Thursday Night Nature Fall 2024 Discount Bundle

Soil type plays a dominant role in limiting the native plants that can grow in any location and which native plant communities emerge across the landscape. At home, we just want to grow as many species as we can in whatever soil we have. This session is all about how to employ some simple techniques, borrowed from the field of ecological restoration, to greatly expand your successful use of natives. We’ll also briefly explore how these techniques work, why they are essential to restoring our botanical heritage and how to help your soils get even better over time.

Mark Brownlee is a principal with ArcheWild, a science-based ecological restoration firm. He also functions as the head ecologist for WildLawn, a regional firm dedicated to applying ecological restoration principles in the home landscape. Brownlee frequently provides training to landscape architects and civil engineers throughout the mid-Atlantic. He holds a B.S. and an M.S. from Carnegie Mellon.

Program Fee: $15 (Members, enter your code at checkout to receive your 20% discount.)

All lectures will be held virtually using Zoom. They will be recorded and shared with everyone who registers for a short time.

Chief Adam Waterbear, tribal storykeeper and director of education for the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania, will discuss the past and present of the Lenape peoples, including pre-colonial life, relationships with William Penn, the era of Penn's Sons and the Walking Purchase, the Lenape diaspora and the homeland Lenape and what the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania is doing today to revitalize Lenape culture and continue their role as caretakers of their homelands. Chief Adam will then offer Lenape stories and cultural wisdom that promotes a harmonious relationship with the environment. Discussion and questions from the audience will be welcome and encouraged.

Adam Waterbear DePaul is a council member for the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania, where his roles include storykeeper, academic liaison and coordinator of the Rising Nation River Journey. He is an instructor and Ph.D. candidate in cultural and mythological studies at Temple University, where he co-curated Everyday Artistry, Enduring Presence in 2019.

Program Fee: $15 (Members, enter your code at checkout to receive your 20% discount.)

All lectures will be held virtually using Zoom. They will be recorded and shared with everyone who registers for a short time.

Wildflower Farm hosts educational workshops on self (and community) sustainability for adults and children. The farm sustainably produces organically and ethically raised, pastured, truly free-range and soy-free poultry, grass-fed lamb and culturally relevant vegetables and seeds with a unique focus on humane animal husbandry policies and conservation practices. Join us to learn more about these techniques and how you can incorporate them into your garden.

Tomia MacQueen is an educator of 20+ years, farmer and master gardener specializing in edible gardens. She is the owner of Wildflower Farm and the founder of Dance for LIFE (Love, Inspiration, Faith and Empowerment) and Gardening for LIFE. She is the founder of the Healing Waters Project which provides land access and training to new and beginning farmers at Wildflower Farm. Tomia partners with local organizations and schools as a featured farmer/mentor within youth and young adult programs such as the Outdoor Equity Alliance Agrihood Program and the Princeton University Seed Farm and others. She also served as the pilot coordinator for the Food Systems Literacy program at Princeton Public Schools laying the transformative framework for the Food Systems Curriculum.

Program Fee: $15 (Members, enter your code at checkout to receive your 20% discount.)

All lectures will be held virtually using Zoom. They will be recorded and shared with everyone who registers for a short time.

Thar She Glows aims to shed light on the novel study of biofluorescence, focusing on taxa in terrestrial systems. Holden Cooper will discuss the current research in these systems while highlighting research in biofluorescence. We will then discuss the ecological significance of the trait and how it is determined.

Holden Cooper has been interested in reptiles and amphibians as far back as he can remember. While completing his bachelor's degree at Penn State Behrend, he conducted multiple research projects documenting biofluorescence in snakes and salamanders of Western Pennsylvania. Cooper has conducted a variety of research on reptiles and amphibians, including population surveys of spotted salamanders, documenting the occurrence of leucism in a dusky salamander and biofluorescence in gray treefrogs.

Program Fee: $15 (Members, enter your code at checkout to receive your 20% discount.)

All lectures will be held virtually using Zoom. They will be recorded and shared with everyone who registers for a short time.

