Boston Flora

Tag: David Foster

  • Saturday, March 30, 9:00 am – 12:30 pm – The American Chestnut: When Will It Flourish Again?

    The American chestnut could be the first tree ever restored to its native forest after suffering from a devastating airborne blight in the early 1900s that killed billions of trees.

    Join The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University on Ssturday, March 30 from 9 – 12:30 for a thought-provoking gathering as experts share perspectives on the history of American chestnut (Castanea dentata), its significance as a forest species, and subsequent decimation by an invasive blight pathogen, Cryphonectria parasitica. Ongoing research in blight tolerance and the addition of blight-tolerant genes are the prognosis for this tree’s future.

    Special speakers include:

    • Dr. David Foster, Director of the Harvard Forest

    • Ms. Sara Fitzsimmons, Director of Restoration at The American Chestnut Foundation

    • Dr. William Powell, Professor and Director of Council on Biotechnology and Forestry at State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry

    • Dr. Jared Westbrook, Director of Science at The American Chestnut Foundation

    A panel discussion will follow the lectures:

    Introduction by Ms. Lisa Thomson, President and CEO of The American Chestnut Foundation

    Panel participants will include each speaker as well as Edward Faison, Senior Ecologist at Highstead Arboretum

    Fee $20 per person (Free for students).Event takes place at the Arnold Arboretum’s WELD HILL RESEARCH BUILDING, 1300 Centre Street, Roslindale, MA

    Register at my.arboretum.harvard.edu or call 617-384-5277.

    Image result for american chestnut tree

  • Tuesday, July 18, 7:30 pm – In Defense of Forests

    You are invited to a wine-and-cheese reception at the Polly Hill Arboretum, 809 State Road, West Tisbury, on Tuesday, July 18 at 7:30 pm, followed by a special lecture with director of Harvard Forest and PHA research associate David Foster. This talk will examine the history, ecology, and conservation of forests, broadly across New England and in detail on Martha’s Vineyard. It will advance the notion that as we call on populations across the globe to stop the deforestation and degradation of forests to aid humanity in combating climate change, those of us in one of the most heavily forested and densely populated parts of the richest country in the world should do the same. The talk will draw from the author’s recent book—A Meeting of Land and Sea: Nature and Future of Martha’s Vineyard, a forthcoming Wildlands and Woodlands report, and the botanical and ecological studies by the staff and members of the Polly Hill Arboretum.

    Tickets are $100, and include entry to the wine and cheese reception with Dr. Foster, admission to the lecture, and one copy of his book, A Meeting of Land and Sea. Advanced ticket sales only. No tickets will be sold at the door. To purchase, call 508-693-9426.

    What is it about forests? They can be sustainably managed for wood, food, and other values while delivering clean water and air, wildlife habitat, recreation, beauty and inspiration, and essential support for human lives in a changing environment. And yet, 24,000 acres of forests are cleared every year for housing, solar arrays, and other commercial ventures across New England. On the Vineyard forests have no special legal standing and are routinely cleared for all manner of reasons on private and public land. The forest on the Great Plain – one of the world’s best remaining example of sandplain ecosystem – has been whittled away by housing developments, a golf course, an airport, and commercial enterprises; two towns have recently considered clearing and developing forested water supply lands; and isolated megamansions and solar arrays have perforated woods from the south shore to Chappaquiddick.

    Forests are more critical than ever to support nature and society and yet they remain underappreciated and undervalued. Protecting forested landscapes and the benefits they provide are essential to ensure an environmentally and economically sound future for New England.

  • Friday, April 11, 10:00 am – 2:30 pm – Merging Conservation and Agriculture in New England

    A series of lectures entitled Merging Conservation and Agriculture in New England will take place in the Harvard Forest Seminar Room, Harvard Forest, 324 N. Main Street, Petersham, on Friday, April 11 from 10 – 2:30. The day’s schedule is as follows:

    10:00 a.m. New England Food Vision with Brian Donahue of Brandeis University

    Find out more about the New England Food Vision: http://foodsolutionsne.org/new-england-food-vision. This vision is, in part, an extension of the Wildlands and Woodlands vision for New England: http://www.wildlandsandwoodlands.org/home.

    11:00 a.m. Exploring the Interactions between Nature and Farming

    Conrad Vispo, Claudia Knab-Vispo, Anna Duho, Kyle Bradford – Hawthorne Valley Farmscape Ecology Program http://farmscapeecology.org/

    Looking for feedback we will outline our rationale and draft methods for an upcoming pilot project in the Hudson Valley to explore: 1) what nature can provide to farming (in terms of animal-mediated ecological ‘services’), 2) what farming can provide to nature (in terms of habitats for native plants and animals), and 3), what information is most useful for farmers and land trusts working with agricultural lands. See http://hawthornevalleyfarm.org/fep/
    12:00 p.m. Lunch and Discussion. Please bring your own lunch
    1:00 p.m. Walk Exploring Agriculture & Conservation Management with David Foster – Director, Harvard Forest
    This walk will meet in the Harvard Forest Common Room and carpool to the former Petersham Country Club and Bryant Farm, which have been purchased by the Harvard Forest and are one-half mile from Shaler Hall. Joined by ecologists Glenn Motzkin, Professor Martha Hoopes from Mount Holyoke College, the speakers, Harvard Forest staff including John Wisnewski and Audrey Barker Plotkin, and others we will walk the landscape to discuss Harvard Forest plans to graze the land with an objective of developing a series of conservation grasslands while studying and documenting the process.

