Make a WISE Gift
Our New England landscape hosts many non-indigenous species, some of which are capable of disrupting long-established ecological communities. By considering some of the ‘most wanted’ problematic newcomers (case studies could include jumping worms, spotted lantern flies, Asiatic bittersweet or many others), we will explore the characteristics that allow an organism to take over, implications for our native species and habitats, strategies for living with or controlling invasive species, and what to look out for (climate change, anyone?). Come away with a deeper understanding of local landscapes in the short- and long term, the players and partnerships in them, and how we can support them.
INSTRUCTOR: Martha Gach is Regional Education Manager for Central Massachusetts and the Conservation Coordinator at Mass Audubon’s Broad Meadow Brook in Worcester. She designed and manages the sanctuary’s abundant gardens for wildlife, pollinators, and water quality, overseeing ecological management within the rest of the 435-acre urban wildlife sanctuary. Dr. Gach holds her AB from Washington University in St. Louis and PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from The University of Michigan.
NO REQUIRED BOOKS
Worcester Institute for Senior Education (WISE)Assumption University, 500 Salisbury Street, Worcester MA 01609 wise@assumption.edu 508-767-7513