Berkshire Green Drinks: Tracking: Out-of-Sight, Out-of-Mind

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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Daniel Hansche, the founder of Spur Wander and an evaluator with Tracker Certification North America, will speak at the October Berkshire Green Drinks event on Wednesday, Oct. 9. 
 
This free hybrid event will take place online via Zoom and in person at The Barn of the Williams Inn, 101 Spring Street, Pittsfield. The in-person social gathering will begin around 5:30 PM; the presentation and Zoom meeting will start at 6:00 PM. 
 
According to a press release:
 
Wildlife tracking has contributed significantly to our awareness of the species cohabitating in the Berkshires alongside our human population. Especially valuable to the conservation and management of the more nocturnal and crepuscular mammals, tracking allows us to identify or verify those species present on the landscape when they would otherwise be imperceptible. Behaviors and habits that would be virtually impossible to see become part of our everyday awareness. What information can we glean from our backyards or favorite conservation property that would otherwise remain out of sight and out of mind?
 
 
Daniel Hansche, founder of Spur Wander and an evaluator with Tracker Certification, brings a unique perspective to the practice of wildlife tracking. From over 25 years of experience in various forms, including education, field research, and certification, Daniel will offer insights, reflection, and inspiration. Whether your interest is of sheer curiosity or that of the hobbyist, naturalist, or professional, our exploration of tracking will be dynamic and engaging for all.
 
Berkshire Green Drinks (formerly Pittsfield Green Drinks) is an informal gathering on the second Wednesday of the month that is free and open to everyone with any environmental interest. A guest speaker talks about an environmentally related topic for approximately 30 minutes beginning at 6 PM; the presentation is followed by a discussion and Q&A. 
 
Berkshire Green Drinks is sponsored and organized by the Berkshire Environmental Action Team (BEAT). 
 

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Williams College 'Pluriverse' Pavilion Example of Intersection of Disciplines

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff

Course instructor Giuseppina Forte, left, and college President Maud Mandel at the ribbon cutting. 
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — A Williams College class has brought together art and architecture, sustainability and design, and learned a whole lot about carpentry and math, in a curling, open pavilion on Main Street. 
 
The product of professor Giuseppina Forte's fall 2023 class "Design for the Pluriverse" took nearly a year to design, model and construct and is meant to be a welcoming space to meditate and connect. 
 
President Maud Mandel said she'd been getting quite a few queries about the little structure between First Congregational Church and Hopkins Hall.
 
"If you tell them you're building a pluriverse, they just kind of look at you like you're something out of a three-dimensional portal from 'The Matrix' movies, which so it's been it's been fun to say that," she laughed at last Wednesday's ribbon cutting. 
 
It's based on anthropologist Arturo Escobar's work of bringing multiple perspectives into design.
 
"The pavilion embraces diverse forms of engagement and the pluriverse concept," said Forte. "The fact that multiple people were involved in the design and construction of this small structure, per se, already speaks to the fact that I do believe architecture should be a collective endeavor, and so there is no sole author here, something that we've been used to think in the 19th century and 20th century with this kind of sole authorship."
 
The pavilion is designed to be open and inviting while also creating a sense of coming together or shelter as it curls in. The materials were chosen based on sustainability, aesthetics and how their production impacted the environment. Because it is made of wood, its carbon footprint is negative.
 
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