2023 Land Trust Learning Series
View the Presentation on YouTube.
Join us for a special lecture on saltmarsh degradation by Dr. Mark Bertness. This is the first event in our 2023 Land Trust Learning Series.
Dr. Bertness will bring the challenge of saltmarsh degradation into focus. Coastal saltmarshes are one of the most valuable ecosystems on the Earth in terms of the services they provide humanity. Historically, however, marshes have been extensively ditched, drained and developed, motivating the conservation and restoration of remaining marshes.
Conservation of the surviving local marshes is not an easy task, since the most severe current threats are not local, but global. Eutrophication, invasive species, sea level rise, and overfishing lead to trophic collapse. These large-scale problems impact coastal wetlands across the globe. Dr. Bertness will examine how these factors, individually and collectively, are leading to rapid degradation of Narragansett Bay marshes and the entire East Coast of North America.
About Mark Bertness
Mark Bertness grew up beach combing on the shores of the Salish Sea in Washington State, where he developed a passion for shoreline ecology. His research has taken him to Panama, the Netherlands, Sardinia, Argentina, Chile, China — and Barrington, Rhode Island. He has authored several books on marine ecology, one of which he wrote while sitting in the Barrington Public Library. Mark Bertness is the Robert P. Brown Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Emeritus at Brown University.
The event will be live-streamed. If you would like to be added to the live-stream list, please email Cindy Elder.
This event would not be possible without our sponsors. For information on how you can sponsor the 2023 Land Trust Learning Series, email Cindy Elder or call 508-733-2443. Thank you!
2023 Learning Series Presenting Sponsor
Leadership Sponsors
The Cicione Family and Brickyard Wine
Partner Sponsor
Community Sponsors
Steve Primiano’s Custom Window Treatments
Charles E. Millard, Inc. General Contractors
We are grateful to the Barrington Pubic Library for hosting this event
