The National Conservation Training Center invites prominent conservationists, writers, historians, scientists, filmmakers, and educators to discuss their work with a broad and interested public.

If you would like more information on the speaker series contact: Mark Madison, 304-876-7276, mark_madison@fws.gov.

These talks are co-sponsored by The Friends of the NCTC.

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Recorded Sessions in Alpha Order

“A Road Running Southward: Following John Muir's Journey through an Endangered Land” With author Dan Chapman

Details:  In 1867, John Muir set out on foot to explore the botanical wonders of the South, keeping a detailed journal of his adventures as he traipsed from Kentucky southward to Florida. One hundred and fifty years later, on a similar whim, veteran Atlanta reporter Dan Chapman, distressed by sprawl-driven environmental ills in a region he loves, recreated Muir’s journey to see for himself how nature has fared since Muir’s time. Channeling Muir, he uses humor, keen observation, and a deep love of place to celebrate the South’s natural riches. But he laments that a treasured way of life for generations of Southerners is endangered as long-simmering struggles intensify over misused and dwindling resources. Chapman seeks to discover how Southerners might balance surging population growth with protecting the natural beauty Muir found so special.
Chapman delves into the region’s natural history, moving between John Muir’s vivid descriptions of a lush botanical paradise and the myriad environmental problems facing the South today. A Road Running Southward paints a picture of a South under siege. It is a passionate appeal, a call to action to save one of the loveliest and most biodiverse regions of the world by understanding what we have to lose if we do nothing.

Dan Chapman is a longtime writer, reporter, and lover of the outdoors. He grew up in Washington D.C. and Tokyo, the son of a newspaperman and an English teacher. He worked for Congressional Quarterly, The Winston-Salem Journal, The Charlotte Observer, and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He has also reported from Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. He currently writes stories about conservation in the South for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He lives in Decatur, Georgia with his wife and their two boys. This is his first (published) book.

Recorded: February 23, 2023

Duration: 72 minutes

A Towering Task: The Story of the Peace Corps

Details: FWS historian Mark Madison host a recorded interview with producer/director Alana DeJoseph and screenwriter Shana Kelly on their documentary film "A Towering Task: The Story of the Peace Corps". This interview is part of the NCTC Conservation Lecture series.

Narrated by Annette Bening, A Towering Task tells the remarkable story of the Peace Corps and takes viewers on a journey of what it means to be a global citizen. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy gave Americans the opportunity to serve their country in a new way by forming the Peace Corps. Since then, more than 200,000 Volunteers have traveled to more than 140 countries to carry out the organization's mission of international cooperation. Nearly 60 years later, Americans - young and old alike - still want to serve their country and understand their place in the world; current volunteers work at the forefront of some of the most pressing issues facing the global community. Yet the agency has struggled to remain relevant amid sociopolitical change. More than once it had to fight for its very existence, and now - between pandemics, climate change climate change
Climate change includes both global warming driven by human-induced emissions of greenhouse gases and the resulting large-scale shifts in weather patterns. Though there have been previous periods of climatic change, since the mid-20th century humans have had an unprecedented impact on Earth's climate system and caused change on a global scale.

Learn more about climate change , and a rise in nationalist sentiment - the Peace Corps is again confronting a crisis of identity: What role should it play around the world and in the lives of engaged citizens?  For more information, please visit:
https://www.peacecorpsdocumentary.com

Recorded: May 4, 2023

Duration: 40 minutes

This recording has followed guidelines of creating an accessible (section 508 compliant) video.

Advancing Environmental DNA with Dr. Cheryl Morrison

This program was recorded in the Byrd Auditorium at the National Conservation Training Center in Shepherdstown, WV, on October 24th with Dr. Cheryl Morrison.

The emerging field of Environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis allows characterization of species presence and community biodiversity by identifying trace amounts of genetic material left behind as organisms move through their environments. The USGS is working with partners to refine and standardize eDNA techniques and analyses across the U.S. and globally. At the Eastern Ecological Science Center (EESC), eDNA applications include early detection of invasive species invasive species
An invasive species is any plant or animal that has spread or been introduced into a new area where they are, or could, cause harm to the environment, economy, or human, animal, or plant health. Their unwelcome presence can destroy ecosystems and cost millions of dollars.

Learn more about invasive species , rare and imperiled species, exploration of the largest habitat on earth - the deep-sea, plus characterization and monitoring of coral habitats impacted by the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. Learn how this promising new technique is providing a broadened perspective on exploration, mapping, and monitoring of aquatic life to sustain and restore biological resources into the future.

Dr. Cheryl Morrison is a Supervisory Research Geneticist at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Eastern Ecological Science Center at the Leetown Research Laboratory. Dr. Morrison leads a Population Genomics Group within the Species Population Dynamics and Surveillance Capability Team with a broad focus on population dynamics and species conservation. Dr. Morrison is a member of the National Ocean Mapping Exploration and Characterization Interagency Working Group and the Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology Interagency biodiversity and eDNA working groups, the latter of which recently published a National Aquatic Environmental DNA Strategy.

Throughout her career, Dr. Morrison has studied deep-sea ecosystems in the Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and is excited about the new perspective eDNA technology brings to these studies. Dr. Morrison completed her Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from Florida State University and her B.S. in Marine Biology from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

Date Recorded:  October 24, 2024

Bird Collisions With Communication Towers: How We Can Reduce the Risks and Save Money

Details:  Every year an estimated 6.6 million birds collide with communication towers in the U.S. Fortunately, cost-saving methods can reduce the number of bird collisions by as much as 70%. Together, tower owners and bird conservation enthusiasts can embrace this win-win and save both money and birds. Dr. Joelle Gehring is a Biologist in the Division of Bird Conservation, Permits, and Regulations in the Migratory Bird Program of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (2020 – present). Prior to joining the Service, she worked for the Federal Communications Commission (2012-2020) where she conducted environmental review and worked with tower operators to minimize bird collisions with communications towers and adverse effects to protected species. From 2005 – 2012, Dr. Gehring was a Senior Conservation Scientist with Michigan State University (MSU) where she designed and supervised a multi-year, landscape-scale study of the variables associated with bird collisions at communications towers. While with MSU she also studied wildlife interactions with wind energy facilities and used those data to improve turbine siting. Throughout her career, Dr. Gehring has used science and stakeholder input to develop and disseminate information on mainstreaming and cost-effective methods to reduce wildlife-human conflicts. Dr. Gehring completed her Ph.D. in Wildlife Ecology at Purdue University, M.S. in Wildlife and Fisheries Resources at West Virginia University, and her B.S., in both Biology and Wildlife Management at the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point. Dr. Gehring has a wonderful son who is studying conservation biology at Central Michigan University.

