Living with Climate Change: Rogue Valley
Living with Climate Change
Climate change is potentially the most threatening crisis facing life on the planet as we know it. Naturally, it also threatens life in the Rogue Valley. In this course, we explore the basic science driving global warming and its climate change consequences that we are seeing. We also explore how climate change intersects with many aspects of our daily lives. We will consider what actions we can take individually and collectively to address this crisis both through preparing ourselves and our natural systems for climate change that is inevitable and decreasing the severity of the crisis by reducing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
This course is designed for individuals who would like to learn more about the science of climate change and its implications at the global, national and local level as well as actions to address the problem. The OLLI course will be held in the fall on odd numbered years and the SOU course – ES 131 will be held in the fall of even numbered years.
Living with Climate Change in the Rogue Valley is open to SOU Students AND the general public.
SOU Course Description:
ES 131 – Living with Climate Change: Rogue Valley
Next Offering – Fall 2026
3 credit course
Climate change is potentially the most threatening crisis facing life on the planet as we know it. Naturally, it also threatens life in the Rogue Valley. In this course we explore the basic science driving the climate changes we are seeing and how climate change intersects with many aspects of our daily lives. In addition, we will consider what actions people can take individually and collectively to address this crisis through preparing for the climate change that is inevitable and decreasing the severity of the crisis by reducing emissions of greenhouse gases.
Course enrollment includes SOU students as well as members from the community and provides valuable conversations that cross generations.
The Fall 2026 course will meet weekly on Wednesdays (5:30-8:20pm) starting September 23 and ending December 9. There are no classes on Nov 11 (Veterans Day) or Nov 25 (Thanksgiving break).
SOU Students: Register with SOU as a regular course.
Community Members: Click the Register Button Below. The registration fee is $100. (Link to Scholarship Information)
OLLI Course Description:
OLLI – Living with Climate Change: Rogue Valley
Next Offering – Fall 2027
Students will learn the science of global warming and its climate consequences. Topics include regional trends and projections; how climate change intersects with energy use, construction, transportation, human health, social justice, weather and water; agriculture, forests, terrestrial ecosystems, carbon sequestration and wildfires; and how to address the crisis. Students will develop the tools to effectively communicate about climate change, assess their greenhouse gas footprint and develop individual action plans. The course will focus on the current climate science consensus. It is designed for participants with a range of scientific backgrounds and familiarity with climate science. The format will be slide-supported presentations, with opportunities for interaction and discussion.
NOTE: Nov 11 is Veterans Day & Nov 25 is the day before Thanksgiving – No Class on either day
Sept 23: Class 1 – Introduction & Basic Science behind Climate Change – Presenters: Kathy Conway & Alan Journet
Sept 30: Class 2 – Climate Communication, Local Projections, and Alternative Explanations – Presenters: Kathy Conway & Alan Journet
Oct 7: Class 3 – Energy & Construction – Presenters: Jamie Trammel
Oct 14: Class 4 – Transportation – Presenters: Mike Vergeer & Alan Journet
Oct 21: Class 5 – Terrestrial (Land Based) Natural Systems – Presenters: Alan Journet
Oct 28: Class 6 – Weather & Water – Presenters: Alan Journet & Julie Smitherman
Nov 4: Class 7 – Agriculture – Presenters: Rhianna Simes & Alan Journet
Nov 11: No Class
Nov 18: Class 8 – Human Impacts – Presenters: Liz Olson
Nov 25: No Class
Dec 2: Class 9 – Population, Consumption, Economics & Action – Presenters: Alan Journet
Dec 9: Class 10 – Wrap-up – Presenters: Kathy Conway & Alan Journet
Instructors
The current offerings are based on SOCAN’s Master Climate Protector – A Primer for Action that was offered from 2017 through 2023. The two primary instructors, Alan Journet and Kathy Conway, oversee the course.
Instructor of Record
Dr. Alan Journet
Alan taught biology (primarily ecology, conservation biology, environmental science, and process of science) for 30 years before retiring in 2010 and relocating to Southern Oregon. Alan was a co-founder and now serves as co-facilitator of Southern Oregon Climate Action Now. Alan has been involved in the development and teaching of the Master Climate Protector course since the initial discussions. He brings to the course a considerable understanding of climate science, his years of teaching science, and a history of political engagement in climate issues both federally and in Oregon.
