Lesley University Amphitheater. Refreshments and slide show.
Sponsored by Lesley University and Friends of Alewife Reservation

David Brown is a lifelong teacher and naturalist with more than 20 years experience interpreting the trails and signs of mammals and birds of New England. His birding experience extends back to his boyhood. David began presenting animal tracking programs two decades ago after studying the field for six years. Dave has been exploring and leading trips, tours, and docent training on the Cambridge and Belmont Alewife Reservation for about 10 years. He comes with a wealth of experience and has professionally assessed the Alewife Reservation's animals and birds with a Massachusetts Fish and Wildlife grant, and FAR has published his report as a 120 page book, "Biodiversity of the Alewife Reservation- Species, Habitat and Ecosystem" for $10. Dave will be presenting his slides and talking about the value of the Reservation and its surroundings, especially the core buffer forest of silver maples.

Duke Bitsko is an Interdisciplinary Director and staff Supervisor with backgrounds in engineering, landscape architecture and earth sciences. "I wanted my life's work to involve landscape restoration and the social relevance of creating places for people and natural processes to coexist." And this is what he did at the Alewife Reservation's storm water wetlands, largest of its kind in New England with a grand biodiversity of over 100 thousand wetland and other plants which provide rich estuaries and a variety of marsh types, restoring the best native plantings New England has to offer. It is a rich habitat for all species of animals and birds in this part of the country, and an important flood retention area which can ameliorate rising rivers and remove storm water from surrounding neighborhoods by filtering and purifying the system in a natural process. Duke's Alewife designs were opened to the public last fall when the heads of Mass. Water Resources Authority, Executive office of Environmental and Energy Affairs and DCR Commissioner and Boston CSO separation judge presided over the ceremonies. Duke will talk about his vision and what the storm water/wetlands means to the Alewife Reservation, its river ecology and perhaps the Upper Basin sub-watershed.