Understanding Northampton's Landscape: A Sense of Place
Presented by Laurie Sanders '88, Co-Executive Director of Historic Northampton

LOCATION CHANGE: Campus Center Carroll Room (not Seelye) 7:30 pm

In this presentation, Laurie Sanders takes us on a tour of the natural history of Northampton, with a special emphasis on the Smith College campus. She provides a closer look at not only bigger, broader patterns, but also answers questions such as: Why is downtown Northampton down (in elevation)? Why is Round Hill roundish? When was part of Florence an island?

Sanders shows that what makes Northampton more interesting than most cities and towns is that its geologic and human history is so rich and varied. She will enlighten us about Edward Lyman, benefactor of the Botanic Garden’s Lyman Plant House, and show us where he lived. You’ll come away with a new understanding of our surroundings and how things came to be the way they are.

Laurie Sanders is a naturalist, writer and the former host of Field Notes, a weekly natural history series that aired on WFCR. In 2014, she completed an ecological assessment of all city-owned conservation areas, which include over 2,500 acres. In 2015, she presented a six-part lecture series, Rediscovering Northampton: Local History Viewed Through An Ecological Lens. Laurie Sanders came to Northampton in 1983 as a Smith College student and in 1988 she discovered the only known hybrid cross between Jack-in-the-pulpit and green dragon, found only in Northampton. She earned a Masters of Science from the Field Naturalist Program at the University of Vermont.

A reception at the Lyman Plant House and preview of the Fall Chrysanthemum Show in the illuminated Lyman Conservatory will follow.