February 12, 2012

Note:  We will return to the Marshall Community Center for this meeting.

Nancy Goetzinger and Tom Ramsey will present

Life on the Edge:  America’s Atlantic Coast

 This 50-minute multi-media presentation utilizes video, stills, and graphics to demonstrate the beauty of coastal habitats and the diversity of the resulting life forms there, all within the context of the geologic and hydrologic formation of the East Coast shoreline from Georgia to Newfoundland.   

Throughout there are beautiful images of landscapes; nesting and migrating birds along the entire coast; blue crabs, mating horseshoe crabs, and other marine life; and an exquisite close-up video sequence of monarch butterflies on goldenrod bushes in full bloom, captured along the Delaware coast during the fall migration period.

The program traces coastline origins in the tectonic formation and subsequent erosion of the Appalachian Mountains, in the advance and retreat of glaciers, and in the ongoing effects of wind and water on sand. Two distinctly different regions are presented: the dynamic barrier islands of the south, with their resulting sand beaches, salt marshes, and tidal flats; and the dramatic northern coast where steep cliffs, deep shoreline water, cold currents, and undersea banks combine to create a rich food supply that makes it possible for millions of nesting pelagic birds and large sea mammals to thrive there. 

 “Life on the Edge  – America’s Atlantic Coast” was developed as part of an ongoing Coastal Evolution Series.  An earlier production, called “Life on the Ring of Fire,” compares and contrasts West Coast and East Coast shorelines by looking more closely at the continuing influence of plate movements, planetary rotation, and ocean currents on local habitats and life forms from the Baja Peninsula to the Aleutian Islands.  Future programs in the series will feature the Florida Peninsula, the Gulf Coast, and the Arctic.

 Both Tom and Nancy are photographers, writers, and directors. Collectively, they have won more than 35 national and international production awards including the Gold Hugo and CINE Golden Eagle.  Tom is currently a photography course instructor at ArtSquare in Leesburg, Virginia.

For more infomation about Nancy and Tom and their work click here

November 13, 2011

We will hear from George Fenwick of the American Bird Conservancy. The Conservancy, as its name indicates, is concerned with conserving native birds, and their habitats, throughout the Americas. Dr. Fenwick has served as President and CEO since ABC’s founding in 1994. Prior to that, he worked in a variety of capacities during 15 years with The Nature Conservancy, including Director of Science, Chair of the Last Great Places Campaign Steering Committee, and Director of the Virginia Chapter. He has co-written two books The 500 Most Important Bird Areas in the United States and The American Bird Conservancy Guide to Bird Conservation. He received a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University.