Berkshire Green Drinks presents Northeastern Cliff Swallows

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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Linda Merry, a conservation biologist and operational meteorologist, will present at the May Berkshire Green Drinks on Wednesday, May 8. 
 
This free hybrid event will take place online via Zoom and in person at The Barn of the Williams Inn, 103 Spring Street in Williamstown. The in-person social gathering will begin around 5:15 PM; the presentation and Zoom meeting will start at 6:00 PM. If the weather permits, the in-person gathering will take place outdoors.
 
Berkshire Environmental Action Team (BEAT) welcomes back Linda Merry—who initially presented at Green Drinks in August 2022—for an update on her ongoing research on cliff swallows. Some may remember when Linda discussed her first conservation adventure: artificial nesting and habitat remediation. 
 
For the May Berkshire Green Drinks presentation, Linda will discuss the natural history of northeastern cliff swallows, their current conservation status, efforts to conserve populations, and her current conservation adventure: the investigation of correlation in the abundance of local insect prey and nesting density, as well as Ferren's hypothesis (applied to the BCC main campus) which simply states that "the amount of available source mud is correlated to the potential nesting density of the colony."
 
 
Linda Merry is a conservation biologist and operational meteorologist who thoroughly enjoys photography and ornithology. Her work exists at that junction where the sciences and the arts collide. She is currently employed as an Assistant and Adjunct Instructor in the Environmental and Life Sciences Department at Berkshire Community College.
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Clark Art Book Talk

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — On Wednesday, July 31 at 6 pm, the Clark Art Institute hosts a talk by Emilie Boone, summer 2024 Clark Fellow and author of "A Nimble Arc: James Van Der Zee and Photography" (Duke University Press, 2023). 
 
Boone speaks with Sara Houghteling, special projects coordinator at the Clark, about the overlooked facets of Van Der Zee's photographic legacy. The event takes place in the Clark's auditorium, located in the Manton Research Center.
 
According to a press release:
 
In "A Nimble Arc," Boone positions Van Der Zee at the intersection of art and the vernacular, reshaping our perception of this iconic figure and the role of photography in the tapestry of everyday Black life. Boone is a finalist for the National Book Critic's Circle first book award for scholarship on Van Der Zee.
 
Emilie Boone is an assistant professor of African American/African Diaspora Arts in the department of art history at New York University. She researches the art and visual culture of the African Diaspora with a focus on vernacular photography and global encounters. Following her first book "A Nimble Arc: James Van Der Zee and Photography," Boone will advance her second manuscript as a 2024 summer fellow in the Research and Academic Program at the Clark.
 
Free. Accessible seats available; for information, call 413 458 0524. A book signing follows the talk. Copies of "A Nimble Arc: James Van Der Zee and Photography" will be available for purchase at the talk and in the Museum Store.
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