Presenter:  Dr. Joelle Gehring, Biologist, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Recorded:  May 12, 2022

Duration:  58 Minutes

This recording has followed guidelines of creating an accessible (section 508 compliant) video.

Climate Change & Appalachian Stream Fishes: Where Are the Resiliencies and Risks

Details: Dr. Nathaniel (Than) Hitt is a local fish biologist who studies freshwater fish ecology and conservation from a landscape perspective, focusing on stream ecosystems in the Appalachian highlands. Appalachian streams support some of the most biologically diverse fish communities on the planet, and new research is underway to anticipate the effects of climate change climate change
Climate change includes both global warming driven by human-induced emissions of greenhouse gases and the resulting large-scale shifts in weather patterns. Though there have been previous periods of climatic change, since the mid-20th century humans have had an unprecedented impact on Earth's climate system and caused change on a global scale.

Learn more about climate change on these important ecological, cultural, and economic resources. Dr. Hitt will highlight the importance of groundwater for stream fishes in a changing climate and the importance of brook trout conservation for future generations.

Presenter(s): Dr. Nathaniel (Than) Hitt

Date recorded: September 7, 2023

Duration:  68 minutes

This recording has followed the guidelines of creating an accessible (section 508 compliant) video.

"Compelled: The Evolution of Natural Resource Conservation and Law” with author Dale Hall

Details:  author and former Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, H. Dale Hall, will present a lecture on his new book “Compelled: The Evolution of Natural Resource Conservation and Law” at the National Conservation Training Center, Byrd Auditorium, 698 Conservation Way, Shepherdstown, WV.

“Compelled” unfolds the journey of a young U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist being thrust into the controversial world of national conservation issues and the methods used to resolve them. The evolution of conservation history is told through the eyes of a first-hand witness to the first court challenge to the U.S. Clean Water Act and its protection of Waters of the United States, the introduction of expertise in environmental contaminants to unveil the harm of environmental pollutants in federal water development projects, the history of how conservation in the United States was championed by hunters and anglers, the often painful history of the northern spotted owl and the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA), western water wars, and the complete story of the listing of the polar bear as America’s first threatened species under the ESA as a result of global warming. This epic journey also identifies the only real pathway to solving these complex issues: by opening the door for cooperative efforts and building trust between seemingly opposing interests.
H. Dale Hall has more than forty years of professional experience in fish and wildlife resource management in both the federal and private sectors. He served over thirty years in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, with duties reaching across the U.S. In the course of those assignments, Hall worked on nearly every high-profile environmental issue in America. A fisheries and wetlands biologist by training, Hall spent significant time working on the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act. In his last three and a half years with the FWS, he was nominated by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the U.S. Senate to be Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Following retirement from federal service, Hall was CEO of Ducks Unlimited, Inc., for over nine years. During that time, the organization raised more than $2.3 billion and conserved more than two million acres of wetlands, grasslands, and waterfowl habitat.

At the end of this presentation, Historian Mark Madison interview Dale Hall.

Recorded: January 23, 2023

Duration: 78 minutes

Crossings: How Road Ecology Is Shaping the Future of Our Planet

Details: Discussion with author Ben Goldfarb, on his new book Crossings:  How Road Ecology Is Shaping the Future of Our Planet, named one of the best books of 2023 by the New York Times.

Some 40 million miles of roadways encircle the earth, yet we tend to regard them only as infrastructure for human convenience. While roads are so ubiquitous, they’re practically invisible to us, wild animals experience them as entirely alien forces of death and disruption. In Crossings, environmental journalist Ben Goldfarb travels throughout the United States and around the world to investigate how roads have transformed our planet. A million animals are killed by cars each day in the U.S. alone, but as the new science of road ecology shows, the harms of highways extend far beyond roadkill. Creatures from antelope to salmon are losing their ability to migrate in search of food and mates; invasive plants hitch rides in tire treads; road salt contaminates lakes and rivers; and the very noise of traffic chases songbirds from vast swaths of habitat.

Yet road ecologists are also seeking to blunt the destruction through innovative solutions. Goldfarb meets with conservationists building bridges for California’s mountain lions and tunnels for English toads, engineers deconstructing the labyrinth of logging roads that web national forests, animal rehabbers caring for Tasmania’s car-orphaned wallabies, and community organizers working to undo the havoc highways have wreaked upon American cities.

Today, as our planet’s road network continues to grow exponentially, the science of road ecology has become increasingly vital. Written with passion and curiosity, Crossings is a sweeping, spirited, and timely investigation into how humans have altered the natural world—and how we can create a better future for all living beings.

Presenter: Ben Goldfarb

Bob is an independent conservation journalist and author of Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter, winner of the 2019 PEN / E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award. His writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Science, The New York Times, The Washington Post, National Geographic, Orion Magazine, High Country News, Outside Magazine, Smithsonian, Audubon Magazine, Scientific American, and other publications. Goldfarb's non-fiction has been anthologized in The Best American Science & Nature Writing and Cosmic Outlaws: Coming of Age at the End of Nature. 

Date Recorded: February 13, 2023

Duration: 58 minutes

This recording has followed the guidelines of creating an accessible (section 508 compliant) video.

