Press Release
By Cheryl Morris
On Thursday, January 15, 2015, the Mississippi Valley Field Naturalists (MVFN) will present the fourth lecture in their current series which is based on the theme “When A Tree Falls In The Forest, Does Anyone Hear?” This event will be held in the Social Hall of Almonte United Church, 106 Elgin St., Almonte Ontario at 7:30 pm.
Guest speaker for the evening will be author and biologist Donna Naughton. Donna has recently retired from a career spanning 38 years at the Canadian Museum of Nature where she worked as a research and collections assistant. Donna’s presentation will be entitled “Changes To Canadian Mammal Fauna Due to Human Influence”.
“At a time when the natural environment is more threatened by human activity than ever before, the decisions we make in the next few decades could be key to species and habitat survival.” – Donna Naughton from her book The Natural History of Canadian Mammals, published in 2012. Humans have changed the mammalian fauna in North America in major ways at least three times. Some changes are still ongoing. Our speaker will talk about these extinction events and discuss how global climate change fits into this picture. She will discuss which mammals existed in the past in eastern Ontario, which mammal groups are currently living in this region, and which ones are likely to still exist here in the future.
Donna will also say a few words about her book, The Natural History of Canadian Mammals. Naughton spent eleven years studying and drawing mammals to include in the book. This visually stunning volume is a definitive guide to the 215 species of mammals in Canada. The book outlines the story of each of Canada’s mammals through detailed text, colourful photos and informative drawings and artwork. The beautiful 800-page book is truly the culmination of a long and inspired career.
A figure from Donna Naughton’s beautifully illustrated book The Natural History of Canadian Mammals. Naughton will be the featured guest speaker January 15, 2015, as MVFN’s natural history lecture series continues in Almonte.
In a past interview with North Country Public Radio, Donna states “One of my jobs in my 37 years at the museum was to answer questions from the public. So anybody who phoned or emailed with a mammal question got sent to my desk. So I had a pretty good idea of what the Canadian public wanted to know and how they would like it answered . . . you get a feel for what they really want to know”.
Please join MVFN for this interesting and informative presentation. Refreshments and discussion will follow the talk. There is a non-member fee of $5. For further information, please contact MVFN’s Program Chair, Gretta Bradley, at glbradley@icloud.com. Visit mvfn.ca for all MVFN events, membership and other club information.
