Join the Hoosic River Watershed Association, Williams College Center for Environmental Studies and the Zilkha Center for the Environment in Turning Stones: a Presentation on Benthic Macroinvertebrates with aquatic ecologist Declan McCabe on Tuesday, April 29 from 7:00-8:00pm in Griffin Hall Room 3 at Williams College in Williamstown, MA.  This program is free and open to the public. Families with children welcome. Declan will show a slide presentation and have live aquatic macroinvertebrates on hand. He will cover:

• How water’s unique properties make life possible.
• Differences between flowing water and standing water and the changing cast of characters that differ between rivers and lakes.
• Life on top: the amazing ways that life exists on the water surface.
• Practical and not toxic ways to reduce mosquito populations close to your home.
• Inexpensive ways to explore macroinvertebrates close to home
• And simple ways we can protect watersheds to improve water quality.

Please register for this free program. Click HERE to register.

DECLAN McCABE sees things that others miss. Each patch of soil, fallen tree, and puddle of standing water is a microcosm of life to be appreciated, studied, learned from. His book, Turning Stones: Discovering the Life of Water, (2024, Down East Books) is a careful look at the mysteries and life that can be found in a river if people just the take the time to look. As an aquatic ecologist and professor of biology at Saint Michael’s College, his job is to clearly communicate fascinating and complex biology to entry-level students. He also has been an outreach specialist to high-school audiences. His columns appear in “Northern Woodlands” and “Connecticut Woodlands” magazines and “The Outside Story” syndicated natural history series. He lives in South Burlington, but he’s frequently seen walking along the Winooski River, he says, where “slowing down, and observing carefully, reveals diverse life in unexpected places.” www.smcvt.edu/about-smc/directories/employee-directory/declan-mccabe.