Course Coordinator
Dr. Kathy Conway
Kathy was a co-founder and now serves as co-facilitator for Southern Oregon Climate Action Now. Kathy was instrumental in the development of the Master Climate Protector course and has participated in its development and instruction since the initial discussions. Kathy’s background is in Mathematics and Mathematics Education. Her teaching experience includes teaching math at the middle school level through university level. Additionally, she taught Methods of Teaching Math, Science, and Social Studies in the Department of Elementary, Early, and Special Education at Southeast Missouri State University. In addition to her understanding of the content included in the Master Climate Protector Course, Kathy brings her knowledge and skills in helping develop instruction that is engaging, interactive, and fosters understanding.
Guest Presenters
Topic specialists assist our two primary educators in developing the curriculum for each LWCC course. These specialists also host their respective topics. Some of the Guest Presenters have been engaged since 2017.
Energy & Construction Specialist
Dr. E. Jamie Trammell
I am a landscape ecologist interested in modeling landscape change with an explicit focus on the integration of socioeconomic and biophysical drivers. I am particularly interested in modeling alternative landscape futures in order to better understand how various environmental drivers combine to determine the future condition of both terrestrial and aquatic systems. I continually work to translate disparate data sources (from climate to social to economic to ecological) into a common geospatial framework for landscape-level analyses, including the integration of aquatic and terrestrial systems, to facilitate visualization and communication. I enjoy working in complex land and seascapes to synthesize our knowledge about a given land or seascape.
I have worked in a variety of environmental contexts from the deserts of the American southwest to the Northern Rivers of New South Wales in Australia, throughout Alaska and into the Canadian boreal, and most recently in the agricultural landscapes of the Magic Valley, Idaho and the Rogue River basin in Oregon.
Human Impacts
Rev. Liz Olson
Liz started volunteering with SOCAN after being inspired by our Rogue Basin Climate Summit in 2015 and is a graduate of the first Master Climate Protector program. Liz has created street theater projects and booth displays for SOCAN, assisted with grant writing, moderated candidate forums, done legislation presentations and facilitated the Sustaining Climate Activists support group. Perhaps most notably, Liz was the instigator and leader for the ongoing Voices of the Valley documentary and display project. Rev. Liz works as a clinical chaplain in Medford and was ordained by The Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples in San Francisco – our country’s first interfaith and interracial congregation started during World War II. Liz also serves as Secretary of the SOCAN Board.
Agriculture
Rhianna Simes
Rhianna Simes (wry-anna, Sims) recently retired from 10 years as an instructor at the Oregon State University Extension Service (SOREC), where she developed the Land Steward program, and also coordinated the Master Gardener program for several years. Rhianna earned a Master’s of Science in Education and Botany from Southern Oregon University in Ashland, as well as a certificate in Plant Pathology from Oregon State University.
Rhianna lives with her husband and two young children outside Phoenix, OR where they operate their own 10 acre, certified organic farm called Verdant Phoenix Farm & Nursery (verdantphoenix.com) which specializes in organic plant starts, basketry willow, perennial food, healthy soil and natural farming. Rhianna currently serves as the co-chair of the Oregon Community Food Systems Leadership Team, and on the board of the Southern Oregon Seed Growers Association. Rhianna is also a verified nonprofit consultant and grant writer with Growing Assets for Nonprofit Excellence (growing-assets.com).
Weather & Water
Julie Smitherman
Julie is the Water Resources Coordinator for the Medford Water Commission and previously the Water Conservation Specialist for the City of Ashland. She grew up in the Rogue Valley and earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Environmental Studies with a geology concentration from Southern Oregon University. She has been working in the drinking water industry in Southern Oregon for over 13 years, focusing on water resource planning and water efficiency. Her passion for the water industry has led her to volunteer on several water related committees including, the Oregon Drought Task Force, the PNW Board of Trustees for the American Water Works Association and currently she serves as the southwest region representative for the Oregon Water Resources Commission. Julie enjoys helping people in our local communities learn about water resources in the Rogue Valley and promotes best practices for using water efficiently. She lives in Talent with her husband and in her spare time enjoys backpacking, watching weather and storms, and rock collecting.
Transportation
Mike Vergeer
Mike coordinates transportation options programs for the Rogue Valley Transportation District. His Dutch heritage very much informs his professional work and local activism; we, too, can shift our culture such that choosing to bus, bike, or walk becomes ordinary–our default way of getting around. He is a dad to two young kids, a professional bike safety instructor certified by the League of American Bicyclists, and a founding member of a local advocacy group called Streets for Everyone, an action team of the Ashland Climate Collaborative.
Previous Instructors
Individuals who lent their expertise to the development of the Master Climate Protector Course, and it’s eventual evolution into Living with Climate Change.
