Our Story
estuary magazine is a quarterly publication, both in-print and online, beginning in the spring of 2020. We have enlisted a group of outstanding writers, journalists, photographers, and artists to provide content for the magazine on a regular basis. Our editors are experienced and able to communicate complex, technical and scientific matters to the general public. Most important, they are master storytellers.
Those interested mainly in archival data and the ability to research articles and blogs via digital means, and to correspond, via the most effective social media should be delighted.
Our editorial “departments” are based on community interests.
Power Boating
Sailing
Canoe / Kayak
Science
Fishing
Birding
Hiking
Photography
Conservation
History
We will report regularly on the progress of the lower Connecticut River on its multi-year path to becoming recognized as a federally-designated National Estuarine Research Reserve, or NERR. This designation means that modest federal and state funds will be used for scientific research at specific points in the lower Connecticut River to understand, for example, what is happening to the river’s estuary over time.
And finally, we will commission some of our own feature stories, and science/photo essays. When it comes to science reporting, our job is to communicate science in easy-to-read, non-scientific terms.
Who Cares about the Connecticut River?
It turns out that many thousands of people and several great institutions care about the Connecticut River. We cover both in estuary.
estuary asked veteran nature writer Bill Hobbs to write about the evolution of the Fannie Stebbins Refuge in Longmeadow, Massachusetts. In a masterstroke of collaboration, in addition to Stebbins and her followers, especially the Allen Bird Club, the town of Longmeadow, The Nature Conservancy, the Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge, AMTRAK, and the Massachusetts office of the US Natural Resource Conservation Service, a permanently protected refuge has resulted. According to Andrew French of the Conte Refuge, “We executed a strategy that anyone of us could not have done by ourselves."
This institution tells the stories of the Connecticut River and its people and reaches thousands of students each year through its various educational and boating activities. Gainor Davis, executive director of the museum, has made the museum’s archives available to estuary and gave permission to photograph and publish the “Seasonal Ecology Mural," by Mike di Giorgio. We look forward to future contributions from the museum.
According to Chris Rimmer, Executive Director of VCE, “Conservation is as much about people as it is about wildlife.” This small but effective organization mobilizes scientists and volunteers to gather and analyze data from the CT River watershed (and elsewhere) to increase our understanding of our natural world. The VCE staff includes “ornithologists, herpetologists, pollinator specialists, outreach specialists and even a software engineer.”
estuary’s Editorial Board
For science, Dr. Andrew Fisk Executive Director of the Connecticut River Conservancy; previously he had served as Director of the Land and Water Quality Bureau of the Maine Department of Environmental protection. For culture, Jeff Cooley, founder and owner, Cooley Gallery, Old Lyme. Having had a lifelong career in art, Mr. Cooley has built a solid reputation for his skills in appraising art for buyers and sellers. For ornithology, Professor David Winkler, formerly of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Cornell University.
Founders of estuary
Ralph T. Wood , President of Estuary Ventures, and Secretary, Connecticut Audubon Society. Dick Shriver, Publisher, formerly with McGraw-Hill.