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CORVALLIS, Ore. - "History and Ecology" is the subject of a free, public workshop Feb. 3-4 at Oregon State University's Memorial Union Journey Room.

This workshop offers perspectives from history, geography, environmental studies, and landscape architecture to teach how humans and the landscape coped with change in the past, and how that can inform the future.

Eric Higgs, director of the School of Environmental Studies at the University of Victoria, will deliver the keynote speech, "History and Novelty in Ecological Restoration," on Thursday Feb. 3, at 4 p.m. in the Journey Room. A free, public reception will follow.

Higgs focuses on ecological restoration in its many forms, including historical ecology, restoration policy, cultural practices, and philosophy. His research takes him to the mountains of western Canada through the Mountain Legacy Project, a consortium of researchers and managers using historical survey photography to track changes in the landscape. Restoration of national parks and protected areas are a major focus of this work. His books include "Nature by Design" (MIT Press, 2003) and "Technology and the Good Life?" (University of Alberta Press, 2000).

The following is the schedule for second day of the workshop on Feb. 4:

• 9 a.m.: Introduction and welcome: Anita Guerrini, Horning Professor in the Humanities and professor of history at OSU;
• 9:30 a.m.: David Glassberg, University of Massachusetts, "History and Ecology in a No-Analog World";
• 10:15 a.m.: Hannah Gosnell, OSU, "Saying Sorry: Pathway to Socio-Ecological Restoration?"
• 11:15 a.m.: Tina Schweickert, OSU, "A Historian's Re-View of the Willamette River's Pre-settlement Forests";
• 1:30 p.m.: Jeanine Rhemtulla, McGill University, "Poverty, History, and Landscape Change in the Peruvian Amazon";
• 2:15 p.m.: Robert Z. Melnick, University of Oregon, "Climate Change and Historic Landscape Preservation: Re-thinking Our Strategies."

This is the third event in the 2010-11 Horning Lecture Series, "The Historical Sciences." The series explores some of the sciences that look at the past to tell us about the present.

The Horning Lecture Series is made possible through the support of the Horning Endowment in the Humanities. For more information, contact the History Department at 541-737-8560 or visit www.oregonstate.edu/cla/history