The physical and social effects of herbicide use in Oregon will be discussed at a conference that begins Friday, Oct. 24, at the UO and continues with a field trip Saturday.

A panel discussion will take place at 3 p.m. Friday in Room 350 of the Clinical Services building, followed by a keynote address at 7 p.m. in Room 182 of Lillis Hall. The field trip to Triangle Lake will start at 9 a.m. Saturday.

The featured speaker for the “Herbicides and Health” conference is Tyrone Hayes, an integrative biology professor at the University of California at Berkeley. Hayes has spoken widely about the effects of atrazine, a commonly used herbicide.

In his keynote address, Hayes will discuss “From Silent Spring to Silent Night: Of Toads and Men.” Hayes’ research suggests atrazine is threatening amphibian populations, including damage to the sexual functioning of frogs.

Hayes will join UO women’s and gender studies professor Elizabeth Reis for the panel discussion “Nature in Doubt: Intersex in a Chemical Era.”

The Saturday event is titled “Witness to Action Assembly: Putting Trespass on Oregon’s Agenda.” A bus will leave from the UO and travel to Triangle Lake Grange, where a program on herbicide use will take place.

Click here for information on registering for any of the events. The event is cosponsored by Beyond Toxics, the Oregon Humanities Center, the Hill Fund and the University of Oregon.