Thursday Night Nature Spring 2025 Discount Bundle

During this lecture, Sandy will highlight two of six major restoration projects completed by The Land Conservancy. The presentation will focus on Yards Creek Preserve in Blairstown, New Jersey, and also the Nancy Conger West Brook Preserve in West Milford Township. The Conservancy received the Land Ethics award for the West Milford project, in large part, because that project led to the emergence of an unusual state-endangered plant known as Hottonia inflata (or American Featherfoil). This was the first report of Hottonia inflata in Passaic County NJ and one of only five reports of the plant, statewide.

Sandy Urgo, Vice President of Land Preservation and Stewardship, joined The Land Conservancy of New Jersey in December 2003 after spending the previous two decades pursuing her interests in open space preservation and sustainable land use in Northern New Jersey. Sandy oversees all components of our land preservation program, manages our Land Preservation Team, and is the primary liaison with many funders. She is The Land Conservancy’s lead negotiator for the acquisition of land for open space, farmland preservation, conservation and recreation purposes. She also leads our Stewardship Team, developing concepts and funding for our land and water restoration projects and oversees each restoration. Sandy served on the Roxbury Township Council between 1998 and 2005 and served as Roxbury’s Mayor in 2000 and 2001. She was a charter member and Chair of the Township’s Open Space Committee from 1994 through 2001 and served 8 years on the Township’s Planning Board. Sandy was honored to be the first to receive the Governor’s Environmental Excellence Award for Land Conservation in 2018.

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.

As we incorporate more native plants into our landscapes, there are so many good reasons to use plants propagated from seeds. But wild plants have evolved a dizzying array of mechanisms, including chemical-induced dormancy and mandatory cold stratification, to ensure that their seeds disperse, persevere, and germinate at just the right time under natural conditions. These mechanisms are not in place to frustrate would-be plant propagators but must be understood to successfully grow native plants from seed. A far-reaching discussion of the issues surrounding seed collection, procurement, and propagation, with information that will encourage the novice and challenge the professional alike.

Dr. Randi Eckel has been working with native plants for over 35 years. She founded the mail-order native plant nursery Toadshade Wildflower Farm in 1996 to further public awareness and availability of native plants. A life-long naturalist, lover of nature, entomologist, and confirmed plant and ecology nerd, Randi specializes in the interactions between plants and other living things. She is known for her lively and engaging lectures and workshops on growing and propagating native plants, and offers interesting, nuanced information on the complex issues facing native plants and native plant communities. She is the past president (and is currently serving as the vice president) of the Native Plant Society of New Jersey.

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.

On April 22’s Earth Day, an amazing one billion people in 190 countries will pause to commemorate the planet-- planting trees, cleaning shorelines, engaging in teach-ins and sit-ins-- making it the world’s largest non religious holiday. As a historian of Earth Day, Mike Weilbacher’s visually engaging lecture explores the rich and surprising history of the event, with a special focus on Philadelphia’s 1970 week of programming that garnered national attention. From the 1970's past-event passage of a huge raft of legislation, to the birth of curbside recycling in 1990, to today’s global incarnation, Mike looks at the day’s accomplishments-- and peeks into his crystal ball to predict its future.

Writer-naturalist Mike Weilbacher is an environmental educator with 40 years of experience teaching through lectures, walks, newspaper essays, theatrical performances and radio. His first book, Wild Philly, features 29 nature walks in the region, plus tons of additional information about nature and the environment. His article on horseshoe crabs and migrating shorebirds along the Delaware Bay has been recently published in Philadelphia Magazine.

Weilbacher travels the area offering lectures, walks and other programs on nature and the environment, talking about issues like climate change and protecting monarch butterflies. He's presented many times at Preserve. A former nonprofit executive director, he’s known to public radio listeners as “Mike the All-Natural Science Guy” on the award-winning children’s radio show “Kid’s Corner” on WXPN, where he has been talking to children about nature and the environment for more than 35 years. Check out his website mikeweilbacher.com for more information.

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.

Frequently, conservationists and others have led us to treasure older forests more than other ecosystems. Open-field habitats and young forests, however, hold significantly more biodiversity than closed-canopy forests. Those younger forests are often undervalued and less protected. Dr. Dan Duran will sketch some of the differences in these habitats, give us an overview of the conservation issues, and discuss ways that listeners can get involved in helping to create and maintain early successional forest and edge habitats.