Defending the Arctic Refuge: A Photographer, an Indigenous Nation, and a Fight for Environmental Justice

This talk is as part of NCTC’s Conservation Lecture Series, which is cosponsored by The Friends of the NCTC. 

Details: Author Finis Dunaway will talk about his recent book, “Defending the Arctic Refuge: A Photographer, an Indigenous Nation, and a Fight for Environmental Justice” (2021). Tucked away in the northeastern corner of Alaska, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is one of the most contested lands in all of North America. Considered sacred by Indigenous peoples in Alaska and Canada and treasured by environmentalists, the refuge provides life-sustaining habitat for caribou, polar bears, migratory birds, and other species. The potential presence of oil and gas resources beneath the refuge's coastal plain has made this land the focus of ongoing controversy. "Defending the Arctic Refuge" reveals how unlikely activists, diverse alliances, and grassroots visual culture helped build a political movement that transformed the issue into a struggle for environmental justice. The talk will share stories from the book, feature images from Arctic lands and communities, and trace the history of a movement that is still alive today.

Presenter(s) and Affiliations: Finis Dunaway, Author and Historian

About Our Presenter: Finis Dunaway is professor of history at Trent University. He is the author of “Natural Visions: The Power of Images in American Environmental Reform” (2005) and “Seeing Green: The Use and Abuse of American Environmental Images” (2015). “Seeing Green” received the John G. Cawelti Award from the Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association and the History Division Book Award from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. His writings have also appeared in American Quarterly, Environmental History, and other scholarly journals and in the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, The Hill, Truthout, and the Globe and Mail.

Contact: Mark Madison (304-876-7276; mark_madison@fws.gov)

Recorded: March 2, 2022

Duration:  63 Minutes

Diving Palmyra Atoll: A photographic journey to one of the most isolated islands in the World

Details: The first part of the recording is an interview with photographer Ryan Hagerty.  He will then present "Diving Palmyra Atoll: A photographic journey to one of the most isolated islands in the World". 

Halfway between Hawaii and American Samoa lies the Palmyra Atoll National Wildlife Refuge. Palmyra consists of a circular string of about 26 islets nestled among several lagoons and encircled by 15,000 acres of shallow turquoise reefs and deep blue submerged reefs. It is the northernmost atoll in the Line Islands of the equatorial Pacific.
Palmyra Atoll National Wildlife Refuge was established in 2001, by the Secretary of the Interior. In 2009, the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument was established. Palmyra Atoll is one of seven National Wildlife Refuges within the Marine National Monument. Only Palmyra is open for public visitation.

The Monument represents one of the last frontiers of scientific discovery in the world and is a safe haven for Central Pacific biodiversity. The Monument and the national wildlife refuges within it protect entire ecosystems – from coral reefs to deep seamounts, abyssal plains, and volcanic features.

Presenter:  Ryan Hagerty, USFWS Photographer

Ryan is a West Virginia native and works as a photographer and videographer for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Ryan is a Senior Video Producer at the National Conservation Training Center and serves as the Regional Diving Safety Officer. He has been documenting fish and wildlife species around the country for the past 25 years. His specialty is underwater photography and videography in Appalachian rivers and streams.
In April of 2023, Ryan worked with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service dive team on a pilot project to control the invasive "crown-of-thorns" starfish and prevent an outbreak on the remote Palmyra Atoll.

Recorded:  October 5, 2023

Duration:  Interview 20 minutes/Presentation 42 minutes

This recording has followed the guidelines of creating an accessible (section 508 compliant) video.

Environmental Historian Char Miller on “Biology, Conservation, and the Administrative State in Late 19th and early 20th C America"

Details:  Pomona College Environmental Historian Char Miller will explore the links between federal scientists, economic development and the emergence of a more powerful nation-state in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Inside government, the cadre of researchers in the Biological Survey, such as C. Hart Merriam, Vernon Bailey, and Florence Merriam Bailey, identified, cataloged, and mapped the nation’s flora and fauna with an eye to ascertaining its economic value. In the academy, botanists like JM Coulter and his student William L. Bray—among many others—collaborated with the Biological Survey and other Bureaus to contribute to this larger project of marrying the scientific enterprise with the country’s growth and development. Their collective activism expanded the range and reach of these agencies, and was particularly propelled by the energetic TR who did not just establish the first wildlife refuges and vastly expand the number and size of national forests, but in doing so constructed what Brian Balogh calls the Administrative State.

Presenter: Char Miller, Author

Char Miller is the WM Keck Professor of Environmental Analysis and History at Pomona College and is author most recently of Hetch Hetchy: A History in Documents, co-editor of Theodore Roosevelt: Naturalist in the Arena and the Nature of Hope: Grassroots Organizing, Environmental Justice, and Political Change. Forthcoming is West Side Rising: How San Antonio’s 1921 Flood Devastated a City and Sparked a Latino Environmental Justice Movement and a biography of botanist/ecologist William L. Bray.

Recorded:  June 24, 2021

Duration: 57 Minutes

Glory of the National Parks with Jon Waterman

Details:  Author and explorer Jon Waterman presents a lecture and slide show on his new book Atlas of the National Parks, published by National Geographic.

Presenter:  Jon Waterman

Jon Waterman has worked as a wilderness guide and as a national park ranger, exploring—in boats, on foot, or on dogsleds—remote places and many of the 62 national parks. He has received numerous grants from the National Geographic Society Expeditions Council, and his award-winning writing and photography have appeared in numerous magazines and newspapers.  He has written 14 books on adventure and the environment, including the National Geographic Atlas of the National Parks (November 2019) and Chasing Denali (November 2018).  https://jonathanwaterman.com/books/atlas-of-the-national-parks

Recorded:  September 15, 2020

Duration:  51 Minutes

Howard Zahniser: "Champion for the Wilderness" Film Screening

Details:  Author and filmmaker Jeffrey Ryan will screen and discuss his new film, Howard Zahniser: Champion for the Wilderness. Howard Zahniser (1905-1964) was the primary author and lobbyist for the Wilderness Act. A writer, researcher, and radio scriptwriter for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from 1930-1942, he also served as Executive Secretary of The Wilderness Society, starting in 1945. For the next two decades, he was an eloquent advocate for America’s wilderness lands, dying just a few months before the Wilderness Act became law. 

