Nature as Inspiration
The 3rd Annual Environmental Film Festival
May 25 - 28, 2017
The festival kicks off Thursday, the 25th with an opening reception at 6:30 PM, followed by The Bullish Farmer, a feature-length documentary on sustainable agriculture. John Ubaldo, the film’s subject/protagonist, and co-directors Ken Marsolais and Nancy Vick will be with us for the opening reception, and will be joined by local farmers for a panel discussion after the film. The festival closes Sunday with the 7:30 screening of Tomorrow, an optimistic look at how we can address the most challenging issues of our time, followed by a presentation and discussion led by local leaders in waste reduction efforts.
In between will be a diversity of feature films and shorts, wonderful guest speakers, food and music, the first public showing of the 2017 Art of Conservation winners (see story below), and a great children's program including a reusable bag decorating activity and a free screening of Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax. Read all the details at the MV Film Society!
The Art of Conservation
Opening Show and Awards Presentation
May 27, 3:00 pm
The theme of this year’s contest was “Discovery”: a call to seek out what you hadn’t noticed or experienced before on our island. In an interesting twist, both first-place winners this year were sculptures: a castoff tire overlaid with a weaving of recycled fibers by Grace Kenney and an origami work by David Sweitzer took the top honors, along with a $100 cash prize. In addition, Special Distinctions were awarded to Pandora Bassett, Cameron Moore, Kayla Oliver, Lexus Pate, Olivia Schroeder, and Emma Searle for their photography entries; all will receive gift certificates to local businesses.
The art will be on display in the Film Center’s Feldman Family Artspace throughout the weekend’s Nature as Inspiration festival (see story above). After the opening reception at 3:00 on Saturday, there will be a brief awards ceremony before the screening of Reefs at Risk, followed by the feature-length A Plastic Ocean at 4:00.
Special thanks to all who have helped make The Art of Conservation happen, in particular MVRHS art teacher Chris Baer and local photographer David Welch, who together did tremendous work inspiring, motivating, and guiding the students, and this year’s excellent judges Mollie Doyle, Ben Scott, and Liz Witham.
For a preview of the winners, and to read descriptions of the works in the artists’ own words, check out the Art of Conservation pages. You can also view works from previous years’ contests, including “Water,” “Waste,” and the more open-ended 2014 original.
Annual Meeting of the Board & Membership
June 27, 2017
Please
join your conservation-minded friends Tuesday, June 27 for the Annual Meeting of the VCS Board and Membership.
The meeting starts at 5:00 pm at the West Tisbury Library. Refreshments
will be served on the lawn to the right of the main entrance, and then
we will move inside for the business portion at approximately 5:45.
In addition, we are very pleased to announce that this year's meeting will feature a presentation by the Director of Rockefeller University’s Program for the Human Environment (and long-time VCS science advisor) Jesse Ausubel, on the potential for environmental DNA (eDNA) to radically transform the way we understand the wildlife in our water:
Naked
DNA in My Water
. . . including Tisbury Great Pond and Look Pond
by Jesse H. Ausubel
Environmental DNA (eDNA), also known as loose, extracellular, or naked DNA, abounds in natural water, both salt and fresh. It results from the break-up of cells and may be shed like dandruff. The presence of many aquatic animals can be reliably detected by analyzing water samples for these DNA fragments. Monitoring eDNA could add to or supplant traditional ways to understand marine life, many of which can be time-consuming, expensive, and destructive to the very wildlife we seek to better understand.
Even though you have already gulped some while swimming, Jesse Ausubel will introduce us all to the eDNA in our seawater – including recent samples from Tisbury Great Pond and Look Pond!
Jesse Huntley Ausubel is Director of the Program for the Human Environment at The Rockefeller University in New York and on the faculty at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Between 2000-2010 Mr. Ausubel led the Census of Marine Life to assess and explain the diversity, distribution, and abundance of life in all oceans. Mr. Ausubel has explored in waters as diverse as the Arctic and Australia. In 2010 he received the Blue Frontier/Peter Benchley prize for ocean science and in 2011 shared the International Cosmos Prize. In 2012 Monmouth University named him America’s National Ocean Champion. The deepwater lobster Dinochelus ausubeli is named in his honor.
