Jamestown, NY – At Audubon Community Nature Center’s next First Friday Lunch Bunch presenter Peter Tucker will pose the question: “Can Constructed Habitats Help?”
At the 11 a.m. event on March 3, you can learn if humans can make homes that aid threatened and/or beneficial insects and animals.
Tucker is doing research to identify the most pressing environmental needs and determine where constructed habitat support can be beneficial in Western New York. He will share his results and seek input for project implementation.
Once a species, or a few species, are identified, the project will shift focus to finding local materials that can be used to construct the habitats.
Recently Tucker built beehives primarily from dumpster discards and nest boxes from discarded furniture. A local furniture manufacturing company has offered cut-off materials for the project, and a vineyard provided black locust lumber, an excellent material for exterior use. Ironically, ash trees which are dying from infestations of Emerald Ash Borers can provide excellent dense hardwood.
Tucker finds the challenging and exciting – and perhaps most important — part of this project is exploring opportunities for education, outreach, and community participation. He plans to create toolkits and educational materials for the community and seeks volunteers to construct and install habitat support. Build-your-own kits can become an opportunity for a Social Entrepreneurship project for a non-profit or education group.
A lively discussion will be part of the program.
Peter Tucker is an Associate Professor of Art at Fredonia State University of New York. He works within the field of Social Practice, a form of contemporary art that involves community collaboration. With an MFA from Massachusetts College of Art, he has exhibited nationally and internationally and has work in the permanent collections of the Blanton Museum of Art and the U.S. Library of Congress.
This event is one of several Audubon programs offered in collaboration with the Green Up Jamestown Initiative. For more information on this partnership to unite community members who support conservation and sustainability and who advocate clean renewable energies, economies, and jobs, visit www.greenupjamestown.com.
A BYO brown bag lunch and conversation follows the program, with coffee and tea provided.
The fee for attending is $8 or $6 for Friends of the Nature Center. Reservations are not required.
Audubon Community Nature Center is located at 1600 Riverside Road, one-quarter mile east of Route 62 between Jamestown, New York, and Warren, Pennsylvania. To learn more, call (716) 569-2345 or visit auduboncnc.org.
Audubon Community Nature Center builds and nurtures connections between people and nature by providing positive outdoor experiences, opportunities to learn about and understand the natural world, and knowledge to act in environmentally responsible ways.
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