Boston Flora

Tag: Princeton University Press

  • Wednesday, December 11, 6:30 pm – 7:45 pm Eastern – The Potentials of Design: How Architecture Can Address Global Issues, Online

    By the year 2100, the global population is predicted to be 10 billion, 2 billion more than now. To house both these coming multitudes and the billions who are unhoused and under-housed today, an estimated 2.4 trillion square feet of new space will be needed—the equivalent of building an additional New York City every month for 40 years.

    Architect Vishaan Chakrabarti, a former director of city planning for Manhattan, sees this as an opportunity to build a more ecologically healthy and equitable world centered on well-designed communities with new forms of affordable, sustainable housing. Drawing from his latest book, Chakrabarti says that caring for the character and culture of communities can be the key to solving urgent global and political challenges. He also delves into architecture’s relationship to history’s greatest social, technological, and environmental dilemmas.

    Chakrabarti believes that designers, policymakers, and concerned citizens can together forge bonds across society to help deal with issues such as global warming, social and racial division, and local land-use battles. Tapping the work of architects worldwide as well as his own, he explores why urbanity—which he defines as a community inhabited by people from many different cultures and classes who spatially interact—is vital to a world in crisis and how it can be relevant in small villages, academic campuses, refugee camps, and cities of all sizes; how daily car use is hurting the climate and our collective culture; and how urbanity would be best supported by better, more affordable forms of transit-based community housing.

    Chakrabarti’s new book, The Architecture of Urbanity: Designing for Nature, Culture, and Joy (Princeton University Press), is available for purchase. This Smithsonian Associates webinar takes place December 11 at 6:30 pm Eastern, and is $20 for Smithsonian members, $25 for nonmembers. Register at www.smithsonianassociates.org

  • Thursday, October 19, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm Eastern – In the Life of Bees: Nesting in Darkness, Online

    When you think of bees, you probably imagine the things they do on sunny days, like flying around and pollinating flowers. But this is only half of the story, as most of the 20,000 species of bees found around the world nest belowground, and spend the majority of their lives in darkness. What are they doing underground? How do they navigate their burrows and communicate with other bees? What happens when it rains? There are many interesting questions surrounding this lifestyle, and also plenty of uncertainties remaining to be resolved about subterranean living. In this webinar, we will learn about the diversity of ways that bees live and reproduce belowground, and we’ll ponder some of those unsolved mysteries. We’ll also talk about how the belowground lifestyle affects threats to bees, such as exposure to pesticides and pathogens. This webinar will cover some bees you may be familiar with, such as bumble bees, but we’ll be focusing our time on soil-nesters who we generally know less about, including the many solitary bees that do not live in colonies.

    This October 19 webinar from 1 – 2 will be recorded and available on our YouTube channel. Closed Captioning will be available during this webinar.

    Learn more and register here today! Xerces Society speaker Leif Richardson is a conservation biologist who coordinates the California Bumble Bee Atlas project. His research focuses on the ecology, distribution, and declines of North American bumble bees. Leif previously worked as an environmental consultant, studying pesticide risk to bee pollinators, and as an ecologist for Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department. He is co-author of a range of scientific publications on bees, including Bumble Bees of North America: An Identification Guide (2014, Princeton University Press), the standard reference manual on this group of insects. He is an expert in the inventory and identification of bumble bees, and has extensive experience training others to collect bumble bee distribution data in the field. Leif holds a Master’s degree from the University of Arizona and a PhD from Dartmouth College.

  • Wednesday, January 11, 7:00 pm – Wasps: The Astonishing Diversity of a Misunderstood Insect, Online

    The Athol Bird & Nature Club presents a webinar of special interest to gardeners with author Eric Eaton on January 11 at 7 pm discussing his book Wasps: The Astonishing Diversity of a Misunderstood Insect. The book, published by Princeton University Press in 2021, is described as the ultimate visual journey into the beautiful and complex world of wasps. Wasps are far more diverse than the familiar yellowjackets and hornets that harass picnickers and build nests under the eaves of our homes. These amazing, mostly solitary creatures thrive in nearly every habitat on Earth, and their influence on our lives is overwhelmingly beneficial. Wasps are agents of pest control in agriculture and gardens. They are subjects of study in medicine, engineering, and other important fields. Wasps pollinate flowers, engage in symbiotic relationships with other organisms, and create architectural masterpieces in the form of their nests. This richly illustrated book introduces you to some of the most spectacular members of the wasp realm, colorful in both appearance and lifestyle. From minute fairyflies to gargantuan tarantula hawks, wasps exploit almost every niche on the planet. So successful are they at survival that other organisms emulate their appearance and behavior. The sting is the least reason to respect wasps and, as you will see, no reason to loathe them, either. To register, visit https://atholbirdclub.org/

  • Wednesday, October 20, 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm – The Other Darwin: Alfred Russel Wallace and the Origin of Species, Online

    Against all odds — lacking wealth, formal education, social standing or connections, Alfred Russel Wallace became the pre-eminent tropical explorer of his day, founding one entirely new discipline — evolutionary biogeography — and, with Darwin, co-founding another: evolutionary biology.

