The History and Future of Farming and Conservation in New England

Join us for a talk by Professor Brian Donahue on  the development of farming, woodlands, and conservation along the Sudbury River from pre-European times to today. The talk  will then expand to envision the possible future of farming in New England, in a changing world.

Brian Donahue is Associate Professor of American Environmental Studies on the Jack Meyerhoff Fund at Brandeis University, and Environmental Historian at Harvard Forest. He teaches courses on environmental history and sustainable farming and forestry, and he holds a BA, MA, and PhD from the Brandeis program in the History of American Civilization. He co-founded and for 12 years directed Land’s Sake, a non-profit community farm in Weston, and now sits on the board of the Thoreau Farm Trust and The Land Institute. Donahue wrote or co-authored a number of books on farming and conservation and received multiple awards for them. He is also co-author of Wildlands and Woodlands and A New England Food Vision, initiatives working towards conserving 85% of the New England Landscape (wildlandsandwoodlands.org).