Lectures at Eagle Hill
Lecture programs are free. They run for about an hour, including time for questions. Start times are noted in the calendar below. Click here to sign up for our lectures email list.
Lecture programs begin with a reception 45 minutes before the start of the lecture. This is a pleasant time to discreetly mingle with guests over complimentary juice, iced tea, or wine.
Optional dinner afterwards. Each lecture is followed by an optional dinner for guests who enjoy an extended evening at Eagle Hill with friends in the company of the presenter. Dinners are $30, and include a salad, baguette, choice of 1 of 2 entrées, dessert, and coffee/tea. Wine with dinner is optional. Reservations need to be made by 10AM of the program day.
Click here to make a dinner reservation
| Lectures are inserted as they are scheduled. Bios are at the end of the page. See below for schedules from past years. |
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| Dates/Times | Days | Lecture Titles and Presenters | Dinners (Optional) |
| July 29, 2026. 5PM | Wed | "Using Domestic Goats to Control an Invasive Plant at a National Wildlife Refuge (Multiflora Rose)" by Rich Bowden |
Entrées: Mediterranean Shrimp or Mediterranean Vegetable Medley. Dessert: Florida rum cake. |
| July 30, 2026. 5PM | Thu | "Metabolic Rates, Natural History, and Collective Behavior of Ants from Arizona to Palestine" by Jane Waters |
Entrées: Spaghetti bolognese with beef or vegetarian. Dessert: Summer raspberry pudding. |
| August 12, 2026. 5PM | Wed | "Fascinating New Insights Into the Biology of Spiders" by Matthias Foellmer |
Green house salad with Italian vinaigrette Baguette with butter Entrées: Chicken in a light paprika cream onion sauce ... or ... tofu in a light paprika cream onion sauce Sweet potato wedges Mixed vegetables Basmati rice Dessert: Blueberry poke cake with whipped cream Coffee or tea |
| August 13, 2026. 5PM | Thu | "Darwin’s Passion for Plants" by Robbin Moran |
Green mixed house salad with honey lemon dressing Baguette with butter Entrées: Pork tenderloin stroganoff ... or ... Carrot, cheddar, barley, mushroom loaf ... Both with mushroom gravy Egg noodles Creamed spinach with onions Dessert: Black Forest blueberry cake with whipped cream Coffee or tea |
| August 27, 2026. 5PM | Thu | "State of Maine's Birds: Insights from the Maine Bird Atlas (2018-2022)" by Adrienne Leppold | Green mixed house salad Baguette with butter Entrées: Chicken marsala ... or ... Chickpea medallions ... Both with mushrooms in a light cream sauce with sherry Country-style mashed potatoes Oven roasted broccoli Dessert: Viennese walnut torte Coffee or tea |
| September 18, 2026. 5PM | Thu | "Serf's Up: Home & Happiness in the New Feudalism" Directed by Alan Kryszak ($10 Cover Charge) |
Green house salad with Italian vinaigrette Baguette with butter Entrées: Chicken in a light paprika cream onion sauce ... or ... or tofu in a light paprika cream onion sauce Sweet potato wedges Mixed vegetables Basmati rice Dessert: Blueberry poke cake with whipped cream Coffee or tea |
| Past Lecture Seasons: 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2019. | |||
Lecture Descriptions.
"Serf's Up: Home & Happiness in the New Feudalism"
Saturday, September 18, 2026 @ 5PM
“Serf’s Up”, provides a wide platform for several generations’ visions, dreams and realities: of what “home and happiness” means. A look at the Medieval World of Feudalism and life-long “rental society”, reflected in new generations’ tales of temporary jobs, no health insurance and an unlikely hope of ever owning their own home, in a landlord’s world of perpetual debt.
Alan Kryszak is a Filmmaker/Composer with 40 years of concert, film and visual work, on KINO International, AppleMusic and The Orchard/Atlantic Screen Group. Kryszak teaches Media coursework at The University of Maine at Machias and Augusta, Unity College, and Southern New Hampshire University.
His film premieres include documentaries on PBS, The Roxie in San Francisco, Boston, Maine Public Television, The Hague Global Cinemafest, Sweden Film Awards, Docs Without Borders, The Amsterdam World Canvas Festival, Toronto Short Film Festival, The Swiss Screenwriting & Cinematic Summit & the Cinema Carnival in Pisa. Concert & film music has premiered on Turner Classic Movies, The Film Society of Lincoln Center, KINO International, Los Angeles Directors Guild, Symphony Space, The North American New Music Festival, New York Shakespeare Festival, The Atlantic Center for the Arts, Carnegie Recital Hall and SummerKeys Institute, among other venues.
