WVHPG Educational Speaker Program Tuesday, 10 February 2026

Name: WVHPG Educational Speaker Program Tuesday, 10 February 2026
Start: 2026-02-10T19:00:00-08:00
End: 2026-02-10T21:00:00-08:00
Location: Unitarian Universalist Church in Eugene

Schedule

Tue Feb 10 2026 at 07:00 pm to 09:00 pm

UTC-08:00

Location

Unitarian Universalist Church in Eugene | Eugene, OR

Join us on Tuesday, 10 February 2026 at 7:00 pm in the Unitarian Universalist Church in Eugene, 1685 W 13th Ave, Eugene OR 97402, to listen to Julie Collins, Executive Director and Katie McInnis, Staff Veterinarian at Cascade Raptor Center. They will be presenting "Cascade Raptor Center: What We Do and How YOU Can Be a Good Wildlife Neightbor!".
For over thirty-five 35 years, Cascades Raptor Center has been a local resource in Lane County and the surrounding communities. The Raptor Center has two primary areas of focus: Wildlife Rehabilitation and Public Education. With a wildlife hospital on site, they treat between 400 to 700 patients every year and are currently the only raptor-specific clinic in Oregon. Cascades Raptor Center also has a Nature Center in South Eugene that welcomes tens of thousands of visitors each year and features resident education birds. Cascades Raptor Center’s mission is to help the human world learn to value, understand, and honor the role of wildlife. Join Julie Collins, Executive Director, and Katie McInnis, Staff Veterinarian, as they share more about their organization and how YOU can be a good wildlife neighbor!
Julie Collins is the Executive Director of Cascades Raptor Center. She is an Oregon native, born and raised in Milwaukie. As a young adult, she lived in Arizona, where she worked for over 15 years in the medical field, building partnerships and doing public relations work for the local hospital system. In 2015, Julie and her family made their way back to the Pacific Northwest and set down roots in Eugene.
Her son’s love for birds of prey inspired Julie to start volunteering at Cascades Raptor Center. She joined the staff in 2017 and served for five years as Development Director, coordinating a variety of efforts from fundraising and donor relations to operational management and strategic planning. In September of 2022, she accepted the position of Executive Director, where she utilizes her passion and experience to guide the Center in remaining mission-driven while also helping the Center expand and lay foundations for the future.
In addition to her work with Cascades Raptor Center, Julie is a board member for Travel Lane County and an active member of the Eugene and Springfield Chambers of Commerce. When not working, she enjoys being creative, getting her hands dirty gardening, and doing projects. She also loves exploring Oregon’s beautiful landscapes, especially the forests and coastline, and spending time with her 2 almost adult offspring.
Katie McInnis is the Staff Veterinarian at Cascades Raptor Center. Katie graduated in 2012 from Kansas State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine with her DVM and worked in community veterinary clinics for the first few years of her career. However, her focus has always been on wildlife rehabilitation. In 2015, she joined Cascades Raptor Center as a hospital volunteer, which she credits as the spark for her passion. Katie went on to work with the International Wildlife Rehabilitation Council (IWRC), where she organized rehabilitation courses, developed learning materials, protocols, and led training.
In September 2024, Katie returned to Cascades Raptor Center as the full-time staff veterinarian. She has worked on many raptor cases throughout the years, from renesting to ophthalmology and trauma cases.
Katie currently sits on the Board of Directors for the Lane Audubon Society, where she is working towards certifying Eugene as a “Bird City”, making city improvements to promote bird safety, biodiversity, and conservation. In her free time, she is an avid birder, mother of 2 rambunctious kiddos, and loving spouse to her Emergency Veterinarian Husband.

Program Location: The in-person meetings and speaker programs take place at the Unitarian Universalist Church at 1685 W 13th Ave, Eugene OR 97402.
Entrance is on the east side of the building and there is ample parking in the parking lots, which can be accessed from both Chambers St or W 13th Ave, with additional parking in the adjacent Looking Glass Center parking lot. Please do not park under their covered entry way. Overflow parking is also available in the first 20 spaces on the east and south side of Redeemer Fellowship Church just across Chambers St to the west. For location and parking information see our website at: www.thehardyplantgroup.org/contact
Meetings begin at 7:00 PM, but the doors open at 6:30 PM for botanical sample browsing, refreshments, and socializing. We meet the second Tuesday of the month, September through November, and January through May. The public is invited to attend our meetings. Admission is free for members and $5 for non-members.
This program will also be broadcast live via a Zoom webinar, if you are unable to attend in person, to all members of WVHPG. If you are not a member and would like to view this webinar please see our "About" page on our website to learn how to join. www.thehardyplantgroup.org/about