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The 2018 Fall meeting of the MBC was held Saturday, October 13th at the Broad Meadow Brook Conservation Center and Wildlife Sanctuary in Worcester.
Members socialized as they slowly began lining up for the always popular pot-luck supper. The salads, appetizers, entrees and desserts were better than you can get in a five star restaurant!
Once again Wendy Howes took the lead in recycling and clean-up efforts!! Thank you Wendy.
We had a brief business meeting before the feature presentations. Three officers have completed their sentences; Howard Hoople (President), Greg Dysart (VP East) and Tom Gagnon (VP West). Many thanks for the great job they did.
The election results for the club officers are:
President - Steve Moore (welcome back Steve)
Vice President (East) - Martha Gach
Vice President (West) - Bill Callahan
Treasurer - Elise Barry
Secretary - Barbara Volkle
Dr. Stephen Reppert was our feature guest speaker.
Beauty and Biology of the Monarch Butterfly Migration
All aspects of the multigenerational migration of eastern North American monarch butterflies was presented. It included a historical perspective, an overview of the annual migration cycle, a travelogue of the monarchs remarkable navigational abilities, and a discussion of current threats and conservation efforts. The heart of the talk was on the science behind their navigational abilities using the Sun Compass, their Circadian Clock, Magnetoreception and polarized light angles.
Steven Reppert, MD, is an Emeritus Professor of Neurobiology at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester MA. He is known for his research on the navigational mechanisms used by migratory monarch butterflies during their long-distance journey to Mexico. He currently is an educator, lecturer, and writer on all things monarch. For details see: https://www.umassmed.edu/reppertlab.
This was followed by our members butterfly photo presentation. Not all photos were of butterflies, some Herp photos found their way in. Dave Small once again helped facilitate the presentation by plugging in the clicker. We sure appreciate his technical know-how.
Many thanks to all who volunteered and attended.
Below are some photographs taken at the meeting. Photos were taken by the webmaster who is not a professional photographer.
Mouse over photo to see captions. Click on photo to see larger image.
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