Laboratory ecologist Terry Foxx to speak about fire recovery on Wednesday

Contact: Fran Talley, flt@lanl.gov, (505) 667-5543

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LOS ALAMOS, N.M., April 2, 2001 - Los Alamos National Laboratory ecologist Teralene Foxx has studied fire recovery for more than 20 years, using pictures to illustrate how nature recovers from the devastation wrought by fire.

At 7 p.m.Wednesday, Foxx will speak on "Out of the Ashes: A Story of Natural Recovery," in the Peacepipe and Kiva conference rooms at the Los Alamos Inn on Trinity Drive. The talk is free and open to the public.

Nearly a year after the Cerro Grande Fire destroyed some 48,000 acres in and around Los Alamos, Foxx's presentation addresses questions such as "How long will it look this way?" "How long will those dead trees stand?" and "What does the future hold?"

From studies on the 1977 La Mesa Fire and other fires of the area, Foxx has put together a picture of the natural recovery that may be expected over the next few years. Her presentation examines nature's adaptation to fire and humankind's influence in natural fire cyles. The presentation also looks beyond the burned trees to see new life rising out of the ashes.

Foxx will use photography from the La Mesa Fire and recent photographs from the Cerro Grande Fire to illustrate her message of hope. Foxx has put together two publications related to the fire: her own work, "Out of the Ashes: a Story of Natural Recovery," on which her talk is based; and her collection, "Lest We Forget," stories from members of the White Rock United Methodist Church of their personal experiences during the Cerro Grande Fire. She also will incorporate some stories written by school children about natural recovery after fire in her talk.

Foxx is an ecologist, author, photographer, and storyteller who recently left full time employment at the Laboratory. She continues to assist Los Alamos' Ecology Group on a parttime basis.

The presentation is sponsored by the Laboratory's Environment, Safety and Health Division.

For more information, contact Fran Talley of Los Alamos' Public Affairs Office at 667-5225.

Additional news releases from the Environment, Safety and Health (ESH) Division