"Aldo Leopold, Phenology, and Climate Change": In-person Badger Talk in Janesville

Join presenter Stan Temple on September 16, 2025, at 6:00 PM at the Hedberg Public Library for an in-person talk exploring Aldo Leopold’s nature journals and how his observations reveal the impact of climate change and the value of careful observation.

Aldo Leopold, best known as the author of A Sand County Almanac, was a keen observer of the natural world. Throughout his life he kept daily journals recording observations of seasonal events, especially those occurring at his beloved “shack” on the Leopold farm which was the setting for many essays in A Sand County Almanac. Leopold’s meticulous phenological observations have provided us with an unparalleled record of when plants bloomed, birds migrated and other natural events. Comparing his observations of hundreds of natural events to recent records helps us understand how climate change is affecting the ecological community. One lesson of Leopold’s journals is clear: For those who love nature and take time to observe it closely, keeping records enhances the enjoyment and value of our time and effort, both now and in the future.

Stanley (Stan) Temple is the Beers-Bascom Professor Emeritus in Conservation in the Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology at UW–Madison. For 32 years he held the academic position once occupied by Aldo Leopold. He is currently a Senior Fellow with the Aldo Leopold Foundation. He and his students have helped save some of world’s most endangered species and the habitats on which they depend. He has received major conservation awards from the Society for Conservation Biology, The Wildlife Society, and the Wisconsin Society for Ornithology. Among other recognitions of his achievements, he is a Fellow of the American Ornithological Society, Explorers Club, Wildlife Conservation Society, American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters. He has been President of the Society for Conservation Biology and Chairman of the Board of The Nature Conservancy in Wisconsin. He was recently inducted into the Wisconsin Conservation Hall of Fame.

You may also like the following events from Badger Talks:

• This Wednesday, 20th August, 06:00 pm, Badgers on Tap: Let's Get Local: How We Can Create Better Places Together at The Lone Girl in Waunakee
• This Friday, 22nd August, 08:15 pm, Universe in the Park: In-Person Badger Talk at Yellowstone Lake State Park, Blanchardville, WI in Blanchardville
• This Friday, 22nd August, 08:30 pm, Universe in the Park: In-Person Badger Talk at Governor Thompson State Park, Crivitz, WI in Crivitz

Also check out other Arts events in Janesville, Literary Art events in Janesville.