WVU Core Arboretum Nature Connection Series
Local and regional experts on a variety of nature-related subjects give public talks at the Arboretum each summer as part of our WVU Core Arboretum Nature Connection Series. Nature Connection Series talks happen on Tuesday evenings at 6:00 at the WVU Core Arboretum Amphitheater, starting in early June and continuing through late August. These talks are free and open to the public, and no registration is required. All of the talks are outdoors, so please dress for the weather. Talks will be cancelled and rescheduled if the weather is inclement. Come and join the WVU Core Arboretum nature connection crew!
2025 Calendar of Speakers and Talks:
June 10:
Bill Beatty, Wild and Natural—Nature Education and Consulting, Director:
Mushrooming in West Virginia
June 17:
Kevin Dodge, Garrett College, Program Director and Professor of Natural Resource and Wildlife Technology:
Mountain peatlands: Why I think they are cool and you should too
June 24:
Christine Zawaski, WVU Department of Biology, Service Assistant Professor and Biology Greenhouse Manager:
Rooted in sustainability: Native plants and the role of community seed sharing
July 1:
Eric T. Hileman, WVU Wildlife and
Fisheries Resources, Assistant Professor: The
ecology of the unseen:
Vital rates, population dynamics, and the science of
studying unobserved processes
July 8:
Dave McGill, WVU Forest Resource
Management, Professor and Extension Specialist: Forest
stewardship:
Managing West Virginia’s changing woodlands
July 15:
Chris Lituma,
WVU Wildlife and Fisheries Resources, Associate Professor:
Seeing the tree for the birds: A multi-level approach to forest
management for birds
July 22:
Grace Savoy-Burke, WVU Department
of Biology, Teaching Assistant Professor and Entomologist:
Meet the pollinators: Exploring the diversity of native bees
July 29:
Amanda Pitzer, Friends of the
Cheat, Executive Director:
With
a little help from its Friends: The fall and rise of the Cheat River
August 5:
Bill Peterjohn,
WVU Department of Biology, Emeritus Professor:
Earth’s
changing climate: Causes, consequences, and challenges
August 12:
Michelle Klishis,
WVU Osher
Lifelong Learning Institute, Professional Technologist:
You and iNaturalist: Identifying and documenting the natural world for fun and science
August 19:
Ella Belling, Mon Rivers Trail
Conservancy, Executive Director:
A
ghost of a train: A local look at railroads, rail-banking, and rail-trails
August 26:
Mack Frantz, WV Division of
Natural Resources, Zoologist:
Nocturnal
wildlife of West Virginia
WVU Core Arboretum Nature Connection Series is supported by the WVU
Department of Biology, the WVU Core Arboretum Endowment, and donations from
the public. All speakers are volunteers. Thank you to all who support the mission
of WVU Core Arboretum!