Global Environmental Threats:
How Medical Models Can Help us Understand Them
July 26, 2017
Please join us at the Polly Hill Arboretum at 5:30 on July 26, when Dr. Eric Chivian, founder and former director of the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School, presents a talk on recognizing and addressing global environmental threats. His lecture will also touch on Lyme and other tick-borne diseases, a topic of great importance to the Island community. Admission to the event is $5 for VCS or Polly Hill members, $10 for the general public.
In 1980, Dr. Chivian co-founded the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, recipient of the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize. During the past 26 years, he has worked to involve physicians in the United States and abroad in efforts to increase public understanding of the potential human health consequences of global environmental change, and in 2008 was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. Dr. Chivian is the senior editor and author of Sustaining Life: How Human Health Depends on Biodiversity, named "Best Biology Book of 2008" by Library Journal. He currently directs a new nonprofit, the Program for Preserving the Natural World.
The 25th Anniversary Earth Day Beach Clean-Up
April 22, 2017
Read more about this community tradition at the Beach Clean-Up page!
This year's beaches:
Aquinnah: Lobsterville, Philbin, Tribal Beaches
Chilmark: Squibnocket, Menemsha, Lucy Vincent
Edgartown: Fuller Street, Lighthouse Beach, South Beach (Left &
Right Fork), State Beach (Bend in the Road)
Oak Bluffs: Eastville Point, State Beach (Little Bridge),
Town Beach (SSA to Inkwell)
Tisbury: Meet at Owen Park or the town landing on the Lagoon; volunteer leaders will then send people on to the nearby beaches, including Grove Ave Beach, Hines Point, the Lake Street landing,
Tashmoo opening, Owen Little Way, and the VH
harbor.
West Tisbury: Cedar Tree Neck, Lambert’s Cove
Special thanks to our sponsors:
M.V. Savings Bank | Harbor View Hotel
Josh and Angela Aronie | Cronig’s Market | Dippin' Donuts | Lucky Hank’s
Scottish Bakehouse | Sharky's | The Trustees | Tyson Foods | Vineyard Grocer
and our volunteer group leaders:
Update: following postponement due to weather, we are looking into rescheduling if possible. Stay tuned!Join VCS for a return to the ever-changingFrances Newhall Woods Preserve. Located across the towns of West Tisbury and Chilmark, the 512-acre property provides one of the largest intact ecosystems on our island, including at least eight distinct natural communities, ten different soil types, and more than 200 plant and animal species.
Tough footing: Walks at the Woods Preserve often traverse areas where shrubby vegetation, mowed or burned, stiffly pokes up from the ground. So wear strong-soled shoes or boots, and we suggest leaving dogs at home – in previous years, sore paws have led some to be carried out by their human companions!
VCS has offered guided walks on the Woods Preserve since its protection in 1991, when the owners, Edwin Newhall Woods and Jeanne Woods donated a permanent Conservation Restriction (CR) to the Nature Conservancy (TNC). Upon the Woods’ death, the land was bequeathed to TNC and the CR was conveyed to VCS.
The walk will last one to two hours, followed by cider and cookies. Please dress for the weather, and keep any dogs on leashes. Parking is off North Rd. about one mile from the West Tisbury end; look for VCS signs and flags on the south side of the road. For additional info, please contact our office.
Winter Walks Return with Trips to Flat Point Farm & Morning Glory Farm
Our first winter walk of the 2016-17 season was a visit to Flat Point Farm. This beautiful piece of farmland, located directly on the Tisbury Great Pond, was saved from residential development just a few years ago through the combined efforts of the landowner, neighbors, the Land Bank, and VCS. Today, the farm raises beef and lamb, egg-laying chickens, and dairy goats, who provide milk for making cheese and artisanal soaps. 
land on which the farm now sits, guaranteeing its farming future in perpetuity. Click here to read more about the conservation history of this iconic Island farm. October 1: Living Local Harvest Festival
As always, the festival brought together great local food, music, animals, games and activities for kids of all ages, and educational presentations and demos on a variety of sustainability issues, this year including local recycling and “The Life of Trash,” renewable energy, and a composting workshop roundtable. In addition Cape Light Compact offered an opportunity to turn in old dehumidifiers and room air conditioners.
