Wild Center’s “Fresh Look” Series Begins in August
PROGRAMS FOR ALL AGES
TUPPER LAKE, New York (July 31, 2006) – The Wild Center kicks off its brand-new "Fresh Look" series
on Tuesdays and Saturdays, with a complete schedule of events this August. This series, offered free-ofcharge to Museum visitors, provides first-hand information by experts in their fields who are good at showing
others how to take a fresh look at the natural world. The programs are designed for individuals of all ages.
Located on 31 acres on the Raquette River, the 35,000-square-foot Museum presents a wealth of exhibits and
programs -- indoors and outdoors, live and digital -- that take visitors deep into the natural history of the sixmillion-acre Adirondacks.
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“Call of the Loon” special screening: Tuesday, August 1 at 7:00 p.m. The Wild Center’s Flammer
Panoramas Theater will show this special documentary featuring loons. Meet the head researcher and
producer of this film. There is no charge for this special evening event. The Wild Supply Co. museum shop will
be open before and after this screening.
•
Future Lake with Charles Boylen: Tuesday, August 1, 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. Charles, a biologist and
associate director of the Fresh Water Institute, is ready to help attendees look into the future of
Adirondack lakes and whether they can pass the acid test.
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Tiny Forests with Robin Kimmerer: Saturday, August 5, 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. Robin will help
participants get a whole new perspective on the forest at their feet (the moss one). Visitors will be
amazed at the ancient and cool world down under their toes. Robin is a professor at the State University
of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY ESF).
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Beaver Life with Dietland Müller-Schwarze: Tuesday, August 8, 11:00 a.m. followed by an afternoon
offsite walk to see beavers. Please call (518) 359-7800 to pre-register for the afternoon hike. Dietland will show
visitors the lives of beavers and now they shape the Adirondacks. More than half the plant species in the
Adirondack forest can trace their roots to beaver activity. These once nearly extirpated creatures are a
major force in determining what lives in the Adirondacks. Dietland is a professor at SUNY ESF.
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Photographing Wildlife with Gerry Lemmo: Saturday, August 12, 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. Gerry will
help participants develop new techniques for capturing wildlife on film. Gerry's clients include National
Geographic and Adirondack Life. His portfolio of wildlife images spans the planet. Meet him, and find out
how he gets cover shots, like the recent bear on the face of Adirondack Life. Bring a camera!
•
Alpine Summits with Nancy Slack: Tuesday, August 15, 11:00 a.m. and a drive/hike to the summit of
Whiteface Mountain. Nancy actually wrote the book on Adirondack summits life. She's a great guide, and
will walk attendees up through the different zones, describing almost every step. Participants can ask
“Fresh Look” Series Begins/page 2
questions, and get up close with some amazing plants, here since the ice age. Nancy is a retired biology
professor. Please call (518) 359-7800 to pre-register for the afternoon drive/hike to the summit.
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Burn Baby Burn with Tom Horton: Saturday, August 19, 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. Tom will help
participants see the forest from the point of view of plants that just pine for a lightening strike to heat
things up. There are many plants in the Adirondacks that require fire, and attendees will hear these
campfire stories. Tom was a source for the Museum's exhibits on mushrooms, and has a unique gift for
shedding light on the science of the woods. Tom is a professor at SUNY ESF.
•
Loon Today with Nina Schoch: Saturday, August 26, 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. Nina has been at the
forefront of loon research in the Adirondacks. She has banded and tracked these birds in groundbreaking
work supported in part by grants from the Wild Center. This media show will bring attendees up-to-date
on the status of these iconic creatures, and how they are likely to fare in the near future.
Separately, a special two-hour Sunday Site Special with Peter O'Shea is scheduled for August 20, from 11:00
a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Peter is an author and great guide, and during this special event he'll explore the ecology of
the Museum's campus, offering attendees the opportunity to dig into the history of the land, from the ice age
to the old farm. Participants will come away with a new way to read the land around them.
Every day the Wild Center staff offer special and different guided hikes on the Museum's campus trails. There
are feeding and activity schedules for the animals. The Daily Explorer available at the front desk shows each
day's schedules, printed that morning.
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About the Wild Center
The Wild Center, built in the heart of New York's six-million acre Adirondack Park, is a major new museum
that mixes up the indoors and outdoors, live and digital, in unusual ways. There are waterfalls inside, and
exhibit labels in the woods outside. Hiking trails through the Center's 31-acre campus are like museum exhibit
halls, except they're in the forest, with labels that trained staff can change daily. Indoors there's a marsh that
looks as if it flows into a real wetland outside the building and the calls of live owls and otters will mix with
the splashing cascade of falling water from a trout-filled stream. Films from inside beaver lodges and from
field scientists doing research in the Adirondacks will showcase the world that surrounds the Museum.
For more information on the Wild Center/Natural History Museum of the Adirondacks and its programs,
visit www.wildcenter.org or call (518) 359-7800.
Contact:
Lela R. Katzman
Full Spectrum Communications
(518) 785-4416
[email protected]
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