Ohio Natural History Conference - February 25

You won't want to miss the upcoming annual Ohio Natural History Conference, organized and executed by the Ohio Biological Survey. This event attracts many naturalists, biologists, students and admirers of the natural world from all over the state. It's always a good time, with many interesting talks. There will also be a few very special award winners, and you won't want to miss that.

This year's topics include birds, plants, wetlands, conservation, park districts, and mudpuppies. The complete itinerary is RIGHT HERE. As in year's past, the event takes place in the Ohio History Center, the main building of the Ohio History Connection (Ohio Historical Society). It's right off I-71 in Columbus, adjacent to the Ohio State Fairgrounds. To register, CLICK HERE.

Two great conferences

The annual Ohio Natural History Conference takes place on February 27 at the Ohio History Connection (Historical Society) building in Columbus. This is a great venue for such a conference, and you won't want to miss it.

Lots of great talks will be heard, including one by the cicada-master himself, Gene Kritsky, who will speak about periodic cicadas. As you may know, a mass emergence will take place across much of eastern Ohio this year. I made the photo above in 2008, when a smaller cicada brood erupted in southern Ohio.

The inimitable Joe Letsche is speaking about his work with one of our most fascinating serpents, the gentle Rough Greensnake. He has uncovered all manner of interesting nuggets about these secretive creatures. I made the photo above last fall while on a foray with Joe at his Chillicothe-area stomping grounds.

There will be many other points of interest at this conference, including a great keynote by the one and only Guy Denny. To register, CLICK HERE.

Registration is now open for the fabled Ohio Wildlife Diversity Conference. This year's keynote is none other than Chip Taylor, the founder and director of Monarch Watch. Few people know more about the charismatic Monarch than Chip, and his talk is a must-see.

There'll also be programs on flying squirrels, woodpeckers, pollinators, bird migration and more. This is always a great event, so mark your calendars for April 12. Full details and registration info is RIGHT HERE.

Ohio Natural History Conference!

The annual Ohio Natural History Conference rapidly approaches! Mark your calendars for Saturday, February 23, and plan a visit to the Ohio Historical Society's intriguing building in Columbus. This event, as always, is sponsored and orchestrated by the Ohio Biological Survey, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary.

This year's engaging crop of speakers includes Andy Jones of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Kathy Smith of the OSU Extension Service, Herman Mays of the Cincinnati Museum Center, August Froehlich with The Nature Conservancy, Katrina Schultes with the U.S. forest Service, and keynote speaker Scott Loarie of Stanford University, creator of iNaturalist.

Technology is revolutionizing the way that we learn about and even interact with nature, and we'll learn a lot about the interplay between humans, the natural world, and technological gizmos. These conferences are always rewarding, and a good opportunity to meet many of your peers.

For the complete lowdown, and to register, GO HERE. And, walk-ins are always welcome so feel free to show up that morning and join the festivities.

Ohio Natural History Conference

Mark your calendars for Saturday, February 11th - the date of the 9th annual Ohio Natural History Conference. This is a particularly auspicious occasion, as the conference also celebrates the 100th year of the Ohio Biological Survey (OBS), the main sponsor. Together with the Ohio Division of Wildlife, OBS has crafted an interesting and diverse meeting that gets better every year.

The cost is $20.00 - $10.00 for students - and CLICK HERE to be whisked to the online registration. Of course, you can just show up and register at the door, but an additional $5.00 will be plucked from your wallet. This year's shindig will be held at the fabulous ODOT Conference Center at 1980 West Broad Street, Columbus 43223. I've been to a number of events here and the venue is perfect for such affairs.

Following are a few of the conference highlights:

This year's keynote speaker is Dr. David Bonter with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Bonter works primarily with the lab's citizen science initiatives, and that includes such well known efforts as eBird, Project Feederwatch, and the Great Backyard Bird Count.

One of Ohio's rarer breeding birds is the Chuck-will's-widow, and here we are face to face with one of the jumbo goatsuckers sitting on its nest. See it? Paul Rodewald and Matt Shumar will summarize the Ohio Breeding Bird Atlas, which has concluded after six years of intensive statewide surveys. Their report will be interesting as all the facts are in, and lots of interesting birds were found.

A giant six-spotted fishing spider rests in a tranquil pool, its legs dimpling the surface but not breaking the surface tension. This species is but one of about 650 species of Ohio spiders, and every one of them is fascinating in its own way. Dr. Richard Bradley, spider expert extraordinaire and author of an upcoming field guide to North American spiders, will give an overview of our arachnids. No one talks up the virtues of spiders like Rich, and this talk alone is worth the price of admission.

This female blue dasher is a miniature objet d'art, as are all of the other dragonflies and damselflies. Ohio has a wealth of Odonate diversity, and who better than to talk about these winged predators than Bob Glotzhober and Dave McShaffrey? These two have devoted much of their lives to the study of these fascinating insects and pitch a powerful message about the insect world's most spectacular flyboys.

Suze Prange with the Division of Wildlife will discuss the distribution of mammals in Ohio, and that includes this giant lumbering brute, the beaver, caught here in the act of shredding an eastern cottonwood. Most of our mammal species are usually out of sight and out of mind, but all are fascinating and this will be an eye-opening talk.

If you can make the event, you'll be in for an interesting and informative day, I'll promise you that. Hope to see you there!

Ohio Natural History Conference

Sorry, a bit of a last minute reminder here, but the annual Ohio Natural History Conference is this Saturday. As last year, it'll be held at Big Walnut High School in Sunbury, just north of Columbus. The keynote speaker is the one and only Dr. Evan Blumer, past director of the Wilds, a place I have written about many times, such as HERE. Evan's talk should be worth the price of admission alone.

This is the 7th year for this conference, which features a wide variety of talks on various aspects of Ohio's diverse flora and fauna. All of the details can be seen HERE, and they'll take walk-ins, so if you are in the area and want to learn more of our natural world and meet other like-minded people, stop in.

The conference is organized by the Ohio Biological Survey, and if you've got any questions or want other info, visit HERE.