Big Muddy Speaker Series

In collaboration with River Relief, and other partners, the Friends of Big Muddy organizes a speaker series to increase citizen awareness of issues and topics related to the Big Muddy (Missouri River). The Mid-Missouri area is lucky to have so many experts willing to share their knowledge with us about this amazing river, its floodplain and the nature and history that surrounds it. We try to keep the topics varied and interesting, and we would welcome your speaker suggestions. All presentations are free.

Plans for a Big Muddy Speaker Series in the Kansas City area are in the making -- if you are interested in assisting with the KC series, please email us at: friends@friendsofbigmuddy.org

The Big Muddy Speakers Series is hosted by Missouri River Relief, Friends of Big Muddy, the Big Muddy National Fish & Wildlife Refuge and the Columbia Fish & Wildlife Conservation Office (USFWS) with the following list of partners.

Missouri River Relief

Friends of Big Muddy

Columbia Fish & Wildlife Conservation Office (USFWS)

Les Bourgeois Vineyards

Big Muddy National Fish & Wildlife Refuge

US Geological Survey River Studies

Special thanks to Les Bourgeois Vineyards for giving us the opportunity to use their beautiful space overlooking the Missouri River. See Direction at left.

Directions to the Mid Missouri Speaker Series at Les Bourgeios Winery Near Rocheport Missouri:

Take I-70 to the Rocheport, MO, exit (Exit #115). It's the first exit east of the Missouri River.

Head north toward Rocheport.

After about a mile, turn left at the sign for Les Bourgeois Bistro. Follow the signs to the Bistro. You will probably need to park in the lot above the Bistro and walk the trail down.

The presentations are held in the lower level. You can either enter at the restaurant entrance then go down the stairs to your left past the bar, or you can follow the walk to the right of the restaurant and enter through a glass door into the lower level.

14020 W. Hwy BB, Rocheport, MO (click for Google Map)

2011 - 2012 Big Muddy Speaker Series –

(all sessions held in lower level of Les Bourgeios Bistro)

January 18, 2011 - Biomass Energy and the Missouri River Floodplain" - Shibu Jose, Ph.D, Professor and Director of MU Center for Agroforestry

February 8, 2011 - Got Mud? - The Science and Policy of Missouri River Sediment" - Robb Jacobson, Ph.D, USGS; Dave Galat, Ph.D, University of Missouri

March 8, 2011- Missouri Bats and the White Nose Syndrome" - Kathryn Womack, University of Missouri

April 12, 2011- Invasion Carp" - Duane Chapman, USGS

May 10, 2011 - Tales from Overton Bottoms" - writers Fred Oerly and Meredith Ludwig

June 14, 2011 - Stocking Up on Sturgeon – Tracy Hill, US Fish and Wildlife Service

July 12, 2011 - The Secret Life of Sturgeon Emily Pherigo, US Geological Survey biologist

September 13, 2011 - Wine From a Missouri River Bluff, Curtis Bourgeois, CEO Les Bourgeois Vineyards, Rocheport, MO.

October 18, 2011 - Vireo Migrations in the Missouri River Bottoms, Cara Joos, University of Missouri

November 8, The Osage and Missouri Indians, Mike Dickey, Arrow Rock State Historical Site.

December 13, 2011 - Missourians and Our Rivers, Susan Flader, MU Emeritus Professor

January 10, 2012 - to be announced

February 14, 2012 Rivermiles Documentaries, Jodi Pfefferkorn, Flaming Fiddle Productions.

2010 Big Muddy Speaker Series

January 12, 2010 - Natural Gems along the Missouri River - Missouri Natural Areas in the river's valley" presented by Mike Leahy, MDC. Missouri Natural Areas Coordinator Mike Leahy discusses the designated Natural Areas in Missouri River blufflands and floodplain from Hamburg Bend to the Confluence.

Nov 9, 2010 - Life in a Missouri River Chute" presented by Andy Starostka - USFWS, Columbia Fish & Wildlife Conservation Office. As part of the Missouri River Recovery Project, the US Army Corps of Engineers is building new islands, chutes and shallow water habitat along the Missouri River. US Fish and Wildlife Biologist Andy Starostka will be reporting on what science tells us is working and what lessons are being learned.

