BHAS Monthly Speaker Series – Capitol Lake, An Environmental Gem /Dave Milne

Black Hills Audubon Society supported the estuary in 2009 and is currently looking into updating its position. We are inviting scientists to the speaker series this February and again in the fall to share divergent scientific perspectives on Capitol Lake and the estuary.

Capitol Lake – Washington’s Environmental Gem 

Despite a negative reputation acquired during recent years, Capitol Lake with its surrounding parks and businesses continues to serve as the de facto centerpiece of our community and a major feature of Washington’s beautiful Capitol Campus.  Few would guess that it is the healthiest lake in Thurston County and that it provides indispensible environmental services in many ways.  These and some other aspects of the Lake will be described in a presentation by local biologist Dave Milne on February 11 at 7 p.m. at Temple Beth Hatfiloh, (201 8th Avenue SE, Olympia, WA).   Come and acquire a new and positive perspective on the Lake!

Dave Milne is a retired faculty member at Evergreen State College in Washington State.  He taught in undergraduate and graduate programs in marine- and environmental- studies from 1971 through 2005, focusing in the later years on the ecology and economics of introduced marine organisms, including the Atlantic Spartina cordgrasses.  Backtracking in time, he wrote an introductory college text (Marine Life & The Sea; Wadsworth, 1995), spent 3 years as manager of a NASA team devising and testing science lessons for middle-school students (1991-1993), taught at Oregon State University (1967-1971), did graduate work at Purdue University (PhD Entomology, 1967) and the University of Washington (1961-1964, Oceanography) and earned a BA degree (as a physics major) at Dartmouth College (1961).  In recent years he has analyzed aspects of the Capitol Lake/Estuary debate and has, as a consequence, become a defender of the Lake.