The Living Local Harvest Festival, an annual celebration of Island community spirit that has now grown into a major event and community treasure, was originally founded by four Island non-profits, the MV Ag. Society, Vineyard Energy Project, Island Grown Initiative, and VCS, to promote sustainable living on our island by encouraging local food production and the local economy, renewable energy, and resource conservation.Conservator Appreciation Event
In 2016, our annual summer “Thank You” event for VCS Conservators was held at the Chilmark home of Dave and Karen Davis. The Davis home is a beautiful example of smart design that fits into the surrounding landscape rather than dominating it, and features modern technology to maximize energy efficiency. VCS Conservators are donors who give $1,000 or more per year, as well as those who have donated land and conservation restrictions.
VCS Annual Meeting
The business portion of the meeting was followed by a presentation of Island photography by Neal Rantoul. Recently retired (following 30 years as head of the Northeastern University Photo Program), Neal is a life-long Vineyard resident who now devotes his efforts full-time to making new work and bringing earlier work to a national and international audience.
Neal’s photography boldly illustrates how the Island is continually changing – due to both the unpredictable power of nature, as seen in our dynamic shoreline, and the rapid pace of development and other human impacts. In describing his work earlier this spring, Neal draws an analogy to photographer Eugene Atget’s work documenting the industrialization of Paris at the turn of the 20th century: “I felt in the late 80s and early 90s a sense of urgency about the Vineyard. Such rapid growth and building. I felt that areas unbuilt should be photographed so there would be a record.”
Nature as Inspiration
Winter Walks: Preserving Local Farming at the Allen Sheep Farm
The second walk of the season was a visit to the iconic Allen Farm on South Road in Chilmark. The view from the farm out over the south shore is one of the most spectacular on the Island.
Allen farm has seen animal grazing and human habitation for hundreds of years, all under Allen family stewardship; today, owners Clarissa Allen and Mitchell Posin carry on that tradition. Twenty-five years ago, 22.5 acres were preserved through an agreement among the owners, VCS, the Town of Chilmark, Mass DPW, and the Land Bank. Twenty years ago, VCS facilitated an additional gift of a Conservation Restriction (CR) on an abutting parcel of 5.3 acres. In recent years, the farm installed a wind turbine on the north side of the property under a state program where green energy projects are fast-tracked for farms and schools.
Read more about our other walks, or just check out the photos!
At this year’s Living Local Harvest Festival, VCS unveiled a bold plan to pursue the passage of a plastic bag ban in all six Island towns. Our goal is to put the new bylaw before voters at the 2016 Town Meetings. This would not mean an end to all plastic bags (the ban targets only those thin bags with integrated handles typically given out at the point-of-sale), but it is a meaningful step toward less land and marine pollution, and will help reduce the amount of plastic in our waste stream. Read more about what VCS is proposing and why.
Many thanks to all who attended our 50th Birthday Party and everyone who helped make it happen, including our wonderful auctioneers, musicians, volunteers, staff, and sponsors.
An extra special thank you goes out to our participating artists. They not only donated their art to support VCS, but many also invited the public to view them at work!
Artists Painting en Plein Air to Support VCS
Seven of our Fresh Paint artists – Valentine Estabrook, Kanta Lipsky, Marjorie
Mason, Tiffiney Shoquist, Jeanne Staples, Liz Taft, and Allen Whiting – invited the public to come watch them create
their newest work live, on location. Their technique, known in
the artistic community as painting en
plein air, can be used to capture the immediacy and power of the natural
world where things are constantly changing, or alternately, to communicate the
peace and serenity in a particular moment. To all of our wonderful artists,
Nature as Inspiration: The Films of Jacques Perrin
an environmental film
festival
The Nature as Inspiration festival is part of a broader initiative from VCS called “Connect, Reflect, Protect.” In our 50th anniversary year, VCS is seeking to spark environmental awareness and reflection on the importance of connecting our Island community to the natural world that supports us. With several sellouts and packed houses all weekend – many times packed largely with young folks – there is no doubt that we are one big step further along the path of the Connect – Reflect – Protect outreach initiative.