Presenter:  Jeffrey Ryan

Maine-based author, filmmaker & speaker Jeffrey Ryan has a passion for exploring the outdoors on foot and along the dusty paths of history. His travels on thousands of miles of America’s most famous and lesser-known trails have inspired several books including Appalachian Odyssey: A 28-year Hike on America’s Trail and his 2019 historical novel entitled, Hermit: The Mysterious Life of Jim Whyte. Ryan’s interest in the history of America’s conservation movement led him to create a video series entitled Voices of the Wilderness, that showcase the enormous contributions of those who have advocated for the creation and protection of our wild lands. When he is not researching and writing, Ryan can be found exploring the backroads of the United States and Canada in his vintage 1985 VW camper.   https://www.jeffryanauthor.com/voices-of-the-wilderness 

Recorded:  July 7, 2020

Duration: 53 Minutes

Illuminating the Beleaguered Endangered Species Act for it's Public

Details: Author and Professor of Law Zygmunt Plater will discuss and present Illuminating the Beleaguered Endangered Species Act for Its Public.

Presenter: Zygmunt J. B. Plater is an author and also a law professor emeritus at Boston College. Plater has taught on eight law faculties in the U.S. and abroad, teaching and researching environmental law, property, land use and administrative agency law. Over the past 30 years he has been involved with multiple issues of environmental protection and land use regulation, including service as petitioner and lead counsel in the extended endangered species litigation and congressional battles over the Tennessee Valley Authority's Tellico Dam. He was chairman of the State of Alaska Oil Spill Commission’s Legal Task Force after the wreck of the M/V Exxon-Valdez.

Date Recorded:  March 11, 2024

Duration: 75 minutes

Injurious Wildlife Under the Misunderstood Lacey Act

Details:  What is the “Lacey Act” and how can it prevent invasions of injurious wildlife?

How can a conservation law from 1900 still be so relevant today?

The law commonly known as the “Lacey Act” has diverged over the years into two provisions, one of which is the Federal designation of injurious wildlife species. That purpose has always been to protect the United States from the introduction of invasive and otherwise harmful wildlife. Injurious listing prohibits the importation of wild vertebrates and some invertebrates that can cause harm to wildlife resources, humans, and other U.S. interests. However, most natural resource biologists and managers are more familiar with the more prominent provision of the “Lacey Act,” which tackles trafficking of wildlife and plants. What the “Lacey Act” is and isn’t and the difference between the injurious and trafficking provisions will be explained. The presentation will emphasize how the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service focuses on adding high-risk wildlife species to the Federal injurious list before they become established and how effective that has been in preventing the establishment of those injurious animals. Finally, the relevance of injurious wildlife listing to the COVID-19 pandemic may surprise you.

Presenter: Susan (Su) Jewell

Susan is the Injurious Wildlife Listing Coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, based in the headquarters in northern Virginia. She coordinates the regulatory listing of harmful wildlife species as injurious, which prohibits their importation. She is an authority on the 122-year history of injurious wildlife listing, known as part of the “Lacey Act”. Prior to her 12 years working on injurious wildlife, she spent 11 years with the Service’s Endangered Species program, and 12 years in the Everglades studying alligators, wading birds, fisheries, and ecosystem health. Su holds a B.S. in Wildlife Biology from the University of Vermont and a M.S. in Systematics and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Connecticut.

Host:  Randy Robinson, NCTC, USFWS

Recorded:  January 5, 2023

Duration: 63 minutes

Jack Davis on his book-The Bald Eagle The Improbable Journey of America’s Bird

Details:  The Pulitzer Prize-winning author will discuss his sweeping cultural and environmental history of the bald eagle in America.
The Bald Eagle forces us to reconsider the story of America through the lens of our relationship to the natural world. As Davis reveals, no other animal in American history, certainly no avian one, has been the simultaneous object of such adoration and cruelty as the bald eagle – first beloved and hailed as an emblem of the rarefied natural environment of North America, then hated, and, finally, revered and protected.
Taking us from before the nation’s founding, when Indigenous peoples lived peacefully beside the eagle, through two nearly inconceivable resurgences in the 20th century when it was – not once, but twice – nearly brought to extinction by hunting and DDT, Davis recounts a panoramic history of the bird and the icon, through nearly five centuries.
In resurrecting the voices of environmental prophets who warned against DDT; the efforts of a remarkable cast of bird advocates and rescuers who – state by state, nest by nest – climbed trees, rescued eggs, and reintroduced fledges into the wild; and finally, charting the ecological redemption born from bipartisan legislation, Davis reveals the glimmer of a potential path forward as we grapple with environmental peril on a larger scale. The Bald Eagle is, too, Davis notes, a tale of American values and while patriotism and environmentalism may seem at odds today, “in the American historical context they are complementary at their core.”

Presenter:  Jack E. Davis
Jack is the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Gulf: The Making of An American Sea and An Everglades Providence: Marjory Stoneman Douglas and the American Environmental Century. The Rothman Family Chair in the Humanities at the University of Florida, he lives in Florida and New Hampshire.

Date Recorded:  June 16, 2022

Duration: 57 Minutes

Make the World Safer for Birds and People: Fixing Lights and Windows

On Thursday, September 12, at 7:00 pm Dr. Joelle Gehring will present “Make the World Safer for Birds and People: Fixing Lights and Windows”. This public lecture will be held in the Byrd Auditorium at the National Conservation Training Center, 698 Conservation Way, Shepherdstown, WV 25443. 

