Here at the Visitor Interpretive Center at Paul Smith’s College (VIC) we have more exciting lectures for you! Our lecture series is every Thursday and Saturday until November 6.

The first lecture of October is “A Wild Idea: The Birth of the ADK Park Agency and What it Means for Today” on October 2nd at 2pm with Brad Edmondson. Edmonson is a writer and business consultant in Ithaca, New York. He is known to “write about social change and how it happens.” Edmondson’s most recent book is A Wild Idea: How the Environmental Movement Tamed the Adirondacks. In his book he discusses whether the APA saved the Adirondack Wilderness or ruined the local economy. Edmonson performed over 60 interviews for his book to understand the public’s opinion on the APA. (Editor’s note: Check out a review of the book here.)

We have been extending invitations to numerous former employees of the APA and have received confirmation that several will attend. This should lead to an even greater discussion having people who are described in the book at the lecture! The Adirondack Park is often called the “Great Experiment” and the APA, is now an integral component of that experiment.

On Thursday, October 7th at 6:30 join Juan Perez-Mercader for his lecture “Searching for Life in the Universe and Making it in the Laboratory.” Mercader is a scientist, physicist, and astrobiologist. Mercader earned his PhD from the City College of New York. He is an elected member of the Academy of Astronautics and European Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is credited with the saying “Life as a Consequence of the Evolution of the Universe.” Mercader’s research interests include Physics of Self Organizing Behavior and Origins of Life. In 2010 Mercader became a Harvard Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and the University’s Origins of Life Initiative.

We met Juan birding at the VIC this spring and struck up a great conversation as we identified bird species together. He has an easy natural way of discussing physics, astronomy and science in general. He captivated all of us at the VIC telling amazing stories, and explaining science and the universe to us. He is a frequent visitor to the Adirondacks, enjoying the natural beauty our landscape has to offer so we asked if he would come back this fall to talk to all the friends of the VIC in a slightly more formal setting and we are so honored that he agreed!

Please go to our website or to the front desk of the VIC to reserve a ticket for the lecture series. The VIC building is open 7 days a week from 9-5 until Columbus Day. Every day the leaves change more here at the VIC and we welcome you to come enjoy the fall weather yourself. Our trails are open dawn to dusk. We hope to see you each week for more entertaining lectures.

Future lecture guests are:

• 10/9 Retired Forest Rangers Gary Lee, Arnold van Laer and Frank Dorchak, moderated by Scott van Laer.
• 10/14 Aileen O’Donoghue,
• 10/16 Jerry Jenkins,
• 10/21 Charlie Canham,
• 10/23 Brian Mann,
• 10/28 Julia Goren,
• 11/6 Aaron Mair.