Please join us for our annual fundraiser – The Chili Dinner! It’s a fun evening packed with a delicious variety of chilis and cherished friends all supporting the year round work we do for our beautiful park and the many families and friends who enjoy it too! We’re keeping the cost down – $10/member; $12/non-member and kids under 10 are free! We ask you to please RSVP if you are attending and/or want to bring a chili or volunteer. Maybe you could be this year’s winner for the best chili!! Please call the office 518-793-0511 to register.
Guest Speaker at 7pm: Maria Brown, MS, PWS, GISP Have You Thanked a Bat Today? is an engaging, visually rich presentation that explores the fascinating world of bats and the critical ecosystem services they provide—often unseen, and frequently misunderstood. Drawing on decades of field research across continents, Maria Brown brings audiences behind the scenes of real bat research—from mist netting and harp trapping in the jungle to modern bioacoustic monitoring techniques. While sharing global perspective, the talk focuses primarily on New York State bat species, their ecological importance, and the challenges they face, including habitat loss and white-nose syndrome.
Maria Brown, MS, PWS, GISP is a former wetland and restoration ecologist, GIS specialist, and university science educator with over 25 years of experience in environmental research and teaching. She holds a Master of Science degree and taught high school and university-level science for nearly three decades, including serving as an adjunct professor at Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS).
Maria has participated in bat research across five continents and the Central American land bridge, and led a three-country research team in the Tamshiyacu-Tahuayo Reserve in the Peruvian Amazon in 2019, collaborating with the American Museum of Natural History, Natural History Museum (New York), The Natural History Museum of Lima, Peru, and Western University in Ontario, Canada to research bats in this region of the world based on research she conducted with her High School students from 2012-2018. She and her university students produced GIS maps for the American Museum of Natural History as well as IUCN, and she has worked extensively on Long Island and other regions in NY state to promote public education on bats and their critical role in ecosystem services.
After a profound personal healing journey and career transition, Maria is now the CEO and founder of Serenity Wellness & Coaching Services and Maria Brown Breathwork, where she blends neuroscience-based breathwork, creative expression, movement, sound healing, and nature immersion to help individuals regulate their nervous systems, release stored stress and trauma, and reconnect to their authentic selves.
She is an Advanced Neurosomatic Breath Specialist, Advanced Trauma-Informed Transformational & Creative Wellness Coach, and Advanced Sound Healing Practitioner, and is the creator of the Breathe-Flow-Create™️ method, integrating breath, art, and embodiment for holistic transformation. Maria facilitates retreats, workshops, certification programs, and immersive experiences around the world for both individuals and businesses, and is the host of the podcast “Regulate Your Nervous System with Maria Brown.”
Maria’s work today is rooted in the same foundation that guided her scientific career: a deep reverence for nature, interconnected systems, and the intelligence of the living world.
“From studying bats in the rainforest to guiding breathwork in retreat spaces, my life’s work has always been about understanding ecosystems—both around us and within us.”
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