Urban Oyster Thursdays

If an oyster is your world, and it is mine, you will also be very excited about these upcoming lectures hosted by the New York Oyster Garden. Here's the details.

The NYC Oyster Gardening Program announces a series of five lectures on the history, science and restoration of oysters in the NY/NJ Harbor Estuary. These free lectures will be held between February and June of 2009. This series will complement the gathering interest in oyster restoration in the NY/NJ Harbor Estuary and the upcoming conference Restoring the Urban Oyster to be held on Governors Island on April 24th.

Thursday February 19th, 6:00pm
Where the Oyster Grows: A study of Growth and Physiological Performance in NY-NJ Waters.
Dr. Jeffrey Levinton, Distinguished Professor, Department of Ecology and Evolution, SUNY Stony Brook.

Thursday March 19th, 5:30pm
Oyster Reef Restoration in an Urban Estuary: Are We Ready?
Dr. Beth Ravit, Department of Environmental Sciences, Rutgers.

Thursday April 2nd, 5:30pm
Oyster Educators' Workshop
NYC teachers and educators are invited to participate in skill building and idea sharing.

Thursday May 14th, 6:00pm
Global Shellfish Reefs at Risk
Dr. Mike Beck, The Nature Conservancy's Global Marine Team Senior Scientist, will discuss their recently completed assessment of the global condition of oyster reefs and what we can do about it.

Thursday June 11th, 6:00pm
Oyster Study at a Unique Site in Upper New York Harbor
Bart Chezar, NY/NJ Baykeeper Project Associate, collaborates with New York Harbor School and others to study this potential reef-restoration site.

(All lectures except the April 2nd Educators' Workshop will be held at Hudson River Park's Pier 84 Classroom.)

This lecture series is made possible through a stewardship grant from the New York-New Jersey Harbor Estuary Program. Lecture space at the Pier 84 Classroom and Interpretive Center has been generously provided by the Hudson River Park Trust.

To RSVP for individual lectures, please contact:
Katie Mosher-Smith at NY/NJ Baykeeper
k.moshersmith@gmail.com

More information about the program is available at http://www.urbanoysters.org