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Festival Schedule

Science Movie Night- Top of the Rocks
6:30PM Star Hall
159 E Center St, Moab, UT 84532

Partially filmed right here in Moab with Pothole Ecologist Dr. Tim Graham, we’ll explore the fascinating world of sandstone, its origins and the life it supports today.

Join us for a post-film interview with the filmmakers and Dr. Graham
Presented by Moab Festival of Science and Grand County Public Library

Lisbon Valley Mine Tour
9 AM
RSVP
Join us for tour of the Lisbon Valley Mine with local geologists. Learn about the site and the minerals found there!

What is that? It’s a bat! 
7 PM ~ Star Hall
159 East Center Street, Moab, UT 84532

Spend your evening with Scott Gibson of the Division of Wildlife Resources, Utah Department of Natural Resources and learn about bat biology and echolocation.

RSVP through this form to join us for mist netting after the presentation.

Mill Canyon Track Site Visit
8:30 AM ~ RSVP
Mill Canyon Dinosaur Track Site

Come tour the Dinosaur Track Site with a Talk & Walk about the coordinated efforts of international teams during opening and study of this site in 2014. Over 200 tracks and traces of ten different early-Cretaceous animals are preserved here in the 112 mya (million year ago) Cedar Mountain Formation. The site now has an elevated walkway that helps protect this tracks. The short walk is accessible by most from the parking area

Moab Mingle
4 PM 
Moab Museum Lawn
Gather on the Moab Museum Lawn for a social mingle that will give community members the chance to chit-chat with local and regional science figures! Light refreshments provided. A great time to check out the updated exhibits at the Museum! 

Restoration, Disability, and Dance!
5:30 PM 
Star Hall

Join us for a performance leading up to the keynote with Sierra Jech & Alston Tyndall
Reclamation: weaving resilience into disability and land degradation
While ecological restoration is a promising and important way to revive landscapes that have experienced change due to human use or climate, it is imperfect. With scientific barriers, social and structural challenges, and climate change, ecological restoration has a long way to go to meet the scale of need on the landscape. Disability studies is a field of inquiry which considers the social, political, and cultural context of human disability to understand how differently abled bodies and minds experience the world and what alternatives are possible. Both disciplines encourage relationship and reciprocity as ways forward. In this work, we ask how disability studies can reframe the challenges of ecological restoration. How might human-land relationships and human-human relationships alter restoration outcomes or the experience of disability? We explore these concepts through movement and play with the idea of resilient bodies, landscapes, and societies.
 

Keynote: Trees of the Southwest
7 PM 
Star Hall

Join us for the 8th Annual Festival of Science’s Keynote talk: Pinyon-Juniper, Aspen, and Pine Forests. Paul Rogers, Lisa Floyd-Hanna, and Jaime Yazzie will be presenting on trees found in high-desert forests.
Paul Rogers: The Burning Questions About Quaking Aspen
Aspen are adept at thriving the ‘trials by fire’ of nature, though human disruptions commonly offset survival strategies. Sometimes referred to as “asbestos forests,” aspen in their pure form are generally fire averse. However, as forest conditions change, so too does fire susceptibility. How do we learn to live with fire to preserve Utah’s (and the planet’s!) aspen ecosystems so that all may enjoy their beauty, bounty, and biodiversity? Join Dr. Paul Rogers and our State Tree, the Quaking Aspen, on an illuminating science journey!
Lisa Floyd-Hanna: Celebrating the diversity and resiliency of Pinyon-Juniper woodland.
Lisa Floyd-Hanna will share her love of Pinyon and Juniper by taking a biogeographic look at the woody species that compose the woodland here in Utah and throughout the southwest. Fire history and patterns will be discussed, as will current threats to the woodland.
Jaime Yazzie: Ponderosa Pine – The Grandparents of the Forest Community.
Jaime will speak about the Ponderosa pine, a tree that shapes the Southwest forests. Join us as we delve into the ecological importance, adaptability, and the changing dynamics of Ponderosa pine, as well as the intertwined connections to Diné (Navajo) livelihoods
 

Utah Raptor State Park Quarry Hike
8 AM
RSVP
Utah Raptor State Park will host a paleontologist guided hike to the Dalton-Wells dinosaur quarry site. Participants will meet just off of Highway 191 and Dalton-Wells Road. The group will travel together through Courthouse Wash to the gate leading to the hiking trail for the Dalton-Wells dinosaur quarry site. The hike takes about 10-15 minutes to arrive at the quarry site depending on physical abilities and talking points along the way. Participants will want to bring a good pair of hiking shoes and enough water to last them for roughly one hour in the sun. We will keep an eye on the weather and will plan accordingly.

Mill Creek Geology Hike
9 AM
RSVP

If you haven’t been able to attend our geology hike in past years then sign up right away to join returning favorite, William Leggett of the National Park Service, for a hike to discuss how geologic forces forged Moab’s unique landscape – this hike is strenuous!

Please note: this hike is more intensive than other opportunities
 

Forest Trees and Lichens Hike
9 AM
RSVP
Join this year’s keynote speakers Lisa Floyd-Hanna, Paul Rogers, Jaime Yazzie, and Dr. Steve Leavitt for a guided hike in the La Sal Mountains exploring forest and lichen ecology!

STEAM Storytime
10:30 AM
Grand County Public Library

Learn all about wind in this STEAM story time– perfect for kids and the family!

Natural History Mobile Museum
11 AM
Sun Court

Swing by to learn more about archaeology from the Natural History Museum of Utah in their Mobile Museum!   

A Light in the Darkness: The Science of Connection
7 PM
Star Hall

Learn from talented speaker, survivor and AFSP Utah’s Director, Taryn Hiatt, about how the power of human connection protects communities against suicidality. Learn the science of how to support your loved ones in their struggle with depression, and lessons the night sky can provide in building context for those on their journey to better mental health. Presentation is appropriate for all ages

A Light in the Darkness: Stargazing
8:30 PM
RSVP– Sandflats Recreation Area

Following Taryn’s presentation, join us for an astronomy talk and star gazing event at Sand Flats with guides from Green River State Park, Arches, and more! We’ll have several telescopes and guides, however, amateur astronomers are encouraged to bring their own telescopes to share!

Unusual Lichens of Slickrock Hike 
9 AM
RSVP – Sandflats Recreation Area

Join Dr. Steve Leavitt, Assistant Professor and Curator of the Lichen Herbarium at Brigham Young University, will lead a slickrock hike at Sand Flats to look at the amazing diversity of rock and soil lichens in our desert ecosystems; we’ll learn how these miniature ecosystems survive on dry bare rock, and their significance in these environments

Why Bighorn Sheep Matter in Our World
3 PM
Proper Brewing Moab- Patio

We all love to play in the outdoors – especially here. But is our joyful recreation good, or not, for our most iconic species? How would we know? This is what Joel Berger will tell us, with a focus on bighorn sheep.

Science Trivia
5 PM
Proper Brewing Moab- Patio

Team up with your friends and join us at Proper Brewing Moab for science trivia, hosted by our friends at Moab Pub Trivia! Want to give your team that extra edge? Attending other Moab Festival of Science events will fill your brain full of neat science facts!d