"State of Maine's Birds: Insights from the Maine Bird Atlas (2018-2022)"
Thursday, August 27, 2026 @ 5PM
The Maine Bird Atlas was a five-year effort (2018-2022) to document the abundance and distribution of all of Maine’s breeding and wintering birds. By both scale and volume of data collected, it is the largest wildlife resource survey ever conducted in the state, creating an unparalleled data set and true vital signs check for Maine’s birds. By repeating and expanding on Maine’s first breeding bird atlas, conducted from 1978-1983, this project made it possible to assess how some of Maine’s bird communities have changed over time, while also creating a new baseline for future comparisons. This collective effort, powered by thousands of individuals, will help guide research, management, and conservation actions for generations to come. This work marks not an end, but a beginning. Join us for a sneak peek at key results while we wait for the book to return from the presses.
Adrienne Leppold, Ph.D. served as the Project Director for the Maine Bird Atlas, founding and launching the project and helping guide it to completion alongside her collaborators. This work was largely carried out in addition to her role as the state’s landbird specialist with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife from 2016 through 2024. In that position, she coordinated research and conservation efforts for many priority species, including Rusty Blackbird and Bicknell’s Thrush, and utilizing Bird Atlas data, led the effort for the addition of five songbird species to Maine’s Endangered and Threatened Species list in 2023. She is now working to build an online education platform focused on bird conservation, titled When There Were Birds.
"Darwin’s Passion for Plants"
Thursday, August 13, 2026 @ 5PM
After the Origin of Species appeared in 1859, Charles Darwin wrote six books completely dedicated to plants. This talk briefly describes what each book contains and why they were important. Did you know that Darwin that was the first person to demonstrate that some plants attract, trap, and digest insects? Come hear about Darwin and plants—you won’t think of him as a just a zoologist anymore.
Robbin Moran is a Curator Emeritus at the New York Botanical Garden. He has published four books and over 200 scientific papers on fern systematics. His research involves the classification, evolution, and geography of ferns. For the past 21 years he has taught a fern and lycophyte biology course at Eagle Hill
"Fascinating New Insights Into the Biology of Spiders"
Wednesday, August 12, 2026 @ 5PM
This lecture will provide an overview of how recent technological advances, such as high-throughput sequencing, micro-computed tomography scanning, and computational analysis of big data sets, have led to new hypotheses about the evolution of spiders, their webs, and reproductive systems and strategies.
Matthias Foellmer is a professor of biology at Adelphi University on Long Island, NY. His education and professional career include a B.Sc. (Biology) from Free University Berlin, Germany, a Ph.D. (Biology) from Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, a stay as Visiting Scholar at the University of California, Riverside, and faculty positions at Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, Nova Scotia and Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario. He is broadly interested in evolutionary ecology, biodiversity, and applied ecology. His research focuses on the evolution of extreme sexual dimorphisms in orb-web spiders, including studies on the evolutionary significance of sexual cannibalism and male self-sacrificial behaviors. Recent work includes salt marsh ecology and investigating the impact of pesticide application, pollution and habitat degradation on salt marsh communities, especially with respect to spider and insect diversity on Long Island, NY
"Metabolic Rates, Natural History, and Collective Behavior of Ants from Arizona to Palestine"
Thursday, July 30, 2026 @ 5PM
Metabolic rates are an integrative snapshot of an organism’s biochemical and physiological activity and play a central role in their life histories, behavioral ecology, and evolution. In this talk, I will describe experiments designed to examine the nature of metabolic rates in colonial organisms and how these may be shaped by their social environments. In the process of doing these experimental studies though, organisms are fully extracted from their natural settings, and the scientists doing the work can become increasingly removed from both natural and social contexts. In the process of reconnecting with the land, my lab has made some minor discoveries about our local ant species with broader implications for questioning and understanding how we learn and teach about biology and engage with our purpose as scientists.
Jane S. Waters is a myrmecologist and a professor in the Department of Biology at Providence College. She has a background in math, trained as a comparative physiologist, and has published widely on the metabolic scaling, collective behavior, and natural history of ants. Her lab group (@antlabpvd) is working to decolonize myrmecology by integrating art with science, challenging problematic language, and creating new and inclusive spaces for collaboration and discovery.
"Using Domestic Goats to Control an Invasive Plant at a National Wildlife Refuge (Multiflora Rose)"
Wednesday, July 29, 2026 @ 5PM
Non-indigenous, invasive plants and animals have long influenced forests, changing forest composition and ecosystem processes. Understanding these alterations is necessary to understand and sustainably manage future forest composition and productivity. This seminar will highlight a number of important invasive species, and will discuss a novel use of domestic goats to control an invasive plant at the Erie National Wildlife Refuge.
Richard Bowden is a Professor of Environmental Science and Sustainability at Allegheny College in Pennsylvania. He has a BA in biology and environmental studies from Northland College, an MS in aquatic ecology from Michigan Technological University, and a PhD from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. He teaches, researches, and works in the areas of forest ecology, community environmental partnerships, and campus sustainability, and is active in promoting sustainable forestry. He enjoys downhill and cross-country skiing, bicycling, kayaking, hiking, gardening, swimming, coaching Special Olympics basketball, and putting wild game into his freezer.