The Lloyd Center for the Environment will begin a new speaker series on November 16 at the Southworth Library located at 732 Dartmouth Street in Dartmouth.

The first of the series, "Public Outreach as an Important Tool for Science and Conservation" will take place on Wednesday, November 16, 4:30 pm – 6:00 pm and will include three speakers, the Lloyd Center’s two student board members Eman Khwaja and Nicole Whelpley, and UMass STEM Education Ph.D. candidate/ Lloyd Center Teaching and Research Fellow, Hamza Malik.

Lloyd Center Student Board Member Eman Khwaja will present “Mother-calf and juvenile Humpback whale behavior and distribution in Stellwagen Bank”. She will talk about maternal reproduction and behavior in Humpback whales, focusing specifically on the whale population in the Gulf of Maine (located on Stellwagen Bank, a few miles North of Cape Cod). Broadly, Khwaja will discuss mother-calf pairings and separation, juvenile behavior, and how the social system of the species may impact calves and juveniles. 

Eman Khwaja holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Neuroscience with a minor in Environmental & Sustainability Studies from Agnes Scott College, attended the University of Rhode Island as a Master’s of Science Candidate for Biological & Environmental Sciences and is currently attending UMass Dartmouth, to earn a Master’s degree in Biology/Marine Biology.

Lloyd Center Student Board Member Nicole Whelpley will discuss rapid ocean warming, with a focus on changes seen in dissolved oxygen availability. Whelpley will connect the significance of lowered dissolved oxygen levels with behavioral and morphological responses seen in adult and larval fish. 

Nicole Whelpley graduated from UMass Amherst, with a dual degree in Biology and Public Health. She is currently pursuing a Master’s of Science in Marine Biology. Nicole was a Public Health Teaching Assistant while attending UMass Amherst and is currently a Biology Teaching Assistant at UMass Dartmouth.

Hamza Malik’s presentation will be on “Blending Theory into Practice: A Student-Centered Coastal Ecology Summer Course!” Malik will discuss how the ultimate goal of environmental education is to provide students with a platform that leads them to be well-informed and motivated toward mitigating the effects of growing environmental challenges. The primary objective for the Summer Program: Coastal Ecology, was to design a heavily student-centered learning program where students decide what topic/subject they want to learn within the realm of Coastal Ecology, while interacting with various experts from the field. Five students participated in the Coastal Ecology Summer Course.

Hamza Malik is a STEM Education Ph.D. candidate at UMass Dartmouth and a Research and Teaching Fellow at the Lloyd Center. He has an MBA in Environmental Policy (UMass Dartmouth) as well as a BSc in Economics & Communications (FC College, Lahore, Pakistan). Malik has five years of experience in environmental education programs and outreach with WWF-Pakistan (World Wide Fund for Nature - Pakistan) and WWF-South Pacific Fiji Islands.

ABOUT THE LLOYD CENTER

The Lloyd Center for the Environment, a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization, founded in 1978 and situated with its headquarters and spectacular nature preserve overlooking the scenic Slocum River estuary, has achieved a well-earned reputation for excellence in environmental research and education. Through its innovative outreach programs, it has established itself as a highly regarded leader in the ongoing effort to raise awareness of the area’s fragile coastal resources and the importance of protecting them.

The Center’s 82-acre property offers over five miles of walking trails, the “Bridge to Discovery” dock on the Slocum River, vernal pools, oak-hickory forest, freshwater wetlands, salt marsh, estuary views, and is home to Koko, an injured Screech owl.

Although currently closed for renovations, the main building will be open from 10am to 4pm, Tuesdays through Saturdays, and on Sundays, June - September, free of charge, when it reopens to the public.

Trails are open from dawn to dusk, seven days a week. The Lloyd Center for the Environment is located at 430 Potomska Road, Dartmouth, Massachusetts. For more information, visit www.lloydcenter.org or call 508-990-0505.