The public is invited to the semester-long Distinguished Lecturer lunchtime series titled “The Restoration Agenda: Focus on Plants” at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies (F&ES), now underway. The next speaker is Jon Kusler, executive director of the Association of State Wetland Managers, who will speak Feb. 10, on”Wetland Restoration: Do We Know What We’re Doing?”
The weekly Wednesday talks are from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Bowers Auditorium at Sage Hall, 205 Prospect St. Bring a brownbag lunch for the discussion following his talk. For registration information, contact Aimlee D. Laderman, Ph.D., lecturer in wetland ecology and research affiliate at the F&ES, telephone 432-3335, or e-mail aimlee.laderman@yale.edu.
Kusler, who also is president of J.A. Kusler and Associates, an environmental policy-consulting firm, is a writer, educator and administrator with 30 years of experience working with issues in water resources management and the management of water-related lands. He holds numerous degrees, including a Ph.D. in land and water use management, a M.S. in water resources management, a J.D. in law and a B.S. in English and geology.
Kusler comes to Yale shortly after leading a Feb. 3-4 national workshop on “Wetlands and Climate Change.” He will discuss the tolerance of plants to changes in precipitation and temperature, and whether organisms migrate fast enough to allow for reestablishment when displaced from a habitat.
Students will become involved in designing four Restoration Training Workshops for the Environmental Protection Agency dealing with what state and local people need to know when planning habitat restoration and how restoration sites are identified. These training workshops will form the basis for a national Restoration Manual designed to update what has been learned in the 10 years since the publication of “Wetland Creation and Restoration: Status of the Science,” co-edited by Kusler and Mary Kentula.
Students also will be invited to assist in preparing materials for a wetland environmental law workshop being organized by Kusler to be held June 1999 in Annapolis, Md.
This is the fourth year for Yale School of Forestry “Restoration Agenda” lecture series. Co-sponsored by the Society for Ecological Restoration and the New Haven Land Trust, the lectures are designed to be of particular value to people involved in all aspects of natural resource management.
Lunchtime discussions following the talks provide an informal forum to encourage interaction among community members, government officials, and Yale students and faculty. With additional support from the Watershed Fund of the Regional Water Authority and Roots Inc., the lectures present state-of-the-art perspectives on the prevention and repair of environmental degradation.
