Upcoming Events at Summer Star

Summer Star Wildlife Sanctuary ® Presents

Suburban Howls

at Wolf Hollow conservation center

Lupe, Cane, and Trans teaching Jon to sit and stay (Jon Way 2004)

** As of 2/25, This Event Has Reached Capacity **

Saturday, March 23, 2019

We will leave Summer Star at 9 AM and travel together to Wolf Hollow.

SUMMER STAR WILDLIFE SANCTUARY
690 LINDEN STREET
BOYLSTON, MA 01505

Summer Star Wildlife Sanctuary asks you to join us for a day of learning about wolves! The Boston metropolitan area is extraordinarily fortunate to have Wolf Hollow, a conservation and education center devoted to North American wolves.

We will travel with Dr. Bill Lynn to Wolf Hollow midmorning and return mid-afternoon. While there we will meet and observe Wolf Hollow’s ambassador wolves, and hear a presentation by Zee Soffron and Kevin Kenny of Wolf Hollow on the ecology and social dynamics of wolves. After a break and box lunch together, we will reconvene in the visitor center to hear a special presentation from Dr. Jon Way on the ecology, behavior, and management of the “coywolf”.

Lecture Descriptions:

The Wolves of North America
with Zee Soffron and Kevin Kenny from Wolf Hollow

Despite what you may hear, North American gray wolves are still very much a threatened species. To help the public understand the importance of wolves and why we need to protect them. Through the course of this presentation we seek to:

• raise awareness about the important role the wolf plays as a keystone species in promoting a healthy ecosystem.
• provide examples of how the pack co-exists as a family group, very similar to humans.
• display the dynamics and hierarchy amongst the pack through observable behavior cues.
• discuss the biology of the wolf, as well as the evolution/domestication of modern dogs.
• provide a glimpse into the history of man’s interaction with wolves and the challenges we face at present to protect the wolf as a species.

Suburban Howls: Living with the Coywolves of the Northeast
with Dr. Jon Way from Eastern Coyote Research

Eastern Coyotes/coywolves are an emerging species out of wolf-coyote hybrids. They are especially well-adapted to humanized landscapes like cities, suburbs, and farmlands in the northeastern portions of the United States and Canada. So when you see a “coyote” in the greater Boston area, you are likely seeing a creature who represents the dawn of a new species that is part wolf! Dr. Way will help us understand the ecology, behavior, and management of these remarkable creatures, and how can learn to coexist with them.

Speaker Biographies:

Zee Soffron, Programs Manager at Wolf Hollow

Zee with Arrow

Zee was 14 when the first pack moved into his back yard. Zee admits it’s quite a surreal environment in which to come of age. At the age of 13, Zee became the youngest graduate of Wolf Parks Behavior seminar. Environmental conservation became the foundation of Zee’s identity and he often expresses it through his other passion, art. Zee graduated from Montserrat College of Art in 1998 and has been teaching middle school art since 2005.

In addition to his full-time career, Zee took on the role of Assistant Director in 2008. His responsibilities include the coordination of volunteers and public relations. While most humans within the enclosure are viewed as graciously permitted guests, Zee is most certainly recognized as a permanent member of the pack.

Kevin Kenny, Operations Manager at Wolf Hollow

Kevin with Bear (Stephen Canino)

Kevin began working at Wolf Hollow as a volunteer in 2013. During that first year he helped in leading a group of fellow volunteers to DC to protest the 2012 delisting of grey wolves. This trip along with his time at Wolf Hollow reignited his passion for working with animals, and graduating from Salem State University in 2018 with a degree in environmental biology. During his time as a volunteer Kevin was involved in many areas of Wolf Hollow. It’s was not uncommon to see him tucked behind a desk answering emails or out in an enclosure doing routine maintenance under the watchful eyes of some wolfy supervisors.

In early 2018 Kevin was officially hired as the Operations Manager, and now assists with the daily work of Wolf Hollow along with leading presentations for school/private groups. Kevin says, “I think my favorite part of working at Wolf Hollow, other than the wolves of course, is seeing the reactions and expressions from visitors upon seeing their first in-person wolf. I’ve watched the 5th-grade class clown go silent in awe and I’ve seen adults grinning like kids on Christmas morning.”

John Way, Ph.D. Eastern Coyote Research

Jon Way with Cane and Trans (Jon Way 2004)

Jonathan (Jon) Way has a B.S. (UMass Amherst), M.S. (UConn Storrs), and doctorate (Boston College) related to the study of eastern coyotes/coywolves. He is the author of 2 books: Suburban Howls, an account of his experiences studying eastern coyotes in Massachusetts, and My Yellowstone Experience, which details – in full color – the spectacular wildlife, scenery, and hydrothermal features that can be found in the world’s first national park. Jon founded and runs his organization, Eastern Coyote/Coywolf Research, where he is continuing his goal of long-term ecological and behavioral research on coywolves. He also supplements his research with regular trips to Yellowstone National Park.

https://www.easterncoyoteresearch.com
easterncoyoteresearch@yahoo.com

William S. Lynn, Ph.D. Clark University

Bill Lynn with Atka (Henry Fair 2004)

Bill is a research scientist in the George Perkins Marsh Institute at Clark University, and a research fellow at New Knowledge Organization Ltd. He edits the “Political Animals: Ethics, Policy and Practice” section of the journal Society and Animals, and serves as an ethics consultant and board member to non-profits helping civil society and governments make better policy decisions.

Bill’s lifelong work has focused on the ethics and politics of sustainability with a special emphasis on wildlife, compassionate conservation and rewilding. Trained in ethics, geography and political theory, Bill draws out the ethical dimensions of sustainability with an eye to improving the well-being of people, animals, and nature.

Some of the specific ethical issues he addresses include wolf recovery, outdoor cats and biodiversity, barred and northern spotted owls, urban wildlife management, the Canadian seal hunt, the role of ethics in sustainability science, intergenerational equity, the precautionary principle, and the Earth Charter.

Prior to Clark, he was a professor at Green Mountain College, Tufts University, and Williams College, where he taught courses in animal studies, environmental studies, ethics, human geography, qualitative research, and public policy.

For more on his work, see www.williamlynn.net.

About the Location:

Wolf Hollow

Wolf Hollow, also known as the North American Wolf Foundation, is a 501(c)3 non-profit wolf sanctuary and educational facility.

Founded in 1988, Wolf Hollow’s mission is the preservation of the wolf in the wild through education and exposure. Our visitors are given a unique opportunity to meet our resident gray wolves while enjoying an enlightening one-hour educational presentation. During this time visitors observe the wolves interacting with their pack-mates at close range, learn about wolf biology, ecology, and behavior, and discover how they can help create a sustainable world where wolves may thrive.

114 Essex Road
Ipswich, MA 01938
Tel: (978) 356-0216

http://www.wolfhollowipswich.org
whvisitorcenter@gmail.com

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Summer Star Wildlife Sanctuary®

presents

Wild by Nature
The Black and White Worlds
of Erik Hoffner

Opening February 2, 2019

Ending July 2, 2019

Linden street gallery

Summer Star Wildlife Sanctuary
690 Linden Street
Boylston, MA 01505

 

Nature is unpredictable: one minute serene and beckoning, the next wild and chaotic, its forms sculpted by elemental forces over incredible spans of time and its creatures driven by impulses and ways of knowing that remain largely mysterious.