Every year in the United States nearly one billion birds collide with lit structures and glass, mainly at low-rise buildings and homes. Light attracts migrating birds thereby increasing their risk of collisions with buildings and other structures. Fortunately, we can use easy and cost-saving solutions. By turning off unnecessary lights, closing curtains, and adding small, discrete patterns spaced 2-inches by 2-inches apart we can help birds and save money. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working with partners to reduce bird collisions at federal facilities and beyond. More and more people are taking steps to reduce collisions at their homes and businesses. Learn how you can join the growing flock and make a difference for birds and people.

Dr. Joelle Gehring is a Biologist in the Division of Bird Conservation, Permits, and Regulations in the Migratory Bird Program of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Dr. Gehring works to reduce bird collisions with communications towers, lights, and glass. She also leads the Council for the Conservation of Migratory Birds. Prior to joining the Service she worked for the Federal Communications Commission where she worked with tower operators to minimize bird collisions with communications towers. Dr. Gehring was a Senior Conservation Scientist with Michigan State University where she designed and supervised a multi-year, landscape scale study of bird collisions at communications towers. She also studied wildlife interactions with wind energy facilities and used those data to improve turbine siting. Throughout her career Dr. Gehring has used science and stakeholder input to develop and disseminate information on mainstreaming and cost-effective methods to reduce wildlife-human conflicts. Dr. Gehring completed her Ph.D. in Wildlife Ecology at Purdue University, her M.S. in Wildlife and Fisheries Resources at West Virginia University, and her B.S., in Biology and Wildlife Management at the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point. 

"Mexican Wolves: Back from the Brink" with Maggie Dwire

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Maggie Dwire will discuss "Mexican Wolves: Back from the Brink".  This is an online rebroadcast from the live version held in the Entry Auditorium at the National Conservation Training Center on Thursday, May 18, 2023.

Once extirpated from the wild and reduced to within 7 animals of extinction, the Mexican wolf is staging a remarkable comeback. A binational captive breeding program saved the subspecies from extinction and has grown to become one of the most reputable of its kind. Populations have been reintroduced into the wild in both the United States and Mexico, and the U.S. population reached more than 240 wolves in 2022. Once perilously close to extinction, the Mexican wolf is now in full pursuit of recovery, perhaps becoming known as one of the greatest success stories ever told under the Endangered Species Act.

Maggie Dwire is the Deputy Mexican Wolf Recovery Coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. With degrees in Biological Anthropology and Environmental Studies, Maggie started her career with the Service more than 20 years ago already focused on recovery of the Mexican wolf. Maggie’s responsibilities as Deputy Recovery Coordinator include recovery and management of the Mexican wolf both in the wild and as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's liaison to the binational captive breeding program.

Recorded:  May 26, 2023

Duration: 92 minutes

“Nature's Best Hope” with author Douglas Tallamy

Details:  The award-winning author and entomologist will discuss his new “Homegrown National Park” initiative.

Douglas W. Tallamy’s first book, “Bringing Nature Home”, awakened thousands of readers to an urgent situation: wildlife populations are in decline because the native plants they depend on are fast disappearing. His solution? Plant more natives.

In “Nature's Best Hope”, Tallamy takes the next step and outlines his vision for a grassroots approach to conservation. Nature’s Best Hope shows how homeowners everywhere can turn their yards into conservation corridors that provide wildlife habitats. Because this approach relies on the initiatives of private individuals, it is immune from the whims of government policy. Even more important, it’s practical, effective, and easy—you will walk away with specific suggestions you can incorporate into your own yard.

If you’re concerned about doing something good for the environment, Nature’s Best Hope is the blueprint you need. By acting now, you can help preserve our precious wildlife—and the planet—for future generations.

Presenter(s): Doug Tallamy

Doug Tallamy is the T. A. Baker Professor of Agriculture in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware, where he has authored 106 research publications and has taught insect related courses for 41 years. Chief among his research goals is to better understand the many ways insects interact with plants and how such interactions determine the diversity of animal communities.

His books include Bringing Nature Home, The Living Landscape, co-authored with Rick Darke, Nature's Best Hope, a New York Times Best Seller and, The Nature of Oaks, winner of the American Horticultural Society’s 2022 book award. In 2021 he cofounded the “Homegrown National Park” program with Michelle Alfandari. His awards include recognition from The Garden Writer’s Association, Audubon, The National Wildlife Federation, Allegheny College, The Garden Club of America and The American Horticultural Association.  

For more information on the “Homegrown National Park” initiative and Tallamy’s books visit: https://homegrownnationalpark.org

Date Recorded:  September 14, 2022

Duration:  76 Minutes

This recording has followed guidelines of creating an accessible (section 508 compliant) video.

Quantifying the Threat Posed by and Developing Sustainable Solutions for Invasive Spotted Lanternfly

Details: Dr. Leskey will present the spotted lanternfly life history and invasion patterns, current research on the host plants that are at injury risk (wine grapes) and those likely not to be impacted, how scientists monitor for their presence (traps and eDNA), and some sustainable solutions for their management (biological control, entomopathogenic fungi).

Presenter:  Tracy Leskey 

Tracy holds a Ph.D. in Entomology from the University of Massachusetts, a MS in Ecology from the Pennsylvania State University, and a BS from Wilson College. Dr. Leskey has been employed by the USDA-ARS, Appalachian Fruit Research Station in Kearneysville for over 20 years where she serves as Station Director and Research Entomologist. Her research has focused on the development of behaviorally based management tools for invasive and persistent native pests of fruit crops. She has published over 180 peer-reviewed journal articles and several patents. Dr. Leskey has been interviewed by the New York Times, Washington Post, and NPR on numerous occasions. Appeared live on Fox News and C-SPAN and has done several stories with National Geographic. She has served on the Governing Board of the Entomological Society of America and currently serves on the Board of Trustees at Wilson College.

Date Recorded: January 18, 2024

Duration: 47 minutes

This recording has followed the guidelines of creating an accessible (section 508 compliant) video.

Reintroducing Bald Eagles with FWS Biologist Craig Koppie

Details:  Craig will discuss his long term work with Bald Eagle reintroductions and current research on Eastern Golden Eagles.

