Story Boards at the Reserve!
September 6th, 2008New England Tropical Conservatory has installed Story Boards along the trails at its Norman & Selma Greenberg Reserve. Written for children and mounted at their line of sight, the stories open the eyes and ears of children and adults alike to the landscape and to the plants and animals that live there.
These Boards replace temporary interpretive signs created by Dr. Robert Tarnas, a local physician and naturalist, who wrote and erected temporary interpretive signs when the Reserve opened and has renewed them annually. The new Boards retain the original text, which as been popular with children and adults alike.
The Reserve is located on the east side of Route 7 S, just over a mile from Main Street. To find the signs, follow the Old Farm Road from the parking lot through the meadow. The first Story Board, situated shortly after the road enters the wetland, will ask you to stop and listen—you will hear interesting sounds at every season and time of day! Another board invites you to look about you and think about how the valley you see was formed. Others recount the history of the trolley line, point out the wildlife in the wetland and the creatures at home in the rotting debris of the woods, and draw your attention to the patch of ancient plants known as Horsetails. At an overlook across the swamp to Mt. Anthony, another Board explains the geology of our region–why Mt. Anthony sits just where it does and where it came from.
The project has been funded by a grant from the Taconic Tri-State Audubon Society.
Dr. Harry Wiriadinata is named Project Manager of the Indonesian Botanical Exploration and Taxonomy Project (IBETP)
April 2nd, 2008We are pleased that our long-time colleague, Harry Wiriadinata, has accepted the position of Project Manager of the IBETP. A specialist in Botany and Plant Taxonomy, Harry is Senior Researcher in Taxonomy at the Bogor Herbarium, Indonesian Institute of Science. Harry has cooperated with our collecting expeditions since 1995 and has represented NETC at the Flora Malesiana Symposia in Sydney and Leiden. We look forward to working with him as he takes the reins of this important project.
Dr. Wiriadinata holds a B.S. from the Faculty of Biology, Satya Wacana University, Salatiga, Indonesia and a Drs. Degree from the Faculty of Science and Mathematics, University of Indonesia, Jakarta, where he presently teaches. He received a Ph.D. from the Botanical Department, Faculty of Sciences, Tohoku University, Japan. His fields of specialization are the Leguminosae, Rafflesiaceae and Begoniaceae. He resides in Bogor with his wife, Mette, and son and daughter.
As Project Manager, he will oversee all taxonomic work, lead the field expeditions and oversee student field instruction. As this newsletter goes to press, he is making final preparations to support the initial expedition, an exploration of 2400 meter Mt. Mengkoka in Southeast Sulawesi. The expedition party is expected to comprise 25 scientists, students and support staff.