Join author and journalist Jim Rousmaniere to explore water’s impact on humans and humans’ impact on water since the beginning of the industrial revolution. A central theme is that our connections to water have not been constant – our uses of water have changed over the decades, and our ideas about the causes and control of floods have evolved. We’ll explore topics such as the costs and occasionally contentious requirements of watershed protection, the expanding role of technology in the water sector, the causes of (and struggles over) aquatic invasive species, and the role of citizen action in the recovery of rivers, lakes, and streams.

Thursdays, May 2, 9, 16, and 23, from 2 to 3:15 p.m. in the RiverMead Auditorium in Peterborough.

Cost: $50 for RiverMead residents and wait-list members / $60 for all others

Instructor: Jim Rousmaniere is a journalist and writer based in Roxbury, NH. During the last six years, he has been researching Americans’ changing relationship to freshwater, with a particular focus on New England, for a book due out from Bauhan Publishing in 2019. Jim is also the current president of the Historical Society of Cheshire County.

Registration is required. RiverMead residents and affiliates can register by contacting Kim Mansfield at (603) 924-0033 or by email. All others, register by contacting Keene State College’s Office of Continuing Education at (603) 358-2290 or by email. For more information, contact Susie Spikol.

Co-sponsored by the Harris Center for Conservation Education, Keene State College’s CALL program, and RiverMead.