Mike Aucott, Ph.D., is here to review the importance and recent tragic history of this iconic tree, which once dominated Eastern forests but was virtually wiped out by an imported blight that appeared in the early 1900s. Learn the challenges and several varied strategies underway that are part of the effort help propel the tree over what researchers have called "the cusp of extinction" and to re-establish it in the North American forest.  Join us for a simplified description of the genetics involved in developing a blight-resistant tree that can thrive in the forest environment.  Aucott will also discuss the recent decision by the American Chestnut Foundation to abandon support for a specific genetically engineered tree and the importance of local efforts to find surviving and identifying American chestnuts.

Mike Aucott holds a Ph.D. in environmental science from Rutgers University. He retired from his position as research scientist for the NJ Department of Environmental Protection in 2012 but still works with NJDEP as a member of its science advisory board and part-time for the Department’s Bureau of Climate Change and Clean Energy. He also does consulting work in energy issues, air pollution and climate change. Aucott is a member of the board of the PA/NJ Chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation and manages an orchard of 800 chestnut trees in Northern Pennsylvania, in addition to overseeing a hybrid chestnut breeding program involving 15 other growers.

Program Fee: $15 (Members, enter your code at checkout to receive your 20% discount.)

All lectures will be held virtually using Zoom. They will be recorded and shared with everyone who registers for a short time.

Chief Barbara Bluejay, keeper of culture and vice president for the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania, will briefly discuss the past and present of the Lenape people. Chief Bluejay will explain how Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania is revitalizing Lenape culture and continuing their role as caretakers of their homelands. Chief Bluejay will encourage ways that nurture a peaceful relationship with the environment. Open discussion and questions are welcome.

Chief Bluejay, aka Barbara Michalski, was given the name by her grandfather, Bill Thompson, late Chief Whippoorwill of the Unalachtigo (people near the ocean) Tribe of the Turkey Clan. A member of Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania, she has immersed herself in their activities, such as serving on the tribal council and as tribal secretary and participating in educating the public by attending events or festivals in the Lenapehoking (Homeland of the Lenape). Most importantly, Chief Bluejay teaches children the history of the Lenape Nation through crafts, storytelling and artifacts. She has also been involved in environmental causes, particularly clean water protection. Recently, she has seen a rising interest in medicinal plants and has been working to learn more about them.

Program Fee: $15 (Members, enter your code at checkout to receive your 20% discount.)

All lectures will be held virtually using Zoom. They will be recorded and shared with everyone who registers for a short time.

Birds have been colliding with buildings and other human structures since the 19th century and much of the research that’s been conducted historically to help us understand the phenomenon was conducted in Pennsylvania. This includes pioneering research conducted by the Delaware Valley Ornithological Club during the 1890s. This talk will review what we have learned about the problem over the last 130 years and what’s been done recently in Philadelphia to address it.

Keith Russell is the program manager for Urban Conservation for Audubon Mid-Atlantic. Based in Philadelphia, he works on a variety of bird conservation issues including bird collisions with human structures, birds and nocturnal lights, non-native plants and migration stopover habitat. He is also a research associate of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, and he has received a number of awards including the 2016 American Birding Association’s Ludlow Griscom Award for Outstanding Contributions to Regional Ornithology.

Program Fee: $15 (Members, enter your code at checkout to receive your 20% discount.)

All lectures will be held virtually using Zoom. They will be recorded and shared with everyone who registers for a short time.

Winter is a tough time for many organisms, especially ectotherms--animals that rely on external sources to regulate body temperature. Learn about the diverse strategies that ectotherms use to regulate their body temperature and survive months below freezing.

Lynne Beaty is an assistant professor of Biology at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College. As a professor and behavioral ecologist, Beaty, Ph.D., teaches undergraduate classes on ecology, conservation biology, wildlife behavior and experimental design. She also conducts research on the behavior and population dynamics of native and invasive snails, salamanders and frogs.

Program Fee: $15 (Members, enter your code at checkout to receive your 20% discount.)

All lectures will be held virtually using Zoom. They will be recorded and shared with everyone who registers for a short time.