Join us each month for our Third Thursday Lecture series! All lectures are held virtually, free of charge. Registration is required. Click here to register for upcoming lectures.
Missed one of our previous lectures? Visit our archives section to catch up on lectures from past months. Please note that not all lectures were recorded per presenters’ requests.
recent lecture
Paved Paradise: The Ecological Impacts of Our Planet’s Roads.
with Ben Goldfarb
(Thursday, February 19, 2026)
Archives
Climate, Soil, and Water
A Forest Grows in Chester County (Rachael Griffith)
Author Talk: Under the Sky We Make: How to Be a Human in a Warming World (Kimberly Nicholas, Ph.D.)
Cultivating Soil Health (Mark Highland)
Evolution, Environment, Drought, Frost: Insights from Extinct and Living Plants (Jonathan Wilson, Ph.D.)
How to Manage Stormwater and Streamside Areas on Your Property (Mark Gallagher/Clay Emerson, Ph.D.)
Mapping Our Impact Together (Karen Clancy/Jess Vairo)
Pennsylvania’s Changing Climate (Kyle Imhoff)
Salt: A Winter Water Conundrum (Kate Hutelmyer)
The Microscopic Life of Pennsylvania Waters (John Lisowski)
Ecological Horticulture
Cultivating Soil Health (Mark Highland)
Ecological Horticulture Practices (Steve Wright)
Mapping Our Impact Together (Karen Clancy and Jess Vairo)
Native Plant Allies: A Non-Chemical Approach to Ecological Gardening (Elyse Jurgen)
Putting Plants to Work (Jeff Lorenz)
Unlawning Suburbia: Lessons in the Design and Management of Nature-Inspired Landscapes (Benjamin Vogt)
Weatherwood Ridge Reserve: From Suburb to Ecological Oasis (David Hughes)
Wildlife Habitats to Attract Backyard Birds (Pat Sutton)
Humans & Nature
Backyard Bounty: Foraging at Home (Marissa Jacobs)
Becoming a Placemaker (Christie Purifoy)
Cider: Pennsylvania’s Once (& Future?) Favorite (Mark A. Turdo)
Connecting Land and Sky (Tykee James)
Native Plants – Spreading the Word Beyond the Choir (Mary Anne Borge)
Paved Paradise: The Ecological Impacts of Our Planet’s Roads (Ben Goldfarb)
Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden (Camille T. Dungy)
Thinking Like a Naturalist: Reclaiming the Art of Natural History (John Muir Laws)
Wild Philly: The Extraordinary Nature of Our Backyard (Mike Weilbacher)
Native Plants
Celebrating the Seasons of a Pennsylvania Garden (Donald Pell)
Flowers, Flies, and Fermentation: The Pollination Ecology of Pawpaw (Kate Goodrich, Ph.D.)
Let it Be an Oak (Doug Tallamy)
Little Garden, Big Impact: Native Plants for Small Spaces (Laura Cruz)
Native Evergreens (Duncan Himmelman, Ph.D.)
Native Grasses for Your Garden (Tom Smarr)
Native Orchid Conservation Efforts at Longwood Gardens (Peter Zale, Ph.D.)
Native Ornamentals and Edible Plants (Allyson Levy/Scott Serrano)
Native Plants – Spreading the Word Beyond the Choir (Mary Anne Borge)
Native Plant Allies: A Non-Chemical Approach to Ecological Gardening (Elyse Jurgen)
PA’s Rare, Threatened and Endangered Plants and the Unique Habitats They Live In (Cheyenne Moore)
Plug into the Wet Meadow Matrix (John Mark Courtney)
Putting Plants to Work (Jeff Lorenz)
Pennsylvania-focused Topics
A Forest Grows in Chester County (Rachael Griffith)
Celebrating the Seasons of a Pennsylvania Garden (Donald Pell)
Cider: Pennsylvania’s Once (& Future?) Favorite (Mark A. Turdo)
Fungal Ecology in Greater Philadelphia (Sam Bucciarelli)
PA’s Rare, Threatened and Endangered Plants and the Unique Habitats They Live In (Cheyenne Moore)
Pennsylvania’s Big Trees (Aaron Greenberg)
Pennsylvania’s Changing Climate (Kyle Imhoff)
The Microscopic Life of Pennsylvania Waters (John Lisowski)
Wild Philly: The Extraordinary Nature of Our Backyard (Mike Weilbacher)
Trees and Shrubs
A Forest Grows in Chester County (Rachael Griffith)
Flowers, Flies, and Fermentation: The Pollination Ecology of Pawpaw (Kate Goodrich, Ph.D.)
Let it Be an Oak (Doug Tallamy)
Pennsylvania’s Big Trees (Aaron Greenberg)
Selecting Shrubs for Four Seasons of Interest (Eva Monheim)
The Forest Pests and Firewood Connection (Leigh Greenwood)
The Scientific Benefit of Trees for Livable and Sustainable Communities (Jessica B. Turner-Skoff, Ph.D.)
Wildlife
Amphibians and Reptiles of the Mid-Atlantic (Jim White)
How Animals Overwinter (Leah Brooks)
Paved Paradise: The Ecological Impacts of Our Planet’s Roads (Ben Goldfarb)
Wild Philly: The Extraordinary Nature of Our Backyard (Mike Weilbacher)
Birds:
Birds & Beaks (Marcy Engleman)
Cavity-Nesting Birds (Jennifer Uehling, Ph.D.)
Connecting Land and Sky (Tykee James)
Owls of the Mid-Atlantic States (Jim White)
Slow Birding (Joan E. Strassmann, Ph.D.)
Talk Turkey to Me (Sara Klingensmith)
Wildlife Habitats to Attract Backyard Birds (Pat Sutton)
Insects:
Butterflies and Their Caterpillars (Sam Nestory)
City-Dwelling Bees: Urban Ecology and Urban Theory (Austin Martin)
Native Predatory Wasps: Their Role as Pollinators and Beneficial Insects (Heather Holm)
Solitary Bee Hotels (Grace Gutierrez)
Strangers in the Night: Moth Ecology and Conservation (Elena Tartaglia, Ph.D.)
The Forest Pests and Firewood Connection (Leigh Greenwood)