Presentation on Aquatic Macroinvertebrates to Be Held at Williams College

08:42AM / Saturday, April 26, 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 present "Turning Stones: a Presentation on Benthic Macroinvertebrates" with aquatic ecologist and Williams College professor of biology Declan McCabe on Tuesday, April 29, from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

The event will take place in Griffin Hall Room 3 at Williams College.

The presentation will cover the properties of water that support life, differences between river and lake ecosystems, life on the water surface, methods for mosquito population reduction near homes, low-cost ways to explore macroinvertebrates, and watershed protection for improved water quality. Live aquatic macroinvertebrates will be available for viewing, and a slide presentation will be given.

The program is free and open to the public, and families with children are welcome. McCabe's book, "Turning Stones: Discovering the Life of Water", will be available for purchase.

Further details can be found on the HooRWA calendar at https://hoorwa.org/calendar/.

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Williamstown Studying Major Overhaul for Main Street

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
05:14AM / Wednesday, July 29, 2026

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The town is working with a Worcester civil engineering firm to redesign Main Street with an eye toward a major project sometime in the next decade.

Community Development Director Andrew Groff was before the Select Board on Monday night to talk about Town Hall's use of a $500,000 state grant to do preliminary design on major improvements to that portion of Route 2 that runs from Water Street west to the Field Park rotary, through the middle of Williams College's campus.

Groff introduced the elected officials to Amanda Bazinet of Worcester's Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, who is helping the town to develop a plan for Main Street that would align with the commonwealth's Complete Streets Program.

"Our project goals, in addition to the increased pedestrian and bicycle accommodations, is just, in general, improving the sightlines and improving the intersection geometry," Bazinet said.

"Complete Streets … has a lot of different facets to it. As Andrew had mentioned, the goal is to improve the safety for all of the roadway users — not just the motorists. We're looking at improving it for pedestrians, bicyclists, anyone using a mobility device. We want to create streets that are safe for all ages and abilities to use. So, while bicyclists will still be allowed, legally, to use the roadway, we want to look at providing a separate bicycle accommodation along the corridor, whether it's a shared use path along both sides of the streets that is a little more accessible to young children or older people with disabilities to look at all transportation options."

One goal is to encourage "active transportation." The Massachusetts Department of Transportation, who the town hopes one day might fund the construction, has a "healthy transportation policy," Bazinet said.

That MassDOT funding would come through the Transportation Improvement Program, which is managed locally by the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission. The design work underway now is being done with an eye toward going after TIP funding years down the road.

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