I’ve been invited to present twice this spring about the Ecologically True Story of the Tortoise and the Hare. And, there’s a third big presentation in the works!

The first was an Ignite-style talk.

I gave this talk as part of a Wyoming Humanities Council/UW Creative Writing MFA partnership to host an “Insights into Legends” event in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The constraints were exhilarating and exacting: 7 minutes, 42 slides which auto-advance every 21 seconds. By the time I worked out the entire script of my talk, I was averaging 40-55 words per slide – that’s not much!

All eight talks from that event were fantastic and fascinating. They ranged from a look at being mixed race and identifying with the mythical jackalope, a modern day bandit, and the economic myths of coal to what we know about people who ‘come back from the dead’ and the heroes who surround us in our everyday lives.

The entire show was a powerful demonstration of how good storytelling can get us to think in new ways about ideas we often take for granted. At some point, videos of all the talks will be available. I’ll update with a link when that is published by WYHC.

My second presentation this spring was an invited poster talk for the Center for Global Studies.

They hosted a “Wyoming Goes Global” event in April, and it was a fun opportunity to hear about a lot of international research being conducted by UW students and faculty.

This was also my first poster presentation (vs. a standard PowerPoint-based ‘talk to a room’ type of talk). I loved it! Lots more interaction with the audience, space and time to get into more detailed conversations, and no limit to how many questions people could ask.

The third presentation is my upcoming exhibition, which will take place this autumn.

The exhibition will be hosted by the Biodiversity Institute at their Berry Center on the University of Wyoming campus.

Meanwhile, I’ll be working to finalize the interpretive text, finish up watercolor paintings, illustrations, and monoprints. I’m particularly looking forward to the exhibit design, which will likely include specimens of jackrabbits and tortoises borrowed from the University of Arizona, and hopefully specimens of plants from Kenya and Arizona. I’m still sorting out how the plants will fit in – stay tuned!