Educational Presentations

Kansas Birds and Birding Hotspots

Bob Gress | January 26

Bob Gress is a naturalist/director of Wichita Wild for the Wichita Department of Parks and Recreation, a widely published photographer, and coauthor of Kansas Wildlife. He will be discussing the revised edition of his book The Guide to Kansas Birds and Birding Hotspots, which will be available for sale through the Raven Book Store at the event. 

 

Update on the health of the Prairie Park Nature Center Prairie Zoom only*

Ken Lassman | February 23

This evening has a dual focus: Lassman has been charting the local seasons since the mid-1980s and will be discussing the incredible dynamics of our local seasonal cycle in general, as well as the impacts of the 2022 spraying of Prairie Park Nature Center’s prairie specifically, and it’s lasting impacts and the prairie’s condition.

 

Riverine Dreams

George Frazier | March 23

Frazier will be discussing his new book from the University of Chicago Press, Riverine Dreams, the inspirational story of grassland rivers—and the people who paddle and protect them. He is the author of The Last Wild Places of Kansas: Journeys into Hidden Landscapes. He lives in Lawrence, Kansas, with his wife and daughter. 

 

Jewels in Your Garden 

Ann Tanner | April 27

Hummingbirds are fascinating and a favorite among those who enjoy birds. This presentation is loaded with beautiful photographs and anecdotes about these tiny birds. It will provide an overview of the ecology, types, and characteristics of hummingbirds. The presentation will also include a discussion of favorite flowers and plants for hummingbirds and a “How To” discussion on hummingbird feeders.    

 

Bunker Resurvey Research Project 

Town Peterson | June 1

Peterson will explore how avifaunas (and other vertebrate faunas too) have changed over the past century. The KU Natural History Museum has vast collections of specimens that were accumulated by our predecessors, particularly Charles Dean Bunker, in the first few decades of the twentieth century. We have assessed those historical collections, found the sites that the early workers inventoried in detail, figured out where those sites are now, and we are now repeating the vertebrate species inventories a hundred or so years later. In this talk, Peterson will document how avifaunas have changed over that century, and explore why those changes have occurred.

 

Prairie Turnips

Lisa Castle | August 24

Lisa will tell the story of “prairie turnips”—arguably the most important historical food plant of the Plains. Lisa has been monitoring populations of Pediomelum esculentum for twenty-four years. In the process, she has learned a great deal about these plants, which have edible tubers; and about the benefits and complications of long-term population monitoring; and harvest sustainability. Lisa will explain how problems with prairie turnips can inform other ethnobotanical and conservation initiatives. Lisa is researcher at the Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research and a lecturer in KU’s Environmental Studies Program.

 

Nature of the Northwest

Jim Bresnahan | September 28

A Photographic Tour of the Natural History and Wildlife of the United States Northwest Including Southeast Alaska. Jim loves birds. They are the most colorful and behaviorally engaging of nature’s creatures. Seeing them as a five-year-old started him along the path of biophilia. He will present from an ecosystem perspective and give a background in the natural history where birds and other creatures are found. He will go from general to specific. It is how he taught but also what is most important to the conservation of these beautiful creatures. 

 

Extreme Camping

David Sain, George Frazier, Patrick Dobson, and Jeff Miller | October 26

Please join extreme campers David Sain, George Frazier, Patrick Dobson, and Jeff Miller for a delightful panel discussion of exploits in roughing it in extreme cold, heat, heights, insects, etc. to see birds and everything else on this great big, beautiful planet of ours. No bug spray required.

 

On the Trail to 5000

Roger Boyd | November 23

Jan and Roger Boyd have been birding together over fifty-five years. Their goal for 2026 has been to visit Belize, Jamaica, and Ecuador to finally reach 5,000 species. This presentation will be a recap of some of their best sitings over the years and a big reveal of whether they reached their goal.