    With the 2023 centennial year of his birth approaching, join Harvard Alumni Travels online as we trace the epic trajectory of Wallace’s life and thinking, from his meteoric rise in the 19th century to his virtual eclipse in the 20th. Along the way we’ll explore the ups and downs of Wallace’s relationship with Darwin, and critically evaluate the ‘conspiracy theories’ that Wallace was wronged by Darwin and his circle over credit for the discovery of natural selection.

    Jim Costa is a long-time Research Associate in Entomology in the Museum of Comparative Zoology and HAA Travel Program Study Leader. As Executive Director of the Highlands Biological Station in Highlands, NC and Professor of Biology at Western Carolina University, he teaches biogeography and the history of evolutionary thinking. Jim has held fellowships at Harvard’s Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study and the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin, and was awarded the Wallace Medal in 2017. His books include The Annotated Origin (Harvard), Darwin’s Backyard: How Small Experiments Led to a Big Theory (W.W. Norton) and, most recently, An Alfred Russel Wallace Companion (Chicago). He is currently working on books elating to Darwin and Wallace for Princeton University Press.

    Space is limited and on a first come, first serve basis! Please note, this lecture will be recorded and shared with you. Register (free) HERE.

  • Tuesday, July 11, 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm – The First Honey Harvest

    Spring’s flowers produce a unique, light honey in New England, yet we are only just beginning to learn which flowers are the true sources for this liquid gold. On Tuesday, July 11 beginning at 1:30 pm, engage with harvesting tools and techniques to collect honey and beeswax together with The Best Bees Company team of bee experts, led by Noah Wilson-Rich, Ph.D. The event will take place at The Gardens at Elm Bank, 900 Washington Street in Wellesley.

    Noah Wilson-Rich, Ph.D. is a biologist, professor, NYTimes & LATimes contributor, two-time TEDx speaker, beekeeper, and author of The Bee: A Natural History published by Princeton University Press. Noah’s research focuses on bee immunology. Noah is the Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of The Best Bees Company, a beekeeping service that delivers, installs, and manages beehives for residential and commercial properties nation-wide. Proceeds from The Best Bees Company go toward research to improve bee health. This research is based out of the Urban Beekeeping Laboratory and Bee Sanctuary, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization in Boston’s South End. More information at bestbees.com and beesanctuary.org.

    Mass Hort member price $12, nonmembers $20. Register online at www.masshort.org or call 617-933-4973.  Image from www.brooklynhomesteader.com.

  • Tuesday, April 25, 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm – Bees in Springtime

    Bees pollinate dozens of plants that bloom in the springtime, so now is the time to set up beehives in gardens, on rooftops, at home or even at work. Engage with bee expert Noah Wilson-Rich, Ph.D. and a beekeepers from The Best Bees Company to learn how to set up habitat in springtime with bees in mind. This Massachusetts Horticultural Society event will take place at the Gardens at Elm Bank on Tuesday, April 25 from 1:30 – 3.

    Noah Wilson-Rich, Ph.D. is a biologist, professor, New York Times & Los Angeles Times contributor, two-time TEDx speaker, beekeeper, uncle, and author of The Bee: A Natural History published by Princeton University Press. Noah’s research focuses on bee immunology. Noah is the Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of The Best Bees Company, a beekeeping service that delivers, installs, and manages beehives for residential and commercial properties nation-wide. Proceeds from The Best Bees Company go toward research to improve bee health. This research is based out of the Urban Beekeeping Laboratory and Bee Sanctuary, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization in Boston’s South End.

    Mass Hort Member Cost: $12; Non Member Cost $20. Register online at www.masshort.org.

  • Saturday, January 21, 1:00 pm – Listening to a Continent Sing

    The Friends of Great Falls Discovery Center present Donald Kroodsma on Saturday, January 21 at 1 pm at their headquarters at 2 Avenue A in Turners Falls for a free lecture based on his book Listening to a Continent Sing: Birdsong by Bicycle from the Atlantic to the Pacific.  Birdsong expert Donald Kroodsma will discuss his ten week, ten state bicycle journey from the Atlantic to the Pacific, lingering and listening to our continent sing as no one has before.  On remote country roads, over terrain vast and spectacular, from dawn to dusk and sometimes through the night, he gained a deep appreciation for the natural symphony of birdsong many of us take for granted. Come along and marvel at how expressive these creatures are as Kroodsma leads you west across nearly 5,000 miles – at a leisurely pace that enables a deep listen.  For more information visit www.greatfallsdiscoverycenter.org.  The program is sponsored in part by a grant from the Montague Cultural Council, a local agency supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.