News

November 29, 2016

Winter 2017 Outdoors-Indoors Schedule Announced

The Laurentian Chapter will present 3 programs on its Outdoors-Indoors series this winter:

Jan 22: Three weeks living in an Albatross colony on Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge
Feb 26: Cloud forest birding in Montane Ecuador (Originally scheduled for February 19)
Mar 12: Conservation in Protected Areas: From Central Africa to the North Country

Three weeks living in an Albatross colony on Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge
Sunday, January 22, 7:00 pm, Potsdam Civic Center Community Room
Presented by Danielle Jerry

In December 2014, I volunteered to count albatross nests on Midway Atoll NWR with about 20 others.  It was an other worldly experience and I quickly learned to avoid stepping on Laysan and Black-footed albatrosses nesting virtually everywhere. (Although I did collide with one on my bicycle in an empty huge parking lot with it running to launch itself …. under my tire) Albatrosses have fascinating life histories including an amazing love of dance.   I will share some of my pictures, videos and stories.

Danielle Jerry (and her husband Bob Platte) moved to Potsdam in October 2015 after retiring from a 35 year Federal career as a wildlife biologist   and manager in California, Idaho, and 29 years working for the the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Alaska.  Her motivation for choosing Potsdam was to satisfy a childhood dream to own horses, to live closer to her families’ Adirondack property near Speculator, to continue a passion for cross country skiing, and because Potsdam is a university town.  Fortunately, Bob decided that he too would learn to horseback ride and would satisfy his childhood music passion (clarinet and saxophone) and join the New Horizons Band.  

Cloud forest birding in Montane Ecuador
Sunday, February 26, 7:00 pm, Potsdam Civic Center Community Room
(Originally scheduled for February 19)

Presented by Tom Wheeler

Ecuador, a country only twice the size of New York, has more than 1600 identified species of birds including over 130 species of hummingbird.   Located near the equator, the capital Quito is located at 9350 feet elevation near the Pichincha volcano in a plateau between the two cordilleras of the Andes Mountains which pass through the country.    Quito’s historic center is a Unesco world heritage cultural site.     We will present pictures and experiences from birding the cloud forests of Ecuador and include scenes from Quito’s historic center.   

Tom and his wife Eileen enjoy birding and find it a great excuse to visit foreign countries.   His involvement with the Adirondacks includes three years as president of ADK, three years as President of the 46ers, and his present position as chair of Laurentian Chapter.   In addition, he has authored three chapters in the award winning “Heaven Up-h’istedness” antholology and an article and columns in Adirondac and Adirondack Peeks magazines.

Conservation in Protected Areas: From Central Africa to the North Country
Sunday, March 12, 7:00 pm, Potsdam Civic Center Community Room
Presented by Jessica Rogers

Protected areas in the Congo forest in Central Africa have been called upon to do the same things as conservation easements in the North Country: protect our land and its uses for now and the future. Jessica Rogers studied protected areas in Gabon and expanded  her research to all of the forested protected areas of Central Africa. Join us for a discussion of the state of protected areas in Central Africa and around the world, and what we can do in our own backyard.

Dr. Jessica Rogers, a North Country native, has returned after receiving her undergraduate degree at Princeton University and her masters and PhD at Columbia University. She is currently an Assistant Professor in Biology/Environmental Studies at SUNY Potsdam. Her research interests are landscape conservation, more traditionally through deforestation changes in protected areas using GIS (Geographic Information Systems), as well as examining practical methods of conservation in the North Country.

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