Walsh University’s Environmental Field Center Community Open House, May 11

Walsh University’s Environmental Field Center (EFC) at Hoover Park will host a Community Open House, on Saturday, May 11, from 12:30 to 2 pm. 

The Open House will begin with an Interactive Ecology Display with Walsh University students at 12:30 pm.  At 2 pm, keynote speaker Jim McCormac, author of Wild Ohio and Birds of Ohio, will present the program “Wild Ohio: The Best of our Natural Heritage.” Based on a book authored by McCormac, (Kent State University Press 2009), with imagery by Gary Meszaros, this lecture will be is a photographic journey through the best remaining places in the Buckeye State. From southern haunts bordering the Ohio River to lakeshore habitats buffering Lake Erie, Ohio is filled with wild landscapes. The audience will explore some of the creatures and plants that make these sites so special, and the global role Ohio plays in conservation.

Following the presentation, participants are invited to enjoy a nature hike through Hoover Park highlighting the spring bird migration and the local flora and fauna. Hikes will be led by Jim McCormac along with Judy Semroc and Larry Rosche, conservation specialists from the Natural Areas Division of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.  Semroc and Rosche co-authored the 2008 book The Dragonflies and Damselflies of Northeast Ohio.

Jim McCormac specializes in nongame wildlife diversity issues, especially birds. Prior to that, he was a botanist with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. He was the inaugural president of the Ohio Ornithological Society, and served for seven years as secretary of the Ohio Bird Records Committee. Jim was the 2009 recipient of the Ludlow Griscom award, given annually by the American Birding Association to individuals who have made significant regional contributions to ornithology. He is author of Birds of Ohio (Lone Pine 2004); The Great Lakes Nature Guide (Lone Pine 2009); and Wild Ohio: The Best of Our Natural Heritage (Kent State University Press 2009). The latter won the 2010 Ohioana Book award.  Jim writes the column “Nature” for the Columbus Dispatch, and has authored or co-authored over 100 scientific and popular articles in a variety of publications. He is at work on a book about wood-warblers, which is slated for release in 2013.

For more information, contact event organizer Dr. Jennifer Clevinger, Associate Professor of Biology, at 330-490-7331.