Agriculture
Dr. Ray Seidler
Ray and his parents “immigrated” from New York City to the Southern California desert foothills when he was in elementary school. He rapidly became a desert “hick” and discovered a love for nature and the outdoors, mainly because the closest town was some 15 miles away. He was the first in his extended family to earn university degrees. A B.S. in Biology and a Ph.D. in Bacteriology soon led to further studies in Texas and Maryland prior to his professorial “landing” in 1970 at Oregon State University and later with the US Environmental Protection Agency in Corvallis. Ray has been a teacher and an environmental research scientist spanning over 40 years. He is one of the early MCP graduates and has been a happy SOCAN volunteer since our inception. He loves the outdoors, hiking, and gardening, especially growing English and French lavender varieties on his hobby/business enterprise near Ashland. Of course, all the plants are grown in healthy soils using regenerative agricultural practices.
Ray was instrumental in the successful effort to exclude GMO crops from Jackson County and has become an expert in promoting regenerative agriculture as a means of restoring and maintaining soil health.
Energy & Construction Specialist
Ray Mallette
Ray grew up in Vermont where he spent most of his time in the outdoors on Lake Champlain or in the Green Mountains. He became interested in environmental issues starting with a school project for the first Earth Day in 1970. In the 1980s he moved to Silicon Valley where he earned degrees in Physics and Electrical Engineering, raced sailboats on San Francisco Bay and learned to alpine ski at Lake Tahoe. He later moved back to Vermont raising a family with his wife. He was employed by IBM for many years working in semiconductor manufacturing and development, leading teams on yield management and customer delivery.
Ray moved to Ashland with his family in 2014, attracted by the beauty of the mountains, the climate and the close proximity to skiing, biking and hiking. Since retiring, he has spent time working with local organizations on the causes and impacts of climate change including SOCANs’ MCP class and the former Ashland Climate Policy Commission. He is a Board member of the Mt Ashland Association and runs the Environmental and Sustainability Committee working to reduce energy usage and environmental impacts. He continues to spend time in the outdoors with his family and friends, researching changing weather patterns, renewable energy and residential electrification.
Transportation Specialist
Jim Hartman
Long ago when the world was new Jim earned a B.S. in Biophysics at the University of Michigan. He continued there and received a Masters in Public Health focusing on water quality and a Masters in Environmental Education. Jim has taught climate change units for almost 30 years, mostly at Ashland High School in regular and AP Environmental Science classes. Many of those featured transportation subunits with a big emphasis on biking. One of those classes developed a bike share program in Ashland and many had bike field trips. For 16 months he volunteered 10 hours/week on the ad hoc committee to help develop the City of Ashland’s Climate & Energy Action Plan, which was adopted in 2017. During Jim’s last two years teaching he pioneered Oregon’s first science class totally dedicated to climate change. Now retired for almost two years, Jim is the president of the Ashland Solar Cooperative and on the leadership team of the Southern Oregon Hybrid/Electric Vehicle Association. To recharge his batteries, Jim uses level one charging mostly and enjoys guitar, ukulele, tennis, mindfulness, hiking and snorkeling. Lucky for him he has an awesome wife to share many adventures with.
Human Impacts
Louise Shawkat
Coming to Southern Oregon from Louisville Kentucky, Louise Shawkat was with SOCAN since our first meetings in the fall of 2012. Since then she may have been involved in more SOCAN activities than any other of our activist volunteers. Those who remember the great salmon excursion of 2013 may not know that without Louise staying up nights with brush in hand, many of the scales would have remained bereft of color.
When it came to staffing a booth, marching in a parade, attending a townhall, leafleting, keeping time, or otherwise helping projects achieve their goals, Louise could always be counted on to give more than her share of effort and enthusiasm. Without Louise, SOCAN would have probably achieved less than it has accomplished during the years of its existence. Louise served as one of our founding Board members and served from December 2014 through January 2018. Of course, Louise was not just a SOCAN volunteer. For those who do not know, Louise was deservedly recognized in 2015 by the Rogue Valley Messenger as the Rogue Valley Non-profit Volunteer of the Year.
Transportation
Ellie Thompson
Growing up on a small farm in Eugene, Oregon, Ellie Cosgrove developed her love for nature at a very young age. This love and respect for the natural world drove her to pursue a BS in biology at Portland State University, where she discovered her passions for conservation, climate action and education. In 2017, she moved to the Rogue Valley to earn her MS in Environmental Education from Southern Oregon University and fell in love with the area! Ellie served on the board from 2021 through February 2024.
Human Impacts
Cynthia Holm
Cynthia has been a professional Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS) manager and educator for over 30 years. Her experience ranges from chemical manufacturing to military service. She currently is working in healthcare as the Providence Medford Medical Center EHS Manager and Green Team Coordinator. Cynthia looks forward to sharing her knowledge and experiences to help all of us confront climate change!