Berkshire Environmental Action Team

Stop Stocking: The Harmful Practice of Fish Stocking in Massachusetts and What You Can Do to Help
2026-03-03 18:00 - 19:30 (America/New_York) | Online/Zoom
In 2023, Massachusetts made national history when Governor Maura Healey signed Executive Order 618, committing the Commonwealth to halt biodiversity loss by restoring critical habitats and protecting native species. But one longstanding state practice directly undermines these ambitious goals: the routine stocking of non-native fish into Massachusetts waterways.
Join BEAT for an in-depth webinar examining how MassWildlife’s fish stocking program conflicts with the state’s biodiversity mandate and what science tells us about its ecological impacts.
DATE: Tuesday, March 3
TIME: 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM
LOCATION: Online via Zoom — Registration required; click here to register.
Each year, nearly half a million hatchery-raised, non-native trout are released into rivers, lakes, and streams across Massachusetts, often into habitats that still support native eastern brook trout. Research shows that stocking non-native fish disrupts freshwater ecosystems, accelerates the declines of native species, contributes to pollution, and wastes significant public resources — as most stocked fish die shortly after release.
This webinar will explore:

What fish stocking is
How non-native stocking impacts native fish and other organisms, water quality, and ecosystem health
Why stocking conflicts with Executive Order 618 and the Department of Fish and Game’s own conservation goals
Proven, science-based alternatives like habitat restoration and reconnecting waterways
How YOU can make a difference in changing MassWildlife’s practices and pushing Massachusetts to support biodiversity and resilient freshwater ecosystems

Participants will learn how to take action locally to effect state-wide change. We look forward to seeing you there!
Register Here

Pipelines 101: Transmission Pipeline Infrastructure and Permitting
2026-02-19 19:00 - 20:30
Join Rosemary Wessel and Cathy Kristofferson for an instructional webinar on gas transmission pipeline infrastructure and permitting, as seen in currently proposed projects in the Northeast. Participants will learn about the Constitution and AGET Enhancement pipeline proposals, what pipeline systems are made of, how different kinds of projects require different kinds of public input in the permit process, and what they mean for the energy landscape here in New England.
DATE: Thursday, February 19
TIME: 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM
LOCATION: Online — Registration Required; REGISTER HERE
Led by BEAT’s No Fracked Gas in Mass Program Director, Rosemary Wessel, and Cathy Kristofferson of the Pipe Line Awareness Network.

Our Warming Planet - Climate Change Impacts & Adaptation (Webinar Series)
2022-08-03 10:00 - 12:00, 2022-07-20 10:00 - 12:00, 2022-07-06 10:00 - 12:00, 2022-06-22 10:00 - 12:00, 2022-06-08 10:00 - 12:00, 2022-05-25 10:00 - 12:00, 2022-05-11 10:00 - 12:00, 2022-04-27 10:00 - 12:00 and 1 more date
Lectures in Climate Change is a unique combination of written text plus electronic slides that together comprise an informative and up-to-date set of presentations. This second volume, entitled Our Warming Planet: Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation, covers areas of climate impacts related to climate science, methods and approaches, sectors, regional and national studies, and policy and practice.
There are multiple dates for this webinar series. See below.
Wednesday, April 13 @ 10 AM — 12 PM
Wednesday, April 27 @ 10 AM — 12 PM
Wednesday, May 11 @ 10 AM — 12 PM
Wednesday, May 25 @ 10 AM — 12 PM
Wednesday, June 8 @ 10 AM — 12 PM
Wednesday, June 22 @ 10 AM — 12 PM
Wednesday, July 6 @ 10 AM — 12 PM
Wednesday, July 20 @ 10 AM — 12 PM
Wednesday, August 3 @ 10 AM — 12 PM
Click here to learn more.
Click here to register.

