Northeast Natural History Conference
April 21 – 23 | Burlington, Vermont
Check back for updates! (Last updated 3/26/2023)
FNEP Alumni and Faculty Reception
Jeffords Hall, 2nd and 3rd floor
Friday, April 21st | 5 – 7 pm
Please join us for a Friday evening gathering to celebrate FNEP alumni, students, and faculty. We are excited to welcome forty years of Field Naturalists to Jeffords Hall, the current headquarters of the program. This casual gathering is a chance to honor retiring faculty, meet current students, reconnect with alumni, and celebrate the lives and legacies of those no longer with us.
Food and drinks provided, courtesy of CALS and the Field Naturalist Program. Alumni need not attend the NE Natural History Conference to join this reception. We hope to see you there!
Keynote Program: The Biology of Climate Change
Thor Hanson (Cohort N)
“Polar bears on shrinking icebergs are a potent symbol of climate change biology, but anyone who spends time in nature knows that there is a lot more to the story. In this plenary, author and biologist Thor Hanson explores the fraught and fascinating ways that species are responding to the climate crisis. Drawing on current science and stories from his latest book, Hurricane Lizards and Plastic Squid, Hanson shows how plants and animals are moving, adapting, and even evolving in real time, and how the sum of their reactions will determine the future.” More Information
Alumni and Student Presentations & Abstracts
*Eagle Hill Institute’s conference organizers have done their best to arrange FNEP programming as parsimoniously as possible given the larger context and scheduling constraints around this conference. That said, there are instances when multiple FNEP alumni/student presentation sessions needed to be scheduled concurrently. Though not ideal, this was outside the FNEP Alumni Association’s control.
- Session: Bedrock to Birds: Dispatches from the Field of Natural History Education
- Alicia Daniel (E): Moderator; Let Them Eat Cake: Cooking up the Vermont Master Naturalist Program
- David Moroney & Evan Horne (AM): How to Train a Naturalist
- Heather Fitzgerald (Q): Teaching What We Need to Learn
- Teage O’Connor (Z10): Invasive Species as a Conduit for Connection
- Thor Hanson (O): The Storytelling of Science
- Rosemary Mosco (Z10): Pigeon Watching: How it can Make You A Better Naturalist (Really)
- Kate Burnaby Wright (P): Rewilding Our Narratives
- Carly Brown (AC): “Wait, We’re Going Outside Today?:” How using Natural Phenomena Can Bridge the Classroom and the Outdoors
- Sessions: Ferns of the Northeast / Why Ferns Grow Where They Do
- Cathy Paris & Dave Barrington (Faculty): Moderators
- Dave Barrington (Faculty): Polyploidy in New England Ferns
- Michael Sundue (Faculty): New Names for North American Hay-Scented Ferns
- Session: Mammal Surveys
- Sophie Mazowita (AC): Comparing Camera Traps and Track and Sign Surveys for Mammal Detection
- Session: Peatland Ecology
- Grace Glynn (AJ): Moderator
- Laura Hatmaker (AK): Two Domes Diverged at a Stream: A Coastal Raised Bog
- Nancy Olmstead (AC): Maine’s Freshwater Peatlands
- Session: Every Cog and Wheel: Celebrating, Cataloging, and Protecting VT Biodiversity
- Bob Zaino (X8) Vermont Conservation Design
- Liz Thompson (Faculty): Moderator
- Matt Peters: Red Cedar Woodlands in Vermont: An Overlooked Form of Old Growth
- Session: Biodiversity Conservation in Context: From Global to Local
- Liz Thompson (Faculty): Moderator
- Susan Hindinger (N): The Vermont Atlas of Life
- Session: Catamounts: Extirpation & Restoration—Past, Present, and Future
- Shelby Perry (AF): Determining Puma Habitat Suitability in the Eastern US
- Session: The Field Naturalist Program: Connecting Conservation Needs with Moxie
- Charlotte Cadow (AL): Black Ash Community Conservation
- Dylan O’Leary (AL): Restoration Prioritization in the Sagebrush Sea: Geospatial Techniques and Ground Truthing
- Erica Hample (AL): Montpelier PLACE: Ecological Assessment, Management, and Connection in Vermont’s Capital City
- Hayley Kolding (AL): What First: Spring and Stream Conservation on a Half-Million Acre Ranch
- Sonya Kaufman (AL): Forest Health in the Ossipee and Waterboro Pine Barrens
Field Walks (Friday, April 21)
- Alicia Daniel (Cohort E) | An Integrated Landscape Approach to Rock Point
- Bob Zaino (X8), Eric Sorenson, and Liz Thompson (Faculty) | Niquette Bay State Park
- Grace Glynn (AJ) & Jill Bubier (E) | Colchester Bog
- Sean Beckett (AG) | Lake Champlain Waterfowl Watch
- Stephen Wright (Faculty) | Geology of Mount Philo
- Teage O’Connor (Z10) | Landscape Interpretation 101
Financial Assistance to attend conference
The FNEP Alumni Association still have some funds remaining to support alumni in offsetting conference registration costs. Please reach out to us if you are interested in financial support.
fnepalumni.com 