Boston Flora

Tag: University of Vermont

  • Wednesday, April 5, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – How Native Plant Cultivars Affect Pollinators

    On Wednesday, April 5 at 7 pm at the Cambridge Public Library, 449 Broadway in Cambridge, Grow Native Massachusetts presents a free talk by Annie White, a Landscape Designer and University of Vermont Adjunct Professor.

    Initiatives to address pollinator decline are widespread and native plants are the preferred choice for pollinator habitat restoration. The growing demand for natives, coupled with a longstanding desire of horticulturalists for enhanced bloom, color, or other characteristics, has led to the increased selection and breeding of native cultivars. Although these cultivars are typically marketed for their ecological benefits, until now there have been no scientific studies to support or refute these claims. So are native cultivars as valuable in pollinator habitat gardens as the true native species?

    Annie White will help answer this question by sharing the results of four years of field data. Her research is groundbreaking and remarkable. She is the founder of Nectar Landscape Design Studio and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Vermont. She earned her MS in Landscape Architecture from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her recent PhD in Plant & Soil Science from the University of Vermont was focused on this exceptional new research on native plant cultivars. For more information visit http://grownativemass.org.

  • Friday, March 27, 12:20 pm – 1:10 pm – Red Foxes in the Arid Steppes of Mongolia: Ecology of a Declining Carnivore and Impacts of Landscape Change

    The University of Massachusetts Amherst College of Natural Sciences announces the Department of Environmental Conservation Spring 2015 Seminar Series, to be held Fridays from 12:20 – 1:10 in Holdsworth Hall Room 105.  On Friday, March 27 hear James Murdoch of University of Vermont discuss Red Foxes in the Arid Steppes of Mongolia: Ecology of a Declining Carnivore and Impacts of Landscape Change.  For more information contact Brett Butler at bbutler@eco.umass.edu.

  • Tuesday, February 17, 6:00 pm – Whale Conservation and the Future of the Oceans

    Whales have long been valued as a source of oil and whalebone. Treated as a commodity throughout history, they are increasingly recognized for their complex forms of communication, even culture, and the ecological role they play in the ocean. Joe Roman, Sarah and Daniel Hrdy Fellow in Conservation Biology, Harvard University, and Fellow at the Gund Institute for Ecological Economics at University of Vermont, will discuss the history and future of whales in the world’s oceans, drawing from historical archives, DNA analyses, ecological studies of whale carcasses in the deep sea, and the effects of whale fecal plumes on ocean productivity. He will explain why conserving great whales is essential for the welfare of marine ecosystems. This Harvard Museum of Natural History lecture and book signing on Tuesday, February 17 beginning at 6 pm is free and open to the public. The event will be held in the Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street in Cambridge, and free event parking is available at the 52 Oxford Street Garage.

  • Thursday, November 6, 12:00 noon – 1:00 pm – Invasive Species: Causes, Consequences, and Solutions

    Invasive species are a leading component of environmental change. Some of the main challenges in invasive species research are understanding the causes of species invasions, their consequences in the invaded range, and solutions for invasive species management. This talk on Thursday, November 6 will combine principles from ecology and economics to understand causes, consequences and solutions to invasive species management.

    Rebecca Irwin is an Associate Professor in the Biology Department at Dartmouth College. Dr. Irwin’s research focuses on the ecology and evolution of multiple-species interactions, pollination biology, and species invasions. She received a B.A. in Biology from Middlebury College, and she holds a PhD in Ecology and Evolution from the University of Vermont. Her research is well funded, having received numerous grants from the National Science Foundation as well as other organizations. Her impressive publication record includes articles in top journals such as Ecology, Ecology Letters, and PNAS.

    Lunch & Learn lectures take place every Thursday from 12:00-1:00pm at the Lincoln Filene Center, Rabb Room on the Medford Campus during the academic year. The Tufts Institute of the Environment generously sponsors lunch. If you are interested in participating in the Lunch & Learn program as a guest lecturer/participant, contact environmentalstudies@tufts.edu.

    You can’t make it to the talk? No problem! Watch it live here from your computer or smart phone.

  • Tuesday, April 3, 6:00 pm – Learning From Insects: How Our World is Shaped by Bees, Ants, and Other Social Insects

    Discover why many of the world’s top scientists have devoted their careers to the study of social insects in Learning From Insects: How Our World is Shaped by Bees, Ants, and Other Social Insects, a dialogue and booksigning with Thomas Seeley, Biology Professor at Cornell, and Bernd Heinrich, Profession Emeritus at the University of Vermont, on Tuesday, April 3, at 6:00 pm at the Harvard Museum of Natural History in Cambridge. Moderated by Professor Naomi Pierce, Curator of Lepidoptera in the MCZ at Harvard. The speakers will discuss their research and why it’s critical that we study and learn from insects.

    Following the presentation, there will be reception and book signing in the Museum’s galleries. Cosponsored with Harvard University Press. Free and open to the public. Free parking available in the 52 Oxford Street garage.  For more information, visit www.hmnh.harvard.edu.