Dec. 14, 2010 - Taming the Big Muddy - A History of Change on the Missouri River" presented by historian Jim Denny. As America explored, settled and learned to live with the Missouri River, it also forever changed the nature of this wild, western river. Author Jim Denny uses historical journals of early river travelers, including Lewis and Clark, to conjure up the essence of the natural Missouri River.

2009 Big MuddySpeaker Series

March 10, 2009 -- "Big Muddy National Fish & Wildlife Refuge - A Work in Progress" presented by Tom Bell.. Refuge Manager, Big Muddy National Fish and Wildlife Refuge.

April 14, 2009 - Barry Poulton, USGS by Dr. Barry Poulton, US Geological Survey served as the keynote speaker repeating his earlier presentation on "Aquatic Macro-Invertebrates of the Missouri River"

May 12, 2009 - "A Walk on the Refuge" - join Big Muddy Refuge staff for a short walk through the Overton North Unit of the Big Muddy National Fish & Wildlife Refuge, followed by a discussion on the future of Friends of Big Muddy, the volunteer organization that supports the Big Muddy Refuge throughout the state of Missouri.

June 9, 2009 - "Are Chemicals Contaminating our Missouri River" Presented by USGS Environmental Pollution Chemist, Carl Orazio, Ph.D.

July 14, 2009 - "Beyond Catfish - a peek into muddy water at the diversity of Missouri River fish" Presented by Andy Plauck, USFWS Biologist

October 14, 2009 -- “Pollinators of Overton Bottoms”, at the Bryant Cabin at Overton North Unit of the Big Muddy Refuge presented by: Wedge Watkins, USFWS. Big Muddy National Fish and Wildlife Refuge

October 28, 2009 -- Friends of Big Muddy collaborated with other volunteers to organize an event entitled “Life In And Along The Missouri River” held at Powder Valley Conservation Area near St. Louis, MO. Dr. Barry Poulton, US Geological Survey served as the keynote speaker repeating his earlier presentation on "Aquatic Macro-Invertebrates of the Missouri River"

December 15, 2009 -- Premier Showing of “The Next 340 Miles of your Life” a documentary about the racers in the world’s longest continuous river race – the MO River 340. The film documents the race as seen through the eyes of the racers as they challenge the river and themselves paddling from Kansas City to St. Charles.

2008 Speaker Series

January 8, 2008 - Asian Carp Talk by renowned Asian Carp Specialist, Dwayne Chapman of the USGS

February 12, 2008 - The History of Lewis & Clark on the Missouri River by Lewis & Clark Historian Jim Denny DNR (retired)

April 8, 2008 - Form, Flow & Sediment on the Missouri River by Robb Jacobson, USGS

March 11, 2008 - Mussels in the Missouri River, Andy Roberts, FWS

May 13, 2008 - What really used to grow down in those Big Muddy Bottoms? Historical Vegetation in the Lower Missouri River Basin by Jim Harlan, University of Missouri Senior Research Specialist and Assistant Program Director, Geographic Resources Center

June 10, 2008 - The Secret Lives of our Big Muddy Pollinators, Moths and Butterflies in Overton Bottoms, Wedge Watkins, Refuge Biologist, Big Muddy National Fish and Wildlife Service

July 8, 2008- Big Muddy Migrations, Tracking Catfish Movements and Habitat on the Missouri River by Danny Garrett, University of Missouri Fisheries Phd Candidate

October 14, 2008 - Bottomland Bird Banding by Andy Forbes, Avian Ecologist Missouri Department of Conservation (

MDC)

November 11, 2008 - Pursuing the Pallid, The ancient and endangered pallid sturgeon in the Missouri River by Aaron Delonay, Fisheries Biologist, USGS

All sessions were held at the Bryant Cabin on the Overton Bottoms North Unit of the Big Muddy National Fish and Wildlife Refuge