Beneath the Surface: Studying the Ocean with Underwater Imaging Systems 
with Owen Nichols
Wednesday, May 22, 5:00 p.m.

Owen Nichols of the Center for Coastal Studies will discuss the important information we can gather by using underwater cameras, sonars, and remotely-operated vehicles to gather images of life under the ocean’s surface.

Owen has been Director of Marine Fisheries Research at the Center for Coastal Studies since 2008, where he conducts research in collaboration with Cape Cod fishermen and shellfish farmers. His primary interests include distributional ecology, fisheries oceanography, marine mammal/fishery interactions, and ecosystem-based fishery management. Owen is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Massachusetts – Dartmouth (UMassD) School for Marine Science and Technology, a guest investigator at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and an adjunct professor at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy. He holds a B.A. in Marine Affairs from the University of Rhode Island and a M.Sc. in Marine Science and Technology from UMassD. Owen was the 2016 recipient of the John H. Annala Fishery Leadership Award presented by the Gulf of Maine Research Institute. He is a proud Cape native.

2020: How Can News Media Regain Our Trust?

A three-part course with Mike Berlin
Wednesday, May 1; Tuesday, May 7; and Wednesady, May 15, 10:30-noon

Today’s news media—in print, on the air, and online—are each experiencing a time of trauma and a shifting sense of mission. Is the technology of the internet solely responsible for the financial crisis engulfing most news media? Is media bias new, or has it always been there? What is the impact of the media crisis on politics and the 2020 election in particular? What can—and should—be done? This is not a lecture course. Mr. Berlin will hand out a broad course outline at the first meeting, and offer a range of factual information as a basis for group discussion, with everyone free to participate. Please call us or stop by to sign up.

Mike Berlin was a reporter covering the UN and international news for over 20 years for the New York Post and Washington Post. He is an associate professor of journalism emeritus at Boston University, where he taught for more than 15 years. He was also a Fulbright lecturer in China and in Russia. He now lives in Truro, where he is working on a mystery novel/memoir set at the UN.

STOP THE BLEED Course
with hands-only CPR
Saturday, May 4, 10:00 a.m.-Noon
with a repeat session on Saturday, June 1 (pick one)

Barnstable County’s Cape Cod Medical Reserve Corps will offer a “STOP-THE-BLEED” course.  Uncontrolled bleeding is the number one cause of preventable death from trauma.  Injuries result from a many causes, including motor vehicle accidents, workplace incidents, and accidents around the home.  The greater the number of people who know how to control serious bleeding in an injured patient, the greater the number of individuals who will survive an injury. You can help save a life by knowing how to stop serious bleeding.

The course is created by a consortium of medical groups including the American College of Surgeons and all who take the course will receive a certificate of completion.  The approximately 1.5 hour course will be followed by a 30 minute hands-only CPR training.

We hope you will be able to attend! Space is limited, but the Library will host the course three times this spring. This is NOT a series, each class is a one-off. Please sign up by at the Library or 508-487-1125.

Local Author J.J. Dutra
Tuesday, May 14, 6:30 p.m.

Truro Public Library is most pleased to host a reading by local author J.J. Dutra. Ms. Dutra will read from her new book, Dead Low Tide, second in a late-1930s Provincetown mystery series. In Dead Low Tide, the Police Chief’s simple way of life is turned upside down when a body washes up on the beach. WWII is looming in the distance. Unrest is building across America and the murder leads Chief Crowley to a militant gang of Nazi sympathizers. Come enjoy local intrigue and bygone days!

Judith Jahnig Dutra is the author of short stories, poems, and a federally funded grant: Growing Sea Scallops in Cape Cod Bay, the Truro Aquaculture Project. She is the author of a memoir, Nautical Twilight, the Story of a Cape Cod Fishing Family and the author of two fictional mysteries introducing the reader to Chief James Crowley and Provincetown life in 1937: The Fishermen’s Ball and Dead Low Tide. A retired School Nurse, J. J. Dutra has lived and worked with her husband David Dutra onboard their fishing vessels. She lives in North Truro, MA.

Managing Life Stress: Two Workshops with Judith Marsh, Ph.D.
Fridays, May 17 & June 21, 1:00-3:00 pm.

These workshops are designed to help participants of all ages identify, measure, and learn helpful and easy strategies for managing stressful life events. Space is limited to 10 people; please register in advance by calling or dropping by the Library. 508-487-1125.

