Category Archives: Educational

Educational, Pollinator Pathway of Addison County, Public

Pollinator Pathway of Addison County: Fireflies and Dark Skies

 

Do you love fireflies? Step into their enchanting world with Emily May, conservation biologist at the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation. Emily will explore the secret lives of these captivating creatures, and the roles that fireflies and other nocturnal insects play in our ecosystems. Learn about the effects of light pollution and how we can help – we all need darkness at night, for fireflies, birds, bats and mammals.

recorded 6/4/24 in Unity Hall at the Congregational Church of Middlebury, VT.

Producer: Pollinator Pathway of Addison County

At the Ilsley, Educational, Public

Extinction Dynamics of North America’s only Flightless Seabird: The Great Auk

 


Lucia Snyderman, Middlebury College research assistant
The Great Auk (Pinguinus impennis) was hunted to extinction in the year 1844. All that remains for us to piece together its extinction story are skins, bones, a few eggs, and historical testimonies. Investigating human-auk relationships and modeling extinction timing using a combination of historical and radiocarbon data across the seabird’s North Atlantic range provides insight into how its distribution contracted and why certain populations persisted longer than others. Studying the Great Auk’s range collapse also contextualizes trends for current seabirds in decline.

Producer: MCTV