| Monthly Meetings
2009 - 2010 |
| Date |
Topic |
Speaker |
| September 7, 2009 |
"Predators and
Prey" |
Dave Taylor |
The topic will be
"Predators & Prey" and it will look at the role predators
play in maintaining a healthy ecosystem. Recent research has pointed
out that they are more important than we used to think they were.
Dave Taylor is an author and wildlife photographer with over 40 books
to his credit. The most recent titles are "Black Bears: A
Natural History" (2006), "Deer World" (2008) and "Predators
of North America" (Fall 2009). He writes for a number of magazines
including Real fishing and Canadian Wildlife. A retired teacher, Dave,
currently is the Education Program Consultant for The Riverwood
Conservancy. A life-long naturalist he has guded several East African
safaris and with his wife has travelled the world to view wildlife in
their natural habitats. |
| October
5, 2009 |
"Reptiles at Risk on the Road"
Project and the Herpetofaunal Atlas Program |
Joe Crowley
& Jeff Hathaway |
Jeff Hathaway (Sciensational Sssnakes!) talks about "the Reptiles
at Risk on the Road" project. It is an excellent opportunity to
learn more about Ontario's reptiles and to see many of our native species
up close and personal. This is a joint presentation with Joe Crowley
from the Ontario Nature's new Herpetofaunal Atlas program. The Sciensational
Sssnakes! segment will provide information about Ontario's reptiles
using live animals while the herp atlas portion and information will
be given on how to get involved in the new atlas program. |
| November 9, 2009 |
Galapagos |
Brian and Dolores Mishell |
Brian and Dolores
Mishell are HNC members who love to travel the world in search of
new nature experiences. Several years ago, we enjoyed an account of
their visit to Madagascar with its exotic lemurs. Now they are ready
to thrill us again with the story of their visit to the Galopagos
Islands and the many unique species which live there. On the 200th
anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin and the 150th anniversary
of his publication of "On The Origin of Species" it is fitting
that we revisit the place where he gained some of his most important
insights |
| December 14, 2009 |
Spiders |
Tom Mason |
Tom has been Curator of Invertebrates
at the Toronto Zoo for many years, and has a naturalist's enthusiasm
for seeking out his subjects in the wild. The spider field trip that
he leads for the Toronto Entomologists' Association has become an annual
favourite. He will give us an overview of spiders of Ontario. Our spiders
are amazingly diverse in both form and behaviour. They include aggressive
little jumping spiders that pounce on prey nearly their own size, crab
spiders that change their colour so they can hide in plain sight, and
skilled artisans that weave their silk into a myriad of ingenious trap
designs. Join us for this talk which is sure to be packed with insights
on this fascinating group of arthropods.
Tom has a BSc. degree from the University of Guelph and spent most of
his professional life working for Zoos. Tom Mason has worked in zoos
for over 29 years. He is currently the Curator of Invertebrates and
Birds at the Toronto Zoo. He has collected fish and reptiles on 5 continents
and has successfully bred over 50 species of reptiles and amphibians
in captivity. He has also worked on several recovery teams for Ontario
endangered species. Tom has worked on conservation projects in Cuba
and Costa Rica. Tom is heavily involved in COTERC (Canadian Organization
for Tropical Education and Rainforest Conservation) and takes fish and
reptile hobbyists to their research station in Costa Rica every year.
|
| January 11, 2010 |
A Lyme Disease
Survival Guide - Pests, Protection and Politics |
Rob Manten |
The American CDC now refers to
Lyme as an "emerging epidemic". There are an estimated 200,000
new cases each year (more than AIDS and West Nile combined), the vast
majority of which are in close proximity to Ontario's border. With unreliable
tests, a lack of awareness in the medical community, and indifference
from our government, we really don't know the true magnitude of the
disease in our country. It is next to impossible to get a timely diagnosis
in Canada. And yet success treatment depends largely on a quick diagnosis.
Learn what you need to know to protect yourself and your loved ones
from this devastating and growing health concern.
A professional engineer by vocation, he became a victim of Lyme disease
in 2004. While his treatment for Chronic Lyme disease is on-going, he
is an advocate for Lyme patients and improved Chronic Lyme disease public
policy. He is a founding member of the southern Ontario-based Lyme Action
Group. |
| February 8, 2010 |
"Rare Trees &
Shrubs of Ontario" |
Sean Fox |
Come take a photographic tour of some of Ontario’s
rarest and most interesting tree and shrub species. Data and images
from the University of Guelph Arboretum’s Gene Bank and Ontario
Tree Atlas Project paint a unique picture of some of our favourite woody
friends.