Craig had an early fascination for wildlife, photography, climbing, and aviation, all of which helped to establish a 38 year career with the Department of Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He has worked most of his federal career as an endangered species biologist and eagle/raptor coordinator at the Chesapeake Bay Field Office in Annapolis, Maryland. Integrating science, education and public outreach into his life’s work has culminated in hundreds of acres of permanently protected lands for eagles through conservation easements or deed restrictions. In part, these contributions helped to support the Service’s Chesapeake Bay Bald Eagle Recovery goal of long term habitat protection.

Recorded: April 22, 2021

Duration:  75 Minutes

Return to Us: Restoring Alaska’s Eklutna River 

Details: This powerful documentary film describes the effort to restore the Eklutna River. Produced by Ryan Peterson, award winning filmmaker of Super Salmon, this 8-minute film reveals the intertwined histories of the Eklutna Dena’ina Native people and Pacific salmon. The beauty and tragedy of the Eklutna River, the dreams of the Eklutna people, and the tenacity of salmon are revealed in this film and the discussion to follow with Meiklejohn.

The Eklutna River near Anchorage, Alaska, is the scene of the most ambitious river restoration project ever attempted in the state. First dammed for hydropower production in the 1920’s, the Eklutna is now the subject of a major recovery effort to establish a free-flowing river to benefit salmon and the Eklutna Dena’ina tribe. Beginning in 2015, The Conservation Fund launched a $7.5 million project to remove the Lower Eklutna River dam. As described in the film “Return to Us” the project was completed in 2018 to open the river to salmon once again after 90 years.

According to Meiklejohn: “Removing the Eklutna River dam was easily the highwater mark of my 30 year conservation career. We have done a lot of good here in Alaska since 1994, but nothing else has generated anything close to the excitement, attention and eagerness to help that we found on this dam project. This project united people across all boundaries and persuasions to the task of fixing a broken river. People love fixing things, and especially now there is a thirst for helping Nature in real, tangible ways. At the Eklutna we are putting Humpty Dumpty back together after 90 years of being broken.”

Presenter:  Brad Meiklejohn has been with The Conservation Fund in Alaska since 1994. The Conservation Fund is a national land trust based in Arlington, Virginia. Brad has served on the Board of Directors of the Murie Center and the Alaska Avalanche School, is past president of the Patagonia Land Trust and the American Packrafting Association, and the recipient of the Olaus Murie Conservation Award from the Alaska Conservation Foundation.

Recorded:  March 4, 2021

Duration:  52 Minutes

The Land We Share: A Love Affair Told in Hunting Stories

Details: This program was previously recorded in the Byrd Auditorium at the National Conservation Training Center in Shepherdstown, WV on April 3rd with authors Christine Cunningham and Steve Meyer who presented their new book The Land We Share: A Love Affair Told in Hunting Stories.

Welcome to The Land We Share, where relationships and connections are forged through experiencing the migration of caribou, the winged movement of waterfowl, and misty mornings in the field. Here the too-short lives of good dogs intersect those of the people with whom they hunt for elusive birds and inspiration in the wild public lands of Alaska and the Dakotas. These essays are written by Steve Meyer, a lifelong hunter, and Christine Cunningham, a lifelong Alaskan who embraced hunting later in life. Accompanied by a family of bird dogs, the two authors delve into how hunting on public lands nurtures the human spirit, sustains physical health, and deepens appreciation for the natural world. Although most stories are set in Alaska and the Dakotas, their messages and themes resonate across the nation, appealing to both hunting advocates and those with a profound connection to the outdoors. The 61 short stories about a large family of bird dogs take place in beautiful settings with a resonant core of day-to-day appreciation for the natural world that nurtures the spirit, sustains health, and connects us to the land we share.

Date of Broadcast: April 18, 2024

Duration: 90 minutes

Ripple of Hope: 50 Years of the Endangered Species Act and Triumphs in Freshwater Mussel Conservation

Details:  Celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and learn more about freshwater mussel conservation innovations. The purpose of this event is to raise awareness of one of the most endangered groups of animals in the U.S. and share success stories about how the ESA has helped protect these rare animals. Recent technology advancements with 3D scanning and printing of freshwater mussel shell replicas will be demoed! 

To learn more about the 3D scanning technology and applications at NCTC and beyond, check out Preserving our Underwater Animal Heroes story.

Recorded: December 7, 2023

Duration: 113 minutes

Silent Spring at 60 with author Linda Lear

Details: Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, published in 1962, did more than any other single publication to alert the world to the hazards of environmental contaminants and to inspire a powerful environmental movement that would alter the course of American history. Join us online from the NCTC Studio where Dr. Mark Madison hosts an interview with author Linda Lear to discuss "Silent Spring at 60" and recall Rachel Carson’s 16-year career with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 

Linda Lear is the author of the acclaimed biography, Rachel Carson: Witness for Nature (1997), She is also the editor of Lost Woods: The Discovered Writing of Rachel Carson (1998) - a collection of Carson’s writings over the course of her life. Linda Lear is the author of numerous academic and popular articles on Carson, as well as the author of introductions to the 40th and 50th anniversary editions of Silent Spring. (2002, 2012). 

Lear's biography of Carson was awarded the prize for the best book on women in science by the History of Science Society in 1999. Chatham University (Carson’s alma mater) conferred an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters on Linda in 2008 for her research and writing on women in the environment. Lear’s research papers and adjunct collections dealing with Carson’s life, Carson’s friends and colleagues, and the controversy over Silent Spring form the core of the Lear/Carson Collection at The Linda Lear Center for Archives and Special Collections at Connecticut College in New London, CT. Lear is also the biographer of the English author, artist, and naturalist Beatrix Potter. Her prize-winning book, Beatrix Potter: A Life in Nature (2007) was published in the UK as Beatrix Potter: The Extraordinary Life of a Victorian Genius. (2008).

