The RINHS Lecture Series on Rhode Island’s Fauna, Flora, Geology, and Ecosystems was begun in 1995 to provide science education to professionals and the Rhode Island public.
Four lectures are given each year. In July 1999, the lecture series was named in memory of Mark D. Gould, an ecologist at Roger Williams University and a founding board member of the Survey. The Mark D. Gould Lecture Series on Rhode Island’s Fauna, Flora, Geology, and Ecosystems is sponsored this year by the U.s. Fish & Wildlife Service Rhode Island Refuge Complex. [Link/Logo]
All lectures are free and open to the public; no registration is required. Please come early and enjoy refreshments and the company of fellow naturalists.
The Holiday lecture is accompanied by the RINHS Natural History Book Sale. Donate your extra books at the office anytime during the fall and you will clear shelf space for new books and support RINHS at the same time. Come to the lecture and search for treasures among hundreds of donated natural history books. Get presents for the naturalists on your list and support RINHS at the same time.
Lectures are held at various sites at URI and at other venues around the state.
Finding your way around URI can be confusing so we created this Google Map showing all the lecture halls we use regularly. Just find the name of the hall you’re looking for and zoom in on the map to see where you’re going. Google Map of RINHS places at URI
Upcoming Lectures
2012 – 2013 Lecture Series
THEME: Open Space and Farmland Protection in Rhode Island—Benefiting People and Ecosystems
The four lectures in the 2012-2013 Gould series will review the social, economic, and ecosystem service benefits from open space and farmland protection. The value of open space protection to the conservation of biodiversity is relatively well known. In these lectures we will explore how protecting forests, coasts, wetlands, and farms benefits the citizens of Rhode Island in terms of the variety of ecosystem services these landscapes provide and the economic benefits of preserving these systems.
The Survey is pleased to note that Scott Millar, Sustainable Watersheds Administrator at the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, will moderate the program on Wednesday evening, September 19, as well as the other programs in this series. As moderator, Mr. Millar will introduce the subject of each talk, offer his own thoughts from a practitioner’s perspective, and assist the audience to sew the individual presentations in the lecture series together into a year-long seminar that addresses the larger themes of conservation, economics, and sustainability. Mr. Millar has 30 years of environmental management and policy experience. In his current position he leads DEM’s smart growth initiative. His office provides technical and financial assistance as well as training to encourage communities to accommodate growth while preserving meaningful open space and avoiding impacts to natural resources. Scott has managed and edited six guidance manuals to demonstrate how innovative land use techniques can work effectively in both rural and urban settings. Additionally, he has over 20 years of volunteer planning board and conservation commission experience in his community. He holds a BS in Natural Resources Science and a MS in Wildlife Biology from the University of Rhode Island.
FIRST EVENT IN 2012-13 SERIES:
Wednesday, September 19, 2012, 7:30 pm, preceded at 5:30 by RINHS Annual Meeting, Swan Hall, URI Kingston.
Dr. Emi Uchida – Economic Benefits & Ecosystem Services Derived from Open Space Protection.
Dr. Tom Sproul – Economic Dimensions of Farming and Farmland Protection in Rhode Island.
Introduced and moderated by Mr. Scott Millar, RIDEM
Dr. Uchida is an environmental economist. She studies supply and demand for multiple ecosystem services from agriculture, forests, and coastal ecosystems and the potential tradeoffs among the ecosystem services. She conducts her research in Asia, Africa, and the U.S., and utilizes household surveys, spatial data, econometric and numerical methods. She will review the economic values and ecosystem services resulting from open space protection.
Dr. Sproul studies environmental economics and agricultural policy. His recent research includes a new Economic Impact Study of Green-Related Industry in Rhode Island, in partnership with RI DEM, the RI Ag Partnership, and the RI Nursery and Landscape Association. He will review the myriad ways that farms and farming influence the Rhode Island economic profile.
Agnes G. Doody Auditorium
Swan Hall (formerly Independence Hall) – URI
60 Upper College Road, Kingston, RI
5:30 pm RINHS Annual Meeting, all are welcome. Come hear a recap of our accomplishments this year and a preview of coming attractions.
6:45 pm Dessert reception & Social
7:30 pm Lecture
This evening of events is FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.
Parking is available in the Briar Lane lot accessed from Briar Lane (next to Kingston Pizza) or off of Upper College Road from the Visitors Center parking lot.
For more info/to RSVP: call (401)874-5800, or email RINHS
Save the date for Lecture #2 in the series! Thursday, October 25, 2012.
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Open Space Conservation in Rhode Island: Past, Present, and Future.
Lisa Primiano, Deputy Chief of the State land Conservation and Acquisition Program, RI Department of Environmental Management
Ken Ayars, Chief of the Division of Agriculture, RI Department of Environmental Management
Introduced and moderated by Scott Millar
6:45 pm Dessert reception & social
7:30 pm Lecture
Jamestown Philomenian Library
26 North Road
Jamestown, RI
Past Events in the Mark Gould Lecture Series
coming soon