Presentation on Benthic Macroinvertebrates to be Held at Williams College

12:07PM / Thursday, April 24, 2025Print Story | Email Story

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Hoosic River Watershed Association, Williams College Center for Environmental Studies, and the Zilkha Center for the Environment will host a presentation titled "Turning Stones: a Presentation on Benthic Macroinvertebrates" with aquatic ecologist Declan McCabe on Tuesday, April 29, from 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM in Griffin Hall Room 3 at Williams College.

The program is free and open to the public, and families with children are welcome.

During the presentation, Declan McCabe will use a slide show and live aquatic macroinvertebrates to discuss several topics, including:

The properties of water that support life.
The differences in the characteristics and inhabitants of flowing and standing water ecosystems.
Adaptations of organisms that live on the water's surface.
Non-toxic methods for reducing mosquito populations near homes.
Low-cost ways to study macroinvertebrates locally.
Simple actions to protect watersheds and improve water quality.

Registration for this free program is required and can be completed by clicking the provided link.

Declan McCabe is an aquatic ecologist and a professor of biology at Saint Michael’s College. His book, Turning Stones: Discovering the Life of Water (2024, Down East Books), examines the biodiversity found in rivers. Mr. McCabe has experience communicating biological concepts to students and has also worked with high school audiences. His writings are featured in "Northern Woodlands" and "Connecticut Woodlands" magazines, as well as "The Outside Story" natural history series.

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Mount Greylock School Committee Hears Budget Requests, Pressures

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
05:32AM / Wednesday, February 18, 2026

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Mount Greylock Regional School Committee Thursday heard the final rounds of fiscal year 2027 budget requests and heard why those — or any — discretionary increases in spending will be difficult in the year that begins July 1.

Williamstown Elementary Principal Benjamin Torres and middle-high school Principal Jake Schutz each presented the spending priorities formulated by their respective school councils. The requests followed a presentation by Lanesborough Elementary Principal Nolan Pratt at the January meeting.

Superintendent Joseph Bergeron then told the School Committee that state and federal aid to the district is going to be slightly lower than FY26 and reminded the panel that the district spent the last two years spending down its reserve accounts, as requested by the member towns, to the point where those reserves — School Choice, tuition and excess and deficiency — cannot be applied to the operating budget.

"Spending the exact same amount of money from this year to next year — that alone will mean a 4 percent increase [in appropriations] to each of our towns," Bergeron said. "That's the baseline on top of which everything else will happen.

"We know we're seeing an 8.75 percent increase in health insurance, but we also have an increasing number of employees who are taking our health insurance, so that health insurance line is increasing substantially. When it comes to out-of-district tuition as well as transportation, both of those are seeing marked increases as well."

District staff and the School Committee will further refine its FY27 budget over the next five weeks, with a budget workshop scheduled for Tuesday, March 3, and a public hearing and final budget vote on March 19.

The district's appropriations to Williamstown and Lanesborough, which each pay a proportional share of the prekindergarten-Grade 12 district's operating expenses, will face an up-or-down vote at each town's annual meeting, in May and June, respectively.

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