Dr. Brian Conz, a WSU professor of Geography and Regional Planning, will be a part of the lecture this Wednesday. (Photo by Peter Currier)
WESTFIELD- The Westfield 350th celebration lecture series continues Wednesday evening at 6:30 with a talk titled, “Watershed Wanderings Through Time and Space: Westfield River Watershed Association, 65 years of service.” The lecture will take place at the Dever Auditorium in Parenzo hall at the Westfield State University campus.
The lecture will be run by a tag-team of specialists consisting of Dr. Aaron Reyes, Dr. Brian Conz, Bill Rose, and Mark Damon. Each lecturer will be focusing on different topics regarding the Westfield River Watershed Association. Bill Rose, WRWA President, will be discussing his work as a fly fisherman in the area, according to Brian Conz. Rose will discuss his outreach work and his annual fly fishing clinic in Huntington.
Mark Damon, WRWA secretary, will speak about his experience running cleanups of rivers in Westfield. The organization hosts two cleanups per year to keep the rivers devoid of litter and waste. Dr. Aaron Reyes, a WRWA director and associate professor at Westfield State University, will speak about his work testing the Westfield River water as well as the WRWA internship program. The program takes environmental and chemical science as well as regional planning students to assist with water testing and data gathering about the cities rivers.
“I’m still trying to figure out how I fit into the lecture,” said Dr. Brian Conz, the Vice President of the WRWA and a professor of Geography and Regional Planning at Westfield State University, “I have two possibilities of topics depending on where we are at for time when it’s my turn.”
Conz said he would possibly do an overview of the organization and its activities. He may also speak about the land forms of the area near the river basin in the Western part of the city. He said the area is an example of post-glacial physical geography. Each of the lecturers will touch upon the history of the organization itself, which was founded in 1952.
“The purpose of the WRWA is to make the watershed a better place for people to live,” said Conz.
Those who would like to learn more about the association ahead of the lecture can visit westfieldriver.org.
