WestConn To Host

Stone Walls Discussion

DANBURY — It’s hard to travel very far in Connecticut — or throughout New England, for the matter — without encountering a stone wall. Whether recently constructed and meticulously maintained or created centuries ago and nearly buried in accumulated debris, stone walls are among the most familiar images of the region’s landscape.

Western Connecticut State University will host a discussion exploring the history and continued significance of the stone walls that crisscross the area.

WestConn Associate Professor of Biology Dr Mitch Wagener will address “The Natural History of New England’s Stone Walls,” discussing land use history and the rise of stone walls as important landscape features, from 7 to 8 pm on Wednesday, October 29, in the Student Center Theater on the university’s midtown campus, 181 White Street. The event will be free and open to the public.

Dr Wagener has been studying historic stone walls on the university’s Westside campus on Lake Avenue Extension in Danbury since 1997. Using his research findings and sharing photo slides, Dr Wagener will highlight the role stone walls play in the ecology of forests and old fields in Connecticut and share his estimate about the length of the state’s stone walls.

“If you put all the stone walls in Connecticut end to end, I estimate that they would stretch about 80 percent of the way around the Earth’s equator [which is said to measure about 24,902 miles or 40,076 kilometers],” Dr Wagener said. “Stone walls of one sort or another are just part of the scenery here in New England. This discussion will give people a chance to learn more about the stone walls that figure so prominently in the backdrop for our lives.”

The discussion will be part of the WestConn “Science at Night” series, which offers free public lectures about various scientific themes. The series premiered last semester when Biology Professor Dr Thomas Philbrick discussed “Exploring For New Plants in Waterfalls of Brazil.”

Sponsored by the School of Arts and Sciences, the series is geared to address topics in the fields of chemistry; physics, astronomy and meteorology; mathematics; social sciences; and more. The university expects to offer at least one event for the series each semester.

“The series is meant to promote sciences and advance understanding of sciences to the community,” Dr Philbrick said. “Each of the discussions will be focused to give the lay person a better understanding of the particular subject.”

For more information about the “Science at Night” series, call Dr Philbrick at 837-7773. For more information about Dr Wagener’s lecture, call Dr Wagener at 837-8790 or the WCSU Office of Public Relations at 837-8486.