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 | "Build It, and They Will Come: Restoring Breeding Habitat for Common Terns" by David Brinker | TBD |
| Past Lecture Seasons: 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2019. | |||
Lecture Descriptions.
"Build It, and They Will Come - restoring breeding habitat for Common Terns"
Thursday, August 27, 2026 @ 5PM
Thirty-five years ago, Common Terns nested at coastal colonies and in the southern half of the Maryland portion of the Chesapeake Bay. Maryland’s breeding population of Common Terns was almost 2,500 pairs. Now, their population has fallen to less than 500 breeding pairs statewide. Common Terns are creeping close to extirpation within the Maryland coastal bays. Sea level rise, shoreline erosion, and island loss have resulted in a significant loss of barren sand waterbird colony sites throughout Maryland. The remaining breeding colonies in the Maryland portion of the Chesapeake Bay are artificial, unnatural sites, and suitable natural breeding habitats in the coastal bays have disappeared. In 2021, a partnership between Maryland DNR, the Maryland Coastal Bays Program, and Audubon Mid-Atlantic created an artificial nesting island as a last-ditch effort to retain breeding Common Terns in the Maryland Coastal Bays. In 2021, we built it, and they came; this is the story of the “Tern Raft” and efforts to conserve Common Tern breeding sites in Maryland.
David Brinker is an ecologist with the Maryland Department of Natural Resource’s Natural Heritage Program where he has worked on biodiversity conservation since 1989. He is the founder of Project Owlnet and co-founder of Project SNOWstorm, two highly successful cooperative efforts to study migrating and wintering owls using bird banding and radio telemetry. Since 1994, he has led the Central Appalachian Goshawk Study in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. He holds a federal Master banding permit and has banded thousands of raptors and colonial nesting waterbirds since 1975. He has authored or co-authored papers on Northern Goshawk population change, Red-tailed Hawk migration, Northern Saw-whet ecology and movement, American Oystercatcher distribution, as well as on secretive marsh birds and colonial nesting waterbirds.
"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.