Info From Recent Monthly Meetings

Wednesday, June 25th, 2008 7:00 PM
Cynthia Menard talking on "Wolves in New England?"

Are there wolves in New England and if not, will there ever be? Can wolves and people live together harmoniously? Have you ever heard the howl of a wolf in the wild? Cynthia Menard, an educator with the MetroWest YMCA will present a slide show and discussion about the history, ecology and future of this amazing animal. Come join us to hear wolves howling, touch real wolf fur, and find out first-hand how large a wolf's canine tooth really is! This talk is suitable for adults and families with children ages 10 and up.

Cynthia Menard has her Masters degree in Conservation Biology from Antioch New England Graduate School. She spent two years tracking and mapping predators in northern Massachusetts for her Master's Thesis, and co-led a trip of her graduate peers to Yellowstone National Park to study wolf ecology with park biologists. She currently teaches animal tracking throughout Massachusetts, and works as a Naturalist and Assistant Camp Director for the MetroWest YMCA in Hopkinton, MA.

Wednesday, April 30th, 2008 7:00 PM
David Griffin talking on "Assabet Osprey"

In 2002, on the edge of a heron rookery, in a pond at the headwaters of the Assabet River, was something that was very unique to the area: a thriving Osprey nest. The nest had been there for a few years beforehand, but it was then Dave Griffin began a love affair with these magnificent birds. Osprey spend their summers with us, raising a family, and then migrating to South America for the winter. The program documents the past five years of how the Osprey have been making a home on the Assabet River - and what the future may hold for this unique raptor.

The program contains over 250 photos of Osprey, Great Blue Heron, and other species that make up the changing landscape where the Osprey struggles each year to raise a new generation.

Dave Griffin is a photographer and multimedia producer. His photographic work concentrates on conservation projects for both environmental and historical organizations utilizing digital imaging, video, and audio recording technologies. Dave’s presentations blend the storytelling power of photojournalism with the visual impact of fine art photography and tosses in a bit of dry wit. Dave has been photographing since age 9 and has been working in the digital photography world since 1995.

Dave has been a board member for the Organization for the Assabet River since 2001, and currently serves as its President. He is also President of the Board of Trustees for the Maynard Historical Society, a Corporator for Emerson Hospital, and a Consulting Software Engineer for Novell, Inc. An avid kayaker, you'll often find Dave and his wife Betsy on a nearby river or lake - with camera in hand. For more information about Dave and his work, see his website.

Wednesday, March 26th, 2008 7:00 PM
Scott LaFleur (Director of Horticulture, New England Wild Flower Society) talking on "Listening to the Landscape: Using Nature's Clues to Design a Garden That Works"

Natural ecosystems can provide us with a lot of information on native plants and how they grow. Looking into the symbiotic relationship these ecosystems make use of will lead us in the choices we make when designing sustainable landscapes. Natural ecosystems will also provide us with the framework we need to attract Birds, Bee's, Butterfly's and other exciting critters. Choosing native plants that provide food and forage for wildlife is a great way to keep a diversity of life happy and abundant in your landscape. Invasive plants can disrupt this delicate balance of life and removing them is the great help you can provide. We at the New England Wild Flower Society have many great native alternatives you can make use of.

A graduate of the University of New Hampshire horticulture program, Scott specialized in perennials and perennial garden design. Upon graduating in 1996 Scott started a professional gardening Service in Rye,NH. The hallmark of Scott’s business was meticulous work using the best horticultural practices. Scott expanded his business into a landscape design and installation company. He sold the business in 2001 after 10 years of operation and undertook a three year project designing a 135 acre VT farm into rolling green hills, extensive gardens and a network of trails to access the property for horse back riding and hiking. During his designing and research for the project Scott became very interested in native plants and ecological landscaping. These pieces of the design were key to its success. Scott completed the project in 2006 and was hired by the New England Wild Flower Society as the Senior Horticulturist for their botanic garden, Garden in the Woods. Scott was promoted to Director of Horticulture in 2008, his current position.

