Workshops & Events

Saturday Speaker Series

Year after year, expert speakers in our popular Saturday Series draw an audience from far and near. Participants leave with knowledge they can use in their gardens, yards, and homes. Some events include demonstrations. The Hamilton College campus is an accredited arboretum; please consider exploring if you attend one of our events.

All events in this series take place at 10:00 a.m. on Saturdays. They are free and open to the public.

Join us! Hamilton College Taylor Science Center Kennedy Auditorium or participate via Zoom by registering below.

Directions & Campus Map    Register for Zoom

2024-25 Events

September 21, 2024       10:00 a.m.

Seeing the Forest for the Trees: Climate Action at Hamilton College

with Aaron Strong, PhD

Associate Professor of Environmental Studies Aaron Strong will discuss Hamilton College's new initiatives to take action on climate change and improve the sustainability of the campus. Hamilton College will achieve carbon neutrality by 2030 primarily by replacing fossil fuel heating infrastructure with electrically powered heat pumps and through extensive reforestation initiatives. Prof. Strong will also discuss the expanded use of electric vehicles on campus and the College's 90% landfill diversion commitment for waste reduction. Throughout the presentation, Prof. Strong will highlight how these initiatives align with the College's educational mission and curriculum.

October 19, 2024             10:00 a.m.

Seeing Flowers: Discovering the Hidden Life of Flowers

with Teri Dunn Chace

An engrossing, narrated hour-long talk based on her best-selling Timber Press title of the same name, learn why flowers look and behave the way they do, why certain plants are placed in certain families, how flowers attract pollinators, and how pollination works. She also regales the audience with some unique and entertaining stories from the era of plant hunters. Savor the breathtaking photographs by Robert Llewellyn (she will explain his “image-stacking” technique).

November 16, 2024        10:00 a.m.

GMOs: History, Myth, and Science

with Natalie Nannas, PhD

Humans have altered the genetics of plants and animals since 12,000 BCE through domestication, using selective breeding and artificial selection to dramatically change these organisms for our benefit. Over the past few decades, human intervention in plant and animal genetics has rapidly accelerated through direct manipulation by genetic engineering. The resulting organisms are called genetically modified organisms (GMOs), and their acceptance by society has been a subject of intense debate. While GMOs are typically thought of in the context of plant-based food, plant and animal GMOs are being developed to address issues ranging from global food supply to climate change to medicine. Join Associate Professor of Biology Natalie Nannas for a fascinating look at the history, the myths, and the science behind GMOs.

February 8, 2025             10:00 a.m.

Honey, I Shrunk the Lawn

with Judith Fetterley

Lawns are wonderful spaces to play, eat, and talk, but they are also ecologically and economically expensive. Perhaps we could do with less of them.  If you are wondering what you might do to reduce pollution and restore our ecosystem, shrinking your lawn is one option. This program will present various lawn-reduction options from the least intensive to the most dramatic. Judith is an Albany County Cornell Cooperative Extension Master Gardener. She has a bi-monthly newsletter, Out in the Garden. She is also the former owner and manager of Perennial Wisdom, a small perennial garden design business, and a Distinguished Teaching Professor, Emeritus at the University at Albany/SUNY.

March 8, 2025                 10:00 a.m.

Birds and Their Habitats in Central New York: A Diverse Avian Community

with Matt Perry

This multimedia program explores the rich variety of bird species found across Central New York's diverse habitats, including songbirds, wading birds, raptors, and more. From forest-dwelling warblers and grassland sparrows to wetland bitterns and urban falcons, you'll learn about their behaviors, conservation statuses, and how you can help protect the environments they call home. Matt Perry is the conservation director at Spring Farm CARES Nature Sanctuary in Clinton. He is the incoming president of the non-profit beaver advocacy group Beavers: Wetlands & Wildlife. Additionally, he is the president and co-founder of the Utica Peregrine Falcon Project and contributes as a nature writer for Mohawk Valley Living Magazine.

April 26, 2025                   10:00 a.m.                                                      

A Tyranny of Peonies, The Life of A.P. Saunders

with Lois Girton, PhD

A. Percy Saunders, Professor of Chemistry (1900-1939) and Dean (1909-1926) of Hamilton College, is also beloved by the peony community for the many wonderful plants he hybridized. He assembled the most extensive collection of peony species able to grow in upstate New York. Then, drawing on his prior experiences in plant breeding, he made every possible cross between these species over almost 50 years. The results were astounding - new colors and forms in herbaceous and woody peonies and an extension of the peony bloom season to nearly seven weeks. Even today, most new peony introductions trace some of their parentage back to a Saunders peony. Join Lois Girton, eminent peony expert and president of the American Peony Society, for this enlightening talk.