October 12, 2008
Ruth Kirk and Richard D. Daugherty
Archaeology: A Window to the Past

November 9, 2008
Bill Curtsinger
The Science of Nature Photography

January 11, 2009
Joan Abrahamson
Creativity and Public Policy

February 8, 2009
Andy Ferguson
The Symbolism of Ancient Zen Temples

March 8, 2009
Woody Sullivan
Astrobiology: Is There Life Other Than Earth?

April 12, 2009
Jack Horner
Dinosaurs

May 10, 2009
Cliff Mass
The Weather of the Pacific Northwest

Science, history, and nature writer/photographer Ruth Kirk has written over 30 books. Titles include National-Book-Award-nominee Desert, the American Southwest; Snow; and New York Academy of Sciences award-winner Hunters of the Whale. Professor Emeritus Dr. Richard D. Daugherty taught anthropology at WSU for 34 years and pioneered an interdisciplinary approach to field archaeology. His archaeological work on the Olympic Peninsula includes directing the Manis Mastodon excavation at Sequim and the Ozette-Makah project on the outer coast south of Neah Bay.
 LEARN MORE  Archaeology in Washington (2.1 MB PDF), UW Press
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During the Vietnam War Bill Curtsinger was a member of the elite Navy Photo Unit. Specializing in underwater and natural history subjects, he has photographed for National Geographic Magazine, Time, Newsweek, Smithsonian, Outside, Life, and Audubon. His latest book, Extreme Nature, Images from the World’s Edge, was published in nine languages in October 2005. He is a founding member and current president of Corvidae Press, the Port Townsend printers’ guild.
 LEARN MORE   Spiegel Online interview, National Geographic profile, Photo journal
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Joan Abrahamson, lawyer, artist and catalyst for community action, is president of the Jefferson Institute. From 1989–2001 she chaired the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy. President of the Jonas Salk Foundation since 1995, she also serves on the boards of the National Geographic Society, California Institute for the Arts, and the American Architectural Foundation. She served as a White House Fellow and as special assistant and associate counsel for Vice Presidents Walter Mondale and George Bush, and then as the latter’s assistant chief of staff. Prior to this, she worked at the United Nations’ Human Rights Commission and at UNESCO’s Division of Human Rights and Peace.
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Andy Ferguson, scholar in Chinese culture, lectures to the Society for Asian Art of San Francisco, among other groups, on Chinese art, tea, history, and religious culture. Since 1973 he has lived, worked, and traveled in East Asia. Calling on his research in Chinese religions, he leads tours exploring key, if lesser known, Chinese historical sites. Andy’s book Zen’s Chinese Heritage is a widely consulted account of the development and teachings of Zen Buddhism during the Tang and Song Dynasties. With his friend, Bill Porter, aka Red Pine, Andy has uncovered Chinese historical sites and now works toward their recognition and preservation.
 LEARN MORE   Petaluma Argus Courier profile, “The Masters & Their Teachings”
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Professor Woody Sullivan has taught astronomy, astrobiology, and history of science for 30 years at the UW. He has held visiting positions at the Universities of Cambridge, Cornell, Groningen (Holland), and Paris. An eclectic teacher, Prof. Sullivan's interests include SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) and sundials. He has designed a dozen public dials in the Puget Sound region, as well as the first extraterrestrial sundial, part of NASA’s Rovers that have been operating on Mars since 2004. He has written five books, many articles and “numerous cranky letters to editors.”
 LEARN MORE   UW profile, Astrobiology Magazine interview, UW faculty profile
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Jack Horner is one of the most prominent paleontologists in the United States. Horner and his colleague, Bob Makela, discovered a colonial nesting site of a new dinosaur species which they named Maia-saura, or “Good Mother Lizard.” It contained the first dinosaur eggs in the Western hemisphere, the first dinosaur embryos, and settled questions of whether some dinosaurs were sociable, built nests and cared for their young. He has been curator of the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, Montana for 24 years. Author of Dinosaurs Under the Big Sky, he was a consultant for the movie Jurassic Park.
 LEARN MORE   Montana State University profile, “An Intellectual Autobiography”
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Cliff Mass, professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Washington and weekly guest on KUOW radio, is the preeminent authority on Northwest weather. He is the author of the recent book, The Weather of the Pacific Northwest, and has published dozens of articles on Northwest weather. He also leads the regional development of advanced weather prediction tools.
 LEARN MORE   Seattle Times profile, Cliff Mass weather blog
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