Garden in the Woods is a 45 acre Botanic garden dedicate to the conservation, protection and artistic display of the flora of North America. The purpose of Garden in the Woods is to educate and inspire visitors to conserve our native New England flora in ecosystems of which they are a part, as well as provide a place of tranquility, beauty and sanctuary. As a living museum, the Garden is a classroom and resource for learning about conservation, horticulture, landscape design, botany, and natural history through both formal and informal instruction. The propagation, cultivation, and artistic display of plants in the Garden promote appreciation of our native plants as horticultural subjects and as our natural heritage. For more information, see their website at www.newfs.org..

Wednesday, February 27th, 2008 7:00 PM
Marion Larson of MassWildlife talking on "Connecting Children with Nature: Wildlife Education Opportunities from MassWildlife"

If you like wildlife and have an interest in sharing your passion with young people, MassWildlife offers some educational opportunities for families, students and youth groups and for people who work with youth. Classroom teachers, homeschoolers, youth group leaders and other people who work with kids can find out how to incorporate wildlife and the environment into their programs through MassWildlife. Families who want to learn outdoor skills can also explore MassWildlife's opportunities as well. Marion Larson, Information and Education Biologist with MassWildlife will not only talk about education programs, but will also conduct an activity or two for you to experience!

Marion Larson has worked with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts since 1985. She has a degree from the University of Vermont in Environmental Interpretation and began her career as an Environmental Police Officer (game warden) patrolling northern Middlesex and Worcester Counties. (Law enforcement is just another form of education!) She transferred to the Mass. Division of Fisheries and Wildlife in 1991 as a Wildlife Education Specialist where she worked with teachers and other educators on wildlife programs and a watershed education program that included high schools in the SuAsCo watershed. Currently she serves as an Outreach Coordinator working with tourism groups, writing newsletter articles, providing agency web page content and answering questions on a variety of wildlife topics. She volunteers as a Hunter Education Instructor for MassWildlife, serves on her town’s Open Space Committee and enjoys hiking, birding and running.

You can find out more about MassWildlife at: www.mass.gov/masswildlife.

Wednesday, January 30th, 2008 7:00 PM
Chris Hepburn of Boston College (aided by Tracey Arvin) talking on "Assembling the Jigsaw Puzzle of Eastern Massachusetts Geology"

The rocks we find in eastern New England arrived here in the closing of an ancient, pre-modern Atlantic, ocean basin through plate tectonics. Eastern Massachusetts is made up of the last-to-arrive fragments from the other side of this ocean as well as volcanic island chains that formed within the closing ocean. These pieces crashed into the edge of North America over tens of millions of years, growing our continent. Major faults, no longer active, form the boundaries of these bits of geologic wreckage and also record the ways in which they were assembled. The rocks of the Assabet River National Wildlife refuge lie close to one of these major fault zones and formed as part of an ancient volcanic island arc that existed some 500 million years ago.

J. Christopher Hepburn is a Professor in the Dept. of Geology and Geophysics at Boston College where he has taught geology for over thirty years. He received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in geology from Harvard University. His research has largely been devoted to deciphering the geology of the northern Appalachians through its petrology, geochemistry, structural geology and tectonics.

Tracey Arvin is a graduate student in geology at Boston College in the process of completing her M.S. degree. Part of her thesis work includes the geologic mapping of the area containing the Assabet River NWR. Ms. Arvin currently teaches at Blue Hill Regional Technical School.

Wednesday, October 24th, 2007 7:00 PM
Bear Expert Jim Cardoza talking on "Black Bears of Massachusetts"

Perhaps you've seen and heard about occasional sightings of black bears and human confrontations with them. How common are black bears in our area? What draws them to our towns and how can we learn to live at a respectful distance with these large furry neighbors?

This slideshow presentation by Mr. Cardoza will cover the history, biology, and management of the black bear in Massachusetts. He will help us understand the bear's history, changes in status and distribution, biology and life history, habitat changes, research programs, human-bear interactions, and management issues.

Mr. Cardoza, a certified wildlife biologist, has been the leader for the Massachusetts Fish and Wildlife wild turkey (since 1969) and black bear (since 1970) project. He holds a B.S. and M.S. in wildlife biology from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. His years of study and field experience with black bears has made him the state's leading expert on the subject. He has received numerous awards for his work in conserving and managing our state's bear population.

