Green Mountain Club welcomes outdoor experts for annual speaker series
January 16, 2025 | By Lisa ScagliottiThe Green Mountain Club is a busy place in wintertime with guided outdoor events and its annual Outdoor Adventure Speaker Series that begins Jan. 22.
Now in its 34th year, the series invites various speakers to the club’s visitor center in Waterbury Center or online to share their stories of adventure on Thursday evenings in January and February. The topics are both educational and inspirational from outdoor recreation advocates, athletes, scientists, wanderers and more.
The first speaker visits next Thursday, Jan. 22, at 7 p.m. Jordon Tourville, PhD, a terrestrial ecologist with the Appalachian Mountain Club, will present a talk titled “Living on the Edge: Past, Present, and Future Changes of Northeastern Alpine Zones.”
The Northeast’s few alpine zones feature distinct ecological communities and are an important source of biodiversity. They also are vulnerable to environmental change.
Tourville has 40 years of research in this area to inform his presentation covering how northeastern alpine environments have developed over time, how they are changing, and more.
Other talks in the series are:
Jan. 29, 6:30 p.m.: “The North Country Trail: The Way Too Fast Version.” Few have hiked the entire North Country National Scenic Trail is the country’s longest national scenic trail, stretching 4,800 miles from North Dakota to Maine Junction. Author and avid hiker Joan H. Young from Michigan has hiked it twice and will share her stories, advice, and photos in this online event.
Feb. 5, 7 p.m.: “Hiking the Long Trail Side-to-Side” will explain the lesser-known Long Trail adventure. Hikers may be familiar with the End-to-End achievement, but the Side-to-Side adventure requires hiking all 88 trails (166 miles) that lead to the Long Trail from the east and west. These hikes can be completed as day hikes or backpacking trips. Author, mountain guide, and club board member Philip Werner shares a Side-To-Side trail list and strategies for completing it.
Feb. 12, 7 p.m.: “Running Home: A Vermonter’s Solo Speed Quest on the Long Trail” brings record-setting hiker Tori Constantine to the Green Mountain Club to share her Long Trail solo thru-hike story that unfolded in 2020 during the pandemic.
Feb. 19: 5:30 p.m.: “Creatures of the Night: Conservation and Recovery of Vermont’s Bats” will dive into White-Nose Syndrome, which decimated Vermont’s hibernating bats between 2008 and 2010 and continues to threaten the remaining population. Alyssa Bennett is a small mammal biologist with the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department. She will discuss Vermont’s nine bat speciesl, ongoing research and conservation efforts.
Feb. 26, 6:30 p.m.: “Vermont’s Climate: Floods, Droughts, and a Changing Climate Future” will be presented by Lesley-Ann L. Dupigny-Giroux, a professor of Climatology in the University of Vermont’s Department of Geography & Geosciences and Vermont’s State Climatologist since 1997. An expert in floods, droughts, severe weather and the ways these phenomena affect the landscape and people, she will share a presentation about Vermont’s climate and actions that can be taken to help Vermont adapt to its changing future.
More information on the speaker series, including individual event registration links is online at greenmountainclub.org/education/events-workshops.
In addition, the Green Mountain Club’s wintertime schedule includes in-person and virtual workshops, events and outings such as guided hikes at its Short Trail at its Waterbury headquarters, wilderness first aid training, backpacking workshops, trail maintenance training, panel discussions from experienced thru-hikers, etc.
The schedule for all-ages guided hikes at the club’s headquarters is Jan. 17, Feb. 7 and 21, March 7 and 21.
With a few exceptions, the presentations are usually recorded and posted online on the club’s YouTube channel. Find more information online at greenmountainclub.org under Education & Events.