Friends of Ryerson Woods - Smith Nature Symposium

Programs Smith Nature Symposium
The Smith Nature Symposium is an annual fundraising event for Friends of Ryerson Woods and is presented in cooperation with the Lake County Forest Preserves. This will mark the Symposium's 30th year of bringing luminaries in the field of conservation to the citizens of Lake County.

	Pieces of the Sky: Spring Migration as Science and Magic Benefit Dinner with Keynote Address by Kenn Kaufman *Saturday, May 18, 2013*

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Kenn Kaufman

Every spring season, extraordinary numbers of birds move northward across the face of North America. Their pathway spans the entire width of the continent, and even extends far offshore. Some of these birds travel many thousands of miles, and their numbers run into the billions. These little travelers perform remarkable feats of strength, endurance, and pinpoint accuracy in navigating across land and sea. And yet, most of the time, this vast parade goes completely unnoticed by most human beings.

After traveling the world to observe migratory birds, internationally renowned birder, conservationist and author Kenn Kaufman has spent the last eight spring seasons on the shores of Lake Erie, and he is now writing a book about the phenomenon of spring migration. In this program, heavily illustrated with pictures and maps, he will share some perspectives on these tiny migrants and their huge journeys.

2013 FRIENDS OF RYERSON WOODS AWARD RECIPIENT

Douglas F. Stotz

Doug Stotz Doug Stotz is a world-class ornithologist with a vast experience studying birds throughout the Western Hemisphere. As a senior conservation ecologist at the Field Museum, Stotz has spent years in the field studying the birds of northeastern Illinois with meticulous care and has documented the challenges that birds face in an urbanizing environment. These challenges include changing weather patterns, habitat fragmentation, and mortality due to collisions with buildings and light towers. But Stotz's contributions are not only through his role as a scientist: he is also a superb ambassador willing to share his insights and experiences with a range of nature groups throughout the region. His talks are both informative and inspirational. Stotz also has a long history of research in South America. He has participated in over 15 rapid biological inventories in Latin America and written two books on Neotropical birds.

ART EXHIBITION

Migration: Watercolors by Peggy Macnamara

Hawk Thermal by Peggy Macnamara In her new show, Peggy Macnamara visually depicts the story of migration. A magical and mysterious natural phenomenon - a bird's elegant, dangerous and exhausting travel between summer and winter homes - provides the subject of these works. The epic flight of the hummingbird and the triumph of the Monarch butterfly are astounding subjects, but what attracts Macnamara is how much is unknown. These mass movements each spring and fall feel like a secret. As artist-in-residence at the Field Museum for 25 years, Macnamara brings the science to life, making it approachable and compelling. Migration reflects her collaboration with museum scientists studying bird migration patterns. With a philosophy that art and science go hand-in-hand, Macnamara's work illustrates complicated natural phenomena through exquisite compositions. Exhibition runs May 18 - June 30, 2013.

HISTORY OF THE SMITH NATURE SYMPOSIUM

The Smith Nature Symposium is an annual fundraising event for FRW and is presented in cooperation with the Lake County Forest Preserves. This will mark the Symposium’s 30th year of bringing luminaries in the conservation field to the citizens of Lake County, a history including such past speakers as Roger Tory Peterson, George Archibald, and David Sibley. The 2013 Symposium will launch FRW’s year-long exploration of the theme YEAR OF THE SKIES with an integrated roster of public education programs running from May through December 2013. Through a series of workshops, films, lectures and art exhibitions, FRW will offer varying perspectives on the air and clouds—the physical sky—as well as birds and the other living creatures that we see in the sky.

The Smith Nature Symposium is held in honor of Herman Dunlap "Dutch" Smith and his wife Ellen Thorne Smith who kept a weekend and summer cabin at Ryerson Woods. Dutch was a businessman and philanthropist involved with the Newberry Library and the Chicago Historical Society. Ellen founded the Women's Board of The Field Museum and was the author of Birds of Chicagoland.

The evening of the Smith Nature Symposium features a reception, silent auction, benefit dinner, award presentation and keynote address. Guests can join us for the entire evening or may choose to attend the keynote and dessert only.

TO REGISTER:

Reception, Dinner and Keynote:

$175 for per ticket or $90 Young Philanthropists (30 and under with ID).

$1,500 for a table of 10.

Dessert and Keynote only:

$25 ($20 FRW members).

Brushwood. Registration required. Click above links or call 847.968.3321 to register.

Click here to take a sneak peak at the silent auction!

PRINCIPAL SPONSOR:

PRESENTED BY:

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH:

Friends of Ryerson Woods and Lake County Forest Preserves

SMITH NATURE SYMPOSIUM HOST COMMITTEE

Gretchen Baker and Greg Krogen
Alice and Henry Barkhausen
Jean Brown
Cathy Carroll
Bess and Candelario Celio
Winnie and Bob Crawford
Gillian Darlow and Chris Jones
Barbi and Tom Donnelley
Deb Donnelley
Anne and Calvin Frost
Janice Hand and Rick Sanders
Cindy Kerchmar and Joel Greenberg

Lisa and Erik Lekberg
Judy and John McCarter
Franck Mercurio
Consie and Seth Pierrepont
Liza and Al Pyott
Alison Ranney and Erik Birkerts
Ginevra and Ben Ranney
Jill Riddell and Tim Brown
Michelle and Daron Sheldon
Adele and John Simmons
Ellen and Jim Stirling
Gail and Bill Sturm

EVENT COMMITTEE

Lele Barkhausen
Nick Bothfeld
Nan Buckardt
Judy Iacuzzi
Julia Kemerer
Valerie Lewis

