Changes to the Natural History of Cape Ann

Schooner Adventure Lecture Series

Schooner Adventure presents Changes to the Natural History of Cape Ann, by Barbara Warren, Executive Director, Salem Sound Coast Watch. Change is inevitable, but human activities have a history of accelerating biological changes. Barbara Warren, executive director of Salem Sound Coastwatch (SSCW), will explore some of the changes that have happened and are continuing to take place across Cape Ann. She will focus on where the land meets the sea – at the rocky shore, and in the harbors and tidal marshes. She will begin by sharing the observations made by SSCW and its volunteer citizen scientists while monitoring marine waters for exotic creatures that have hitchhiked around the world to make Cape Ann their new home. Next she will discuss the dramatic changes that have been wrought by people and nature at the salt marsh on Eastern Point. SSCW and its volunteers have been monitoring salt marsh plants, fishes, bugs and birds at this marsh and others across the North Shore since 1998. She will tell you which six marshes they will be studying this summer and how you can become involved. Finally, she will conclude by taking a glimpse at the “elephant in the room” – climate change and what this could mean for Cape Ann and the North Shore.

Free Lecture, Wednesday, April 18th, 7:00PM in the Friend Room at the Sawyer Free Library, 2 Dale Ave., Gloucester, MA. Supported by VarianSEA and Cape Ann Insurance Sponsored by the Gloucester Adventure. For more information visit www.schooner-adventure.org or call 978-281-8079

Barbara Warren is Salem Sound Coastwatch’s Executive Director and a Mass Bays Regional Coordinator. As such, she coordinates with local stakeholders, including citizen groups, municipal officials, businesses, state and federal agencies, and regional nonprofits to implement the Mass Bays National Estuary Program’s Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan. She provides technical assistance to the Salem Sound communities – Manchester-by-the-Sea, Beverly, Danvers, Peabody, Salem and Marblehead. Salem Sound Coastwatch, as the Salem Sound nonprofit watershed protection organization, engages volunteers in environmental monitoring, which includes water quality, salt marshes and marine introduced species monitoring programs. Barbara has a M.S. in Environmental and Conservation Biology from Antioch New England and a M.A in Education from Lesley College.

,b>About Adventure

The Gloucester Adventure, Inc., a 501(C) (3) non-profit historic preservation and educational organization, was established to restore the schooner Adventure as a historic community resource and living classroom.

To learn more about support for Adventure, please contact Joanne Souza at (978) 281-8079.