Wednesday, October 3rd, 2007 7:00 PM
Dr. Kurt Buhlmann talking on "Establishing a Population of Blanding's Turtles at Assabet River NWR: Using Reintroduction as a Conservation Tool for Turtles"

Come learn about the proposed reintroduction of Blanding's Turtles to Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge. Dr. Kurt Buhlmann will discuss turtle reintroductions, including his recent work on the proposed reintroduction of Blanding's Turtles to Assabet River NWR.

Dr. Kurt Buhlmann is a conservation ecologist focusing on amphibians and reptiles, including turtles. He has been fascinated with turtles since he was a boy. His research interests include habitat management needs of herps with emphasis on issues such as the amount of terrestrial habitat needed around seasonal wetlands, the effects of prescribed fire, and control of invasive species. He has worked with a number of organizations including The Nature Conservancy, U.S. Forest Service, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Kurt spent several years working with Conservation International on conservation strategies for turtles globally, particularly in Asia. He is co-author of the Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservations (PARC) Habitat Management Guidelines for Amphibians and Reptiles of the Northeast (as well as a companion volume for the Southeast). He has recently become involved with turtle projects on several National Wildlife Refuges, including Great Swamp, Wallkill River, and Assabet River in the Northeast. He and his wife, Tracey Tuberville have implemented some reintroduction strategies for gopher tortoises at several sites in the Southeast, and more recently begun designing similar research with freshwater turtles. Kurt currently wears several hats, and is a research scientist at the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory in South Carolina and also works independently as a consulting conservation biologist. Originally from New Jersey, he holds a B.S. in Environmental Studies from Stockton State College, a M.S. in Wildlife Sciences from Virginia Tech, and a Ph.D. in Ecology from the University of Georgia (UGA). He is senior author on an upcoming book, Turtles of the Southeast, soon to be published by the UGA Press.

For additional information on this proposed work see News. The Blanding's Turtle is listed as Threatened in Massachusetts. "Threatened" species are native species which are likely to become endangered in the forseeable future, or which are declining or rare as determined by biological research and inventory. For more information on the Blanding's Turtle in Massachusetts, see here.

Wednesday, June 20, 2007 7:00 PM
Professor Amy Cannon talking on "Green Chemistry: Necessary Steps to a Sustainable Future"

Imagine a world where all segments of society demanded environmentally benign products! Imagine if all consumers, all retailers and all manufacturers insisted on buying and selling only non-toxic materials! The unfortunate reality is that, even if this situation were to occur, our knowledge of materials science and chemistry would allow us to provide only a small fraction of the products and materials that our economy is based upon. The way we learn and teach chemistry and materials science is for the most part void of any information regarding mechanisms of toxicity and environmental harm. Green Chemistry is a philosophy that seeks to reduce or eliminate the use of hazardous materials at the design stage of a materials process. It has been demonstrated that materials and products CAN be designed with negligible impact on human health and the environment while still being economically competitive and successful in the marketplace. This presentation will describe the history and background of Green Chemistry and discuss the opportunities for the next generation of materials designers to create a safer future.

Amy Cannon is the director of community outreach and education at the Center for Green Chemistry and an assistant professor in the department of Work Environment at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. Amy graduated as the first PhD in Green Chemistry from the University of Massachusetts Boston where her research involved the environmentally benign synthesis of photoactive materials. Amy received her undergraduate degree in chemistry from Saint Anselm College in Manchester, NH and worked for the Gillette Company as an analytical chemist for 5 years before returning to graduate school. She was awarded the Kenneth G. Hancock Memorial Award in Green Chemistry in 2004 for her work on titanium dioxide semiconductors and their application in dye-sensitized solar cells. Amy has recently worked for Rohm & Haas Electronic Materials in Marlborough, MA developing silicon polymeric materials for optical electronic devices. Her current research interests in Green Chemistry are based in materials chemistry and range from electronic materials to cosmetic chemistry and biobased materials. For more information on the Green Chemistry program at University of Massachusetts Lowell, see http://www.greenchemistry.uml.edu/.

