Boston Flora

Tag: environmental lecture

  • Wednesday, April 12, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – The Songs of Trees

    Award-winning teacher and writer David George Haskell, PhD, Professor of Biology, Sewanee, The University of the South, expands his focus from one square meter (The Forest Unseen) to the expansive networked communities of life as observed in the presence of trees around the world. A keen observer of all living things, Haskell brings together ecological understanding with poetic narrative as he describes discoveries from root to branch tip, from one specimen to a forest of collaborators. Join The Arnold Arboretum on Wednesday, April 12 at 7 pm as Haskell expounds upon webs of connections that weave through the environment, human nature, science, and ethics. His book, The Songs of Trees, will be available for purchase and signing. Fees: Free Arboretum member and student; $10 nonmember.

    David George Haskell’s work integrates scientific, literary, and contemplative studies of the natural world. He is a professor at the University of the South and a Guggenheim Fellow. A profile in The New York Times said of Haskell that he “thinks like a biologist, writes like a poet, and gives the natural world the kind of open-minded attention one expects from a Zen monk rather than a hypothesis-driven scientist.”

    Offered with the Harvard Museums of Science and Culture. Register at my.arboretum.harvard.edu or call 617-384-5277.

  • Monday, January 11, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Ishimure Michiko, The Arts, and Social Responsibility

    On Monday, January 11 from 7 – 8:30 at the Kaji Aso Studio Institute for the Arts, Bruce Allen will tell stories of trial and hope based on Japanese environmental incidents, including those in Fukushima and Minamata. His talk will incorporate segments from a recent documentary film about Ishimure Michiko, pictured, Japan’s foremost environmental writer-activist, who is known as the “Rachel Carson of Japan.” The film shows efforts of Japanese to come to terms with environmental and energy challenges, and to nurture reconciliation and hope for the future. The Studio is located at 40 St. Stephen Street in Boston. Suggested donation $10.

  • Tuesday, April 27, 7:30 pm – Between Earth and Sky: Our Intimate Connection with Trees

    The UMass Amherst Environmental Lecture Series continues with a free lecture on Tuesday, April 27,  at 7:30 pm in the Bowker Auditorium with Nalini Nadkarni, Professor, Evergreen State College and National Geographic Speaker.  For information and directions, log on to http://www.umass.edu/tei/TEI/LectureSeries.html.

    Nalini Nadkarni has been called “the queen of forest canopy research,” a field that relates directly to three of the most pressing environmental issues of our time: the maintenance of biodiversity, the stability of world climate, and the sustainability of forests.

    She has spent more than two decades climbing the tall trees of Costa Rica, Papua New Guinea, the Amazon, and the Pacific Northwest. In 1994 she realized that there was no central database for storing and analyzing the research she was gathering, so she invented one. This state-of-the-art repository, called the Big Canopy Database, is credited with speeding cross-disciplinary collaboration just as a common database revolutionized the mapping of the human genome.

    Nadkarni is known for using nontraditional pathways to raise awareness of nature’s importance, working with prisoners, artists, dancers, musicians, and even loggers. Her work has been featured in Glamour, National Geographic, on TV, and in a giant-screen film, as well as in traditional science publications.

    In 1994, she co-founded and is President of the International Canopy Network, a non-profit organization that fosters communication among researchers, educators, and conservationists concerned with forest canopies. She spends a great deal of energy on public outreach to the general public, children, and policy-makers on matters concerning forest canopies and forest conservation. She has appeared in numerous television documentaries, and was most recently featured as a canopy scientist in the National Geographic television special on tropical forest canopies, titled “Heroes of the High Frontier”, which won the Emmy Award for Best Documentary Film of 2001. A new project she initiated involves the creation of a multi-disciplinary Forest Canopy Walkway project on The Evergreen State College campus. In 2001, she received a Guggenheim Fellowship to pursue her interests in communication of forest canopy research results to non-scientists with collaborations of artists, musicians, physicians, sports figures, and religious leaders.

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  • Thursday, November 5, 6:00 pm – Natural History Museums in the Environmental Century

    In the 21st century the planet faces radical transformation, which includes mass extinction, rapid change in climate, and large-scale loss of natural habitat.

    American Museum of Natural History Paleontologist Michael Novacek will discuss how natural history museums like Harvard’s Museum of Comparative Zoology offer unique opportunities for scientific discovery, education, and inspiration, and provide a management plan that draws on the past, reveals the present, and maps our future.  The lecture will take place at the Harvard Museum of Natural History, 26 Oxford Street
    Cambridge , MA 02138.

    Sponsor: Harvard Museum of Natural History
    Time(s): 6 pm
    Cost: Free and open to the public
    Phone: 617-495-3045
    Email: hmnhpr@oeb.harvard.edu
    http://www.hmnh.harvard.edu

  • Wednesday, November 11, 10:00 am – Low Impact Landscaping

    The November meeting of The Garden Club of the Back Bay will take place Wednesday, November 11, beginning at 10:00 am at The College Club, 44 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston.  We welcome  Paul Marquis, who will speak on  Low Impact Landscaping.  Paul Marquis, of Green Home Solutions in Arlington, MA and former “Green House Doctor” for The Green Roundtable, will be our guest speaker for the November meeting.

    The objective of this talk is to introduce concepts of resource-conserving and environmentally-friendly landscape design and maintenance practices. Conventional residential landscapes are often resource-intensive, and some of the maintenance products and practices typically employed have been associated with adverse long-term health consequences and environmental impact. Topics covered will include low-water landscaping or xeriscaping, rainwater collection and use, advantages of using native plants, more-effective storm water management, and organic turf and landscape management practices. The talk will include a brief discussion of Low Impact Development, green roofs, and “hardscaping” options.

    The Green Roundtable, Inc. (GRT) is an independent non-profit organization whose mission is to mainstream green building and sustainable design and become obsolete.  It works toward this goal by promoting and supporting healthy and environmentally integrated building projects through strategic outreach, education, policy advocacy and technical assistance.  The Green Roundtable envisions a world in which green building is business as usual. For more information on The Green Roundtable, log on to www.greenroundtable.org.

    Reservations are required for this meeting, which will be followed by an optional luncheon with our speaker ($20) at The College Club.  The public is invited.  For more information, and to register, email info@bostonflora.com. Club members will receive written notice of this meeting with a response slip.

    http://www.greenroundtable.org/contact.attachment/colorcroppedflat-notitle/ColorCroppedFLAT-notitle.jpg