The Groton Trails Committee, the Groton Conservation Commission, and the Groton Conservation Trust inaugurated the Groton Conservation Forum in 2015 and they rotate the organizing responsibility each year. All private and municipal organizations engaged in conservation and passive recreational activities in Groton, as well as the general public, are invited to participate. The goals of the Forum are to discuss topics of mutual interest, to explore opportunities for cooperation, to share different perspectives, and to learn about each organization’s current initiatives.

The Forum will start with an opportunity to interact with each other over drinks and snacks. Then at 7:15 we will listen to the Keynote Address by Dr. Scott Jackson, an Extension Professor in UMass Amherst’s Dept. of Environmental Conservation. You can get a preview of what he will talk about by viewing his presentation, “Protecting Forests & Other Ecosystems in the Context of Climate Change,” which is posted on YouTube. Dr. Jackson’s talk will surely engage and educate those in attendance. There will be a Q&A period following his presentation and then further time to interact with each other and finish up all the drinks and snacks!  The Forum will conclude at 9:00 pm.

The following is a condensed bio of Dr. Scott Jackson: Scott has taught courses and workshops on wetlands ecology and conservation, biodiversity conservation, the ecology and conservation of amphibians and reptiles, and general New England natural history. He has been involved in the use of underpass systems to facilitate wildlife movement across roads and development of methods for evaluating the effectiveness of animal passage structures. His research interests include the following: ecology and breeding biology of amphibians, vernal pool ecology, wetland assessment and monitoring, impacts of roads and highways on wildlife, and landscape-based ecological assessment. He is a principal (along with Kevin McGarigal and Brad Compton) in the development of the Conservation Assessment and Prioritization System (CAPS) and the Critical Linkages project, and he serves as project leader for the North Atlantic Aquatic Connectivity Collaborative (NAACC). Scott led a collaborative project to develop the Massachusetts Wildlife Climate Action Tool and is interested in helping practitioners access climate science for on-the-ground ecosystem conservation. As a private consultant he conducted wildlife habitat evaluations, natural resource inventories, rare species surveys, project reviews, and development of conservation plans. Scott is Chair of the Whately Conservation Commission, serves on the Board of Directors for the Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commissions (MACC), and is Chair of the Kestrel Land Trust Board of Trustees.