Trees for the Triangle is collaborating with the Town of Cary to host the second annual Cary Environmental Symposium from September 4 to October 9. During the Symposium, guests can attend an exciting lineup of presentations, performances and discussions.
Each event throughout the Symposium will thoughtfully cover the challenges facing the environment and how those challenges affect life both in Cary and globally. All profits from the Cary Environmental Symposium will go to support Trees for the Triangle to further its mission of planting 50,000 trees by the year 2050.
The first Presentation of the Cary Environmental Symposium already took place on September 4th in the Cary Arts Center.
Why Are All The Birds Disappearing? A Presentation by Larry Zoller covered the reasons why North American bird populations have declined 29% in the last 50 years and explained what the community can do to slow the loss of birds and insects from the environment. Zoller’s presentation was accompanied by Olivia Li and Yuanduo Li on piano, playing the four-handed piano piece titled Vocalise, composed by Sergei Rachmaninoff.
Even if you missed Zoller’s September 4th presentation, there are still plenty of opportunities to participate in the Cary Environmental Symposium. Below are the presentations that are coming up in Downtown Cary:
From Wasteland To Wonder – A Presentation by Basil Camu
Wednesday, September 11, 2024 at the Cary Arts Center
Doors Open: 6:30 pm
Program: 7:00 pm
Admission is $5. Please reserve tickets in advance.
Seating is General Admission
The way we currently manage the suburban and urban landscape is creating a wasteland and harming the well-being of Earth. Fortunately, we have an alternative path: We can work with natural systems instead of working against them. By doing so, we can help heal Earth. We also save time and money because we perform fewer tasks and use fewer products. Best of all, these are simple things that anyone can do regardless of their knowledge or experience.
When you ask Basil what he thinks about himself, he’ll tell you he is incredibly lucky. He has family he loves dearly, friends and colleagues who inspire him, and every day he gets to care for trees, soil, and flowers. He pursues his purpose and passions as the co-founder of Leaf & Limb and Project Pando. He is a Treecologist, ISA Board Certified Master Arborist, Duke University graduate, Wizard of Things, and author of “From Wasteland to Wonder – Easy Ways to Help Heal Earth in the Sub/Urban Landscape.”
MUSIC: Lisa Liske on cello. Lisa performs music from the Renaissance through the present day. She enjoys bringing multiple genres of music to audiences in a range of settings from the formal classical concert hall to schools and jams and live music for silent film. Lisa holds a Master of Music in cello performance from the San Francisco Conservatory. Since moving to Cary in 2019, she has joined the faculty of Meredith College and started a private cello studio, Community Cello Works Cary, serving ages four to adult. Lisa frequently performs with North Carolina Baroque Orchestra and the Raleigh Camerata. Her Philadelphia-based New River Ensemble plans a North Carolina tour in March of 2025.
Lisa is an ardent environmentalist. For the 2024 Cary Environmental Symposium, before Basil’s presentation begins, she will offer fifteen minutes of nature-themed traditional and composed music (as well as a few selections from the essential Bach Suites for solo cello). At 7:00 pm, she will introduce and perform a piece by North Carolina composer J. Mark Scearce titled Gaea’s Lament,, which Dr. Searce wrote in 1989 as the Exxon Valdez, which had run aground, spilled 10 million gallons of crude oil into Prince William Sound in Alaska. Lisa’s set honors the long partnership of music and nature, and its offering of hope.
The Nature of Oaks – A Presentation by Douglas Tallamy
Friday, September 20, 2024, at the Cary Theater
Doors Open: 7:00 pm
Program: 7:30 pm
Admission is $25. Please reserve tickets in advance.
Seating is General Admission
Oaks sustain a complex and fascinating web of wildlife. The Nature of Oaks reveals what is going on in oak trees month by month, highlighting the seasonal cycles of life, death, and renewal. From woodpeckers who collect and store hundreds of acorns for sustenance to the beauty of jewel caterpillars, Tallamy illuminates and celebrates the wonders that occur right in our own yards and restorations. He also shares practical advice about how to plant and care for an oak, along with information about the best oak species for your area. The Nature of Oaks will inspire you to treasure these trees and to act to nurture and protect them.
Doug Tallamy is a professor in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware, where he has taught insect taxonomy, behavioral ecology, and other related subjects. Chief among his research goals is to better understand the many ways insects interact with plants and how such interactions determine the diversity of animal communities.
The Cary Environmental Symposium continues with presentations through October 9th at the Senior Center at Bond Park. For more information on those presentations, visit https://www.carytreearchive.org/newprogram.html