SUWA proudly introduces the Utah Wilderness Dialogues, a free lecture series featuring leading artists, photographers, writers, leaders and thinkers reflecting on wilderness as a source of artistic inspiration and the relevance of wild places in our modern world. Each event is free and open to the public. Please join us!
Sept. 14 – Chris Noble
Internationally renowned photographer Chris Noble will present his redrock wilderness photographs and speak about wilderness and creativity.
Chris Noble is a photographer, writer, and multi-media producer whose work celebrates the beauty of nature and inspires people to live healthier, more mindful, and sustainable lives. He is a veteran of over thirty expeditions to the most remote corners of the globe, ranging from Denali to Everest; the peaks of the Alps to the jungles of Borneo; from the Arctic to remote regions of Burma and Bhutan. His writing and photography have appeared in hundreds of publications, including Life, National Geographic, Newsweek, Orion, Outside, and Rolling Stone. Noble has served as a contributing photographer at Powder and Outdoor Photographer Magazines. View his portfolio at Chris Noble Photographic Arts. Appetizers for the event have been generously donated by Red Rock Brewing Company.
Sept. 14, 6:30 p.m.
Jane’s Home, 1229 E South Temple, Salt Lake City
Free. RSVP requested.
Oct. 12 – George Handley
Brigham Young University professor and author George Handley will share his perspectives on faith, wilderness and literature.
George Handley is the author of the recent environmental memoir, Home Waters: A Year of Recompenses on the Provo River, a book that is the culmination of over a decade of thinking about and working on improving the dialogue about the environment in the state of Utah. He has taught at BYU since moving back to his state of birth in 1998 and has written extensively on the intersections between literature, religion, and the environment. He has also been active in several environmental initiatives, including Faith and the Land, Utah Valley Earth Forum, LDS Earth Stewardship, and Utah Interfaith Power and Light, where he serves as Chair of the Executive Board. Appetizers for the event have been generously donated by Fresco Italian Café.
Oct. 12, 6:30 p.m.
Jane’s Home, 1229 E South Temple, Salt Lake City
Free. RSVP requested.
Nov. 9 – Stephen Trimble
Writer and photographer Stephen Trimble will present his photographs and perspectives on the opportunities and challenges in the effort to preserve Colorado Plateau wilderness. 
As writer, editor, and photographer, Stephen Trimble has published more than twenty award-winning books, including: Bargaining for Eden: The Fight for the Last Open Spaces in America, The Geography of Childhood: Why Children Need Wild Places (with Gary Paul Nabhan), The Sagebrush Ocean: A Natural History of the Great Basin, Testimony: Writers of the West Speak on Behalf of Utah Wilderness (with Terry Tempest Williams), and The People: Indians of the American Southwest. Trimble teaches creative nonfiction, works as an advocate with many conservation organizations, and makes his home in Salt Lake City and in the redrock country of Torrey, Utah. Learn more about Trimble’s recent books and photography on his website. Appetizers for the event have been generously donated by Café Trio.
Nov. 9, 6:30 p.m.
Jane’s Home, 1229 E South Temple, Salt Lake City
Free. RSVP requested.
Dec. 7 – David Strayer
University of Utah professor of psychology, David Strayer, will speak about his exploration of the psychological benefits of wilderness.
David Strayer received the University of Utah Distinguished Scholarly and Creative Research Award in 2010, and has been conducting research in the cognitive and neural sciences at the University of Utah since 1991. Each spring, he teaches an interdisciplinary course entitled “Cognition in the Wild” that explores the restorative effects that interacting in nature have on our cognitive function. In 2010, he led an expedition of neuroscientists down the San Juan river in southern Utah as part of a research agenda to better understand how our brain is subtly changed by being in nature (you can read about the expedition in this New York Times article). He spends his spare time exploring the red rocks of the desert southwest near Bluff. Appetizers for the event have been generously donated by Squatters Pub Brewery.
Dec. 7, 6:30 p.m.
Jane’s Home, 1229 E South Temple, Salt Lake City
Free. RSVP requested.
We wish to thank the generosity of the following restaurants for providing food for these events. We also wish to thank the Golden Rule Project for making Jane’s Home available to us.
