPCA; Dorothy Canter, president of the Campaign to Establish the Julius Rosenwald and Rosenwald Schools National Historical Park; Robert Stanton, former senior advisor to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior; and Stephanie Deutsch, author of “You Need a Schoolhouse, Booker T. Washington, Julius Rosenwald and the Building of Schools for the Segregated South.” The June 30th recording is available here. Additional reading and resources available here.

July 2020

• California Desert’s Conglomerate Mesa, featuring Bryan Hatchell, Friends of the Inyo. The July 1st recording is available here.

• Forgotten History: Chinese Americans and the Formation of Our National Park System, featuring remarks from Yenyen Chan, Yosemite National Park ranger, and Jack Shu, formerly of California State Parks. The July 9th recording is available here.

• The Arts, the Desert, the Pandemic and Exile, with the Luna Arcana journal. The July 16th recording is available here.

• Half the Park is After Dark: Protecting the Intrinsic Value of the Night Sky, featuring Stephen C. Hummel of the Texas McDonald Observatory. The July 21st recording is available here.

• Seeing the Connection: The Intersection of Energy Development & Air Quality at Parks in the Southwest. The July 22nd recording is available here.

• Great American Outdoors Act, featuring Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Kristen Brengel, Chair of NPCA’s Board of Trustees Vic Fazio, NPCA’s Senior Director of Budget and Appropriations John Garder, and Next Generation Advisory Council member Jessica Loya. The July 23rd recording is available here. Additional resources can be found here.

• The Science of Marine Reserves: Protecting Coral and Wildlife in Florida’s National Parks, featuring world-renowned angler, Dr. Martin “Marty” Arostegui. The July 23rd recording is available here.

• Ancient Desert Plants, featuring Chris Clarke, associate director for NPCA’s California Desert program. The July 30th recording is available here.