    For additional information call David R. Foster, 978-724-3302.

    http://www.wildlandsandwoodlands.org/sites/default/files/zzr_Lily%20Piel_OldAckleyFarm_DSC7775%20-%20Copy_0.jpg

  • Wednesday, September 14, 6:00 pm – Challenges and Choices: The History and Future of New England’s Forests

    Today forests cover 80% of the New England landscape, yet are under-appreciated for the vast array of human benefits they provide. Forests filter our air and water, provide local wood products, sustain wildlife, and give us places to hike and play. But now, for the first time in almost 200 years, forest cover is declining in every New England state due to widespread environmental and land-use change. Join David Foster, Director of Harvard Forest, on Wednesday, September 14, beginning at 6 pm,  for a lecture that draws on more than a century of research at the Harvard Forest about the challenges and choices we face in planning our forests’ future. Free and open to the public, Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street. Part of the Challenges and Choices lecture series. Cosponsored by the Harvard Alumni Association.  Reception to follow ($10), which may be reserved by calling 617-495-1920 or by emailing haa_alumnieducation@harvard.edu.

  • Tuesday, June 8, 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm – Wildlands and Woodlands Conservation Vision

    In 2005 scientists associated with the Harvard Forest published a report: “Wildlands and Woodlands: A Vision for the Forests of Massachusetts.” The authors called for a bold new land protection effort to stave off accelerating forest fragmentation. Join David Foster, director of the Harvard Forest (and Polly Hill Arboretum research associate) on Tuesday, June 8, from 7:30 – 9 at the Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Hall, pictured below, for this special lecture.  Receive a copy of the report and learn more about the group’s latest publication, “A Wildland and Woodland Vision for the New England Landscape: Local Conservation, Biodiversity and the Global Environment.” This report recognizes the important role of the region’s forests and farmlands and puts forth a conservation and management proposal benefiting our local and global environments. Foster will discuss the direct relevance to conservation planning on Martha’s Vineyard. Bring your questions and concerns. This lecture sponsored by Bartlett Tree Experts.  For more information, log on to www.pollyhillarboretum.org.

    http://www.scblogdesign.com/mvonthespot//srv/htdocs/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/aghall.jpg

  • Tuesday, October 27, 3:30 pm – Reading and Conserving New England: Insights from History and Ecology

    David Foster, of Harvard Forest and Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, will speak on Tuesday, October 27 at the University of Massachusetts Amherst campus Student Union, Cape Cod Lounge, as part of The Environmental Institute’s Fall Lecture Program, which is free and open to the public.

    This talk is based on David’s long-standing conviction that every landscape and region has a history that strongly conditions its current condition and its future dynamics. In this talk he will provide an overview of the ecological insights that emerge from a consideration of the natural and cultural history of New England and then illustrate how this can be applied both to anticipating future conditions and to conservation management, including discussion of the Wildlands and Woodlands vision being developed by scientists associated with the Harvard Forest.

    Bio

    David Foster is an ecologist and author of Thoreau’s Country – Journey through a Transformed Landscape (1999), New England Forests Through Time (2000; both Harvard University Press), Forests in Time – The Environmental Consequences of 1000 years of Change in New England (2004; Yale University Press) and Wildland and Woodlands: A Vision for the Forests of Massachusetts (Harvard University). He has been a faculty member in Biology since 1983 and is Director of the Harvard Forest, Harvard University’s 3500-acre ecological laboratory and classroom in central Massachusetts. David is the Principal Investigator for the Harvard Forest Long Term Ecological Research program, sponsored by the National Science Foundation and involving more than 100 scientists and students investigating the dynamics of New England landscape as a consequence of climate change, human activity, and natural disturbance.

    David has a Ph.D. in ecology from the University of Minnesota and has conducted studies in the boreal forests of Labrador, Sweden and Norway and the forests of Puerto Rico, the Yucatan, and Patagonia in addition to his primary research on landscape dynamics in New England. His interests focus on understanding the historical changes in forest ecosystems that result from human and natural disturbance and applying these results to the conservation and management of natural and cultural landscapes. He currently serves on the boards of The Nature Conservancy -Massachusetts, Trustees of Reservations, Conservation Research Foundation and Highstead Foundation. As part of his larger conservation work David and a group of Harvard Forest researchers developed Wildlands and Woodlands – A Vision for the Forests of Massachusetts, which lays out an ambitious plan for the protection and conservation of half of the land in the state.At Harvard University David teaches courses on forest ecology and environmental change and directs the graduate program in forest biology. He lives in Shutesbury, Massachusetts with his wife Marianne Jorgensen and their children Christian and Ava.  For more information, log on to www.umass.edu/tei/TEI/LectureFall2009.html.

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