Adriana McClintock
Nancy Patek
Barbara Rosborough
Jill Stites
Judith Stockdale
Sophie Twichell

SMITH NATURE SYMPOSIUM
PAST TOPICS AND SPEAKERS

SMITH NATURE SYMPOSIUM 2012

Lessons from the Prairie

Keynote Speaker: Wes Jackson

President and founder of The Land Institute

Wes Jackson is president and founder of The Land Institute, an organization dedicated to developing an agricultural system with the ecological stability of the prairie and a grain yield comparable to that from annual crops.  Drawing knowledge from the way the world has worked for millions of years, Wes seeks to farm in nature’s image by shifting away from the use of monoculture annual grains (like wheat) to inter-mixed (polyculture) perennial grains.  Holding degrees in biology, botany and genetics, he is a leader in the international sustainable agriculture movement and has been recognized as a Pew Conservation Scholar and a MacArthur Fellow, as well as presented with the prestigious Right Livelihood Award ('Alternative Nobel Prize') for outstanding vision and work on behalf of our planet and its people.

2012 Friends of Ryerson Woods Award Receipient: Steven Apfelbaum

SMITH NATURE SYMPOSIUM 2011

Green Design

Keynote Speaker: Bill Browning

Partner in Terrapin Bright Green

Bill Browning is one of the green building and real estate industry’s foremost thinkers and strategists, and an advocate for sustainable design solutions at all levels of business, government and civil society. His expertise has been sought out by organizations as diverse as Fortune 500 companies, leading universities, non-profit organizations, the U.S. military and foreign governments. Bill was a founding member of the U.S. Green Building Council’s Board of Directors, and he has served as an advisor on high-profile demonstration projects including Wal-Mart's Eco-mart and the Greening of the White House.

2011 Friends of Ryerson Woods Award Receipient: William D. Sturm

SMITH NATURE SYMPOSIUM 2010

Business of Being Green

Keynote Speaker: Will Raap

Founder and Chairman, Gardener's Supply

Will Raap is dedicated to developing enterprises that generate economic and social opportunity while protecting natural resources. Raap shared his experiences both with Gardener’s Supply and his numerous environmental restoration and sustainability initiatives. One of the largest on-line catalog and gardening companies in this country, Gardener’s Supply Company enjoys sales of over $60 million and employs more than 250 people.

2010 Friends of Ryerson Woods Award Receipient: Steve Bartram

SMITH NATURE SYMPOSIUM 2009

Locally Grown

Keynote Speaker: Will Allen

Founder and CEO, Growing Power

MacArthur Fellow and former basketball pro Will Allen is challenging the way we think about farming and food delivery systems. Committed to the vision of full access to fresh, healthy, local, affordable food in underserved, urban communities, Allen founded Growing Power in Milwaukee in 1995. Allen's thoughtfully integrated urban farming model provides a platform to address not only sustainable cultivation, production and food-networking practice, but also environmental and social justice issues.

2009 Friends of Ryerson Woods Award Receipient: Barbara Whitney Carr

SMITH NATURE SYMPOSIUM 2008

The Great Lakes

Keynote Speaker: Peter Annin

Author, The Great Lakes Water Wars

The Great Lakes Water Wars is considered the definitive book on the Great Lakes water diversion controversy. It delves into the long history of political maneuvers and water diversion schemes that have proposed sending Great Lakes water everywhere from Akron to Arizona to Asia.

Annin provides a behind-the-scenes account of the struggle over Great Lakes water, as the eight Great Lake states and two Canadian provinces try to implement an unprecedented accord designed to protect the lakes from unwarranted water diversions. The Great Lakes Water Wars tells the colorful story of the on-going effort to conserve this invaluable freshwater resource, and the book serves as an important warning about what could happen if the lakes are left unprotected.

2008 Friends of Ryerson Woods Award Receipient: Cameron Davis

Keynote Speakers prior to 2008

Award Winners prior to 2008

2007 Karsten Heuer

2006 Joe Duff

2005 Sy Montgomery

2004 Joel Sartore

2003 David Allen Sibley

2002 Lincoln Brower

2001 George Archibald

2000 Terry Root

1999 Lester Fisher

1998 John Fitzpatrick

1997 Peter Raven

1996 Peter Dunne

1995 Donald & Lillian Stokes

1994 Jack Horner

1993 William Cronon

1992 Merlin Tuttle

1991 Richard Clark

1990 Senator Gaylord Nelson

1989 L. David Mech

1988 Neil Rettig

Bill Kurtis

1987 John Fitzpatrick

Bill Kurtis

1986 William Burger

Tom Cade

1985 George Archibald

Kenneth Nebenzahl

1984 Joseph Hickey

Roger Tory Peterson

2007 Gerald W. Adelmann

2006 Chicago Wilderness

2005 Debra K. Moskovits

2004 John Rogner

2003 George B. Rabb

2002 George Ranney, Sr.

2001 John W. McCarter, Jr.

2000 Adele Simmons

1999 Andrea S. Moore

1998 William J. Beecher

1997 Melvin A. Traylor

1996 Fran Harty

1995 Bill Kurtis

1994 Roy O. Gromme

1993 Abbott Laboratories

1992 Susan Spears

1991 Barbara C. Donnelley

1990 E. Leland Webber

1989 Maxine Hunter

1988 John Fitzpatrick

1987 Nancy Ryerson Ranney

^{Friends of Ryerson Woods    21850 N.
Riverwoods Rd., Deerfield    847.968.3343

info@ryersonwoods.org}
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