Thanks to the Richard Lounsbery Foundation, whose grant made this festival possible.
VCS in collaboration with the Center for Biological Diversity and the MV Film Society co-hosted a screening of the Oscar- and Emmy-winning documentary film The Island President, the story of Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed’s efforts to raise awareness around climate change issues and protect his island nation from the rising seas. Frostpaw the polar bear, CBD’s climate change mascot, spoke with guests as a special treat!
The screening was part of CBD’s effort to draw President Obama’s attention toward climate change issues during his visit to the Island, and part of their broader campaign in opposition to Federal approval of the Keystone XL pipeline.
Conservator Appreciation Event
"In the Orchard"
The annual appreciation event for our most generous donors was held at the home of Jesse Ausubel, Director of the Program for the Human Environment at Rockefeller University. (Jesse is also a VCS Board alum and currently our Science Advisor.)
For more information on becoming a Conservator, please contact Signe Benjamin at (508) 693-9588 or via email.The original high-res versions can be found at our climate change page. Depicting areas inundated at both 1 meter (yellow) and 2 meters (red) of sea level rise, the maps paint a stark picture of valuable land and critical infrastructure lost outright in the not-too-distant future. What the maps do not reveal is the much broader area subject to flooding due to storm surges and the ongoing effects of coastal erosion.
Special thanks to Chris Seidel at the MVC for creating the map projections, and to Dan Martino of MV Productions for producing both videos.
We were joined at the screening by Executive Producer Stephen Kellert, who is the co-originator (along with E.O. Wilson) and a primary developer of the Biophilia Hypothesis, a broader theory describing the interactions between humans and nature that draws on biology, psychology, anthropology, sociology, and other disciplines. The concepts of biophilia form the underpinnings of Professor Kellert's study of architecture and design presented in the film.
In an effort to dig a little deeper into the world of biophilia, VCS staffer Jeremy Houser recently conducted an interview with Dr. Kellert. Check out the interview to learn more about biophilia in general, Dr. Kellert's efforts to develop a code of ethics drawing on biophilic theory, and even why we are (perhaps unreasonably) afraid of spiders.
Climate Change: Building and Island Understanding
For the last several years, VCS has made climate change awareness and education an organizational priority. This summer, we hosted renowned environmentalists William and Margot Moomaw for a very special presentation at the Grange Hall. The Moomaws shared their insight into both the global context of one of the most pressing issues of our time and the possibilities and benefits of taking action locally to live deliberately and live better.
Video of the presentation is available from Martha's Vineyard Productions.
William Moomaw is Professor of International Environmental Policy at Tufts University, and the founding Director of the Tufts Climate Initiative. He has authored work for the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Margot Moomaw is a graduate of the Harvard School of Public Health and has worked in the healthcare field for more than twenty-five years. She is now a green design consultant, offering expertise on actions homeowners can take to live better, more sustainable lives.
Where possible, experts with inside knowledge of the film have been in attendance to lead informal discussion sessions after the showing, most notably Jesse Ausubel, who served as a science consultant on Switch, a film about the diverse methods of global energy production, and Stephen Kellert who presented his own film Biophilic Design. Other films, including Green Fire (the story of the great environmentalist Aldo Leopold), Dive (an exploration of food waste and “dumpster diving”), and Last Call at the Oasis (an expose of the global water crisis), featured discussions facilitated by VCS board and staff. Our screening of Chasing Ice, the story of a photographer’s effort to document the disappearance of the Earth’s glaciers, brought a third partner into the collaboration, the local chapter of the global climate advocacy organization 350.org.
Watch for announcements of new Green on Screen films at the VCS website, in our Conservation Almanac, and in the local papers' events calendars.