Audubon Society of Central Arkansas

Bob Dolgan and Stephanie Beilke

Register for this free event by visiting https://ar.audubon.org/events/

We will watch a documentary, followed by a Q&A with the filmmaker and Audubon Great Lakes’ Conservation Science Manager. “Monty and Rose” is a 2019 documentary written and directed by Bob Dolgan. The film tells the story of a pair of endangered piping plovers that nested at Chicago’s Montrose Beach, becoming the first of the species to nest in the city since 1955. The endangered birds took up residence on one of the busiest stretches of one of the busiest beaches in Chicago. “Monty and Rose” was an official selection of the One Earth Film Festival and has aired on Chicago’s PBS station, WTTW Channel 11. More information is available at www.montyandrose.net. The trailer is at https://youtu.be/L52aiwfOMBM

Bob Dolgan created his first film, “Monty and Rose,” as a volunteer plover monitor in Chicago in 2019. He is a past Board Member of Chicago Ornithological Society and writes the This Week in Birding newsletter. His writing has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Chicago Reader, Chicago Wilderness, Richmond Times-Dispatch and St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Bob earned his BA from Kenyon College and his MBA from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Stephanie Beilke is the Conservation Science Manager for Audubon Great Lakes, based in Chicago. She oversees conservation projects that use bird monitoring to inform restoration, with a focus on the coastal wetlands of the Great Lakes region. Stephanie is originally from Green Bay, Wisconsin and has a master’s degree in Environmental Science & Policy from the University of Wisconsin Green Bay and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin.

Dr. J.D. Gantz, Hendrix College

Dr. Gantz will share what life is like working as a scientist in the US Antarctic Program along the Antarctic Peninsula. This includes discussion of the ecology and natural history of the region, exploration of the flora and fauna in the area, discussion about the amenities and day-to-day life, and brief examination of Dr. Gantz’s research on the only insect native to that continent. 

Register in advance for this meeting: https://audubon.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUvf-6spzouGtdAPivZr6HE957CI11g1FZ5. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Dr. J.D. Gantz grew up in northeastern Ohio. After graduating from Mount Union College, he joined the Laboratory of Ecophysiological Cryobiology at Miami University (Ohio) to study how insects survive a variety of environmental stresses, with a particular focus on chilling, freezing, and dehydration. The Antarctic midge, Belgica antarctica, was among his primary study subjects, which gave him a chance to travel to the Antarctic Peninsula to collect and study these remarkably stress tolerant animals. After earning his PhD in 2018 he started as an assistant professor of physiology in the Department of Biology and Health Sciences at Hendrix College. He continues to research the physiology of invertebrates that live in polar regions and other extreme environments, and to collaborate with many amazing students while working in Antarctica and Alaska.