Speakers \ Meetings
Meetings take place on the 2nd Tuesday of the month at Princeton & District Museum and Archives, 167 Vermilion Avenue at 7 p.m. Monthly meetings are followed by a guest speaker who makes a presentation on a topic dealing with the natural world. Refreshments are served after the presentation. The public is welcome to attend.
2025 List of Speakers
(Click on the meeting name for more information)
Presentation: Exploring BC Caves with Kirk Safford
October 14th, 2025
Meeting starts at 7:00 PM at Princeton Museum
October 14, 2025
Exploring BC Caves with Kirk Safford
Kirk Safford is an avid “caver”. With the support of the Canadian Geographical Society he has been exploring caves in the Monashee Mountains. His team went underground on a multi-day exploration of the White Rabbit cave system. Their goal was to connect two of the larger caves, pursue unexplored leads and collect scientific data about the unique karst environment. During this presentation Kirk will share these and other experiences in BC caves.
Presentation: Gripped by Guyana with Merle Kindred
November 11th, 2025
Meeting starts at 7:00 PM at Princeton Museum
November 11, 2025
Gripped by Guyana with Merle Kindred
Gripped by Guyana: A Memoir of Purpose and Adventure is a book written by Merle Kindred about her work in Guyana. Merle was a senior Cuso International volunteer who spent two six-month postings during 2017-18. She worked in Georgetown, the capital, and in isolated Indigenous villages in the interior. Her mandate was to clear a path for Guyanese partners’ development dreams in agriculture, ecotourism, and technology.
In Guyana, a small, struggling country on the northeast coast of South America, Kindred found herself and the Guyanese balancing modern pressures and temptations with traditional beliefs and practices. She quickly realized that Guyanese development was, and continues to be, influenced by urgent climate concerns, a massive offshore oil discovery, and a government mandate to preserve the remaining eighty percent of its rain forest. Her life overflowed with successes and misfortunes, humour and the humdrum.
You can order Merl’s book through Amazon.ca or you can buy it directly from her for $20 cash at the presentation.
Presentation: A New Dragonfly Sub Order with Bruce Archibald
January 13th, 2026
Meeting starts at 7:00 PM at Princeton Museum
January 13, 2025
A New Dragonfly Sub Order with Bruce Archibald
A new dragonfly suborder, named Cephalozygoptera, was discovered in 2021 and consists of extinct fossil species from the Cretaceous and Cenozoic eras. This suborder was established by scientists after reviewing fossil records and discovering
distinct head shapes in these ancient insects, differentiating them from other groups within the order Odonata. The name “Cephalozygoptera” means “head damselfly” and highlights their unusual round heads and eyes compared to other damselflies.
Presentation: Backyard Dinosaur Watching with Howard Richardson
February 10th, 2026
Meeting starts at 7:00 PM at Princeton Museum
February 10, 2025
Backyard Dinosaur Watching with Howard Richardson
This is in recognition of the fact that the birds we watch today are direct descendants of dinosaurs. It is an examination of the key fossils that link dinosaurs to birds, the people that made vital advances in our understanding and the modern techniques that have led us to this knowledge. The presentation will be illustrated with lots of good photos. Howard has retired from teaching at Okanagan College and Okanagan University College in order to pursue some serious birding and mountain biking.
Presentation: Grasslands with Mike Dedels
April 14th, 2026
Meeting starts at 7:00 PM at Princeton Museum
April 14, 2025
Grasslands with Mike Dedels
Mike’s connection to Princeton grasslands goes back to the late 1970s/early 1980s when, among other things, he worked on a Forest Service weed crew. He is currently the Executive Director of the Grassland Conservation Council of BC. His visit to
Princeton will begin with a field trip on the afternoon of May 12 followed by the regular evening presentation.
Presentation: Restoring Native Grasslands in the Face of Invasives with Wendy Gardner
June 9th, 2026
Meeting starts at 7:00 PM at Princeton Museum
June 9, 2025
Restoring Native Grasslands in the Face of Invasives with Wendy Gardner
Grasslands are among our most threatened ecosystems, providing critical habitat, biodiversity, and ecological services. Yet their restoration is increasingly challenged by invasive plants that alter soil, competition, and recovery dynamics. This talk will highlight the importance of native grasslands, the difficulties posed by invasive species, and case studies of student research on grassland restoration.
Wendy Gardner is a Professor in the Natural Resource Science Program at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, BC, Canada where she has been teaching for over 20 years. Her research program is based around disturbance and plant community change with a focus on rangeland systems. Within her discipline she is an active member on the executive for several organizations (Society for Range Management, BC Technical and Research Committee on Reclamation, Grasslands Conservation Council of BC) and is passionate about educating people about rangeland ecosystems.