Wednesday, May 23, 2007 7:00 PM
Stephen Brown talking on "Arctic Wings: Birds of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge"

Stephen Brown, Director of Shorebird Research & Conservation at Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences, will discuss his book, Arctic Wings: Birds of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and his research expeditions to Alaska's North Slope. Arctic birds highlight the interconnectedness of the hemisphere as they complete epic migrations between the ends of the earth, and illustrate the importance of halting global climate change before their habitats are destroyed. Dr. Brown's presentation features stunning photographs of elusive arctic birds on their breeding grounds, and includes insights into new discoveries about their habitats and the conservation challenges facing them.

As Manomet's Director of Shorebird Research and Conservation, Stephen Brown works on a wide variety of science and policy issues related to protecting this imperiled group of birds that literally cover the globe during their annual migrations. Stephen was the lead author of the U.S. Shorebird Conservation Plan which brought together wildlife managers and policy makers from all 50 states and several federal agencies, university researchers, and many other conservation groups to develop a coordinated strategy for restoring the declining populations of shorebirds. Stephen has an active research program in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, where his work helps to determine the impacts that oil development would have on nesting shorebirds, and he has recently completed a study of American Oystercatchers that included a census of the entire Atlantic and Gulf coasts (see www.shorebirdworld.org).

Stephen has been a conservation biologist with Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences since 1998. He earned his undergraduate degree from Hampshire College in Environmental Studies, and his Master of Science degree from the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources studying an endangered shorebird. His Ph.D. research in Natural Resources at Cornell University focused on improving habitat for birds through wetland restoration. Stephen has published dozens of articles on wetlands and shorebirds in scientific journals, and the recent book Arctic Wings: Birds of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Wednesday, April 25, 2007 7:00 PM
Madeline Champagne talking on "Monarch Butterflies"

Monarch butterflies are perhaps our most intriguing butterflies, arriving in New England early in the summer and then migrating thousands of miles away to spend the winter. However, only a few of Massachusetts’ 125 or so species are migrants, and most people don’t stop to think about how they get through our winters. Madeline Champagne, former President of the Massachusetts Butterfly Club, will discuss survival techniques (from getting through the winter and from evading predators) for Monarchs and other species of butterflies, as well as for moths.

Madeline has been fascinated by butterflies since in the early 1990’s when she raised some Monarch butterflies from eggs that she found in the wild. Her butterfly-related activities have included planning and maintaining butterfly gardens, giving talks, working in the classroom and in the field with teachers and students, and monitoring specific butterfly populations at various sites. She has worked with land trusts, garden clubs and other organizations. In the past few years, she has focused on educating people about butterflies.

Wednesday, March 21, 2007 7:00 PM
Paul Baicich talking on "Shade-grown Coffee Future: Birds, Agriculture, and People"

Surely, you've heard about the links between birds and shade-grown coffee. In this talk, we will take a journey to visit vital points of intersection, a crossroads for birds, agriculture, and people. Join Paul Baicich as he leads us through an exploration of the shade-coffee/birds connection, focusing on Latin America and the Caribbean. You will leave the presentation with the ability to explain the issue to birding and non-birding friends alike!

Paul Baicich has been an active birder since his early teens. He went on to work for the American Birding Association, where he organized their conferences and conventions, edited publications, and then served as ABA's Director of Conservation and Public Policy until late 2003.

His concerns include an abiding interest in bird conservation (especially shade-grown coffee) and studies in the breeding biology of North American birds. Paul also has co-led a number of birding tours to Alaska. He is on the Management Board of the Prairie Pothole Joint Venture and on the Waterbird Conservation Council. Paul has worked as an independent consultant and writer for the National Wildlife Refuge Association for the past two years and has spent the past few years promoting support for our unique and valuable National Wildlife Refuge System. He has made two special visits to Nicaragua over the last few years, specifically to visit shade-coffee co-ops.

An article on birds and coffee by Paul recently appeared in Bird Watchers' Digest. It is provided at www.birdwatchersdigest.com/site/conservation/coffee_lessons.aspx thanks to the generosity of BWD. Also, check out their site to see what else they have to offer: www.birdwatchersdigest.com.