Introduction to the Study of Lichens
2022-04-13 19:00 - 21:00, 2022-04-11 19:00 - 21:00, 2022-04-08 19:00 - 21:00, 2022-04-06 19:00 - 21:00, 2022-04-04 19:00 - 21:00
April 4, 6, 8, 11, and 13 | 7:00 — 9:00 PM
This seminar will introduce participants to the identification, biology, ecology, and human uses of lichens with a focus on North America. Participants will learn the terminology that describes characters of lichens and their lifestyles and how these characters are used to identify lichens. Participants will learn how to collect and prepare specimens so they can build a starter collection of their own. They have the option to share specimens with other participants so these can be identified and discussed during the seminar.
About the Instructor
Gary Perlmutter (gary.perlmutter@gmail.com) is an Associate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Herbarium (NCU). Originally from southern California, he first became interested in lichens and lichenology while studying at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden (SBBG) as an independent researcher in 1996. Gary took his skills, curiosity, and starter collection of about 25 specimens from a lichen workshop at SBBG to North Carolina, where he has been active in collecting, studying, and teaching lichen classes and workshops since his arrival in 2003. Gary is an Eagle Hill alumnus, having taken the Crustose Lichen workshop taught by Irwin Brodo in 2005. In 2016 Gary earned an M.S. degree from North Carolina State University with the thesis: “Assessing Highway Pollution Effects on Forest Lichen Communities in Western Wake County, North Carolina, USA.” Gary has published several papers in peer-reviewed journals and newsletters from 2005 to the present and manages the lichen collection at NCU.
This seminar cost $175. You must register to join.
Click here to register.

Webinar: New Incentives for Heat Pumps
2022-03-22 19:30 - 20:30, 2022-02-09 12:00 - 13:00
Wednesday, February 9th @ noon & Tuesday, March 22nd @ 7:30 p.m.
Join Green Energy Consumers Alliance at their free webinar to hear how incentives in MA & RI could help make heat pumps more affordable for you, plus an overview of the benefits of these efficient heating systems.
This webinar will cover:
– What are heat pumps?
– How do they compare with our current heating methods?
– What types of homes are they most cost-effective in?
– How to find good installers
– What questions to ask when you’re gathering bids?
– What are the current incentives to install in Massachusetts and Rhode Island?
Click here to RSVP.

Hornwort Biology and Systematics
2022-03-19 13:00 - 15:00, 2022-03-12 13:00 - 15:00, 2022-03-05 13:00 - 15:00, 2022-02-26 13:00 - 15:00, 2022-02-19 13:00 - 15:00
Saturdays, February 19 & 26, March 5, 12, & 19 @ 1:00 — 3:00 p.m.
Instructor: Juan Carlos Villarreal Aguilar
Tuition Cost: $175
Hornworts represent the smallest phylum among land plants, with only 220 species. Despite the reduced species number, they have a fascinating biology and hold clues on the evolution of symbiotic interactions and chloroplast evolution. Most of the diversity of hornworts is found in tropical and subtemperate areas from the Americas and Asia (especially India and China). Despite the evolutionary and, recently, genomic importance of the group, the taxonomy remains challenging and little known.
This seminar will provide an introduction to the diversity of hornworts, with focus on the American continents (from Canada to Patagonia) and Europe. We will first identify study the morphology and anatomy of hornworts and discuss last decade studies on morphology, phylogenetics, symbiosis, systematics, and genomics. Then, we will focus on the regions of interest, giving special attention to genera and species present. The participant will be guided through the taxonomical literature available for regional taxa, and the morphological particularities when using the few available keys. To dive into the hornworts, we will explore their great variety, exploring their most common species in different substrates and ecosystems, including páramos, montane, premontane rain forest, and lowland tropical rain forest. This seminar will use zoom for interactive lectures by way of power point presentations. The seminar will provide a deep knowledge of this fascinating group of plants and discover why they have become important and popular in the field of evolutionary biology!
• Participants need to have a Zoom account (https://zoom.us ; sign-up is free). They will receive a secure link to join the seminar before it begins.
• Individual classes will be recorded and made available to stream (not download) for the duration of the seminar by its participants, so they are able to review them or make up missed ones.
Register Here.

Forest Carbon and Multi-Use Forest Management — Webinar
2022-02-16 19:00 - 20:00, 2022-02-16 12:00 - 13:00
Wednesday, February 16th @ noon and/or 7:00 p.m.
The influence of active forest management on forest carbon is little known for mature oak forests. This webinar will provide an overview of concepts related to forest carbon sequestration and storage in the context of multiple-use forestry. These are concepts that forest managers and woodland owners should consider when including carbon as an objective in management. Further, as a specific example from southern New England, three study areas each with six forest management practices were established in Connecticut in the early 1980s: uncut forest preserves, silvicultural clearcutting, shelterwood with final overstory removal, multi-aged crop tree, diameter limit, and high-grading. This study found that active management practices can provide valuable forest products while maintaining or increasing carbon sequestration. Management also provides the opportunity to create climate resilient forests with enhanced wildlife habitat. Presented by Drs. Joseph Orefice (Yale University) and Jeffrey Ward (Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station).
Note that webinars are live at noon and 7PM, for an hour each, but the meeting space is reserved from noon until 8PM. Your registration allows participation in either or both the noon and 7PM webinar, and from any computer.
REGISTER HERE
