The University of Oregon Historic Preservation had a busy spring, full of VAF-related activity:

• Program Director Jim Buckley announced the formation of a new Northwest Chapter of the Vernacular Architecture Forum, only the second in the organization’s history.  More than 60 people throughout Oregon and Washington responded with enthusiasm to the call for interest, about half of whom met for an organizational meeting just after the Salt Lake City conference.  We are now planning our first program of tours and presentation for this fall – contact jbuckley@uoregon.edu if interested.
• Five UO historic preservation students attended the Salt Lake City Conference though the VAF Ambassador program.  Each student was a first timer at the conference and enjoyed the variety of material presented, from Mormon towns to Park City condos! We have some new lifetime VAFers thanks to this excellent program.  Please check out the ambassadors' essay on their experiences.
  
• Several UO scholars presented their research at the Salt Lake City conference, including alums Jon Miller (vernacular architecture of the Michigan Upper Peninsula) and Julia Larson (Latino vernacular in Woodburn, OR), current geography Ph.D. student James Miller (Micronesian migrant environments in the US), and program director James Buckley (preservation of African-American heritage).

The UO preservation program will begin its second year at the new Portland campus in September.