Since 1992
Print and digital marketing
FARMINGTON — Western Maine Audubon is sponsoring a free live webinar event for the public featuring a talk by forest ecologist Andrew Barton, from 7 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 11.
The presentation is free, but requires pre-registration. Visit western.maineaudubon.org/events/ for regularly updated webinar access information. Once registered, you will receive login information via email.
Barton will describe how Maine forests have changed over the past several centuries in terms of tree species, forest structure and the replacement of old growth with younger forests. He will highlight the ecological importance of older forests and some of the exciting strategies for conservation and restoration of these important habitats.
As a forest ecologist, science writer and biology professor at the University of Maine Farmington, Barton’s research focuses on how forests are responding to changing climate, and give a perspective on the wildfires in the mountains of the USA-Mexico borderlands. His current projects focus on an endangered plant species in the region, and the employment of the new ECOSTRESS instrument on the International Space Station to predict vegetation drought stress and recovery after wildfires.
Barton authored the award-winning book, “The Changing Nature of the Maine Woods” and “Ecology and Recovery of Old-growth Forests in Eastern North America” from Island Press. He co-founded the Michigan National Forest Watch and the UMF Sustainable Campus Coalition and was a key player in the Mount Blue-Tumbledown Conservation Alliance, which protected 30,000 acres of forestland in western Maine. He teaches courses on ecology, conservation, plants and forests, as well as a travel course on the ecology of Costa Rica.
