Connecticut’s woods are full of life. Do you know who your animal neighbors are?
Wildlife cameras offer a fascinating glimpse of animal life. Join us as we look back at NCLC’s best wildlife videos of 2021. Summer Hoogenboom, wildlife biologist and NCLC volunteer, will offer context for the animal behavior displayed in these short clips. Summer will also provide guidance for getting a wildlife camera started in your own backyard.

Enjoy the songs and colors of birds by creating a yard that will attract and support our feathered friends.  In this event recording, Becca Rodomsky-Bish, of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, shares the vital role native plants play in providing food and shelter for birds.

Becca Rodomsky-Bish is a project leader at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Her areas of expertise include native habitat, sustainability, and education. One of her projects is the Great Backyard Bird Count.

NCLC held its Annual Meeting on Saturday, November 20.  Missed the meeting? We’ve posted a recording so you can learn how NCLC uses the latest science to prioritize our conservation acquisitions, moving rapidly to protect new lands now, and taking bold, local action to address the challenges of global climate change.

In this month’s newsletter, we feature upcoming events, educational opportunities, and the good work of NCLC’s summer interns who have helped to ensure our public preserves are ready for you to explore. Click here to enjoy.

This summer NCLC has two interns for our ongoing partnership intern program.  We welcome Chris Arrotti, a 2020 UConn graduate who is headed for graduate school this fall, and Tim Strzepa, a rising senior studying environmental science at Saint Michael’s College.  Chris and Tim are trained and supervised by NCLC staff and gain first-hand experience with the many tools of land conservation. They are doing a terrific job and you can read more here.

Did you know that New England was not a “wilderness”, as described by the early English settlers, but a built and managed landscape? Dr. Lucianne Lavin, director of research and collections at the Institute for American Indian Studies in Washington, gave a presentation about Connecticut’s Indigenous Peoples and their relationship with the natural world, exploring the long, rich histories that extend back thousands of years before the arrival of settler-colonists. Dr. Lavin explains how  Indigenous Peoples have managed the physical environment to enhance plant and animal populations. Indigenous folklore and sacred stories reflect this stewardship. Click below to enjoy a recording of this talk.

Dr. Lucianne Lavin, has over 40 years of research and field experience in Northeastern archaeology and anthropology and is a founding member of the state’s Native American Heritage Advisory Council and former editor of the journal of the Archaeological Society of Connecticut for 30 years. Her award-winning book, Connecticut’s Indigenous Peoples: What Archaeology, History and Oral Traditions Teach Us about their Communities and Cultures, was recently published by Yale University Press in 2013. The book won an Award of Merit from the Connecticut League of History Organizations, won  second place in the books category in the 2014 New England Museum Association Publication Award Competition, and  was selected as a Choice Magazine “Outstanding Academic Title for 2013 in the North America Category.”