Preserving the Environment Lecture And Film Series

KEVIN HAMED: “Keeping a Watch on the Salamanders”
March 19, 7:30 p.m.: Kevin Hamed, an assistant professor of biology at Virginia Highlands Community College, will discuss his ongoing research concerning the ecology of salamanders in the Southern Appalachians, which have the world’s greatest biodiversity of these animals. For several years, Hamed and his VHCC students have been studying salamander distributions in the Mt. Rogers National Recreation Area. Disease, climate change, habitat loss and invasive species are causing amphibians worldwide to suffer population declines. The lecture will introduce the audience to these creatures and the threats to their survival.

CHRIS ASARO: “The Health of the Appalachian Forests”
March 26, 7:30 p.m.: Except for the chestnut blight in the early 20th century, never have the Appalachian forests had such stress in human history as in the present. Chris Asaro, the forest health specialist with the Virginia Department of Forestry, will discuss the major forest health issues in the region, including problems associated with the gypsy moth and the hemlock wooly adelgid, the decline of oak trees and invasive plants that are damaging the forest ecology.  He will also discuss threats such as the emerald ash borer and the Asian longhorn beetle, and what we can do to address these problems, such as limiting the movement of firewood across the region, which has been identified as a central cause for the spread of forest pests.

“BLACK DIAMONDS: Mountaintop Removal & the Fight for Coalfield Justice”
April 2, 7:30 p.m.: “Black Diamonds” is an award-winning documentary that explores the escalating drama in the Appalachian region over the increase in large mountaintop coal mines. These operations have covered 1,200 miles of headwater streams with mining waste, have demolished thousands of acres of hardwood forest and flattened hundreds of mountain peaks. The film incorporates citizen testimony and visual documentation, interwoven with the perspectives of government officials, activists and scientists to create a portrait of an American region fighting for its life – caught between the national demands for cheap energy and an enduring sense of Appalachian culture, pride and natural beauty.

DONALD LINZEY: “Panthers in the Southern Appalachians”
April 9, 7:30 p.m.: Dr. Donald Linzey, professor of biology at Wytheville Community College, will report on his recent research on growing evidences of cougars (or panthers as they were once called) in the Southern Appalachians. Linzey will provide multi-media evidence that there are cougars in the region: sound recordings and slides that people have taken of cougar sightings. He will also bring his dog Brandi who has become a valuable part of his research – she is trained to find cougar scat. Linzey is the author of “Mammals of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park,” “The Mammals of Virginia” and the new “A Natural History Guide to Great Smoky Mountains National Park.”

NOTE: All events are free and will be held in the Executive Auditorium of the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center in Abingdon, Va.

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