Outdoor Voices Speaker Series

The Wayside Inn
72 Wayside Inn Road, Sudbury
Free Admission

On Wednesday, May 13, at 7:30 p.m., join SVT for a presentation by Ethan Tapper, an internationally recognized forester, ecologist, bestselling author, and digital storyteller from Vermont. His first book, How to Love a Forest: The Bittersweet Work of Tending a Changing World, was published in September 2024, and has since received international acclaim, including winning the 2025 New England Book Award for non-fiction.

Ethan began his own consulting forestry business, Bear Island Forestry, in 2024 where the firm’s guiding principle is the belief that humans have a responsibility to care for ecosystems, biodiversity, and each other to leave a more abundant, functional, and beautiful world for future generations. Hear from Ethan what it means to truly love a forest and leave with a greater understanding of how we can do our part for the earth.

SVT welcomed Rosemary Mosco, science writer and naturalist, for a discussion about her newest book, The Birding Dictionary, a clever pocket-sized guide that celebrates the birding obsession with hilarious definitions and cartoon illustrations of terms that birders know and love.

The discussion was held at the Sudbury History Center on November 20, 2025. Attendees were also able to enjoy the Sudbury Historical Society’s Sudbury’s Changing Landscape exhibition, which features many SVT properties.

Rosemary Mosco is an author, illustrator, and speaker whose work connects people with the natural world. She has written and drawn for The New York Times, Audubon, Rewiring America, the PBS Kids show "Elinor Wonders Why," Ranger Rick, and more, and she creates a regular comic strip in the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Living Bird magazine. Her nature comic "Bird and Moon" won the National Cartoonists Society’s award for Best Online Short Form Comic. 
 

Ways of My Ancestors - We Are Still Here

On September, 17, 2025, SVT hosted Scott Strong Hawk Foster, who presented an Artist’s Talk and Exhibition of his portrait photography at The Barn at Wolbach Farm.

Scott is a Native American photographer whose proud roots include Hassanamisco Nipmuc, Mohegan, and Cherokee lineage. His photography series reflects his travels throughout the ancestral homelands of the Native American Peoples of New England.

Scott described how he developed his unique brand of portraiture that brings the subject to the forefront, a reminder that Scott’s people are very much still here to represent and continue their culture.

Scott’s work also remained on display in the barn by appointment from Thursday, September 18, through Monday, September 29, 2025. 
 

Nashobah Praying Indians: A Living People, A Living Landscape

September 17, 2024: Sagamore Strong Bear Medicine of the Nashobah Praying Indians and local historian Daniel V. Boudillion discussed the Nashobah people, their spirit, their journey of suffering and survival, the village, and the sacred landscape that is all around us.

Littleton, with parts of Acton and Boxborough, was originally the 1654 era Praying Indian Village of Nashobah, a place of spirit and vision. It has been more than 280 years since Wunnuhhew (Sarah Doublet), the last of the Nashobah Praying Indians that lived in Nashobah, passed away in Acton and the Plantation was lost. Sagamore Strong Bear Medicine told her story and the story of all the Nashobah Praying Indians.

Strong Bear Medicine is Sagamore of the Nashobah Praying Indians, and brother of Chief Caring Hands of the Nashobah-Natick-Punkapoag Praying Indians of the Massachusett tribe. He is also the founder of the Friends of the Nashobah Praying Indians. A noted Native performer in the United States and in Europe, Strong Bear Medicine is a Native dancer, singer, craftsman, and a public speaker. 

Daniel V. Boudillion is an avid historian and author with a wide knowledge of early Nashobah history and the locations associated with them. He currently serves on the boards of the Littleton Historical Society, Littleton Conservation Trust, and Friends of Pine Hawk. He has also recently published The History of the Nashobah Praying Indians.

Amara Ifeji, Grassroots Environmental Justice Advocate

Saturday, August 24, 2024: SVT and POCIE (Professionals of Color in the Environment) hosted an inspiring talk by Amarachukwu Ifeji, which centered on historically marginalized voices in environmental, climate, and conservation movements. 

Amara, who is the Director of Policy at the Maine Environmental Education Association, shared her personal experiences with environmental exclusion and discuss how she has worked to combat these injustices through environmental education. She also explored the history of the conservation movement in the United States, which has traditionally excluded people of color from outdoor spaces, and she highlighted the critical importance of centering historically marginalized voices in conservation movements.

The presentation included a Q&A moderated by Nia Keith of POCIE, a statewide community that strives to dismantle barriers and advance racial equity by fostering joy, community, courage, empowerment, and authenticity within the environmental field.

Thank you to SudburyTV for providing the recording of this program.