Dr. Daniel P. Duran is an Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental Science at Rowan University as well as the Naturalist for Scotland Run Park, a 1300-acre nature preserve at the edge of the New Jersey Pine Barrens.  He has published research papers on agricultural entomology, biodiversity, molecular phylogenetics and climate change.  Dr. Duran has described 17 new species of insects and plants, previously unknown to science.  He received a B.S. in Environmental Studies from Stockton University in 1998, an M.S. in Entomology from University of Missouri in 2002, and a Ph.D. in Evolution and Ecology from Vanderbilt University in 2010.  In between his degrees, he has also worked for the Natural History Museum, London, UK and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama.  Dr. Duran is a co-author of the book "A Field Guide to the Tiger Beetles of the United States and Canada, 2nd Edition".

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.

This lecture explores the journey of traditional plant-based healing into modern medicine. Indigenous communities have long used medicinal plants for holistic wellness. Science has harnessed the power of these plants and traditional knowledge to shape our modern pharmaceuticals. We will discuss the balance between natural remedies and lab-synthesized medicine. See how heritage and wellness come together at Petra Aroma in plant-based healing.

Dr. Daniella I. Olan is a pharmacist, herbalist, and entrepreneur dedicated to bridging ancestral plant medicine and modern science. With a background in pharmaceutical research and development, she founded Petra Aroma, a wellness brand inspired by Puerto Rico’s rich herbal traditions. Dr. Olan's work explores the intersection of traditional healing, sustainability, and scientific innovation, empowering communities to reconnect with plant-based wellness.

She has trained with renowned herbalists and indigenous healers across the Caribbean and Latin America, integrating holistic and evidence-based practices into her work. Through lectures, workshops, and product development, she champions cultural preservation and sustainable wellness.

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.

Climate change is impacting the distribution of biodiversity across time and space. Our gardens can be incredibly useful tools to support biodiversity conservation, such as by supporting native plant and wildlife populations and by reducing the spread of invasive species. In this talk, I will give a brief overview of how the climate is changing in the northeast and how it affects species distributions. I will then discuss how gardens can help seed ecosystems of the future.

Dr. Beaury, Assistant Curator in the Center for Conservation and Restoration Ecology at the New York Botanical Garden, focuses on the biogeography of global change, namely characterizing the spatial patterns and processes related to the spread of invasive species, climate change, and land-use change. She received her Ph.D. in invasive plant biogeography from UMass Amherst and completed a postdoc at Princeton University, where I explored spatial planning tools for nature-based solutions.

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.

Cicadas are large and clumsy insects whose calls are synonymous with "summer" the world over. Learn how cicadas fit into the broader ecosystem and how they serve as a foundational pillar of the natural world. There is so much more to these strange and charming creatures than initially meets the ear!

Chris Alice “Alie” Kratzer is an engineer, scientist, entrepreneur, illustrator, and author. She serves as the founder and Director of Owlfly LLC and manages both its engineering and publishing divisions. Alie's newest book is The Cicadas of North America, which offers a glimpse into the lives of some of the world's most delightful insects. Her first book, The Social Wasps of North America, was released in 2022 and established Alie as one of the youngest published field guide authors in history.

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.

Gill Creek and its impoundment Hyde Park Lake are located within Hyde Park in the City of Niagara Falls, New York. The lake has poor water quality and experiences frequent Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs), which impact aquatic life, prevent recreational fishing, and reduce lake and park aesthetics. This project was designed for the client, Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper, to intercept and treat approximately 2,000,000 gallons of previously untreated stormwater per year, as well as to provide riparian buffers that will reduce impacts from the surrounding golf course. The project includes creating wetland basins, beneficial reuse of spoil materials for additional wetland establishment, forested buffers with habitat mounds and pools, and establishment of perennial meadows surrounding Hyde Park Lake. The project will start construction in March 2025, and should be substantially complete by May 2025.

Brad is a retired farm kid with a master's degree in Environmental Science from SUNY Brockport, a state college in upstate New York. He is a co-founder and partner of Land Ethic Planning & Restoration, a western New York-based environmental consulting firm. He serves as their principal ecologist and specializes in wetland ecology, ecological restoration design, and ecological planning. When he is not tromping through swamps or writing reports, Brad enjoys spending time with his family, tending to his bees, making maple syrup, and drinking coffee.

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.