Recorded: December 8, 2022

Duration: 35 minutes

Silent Spring Revolution: John F. Kennedy, Rachel Carson, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, and the Great Environmental Awakening 

Details: New York Times bestselling author and acclaimed presidential historian Douglas Brinkley will chronicle the rise of environmental activism during the Long Sixties (1960-1973), telling the story of an indomitable generation that saved the natural world under the leadership of John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and Richard Nixon.

In Silent Spring Revolution, Douglas Brinkley pays tribute to those who combated the mauling of the natural world: Rachel Carson (marine biologist and author), David Brower (director of the Sierra Club), Barry Commoner (environmental justice advocate), Coretta Scott King (antinuclear activist), Stewart Udall (Secretary of the Interior), William O. Douglas (Supreme Court justice), Cesar Chavez (labor organizer), and other crusaders are profiled with verve and insight.

Carson’s book Silent Spring, published in 1962, depicted how detrimental DDT was to living creatures. The exposé launched an ecological revolution that inspired such landmark legislation as the Wilderness Act (1964), the Clean Air Acts (1963 and 1970), and the Endangered Species Acts (1966, 1969, and 1973). In intimate detail, Brinkley extrapolates on such epic events as the Donora (Pennsylvania) smog incident, JFK’s Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, Great Lakes preservation, the Santa Barbara oil spill, and the first Earth Day.

Dr. Douglas Brinkley is the Katherine Tsanoff Brown Chair in Humanities and Professor of History at Rice University, a CNN Presidential Historian, and a contributing editor at Vanity Fair. He has received seven honorary doctorates in American Studies. He works in many capacities in the world of public history, including for boards, museums, colleges and historical societies. Six of his books were named New York Times “Notable Books of the Year” and seven became New York Times bestsellers.

Presenter: Douglas Brinkley, Author

Recorded: December 14, 2023

Duration: 67 minutes

This recording has followed the guidelines of creating an accessible (section 508 compliant) video.

Tenacious Beasts: Wildlife Recoveries That Change How We Think About Animals

Details: The news about wildlife is dire—more than 900 species have been wiped off the planet since industrialization. Against this bleak backdrop, however, there are also glimmers of hope and crucial lessons to be learned from animals that have defied global trends toward extinction: bears in Italy, bison in North America, whales in the Atlantic. These populations are back from the brink, some of them in numbers unimaginable in a century. How has this happened? What shifts in thinking did it demand? In crisp, transporting prose, Christopher Preston reveals the mysteries and challenges at the heart of these resurgences.

Christopher James Preston is an award-winning writer based in Missoula, MT. Author of four books, his work has appeared in The Atlantic, Discover Magazine, Smithsonian, Aeon, and the BBC. He is a native of England but has lived the last three decades in the U.S. where he is energized by the wildlife and the large landscapes. In addition to writing, he is a college professor and has spent time as a commercial fisherman, a tool librarian, and a backcountry Park Service Ranger.

Date Recorded: August 28, 2024

The Devils Hole Pupfish: Survival, Extinction, and Environmental History in the US West

Details:  Author and wildland firefighter Kevin Brown will present “The Devils Hole Pupfish: Survival, Extinction, and Environmental History in the US West”. The Devils Hole pupfish (cyprinodon diabolis) is an endangered fish species confined to one small habitat east of Death Valley, in southern Nevada. Despite its small range and population size—which has never been more than a few hundred individuals—this species has been a frequent subject of scientific study since the early twentieth century. The Devils Hole pupfish also became one of the first controversial endangered species of the modern environmental era, with “Save the Pupfish” and “Kill the Pupfish” bumper stickers circulating around Nevada in the 1970s. Kevin Brown uses tools from environmental history to examine the pupfish’s past and explore what the species’ recent history can tell us about survival and extinction.

Kevin C. Brown is the author of Devils Hole Pupfish: The Unexpected Survival of an Endangered Species in the Modern American West (University of Nevada Press, 2021). He earned his PhD in history at Carnegie Mellon University and was a postdoctoral fellow in the Environmental Studies Program at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Brown first began writing about the Devils Hole pupfish while working as a researcher for the American Society for Environmental History and Death Valley National Park. He currently works as a wildland firefighter in California.

Devils Hole pupfish is one of the world’s rarest fishes, spending most of its life in the top 80 feet of the 93 degree waters of cavern in the middle of the Mojave Desert. Its habitat is one of the smallest natural ranges known for any vertebrate.

Date Recorded: February 2, 2022

Duration:  62 Minutes
 

The Home Place

Detail:  Author, naturalist, and Clemson University Wildlife Ecology Professor J. Drew Lanham gives an overview of his book, The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man’s Love Affair with Nature. Professor Lanham’s presentation describes a black naturalist’s improbable journey in a largely white field. 

Presenter:  J. Drew Lanham, a native of Edgefield, South Carolina, J. Drew Lanham is the author of The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man’s Love Affair with Nature, which received the Reed Award from the Southern Environmental Law Center and the Southern Book Prize and was a finalist for the John Burroughs Medal. He is a birder, naturalist, and hunter-conservationist who has published essays and poetry in publications including Orion, Audubon, Flycatcher, and Wilderness, and in several anthologies, including The Colors of Nature, State of the Heart, Bartram’s Living Legacy, and Carolina Writers at Home. An Alumni Distinguished Professor of Wildlife Ecology and Master Teacher at Clemson University, he and his family live in the Upstate of South Carolina, a soaring hawk’s downhill glide from the southern Appalachian escarpment that the Cherokee once called the Blue Wall.  https://jdlanham.wixsite.com/blackbirder 

Recorded: January 27, 2021

Duration: 60 Minutes

The National Geographic Atlas of Wild America” with author and National Geographic Explorer Jon Waterman

Details: Author and National Geographic Explorer Jon Waterman will present his just-released book National Geographic Atlas of Wild America.

