When John Muir coined the phrase “Range of Light” in the late 1880s, few people had seen the spectacular Sierra Nevada. John Muir’s writings provided the world a window into this magnificent landscape. His writing and activism helped bring attention to the threats to the natural ecosystem of the Sierra Nevada. Due to the visionary actions of an earlier generation, many regions of the Sierra Nevada are now protected in National Parks and Wilderness Areas. The images of landscape photographer Ansel Adams also played an important role in the protection of important regions of the Sierra.

Photographers still gain inspiration and imagery from the beautiful landscapes of the Sierra Nevada. Elizabeth Carmel is a Truckee-based photographer who will present on her new book “The Changing Range of Light: Portraits of the Sierra Nevada”. The landscape photography book focuses on climate change issues in the Lake Tahoe and Sierra Nevada region of California.

Accompanying her presentation are prominent climate change scientists Geoff Schladow and Robert Coats. The scientists contributed insights in the book’s introduction and within the text that accompanies the photography, and will talk about the recent scientific results and ideas on climate change, particularly as it affects the Sierra Nevada.

Elizabeth Carmel

Elizabeth Carmel is a Sierra-based photographer specializing in unique, expressive landscapes and “waterscapes.” Her prints combine dramatic photography, vivid colors, and artistic touches to create new, captivating visions of the natural world. She has spent years exploring and photographing the diverse landscapes of the world, often traveling on foot or skis in wilderness terrain far from roads in order to capture her unique images. Her award winning images are in numerous galleries and private collections throughout the United States. Elizabeth and her husband, Olof Carmel, own and operate a photography gallery in Truckee.

Geoffrey Schladow

Geoff Schladow has a doctorate in civil and environmental engineering from the University of Western Australia. His research at Lake Tahoe focuses on the physical processes that control water quality and the lake ecosystems. A changing climate, and its impacts on both the watershed and the lake, is currently at the forefront of his research. Dr Schladow is the founding director of the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center.

Robert Coats

Bob Coats has a doctorate in Wildland Resource Science from Cal. His recent research in the Tahoe basin, concentrates on the effects of land disturbance on water quality and on the regional trends and impacts of climate change in the Basin. He lives and works in Berkeley where maintains the consulting firm of Hydroikos Ltd. Coat’s work outdoors sometimes provides inspiration for his poetry; which has been published in arrange of anthologies.

Program is presented by Squaw Valley Institute and UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center. For additional information, visit www.squawvalleyinstitute.org or terc.ucdavis.edu.

Date: June 17

Time: 6:30pm no-host bar/door opens; 7pm program

Cost: $10. No-host bar

Location: Assembly Rooms 139 and 141 Tahoe Center for Environmental Sciences, 291 Country Club Drive, Incline Village.