Sean Fox is the Assistant Manager and Horticulturist at the University
of Guelph Arboretum. There he oversees more than 30 woody plant collections
represented by over 1700 different taxa of trees and shrubs from around
the world. During the past 9 years, Sean has spent a significant portion
of his time dedicated to the Rare Woody Plants of Ontario Program, and
the Elm Recovery Project, both sited at The Arboretum. These programs
ultimately aim to establish seed orchards to protect the unique genetics
of Ontario’s threatened species. |
| March 8, 2010 |
"Dragonflies" |
Brenda VanRyswyk |
Brenda will cover a basic introduction to Odonata, their
life cycle and identification. We will look at the differences between
dragonflies and damselflies, Odonata reproduction and general behavior.
She will give some tips on where to find Odonata and some basics on
getting started studying them for fun. Go over the general family groups
and then get into the specific identification of some of the more common
species of our area. She will give a summary of the past years Hamilton
Odonata Count and how counts can help our understanding of an areas
biodiversity or trends. Brenda will also discuss the recent project
of compiling an Odonata Atlas for the Hamilton Study Area using local
naturalists sightings and record from the Ontario Odonata database and
how these two efforts are helping expand our knowledge of the Odonata
in our area.
Growing up in rural central Ontario (South of Ottawa) gave Brenda a
great appreciation and love for nature and the outdoors. Having spent
much of her time roaming around outside as a child not a whole lot has
changed as she grew except the objects of her study continues to expand
or shift. First introduced to the world of Odonata when trying to find
people to help identify dragonfly photos taken on her first digital
camera but since then this hobby has become a full blown obsession.
Currently residing in Hamilton, an area rich in Odonata species diversity,
she working in the field she loves as a Natural Heritage Ecologist for
Conservation Halton doing plant and wildlife inventories. She spends
much of her free time chasing or photographing these interesting insects
or she occasionally leads others in counts or educational workshops
in her area and encourages more people to get involved with this interesting
hobby.
|
| April 12,
2010 |
"Cedars" |
Peter Kelly |
Peter joined the Cliff Ecology Research Group in 1989
for a summer inventory of ancient cliff-face forests along the Niagara
Escarpment but only recently left the group after close to 19 years
of ecological and conservation work on the ancient cedars of the Niagara
Escarpment. He has co-authored two previous books related to cliff ecology
(Cliff Ecology: Pattern and Process in Cliff Ecosystems (2000) and The
Urban Cliff Revolution (2004)). He has published extensively in the
popular and scientific press and given numerous talks to a broad range
of audiences. Peter, along with Doug Larson, Uta Matthes and John Gerrath
received a Niagara Escarpment Achievement Award from the Niagara Escarpment
Commission in 2002 for their research efforts. His photographs have
been featured in numerous media and public exhibitions and he has photographed
on every continent including Antarctica. He resides in Guelph, Ontario
and is currently Research Director at 'rare', a 913-acre land reserve
in Cambridge at the confluence of the Grand and Speed Rivers.
Peter Kelly grew up in Lambeth, Ontario with a passion for the natural
environment and photography. He received an Honours B.Sc and M.Sc. in
Physical Geography from the University of Western Ontario. Here, he
conducted fieldwork in the Canadian Cordillera and on Devon Island in
the High Arctic. He has travelled extensively and photographed on all
continents including Antarctica. |
| May
3, 2010 |
Coral Reefs |
Jeremy Woodley |
Reef-building corals seem to be simple animals; like sea-anemones
in calcium carbonate cups. I will show that they are not so simple and
how, in shallow tropical seas, they help form reefs which support the
most diverse communities on the planet. I’ll point out how reefs
benefit humans, providing coastal protection, beaches and food; and
then the many ways in which humans have degraded them! In many areas,
including the Caribbean, dramatic changes have occurred within living
memory. Conservation is possible; but now coral reefs worldwide are
threatened by our greenhouse gas emissions; both by warming and by increasing
acidity due to solution in the sea of more carbon dioxide.
Jeremy Woodley grew up in England and studied Zoology at Oxford. He
left with a D Phil and a certificate in SCUBA diving. He then worked
33 years for the University of the West Indies in Jamaica, first in
teaching undergraduate Zoology. From 1975 to 1993, he ran the
Discovery Bay Marine Laboratory. That Lab, on the north coast, specializes
in studies on the geology and biology of coral reefs. After that, he
ran the multi-disciplinary Centre for Marine Sciences back on the main
campus in Kingston. His interest in coral reefs (and international symposia)
took him all over the Caribbean and to Australia, Bali, Florida, Guam,
Kenya, Micronesia, Panama and the Philippines. He retired in 2000
and now lives in Dundas with his Canadian/Jamaican wife, whom he met
in Jamaica. He still returns there from time to time to keep up with
research and go diving. |
The automated parking machines have been removed from the RBG headquarters parking lot and parking is now free in this lot all year.
