The Conservation Lecture Series
Writers, Scientists, Filmmakers, Conservationists, Historians Speak to the Public at NCTC
The National Conservation Training Center invites prominent conservationists, writers, historians, scientists, filmmakers, and educators to discuss their work to a broad and interested public. All talks are held at the Byrd Auditorium at the National Conservation Training Center. No tickets or reservations are required, the public is encouraged to attend. If you would like more information on the speaker series contact: Mark Madison, (304) 876-7276, mark_madison@fws.gov.
Cristina Eisenberg
Author, Conservation Biologist
The Wolf's Tooth: Keystone Predators, Trophic Cascades, and Biodiversity
Thursday April 19, 2012 at 7:00 pm
In The Wolf's Tooth, scientist and author Cristina Eisenberg explores the concept of "trophic cascades" and the role of top predators in regulating ecosystems. Her fascinating and wide-ranging work provides clear explanations of the science surrounding keystone predators and considers how this notion can help provide practical solutions for restoring ecosystem health and functioning. Eisenberg examines both general concepts and specific issues, sharing accounts from her own fieldwork to illustrate and bring to life the ideas she presents. She considers how resource managers can use knowledge about trophic cascades to guide recovery efforts, including how this science can be applied to move forward the bold vision of rewilding the North American continent. In the end, the author provides her own recommendations for local and landscape-scale applications of what has been learned about interactive food webs. Cristina Eisenberg is a conservation biologist at Oregon State University, College of Forestry, and Boone and Crockett Fellow who studies how wolves affect forest ecosystems throughout the West.
The presentation is free and open to the public. No tickets or reservations are required. It is part of a monthly series of "NCTC Conservation Lectures” held at the National Conservation Training Center. For more information please contact Mark Madison at (304) 876-7276 or mark_madison@fws.gov or check out our web page at: http://nctc.fws.gov/history/publiclectures.html
Scott Weidensaul
Author, Ornithologist
Living on the Wind: Across the Hemisphere with Migratory Birds
Wednesday, May 2, 2012 at 7:00 pm
Bird migration is the world's only true unifying natural phenomenon, stitching the continents together in a way that even the great weather systems fail to do. Scott Weidensaul follows awesome kettles of hawks over the Mexican coastal plains, bar-tailed godwits that hitchhike on gale winds 7,000 miles nonstop across the Pacific from Alaska to New Zealand, and myriad songbirds whose numbers have dwindled so dramatically in recent decades. Migration paths form an elaborate global web that shows serious signs of fraying, and Weidensaul delves into the tragedies of habitat degradation and deforestation with an urgency that brings to life the vast problems these miraculous migrants now face. Living on the Wind is a magisterial work of nature writing.
Author and naturalist Scott Weidensaul has written more than two dozen books on natural history, including Living on the Wind: Across the Hemisphere with Migratory Birds, a Pulitzer Prize finalist; The Ghost with Trembling Wings, about the search for species that may or may not be extinct; and Of a Feather: A Brief History of American Birding. His newest book, The First Frontier: The Forgotten History of Struggle, Savagery and Endurance in Early America, will be published in February 2012.
Weidensaul lectures widely on wildlife and environmental topics, and is an active field researcher, specializing in birds of prey and hummingbirds. He lives in the Appalachians of eastern Pennsylvania, the heart of the old colonial frontier.
American Conservation Film Festival
Filmmakers, Films, and Discussions
November 1-4, 2012