From the deep forests of the Canadian Northwest to the red-rock deserts of the American Southwest, North America offers a myriad of opportunities for hiking, camping, trekking, and simply enjoying the abundance of the natural world. The Atlas of Wild America highlights 41 of those wilderness locations. Waterman explores the fascinating history of the High Peaks of the Adirondacks, fossil remains on the Upper Missouri River, the rainforest canopy of Alaska’s Tongass National Forest, and Grand Canyon Parashat’s Dark Sky Park. Waterman also explores the joys and impacts of humans on these last wild places. 

Waterman is the author of 14 books, including several award-winning titles. Over the last 40 years of his unique writing career, he has specialized in first-person immersion during arduous adventures; environmental reportage on subjects ranging from Arctic oil development to the Colorado River; and scores of in-depth profiles. He has worked as an editor, a filmmaker, and a photographer.  

Presenter: Jon Waterman, Author

Recorded: October 12, 2023

Duration: 75 minutes

The Past and Future of the Endangered Species Act with author Lowell Baier

Details: This program was recorded in the Byrd Auditorium at the National Conservation Training Center in Shepherdstown, WV, on June 4th with attorney and author, Lowell Baier, who will present The Past and Future of the Endangered Species Act: Saving Species as the Planet and Politics Get Hotter.

Lowell E. Baier’s intellectual curiosity during his 60-year career has taken him from a practicing attorney, to an entrepreneur, a tireless advocate for natural resources and wildlife conservation, and a legal and environmental historian and author. In the early 1970’s, Baier was one of the original 14 founders of the Wild Sheep Foundation which has funded over $2.6 million annually to re-establish historically extant habitat for the four species of wild sheep in North America. His exploratory work led to similar programs in both Russia and Mongolia. Since 1975, Baier has been active in the Boone and Crockett Club, America’s oldest wildlife conservation organization founded by Theodore Roosevelt in 1887, and is its first President Emeritus. A well-known advisor to elected officials and educators on environmental and conservation issues, Baier took the lead in drafting President George H.W. Bush’s wildlife conservation agenda in 1989 and has been an advisor and counselor to all successive presidential administrations. His books include: Earth's Emergency Room: Saving Species as the Planet and Politics Get Hotter (2024); The Codex of the Endangered Species Act, Volume II: The Next Fifty Years (2023); The Codex of the Endangered Species Act: The First Fifty Years (2023); Inside the Equal Access to Justice Act: Environmental Litigation and the Crippling Battle over America's Lands, Endangered Species, and Critical Habitats (2020); Saving Species on Private Lands: Unlocking Incentives to Conserve Wildlife and Their Habitats (2020); and Federalism, Preemption, and the Nationalization of American Wildlife Management: The Dynamic Balance Between State and Federal Authority (2020).

Date Recorded: June 4, 2024 - Broadcast:  June 11, 2025

The Tie that Binds: Rosalie Edge, Conservation, and Women's Suffrage (00:43:25)

 Details:  Author Dyana Furmansky presents a lecture on her book "Rosalie Edge, Hawk of Mercy." Rosalie Edge, well-known for creating the Hawk Mountain Sanctuary in Pennsylvania, challenged early 20th century conservationists to protect endangered birds. This progressive New York socialite and suffragist-turned-environmentalist became known as a “Joan of Arc” and a “hellcat” in defense of nature. This lecture comes to us 100 years after the U.S. Congress ratified the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote.   

Presenter:  Dyana Furmansky coauthored These American Lands: Parks, Wilderness, and the Public Lands. Her articles on nature and the environment have appeared in the New York Times, American Heritage, Audubon, High Country News, Sierra, Wilderness and many other publications.  https://www.dyanazfurmansky.com/rosalie-edge-hawk-of-mercy    

Recorded: June 8, 2021

Duration:  43 Minutes 

This Land Was Saved for You and Me with author Jeffrey Ryan

Details: This Land Was Saved for You and Me follows the arc of the creation and protection of America’s parks, forests and wilderness areas through a series of rather remarkable inter-generational handoffs that began in the 1860s and continue to this day. In fact, the genius of these conservation giants was in both identifying the need to establish and manage lands for the public good and identifying those most capable of nurturing and growing the concept in the decades to come.

Presenter: Jeffrey H Ryan is an author, adventurer, photographer, and historian. He has written several books about his outdoor exploits, his fascination with hiking trails and the people and places found just off the beaten path. His books are known for weaving a deep appreciation for history into walks across contemporary landscapes that give readers the feeling they are hiking right alongside. When Jeff isn’t trekking, chasing down a great story, or spinning yarns from his keyboard, he enjoys sharing his adventures with audiences who love the outdoors. The author will sign copies of his book after the event

This talk is as part of NCTC’s Conservation Lecture Series, which is cosponsored by The Friends of the NCTC (http://www.friendsofnctc.org).

For more information, please contact Mark Madison (304-876-7276) mark_madison@fws.gov.

Date Recorded: Please note this was previously recorded live on October 14 in the Bryd Auditorium at the National Conservation Training Center.

This recording has followed guidelines of creating an accessible (section 508 compliant) video.
 

"Wild by Design: The Rise of Ecological Restoration” with author Laura Martin

Details: Wild by Design examines how in our age of biodiversity crisis, many wild species will not survive without acts of human care. What should that care look like? And how can ecological restoration be made socially just? In her new book, historian and ecologist Laura Martin ask what we can learn from the past century of ecological restoration, including the work of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, from predator eradication to captive breeding to assisted migration. 

Presenter(s): Laura J. Martin
Laura is a historian and ecologist who studies how people shape the habitats of other species. She is the author of Wild by Design and articles in journals including Environmental History and Science. Her writing and research have been featured in the New York Times, The Atlantic, The Los Angeles Times, and elsewhere. She is an environmental studies professor at Williams College and is working on a global history of hormonal herbicides. 

This talk is part of NCTC’s Conservation Lecture Series and co-sponsored by The Friends of the NCTC (http://www.friendsofnctc.org). 

Recorded:  November 17, 2022

Duration:  72 Minutes