"Got Water," a photograph captured by Inupiat photographer Dennis Davis, who will give a talk with Chantel Comardelle at OSU-Cascades on Nov. 12. 

Two Indigenous communities are on the edge of a climate crisis.

Residents of Isle de Jean Charles, Louisiana, and Shishmaref, Alaska, have survived extreme coastal changes and attempted genocide. Now, rising sea levels are swallowing their roads and homes.

An artist talk and film screening discussing the potential displacement the communities face will be held Nov. 12 on the Oregon State University-Cascades campus in Bend, according to a press release.

Indigenous artists, Chantel Comardelle and Dennis Davis will present in addition to the screening of the film, “Our Knowledge is Power: The Cultures of Beauty and Survival in Isle de Jean Charles, LA, and Shishmaref, AK.”

Comardelle has served as the tribal secretary of the Jean Charles Choctaw Nation since 2000. She is a first-generation college graduate and founder of the Certificate of Museum Studies, an effort to preserve tribal culture amidst the environmental crises caused by climate change.

Self-taught photographer Davis has documented changes along Alaska’s western coastline for two decades. He aims to highlight the risks Inupiat people face as a result of climate change, thereby giving a voice to his people.

A multimedia exhibit featuring photography by the two Indigenous artists will be on display in Ray Hall on the OSU-Cascades campus through December.

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The deepest place on Earth

Geographer and oceanographer Dawn Wright became the first Black person to dive to the deepest known point on the planet in 2022. On Nov. 15, Wright will give the Marston lecture at Oregon State University, according to a press release.

As the chief scientist at Esri, a geographic information system software company, Wright is a nationally recognized expert in geographic information systems and the mapping and study of the deep ocean.

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Wright, also known as “Deepsea Dawn” descended more than 10,000 meters on an ocean exploration dive to Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench in the western Pacific Ocean.

The lecture, “The Dive of a Lifetime to the Deepest Place on Earth,” will be hosted at the Oregon State University campus in Corvallis and streamed online. It includes a discussion on the technologies used on the dive, the discoveries made and the implications for future ocean science.

What: Artist talk and film screening, “Our Knowledge is Power”

When: 5-7 p.m. Nov. 12

Where: Edward J. Ray Hall, Charles McGrath Family Auditorium, OSU-Cascades campus, 1500 SW Chandler Ave., Bend

Cost: Free, registration is requested

Contact: osucascades.edu/lac/events

What: 2023 Marston Lecture: “The Dive of a Lifetime to the Deepest Place on Earth”

When: 6 p.m. Nov. 15, preceded by 5 p.m. reception

Where: Construction and Engineering Hall in The LaSells Steward Center, Oregon State University, 875 SW 26th St., Corvallis and online

Cost: Free

Contact: beav.es/qSU