Bates College continues series on ecology and politics of Maine forests

Bates College concludes its nine-part series “The Ecology and Politics of Maine Forests” with two final talks in November and December. Environmental planner Joshua Royte of the Nature Conservancy will discuss “St. John River: Conservation and Management” at 2:40 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 28, in Edmund S. Muskie Archives at Bates College. Jennifer Melville of Trust for Public Land will discuss “Conservation Easements” at 2:40 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 5, in Skelton Lounge, Chase Hall. The public is invited to attend these 80-minute talks free of charge.

Joshua Royte received his B.A. from Bard College and his Masters from Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. He was the director of Fox Island Environmental Center for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and an environmental planner for the National Capital Parks and Planning Commission. He conducted wetland evaluations for the Maine Natural Areas Programs and the Nature Conservancy as well as industrial project studies across New England for a private consulting firm, Woodlot Alternatives from 1990 to 1998.

Jennifer Melville is a project manager covering the State of Maine for the Trust for Public Lands (TLP). Melville, who has been with TPL for five years, moved to Maine a year ago to open TPL’s first Maine field office.

Among the land conservation projects that Melville has completed in Maine are a 20,000 acre conservation easement on Nicatous Lake, large scale shoreline protection of Moosehead and Flagstaff Lakes, permanent state ownership of Scarborough Beach and key additions to Rangeley Lake State Park and Lake Umbagog National Wildlife Refuge.

Melville is currently the chair of the Northern Forest Center and serves on the steering committee of the Northern Forest Alliance. She received a B.A. in environmental science from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Masters of Environmental Studies from Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.

The talks are sponsored by the Dean of the College’s Muskie Archives Speakers Series. For more information call 207-786-8367.