EUGENE–Terrifying forces created Oregon’s breathtaking landscape–but it takes a trained eye to see the lay of the land beneath the placid lakes and forested hills we now call home.

In a new exhibit opening Tuesday, Sept. 19, at the University of Oregon Museum of Natural History, geologist and photographer Ewart Baldwin captures the results of volcanic eruptions, massive floods and bone-cracking earthquakes in a series of Oregon landscape photographs taken over more than 50 years.

"Lay of the Land" will continue at the museum, 1680 East 15th Ave., through April 1, 2001. The prints on display will be auctioned off at the Friends of the Museum annual meeting on Oct. 27. Buyers will receive their prints after the exhibition closes next spring.

"I carried a camera with me whenever I traveled around the state," says Baldwin, who is a field geologist and UO professor emeritus of geology. "I’ve been accumulating these pictures since I came to Oregon in 1943."

Baldwin also wrote the first three editions of the influential book, "Geology of Oregon."

Many of the photographs in the new exhibit were taken from the air, which highlights the geological features of what first appear to be straightforward scenic shots.

"I like the air because it gives a good perspective," he said. "I wasn’t a pilot, though, so I begged, borrowed and stole–I caught rides all over the place!"

Baldwin will talk about his work at a grand opening slideshow and lecture at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 22, in Room 110 of the Knight Law Center, 1515 Agate St. A reception will follow next door in the lobby of the Museum of Natural History. The event is free and open to the public.

Baldwin will start his presentation in the "southwest corner of Oregon around Vulcan Peak, work my way through the Willamette Valley and the Cascades, and probably end up in the Wallowa or the Steens mountains. The pictures are interesting scenically, of course–but particularly interesting geologically," he says.

A related event for middle school students, children and families, "Earthshaking Events: All About Oregon Geology," from noon to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 7, at the museum, will feature activities on model volcanoes, flood effects, stone jewelry and rock identification. Cost is $2 per person or $5 per family. Museum members will be admitted free.

"Lay of the Land" photographer Ewart Baldwin retired from the UO geological sciences department in 1980 after 33 years teaching geology, paleontology and stratigraphy. His main interest was in the historical geology of the state with its succession of formations and their ages as determined by the identity and location of fossils.

He wrote the state’s geological bible, "Geology of Oregon," in 1959. After three editions, he turned it over in 1993 to Bill Orr, now a UO professor emeritus of geology, and co-author Elizabeth Orr, who holds a courtesy appointment as a UO geological sciences research assistant.

Baldwin mapped more than 4,000 square miles of southwestern Oregon and the southern Coast Range as a field geologist for the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries during the 1940s.After he joined the UO faculty, he continued to lead hundreds of geological field trips throughout the state.

He studied Oregon’s geological record of the Tertiary period deeply. During those 65 million years, the dinosaurs disappeared, grasslands expanded, and grazing animals and other mammals, birds, bony fish and flowering plants took over the world. The Tertiary period ended about 2 million years ago, just before the Ice Ages began.

Located on the UO campus near the corner of East 15th and Agate, the Museum of Natural History and museum store are open from noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Free parking is available in front of the museum with a permit from the front desk. Admission is by $2 donation; UO students and museum members are admitted free.

For information about the exhibit, visit http://natural-history.uoregon.edu on the web, call (541) 346-3024, or send e-mail to mnh@oregon.uoregon.edu. For a 24-hours-a-day taped message about museum exhibits and activities, call GuardLine from a Touch-Tone phone, 485-2000, ext. 3447.

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