Join Us at Community Forums in Milford & Pomfret

April 2012 – How can we get our kids to spend more time outdoors?

We at Connecticut Audubon Society think it’s a question that is essential to the future of conservation.

Join us and a panel of experts for a discussion of the issue at a two community forums on Thursday evening, May 3, at our Milford Point Coastal Center, and on Thursday, May 10, at our Grassland Birds Conservation Center in Pomfret.

The basis for the discussion will be our Connecticut State of the Birds 2012 report, “Where Is the Next Generation of Conservationists Coming From?”

Each forum is from 7 to 9 p.m. They are free and open to the public. The Coastal Center is at 1 Milford Point Road, Milford; the Grassland Bird Conservation Center is at 218 Day Road, Pomfret Center.

RSVP to tandersen@ctaudubon.org.

We’ll have round-table discussions led by Milan Bull, senior director of science and conservation for Connecticut Audubon Society, and Michelle Eckman, director of education for CAS.

The Milford panel will also include:

• Mark Beekey, associate professor of biology at Sacred Heart University;
• Chris Bosak, reporter and columnist for the Norwalk Hour, and host of Bird Calls Radio
• Kevin McFadden, Zoology and Marine Biology major at the University of Maine, Orono; CAS instructor
• James Purcell, Fairfield high school student and CAS volunteer
• April Kelley, science teacher at Lauralton Hall, in Milford

The Pomfret panel will include:

• Ross Tomlin, President of Quinebaug Valley Community College, in Willimantic
• Tim Hotchkiss, who teaches 6th grade in Pomfret

The forums are the third and fourth we are organizing this spring. The first was at Connecticut Audubon Society’s Center at Glastonbury, on March 14; the second at our Center at Fairfield, on April 12.

The underlying concern of Connecticut State of the Birds 2012 is that children spend so much time on computers and playing video games, or in highly-structured, carefully-scheduled activities, that they are not forming the bond with the natural world that will translate into a commitment to conservation in 10 or 20 years. The community forums are designed to give our members and other concerned residents a chance to talk about the problem and to offer solutions.

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