June 9th: “Whales in Rhode Island” with Dr. Bob Kenney, a marine mammal biologist from the URI Graduate School of Oceanography. April of this year wasn’t the first time that there have been lots of right whales off Rhode Island, and other species of whales can be common, too.

June 16th: “Bats,” with Dr. Peter August, a professor in the URI Dept. of Natural Resources Science. He will tell us everything we ever wanted to know about these mysterious creatures of the night.

June 23rd: “Volcanoes!!!,” with Dr. Geoff Cook, a lecturer in the URI Dept. of Geosciences. Maybe volcanoes aren’t technically “wildlife,” but they are certainly wild and they do have major impacts on the Earth’s flora and fauna.

June 30th: “Wet, Salty, Slippery, and Sometimes Squirmy,” with Jill Johnen, a marine biologist and marine educator with a special talent for talking with kids. Her hands-on presentation will introduce us to some of the plants and animals we can find along our shorelines.

July 7th: “How Sonar Affects Marine Mammals: the Most Recent Science,” with David Moretti, a research scientist with the Naval Under-sea Warfare Center in Newport. He will be talking to us about recent studies tracking tagged whales and dolphins in Navy experimental ranges.

July 14th: “A Place of Quiet Waters: The History and Natural History of Point Judith Pond and the Harbor of Refuge,” with Prentice K. Stout, a wellknown naturalist, photographer, and marine educator. He will show us one of his I-movies about a truly fascinating habitat that is right in our own backyard.

July 21st: “Discovery of Sounds in the Sea,” with Dr. Kathy Vigness- Raposa, a Senior Research Scientist with Marine Acoustics, Inc. in Middletown and one of the creators of the DOSITS website for the URI Office of Marine Programs. She will introduce everyone to the amazing variety of sounds produced by marine creatures.

July 28th: “The Wild Side of Moosehorn,” with Dr. Gerry Krausse, a professor emeritus from the URI Dept. of Marine Affairs and a consummately skilled video photographer. We all know his videos from the Rhode Island refuges; this new video presentation focuses on the Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge in the northern Atlantic forest of Maine.

August 4th: “The Narragansett Bay Coyote Study,” with Dr. Numi Mitchell from The Conservation Agency in Jamestown. She will tell us all about her work radiocollaring and tracking the largest wild carnivores living in Rhode Island.

August 11th: “Why Do Bees Buzz?,” with Dr. Elizabeth Capaldi Evans, an associate professor and director of the animal behavior program in the Biology Dept. of Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. She will be talking about the fascinating behavior of bees, and will be available to sign copies of her new book, Why Do Bees Buzz?

August 18th: “Sea Otters and the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill,” with Dr. Mona Haebler, a veterinary pathologist from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Narragansett. She will tell us about the months spent in Alaska in 1989 working with oiled sea otters, alive and dead, as well as other marine mammals and seabirds.

August 25th: “Stalking the Wild Mushroom,” with Dr. Bob Kenney. Mushrooms are neither plant nor animal, but they are interesting, some are delicious, and some are deadly. This presentation will introduce the mushrooms and some of the common local species.

All Wildlife Wednesdays presentations will take place at 7:00 PM at the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s Kettle Pond Visitor Center, 50 Bend Road, Charlestown, Rhode Island. There is no admission charge, however donations to the Friends will be gratefully accepted. For additional information contact either Bob Kenney (401-783-4369, 401-874-6664, or drbobk@verizon.net) or Janis Nepshinsky (401-364-9124 ext. 28, Janis_Nepshinsky@fws.gov).