The Black River Audubon Society and Lorain County Metro Parks are proud to sponsor the “Outstanding Speaker Series” held at the Carlisle Visitor Center on March 13 and April 10. This series features two renowned naturalists who share a passion for birds and the out-of-doors.  Both events are free, but seating is limited. 

Letters from Eden by Julie Zickefoose

March 13, 7pm

Julie Zickefoose is a natural history writer, artist, lecturer, and NPR commentator.  Educated at Harvard University in biology and art, Julie began her career with the Nature Conservancy as a field biologist before becoming a freelance artist.  Her illustrations and writings have appeared in The New Yorker, Smithsonian, Country Journal, and Bird Watchers’ Digest.

Letters from Eden is a naturalist's journal, telling the countless small stories of the woods and meadows in flowing prose and lively watercolors. This book strikes a powerful chord with readers, evoking the seasonal rhythms and an awareness of natural events.  Reading from her essays while showing her paintings and photographs, Julie reveals the deep connection with nature that keeps her walking her 80-acre Appalachian sanctuary outside Whipple, Ohio. [Copies of Letters from Eden will be available for purchase afterwards.]

April 10, 2 pm

Jim Berry, a field naturalist who grew up in Southern Ohio, turned his passion for natural history into a lifelong career.  Earning a degree in Interpretive Work from The Ohio State University, Jim worked for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, serving as the director of the Hueston Woods State Park Nature Center, and later became the first park manager of Malabar Farm.  He is currently the President of the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History located in Jamestown, New York, the hometown of this famed naturalist. 

   Roger Tory Peterson was perhaps the greatest birder/naturalist of all time. His Field Guide to Birds, first published in 1934, is credited with launching the modern environmental movement and with moving bird study out of the shotgun era. Jim Berry traces the influence of this great American and demonstrates Roger Tory Peterson's impact on today's thoroughly modern birder.

Join the Black River Audubon Society and Lorain County Metro Parks for the “Outstanding Speaker Series” on March 13 and April 10 at Carlisle Visitor Center.  Carlisle Visitor Center is located at 12882 Diagonal Rd., LaGrange.  For more information,  call (440) 458-5121.

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