Biologists to Speak at Pittsfield Green Drinks
PITTSFIELD, Mass. Conservation biologists Linda Merry and Mara Silvers will speak at the August Pittsfield Green Drinks event. On Tuesday, August 16th, Pittsfield Green Drinks will start at 5:15 PM at Thistle & Mirth, 44 West Street, Pittsfield. Merry and Silvers will speak at 6:00 PM.
Merry and Silvers will discuss their research on Cliff Swallow nesting, the causes of the species’ decline, the current conservation status, and measures to conserve the populations.
Being aerial insectivores (birds that feed exclusively on insects while flying), Cliff Swallows and other swallows have seen some of the greatest declines in the Northeastern U.S. and Eastern Canada since 1970. That decline has steepened since the late 1990s.
Merry is a conservation biologist and operational meteorologist who thoroughly enjoys photography and ornithology. Her work exists at that junction where the sciences and the arts collide.
Merry is currently an Assistant in the Environmental and Life Sciences Department at Berkshire Community College.
Silver has been working on swallow conservation projects for the past 30 years, primarily Cliff and Barn Swallow projects. Her work focuses on developing simple management techniques to attract and enhance breeding success at Cliff and Barn Swallow nesting sites.
Mara holds an M.S. in Wildlife and Fisheries Conservation from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where she researched characteristics of river banks used by nesting Bank Swallows.
Pittsfield Green Drinks is an informal gathering on the third Tuesday of the month. These nights are free and open to everyone with any environmental interest. The drinks aren’t green but the conversations are.
Pittsfield Green Drinks is sponsored by the Berkshire Environmental Action Team (BEAT). For more information, contact Chelsey Simmons at chelsey@thebeatnews.org or (413) 464-9402.
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