This series of workshops and educational sessions will provide participants with the knowledge and skills to recognize and manage stress.  Attend one, two, or all three. Each session will:

• Introduce the basics of stress and the “Human Stress Response”;
• Allow participants to measure individual ways of responding and adapting to life events; and
• Support skill development to minimize negative reactions to stress, and maximize wellness.

Participants will be able to:

• Identify and target sources of stress with checklists, fun but valuable quizzes and other activities;
• Develop skills needed to handle stress in the moment with interactive and easy exercises that require no more than 1, 5 or 10 minutes;
• Build long-term, stress-busting strategies that foster lasting positive lifestyle changes for a more fulfilling life.

Dr. Marsh is a retired Clinical Health Psychologist. During her career of 35 years, she was Chair of the Division of Psychology and oversaw the Doctoral, Masters, and Undergraduate programs in Psychology at Chestnut Hill College. Before assuming her position at Chestnut Hill College, Dr. Marsh was Co-Director of several inpatient and outpatient programs at the Children’s Seashore House of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. During her tenure at Penn, Dr. Marsh held dual clinical faculty appointments in Pediatrics and Psychiatry. Her research interests have been in the area of Pediatric and Adult Health Psychology, in general, with specific interest in adaptation to chronic and acute medical illness and disability, pain management, and the impact of stress on non-ill and medically ill people as well as the impact of chronic illness on stress and wellness. Dr. Marsh has co-authored and has also been principal investigator on several federal grants (National Institutes of Mental Health and National Institutes of Health) and local foundation grants, all of which received funding. She has co-authored a number of articles and papers for peer-reviewed journals, and lectures extensively at city, state, regional, and national conferences. Over the last decade, Dr. Marsh has conducted workshops on Stress Management at local, state, and international conferences as well as within her private practice in Pennsylvania, where she also practiced as a Licensed Psychologist.

Coyotes in the Neighborhood with Peter Trull
Tuesday, May 21, 6:30 p.m.

Eastern Coyotes are a wild canid whose genetic make-up can be a combination of two species of wolves, western coyotes, and domestic dogs. It is truly a “canid soup.” Found throughout Massachusetts and eastern North America, coyotes thrive on Cape Cod, well-adapted to its fragmented habitats, open space, “island ecosystem”, and growing human population. They are present in our yards and neighborhoods year-round, but are not well understood by most people, eliciting alarm and disdain among many of us. Much of what we learn from others, or even in local news, is misguided or exaggerated, and heightens fear and anxiety. Peter Trull been studying the daily habits and life history of the Eastern Coyote since 1989. He has interviewed dozens of dog owners, some who lost their pets, and some whose dogs play in the yard with coyotes. A researcher and educator, Mr. Trull aims to offer an objective view of this wild canid and to help us understand this predator’s place in our world, and our place in the coyote’s world.

Peter Trull, M.Ed., has been involved in Research and Education for about 40 years. He began studying Eastern Coyotes in 1989. Mr. Trull coordinated seabird protection and research for the Massachusetts Audubon Society, and served as Education Director at the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History. He conducted field research in Guyana and Surinam, studying the trapping of Common Terns and Roseate Terns for market, working with local bird trappers and sharing in their shorebird dinners. Through the ’90s, as a researcher and Education Director at the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies, he developed and taught classes related to whales and marine birds and completed over 2500 education and research-driven whale watching trips. He has written eight books about Cape Cod natural history. The Gray Curtain – The Impact of Seals, Sharks and Commercial Fishing on the Northeast Coast was released in June, 2015. His latest book, Birds of Paradox—The Life of Terns, will be released in April, 2019.

Birds of the New England Swamp
Tuesday, May 28, 6:30 p.m.

Wildlife photographer Peter Christoph presents a narrated slideshow, sharing both his award-winning images and his photographic secrets as he brings you inside a typical New England swamp. Peter provides an intimate look into the many varieties of birds that inhabit our swamps, including ospreys and herons, shorebirds, woodpeckers, and other cavity dwellers. Sloshing and crawling through the swamp so you don’t have to, Peter captures the bird’s many activities including building the nest, feeding their young, and catching their prey. You’ll almost wish you had your own wading boots and bug spray for protection as you sit down to watch this captivating presentation.

Peter Christoph is a well-known wildlife advocate, naturalist and award-winning wildlife photographer based in Lancaster, MA. He has a great respect for wildlife and through his presentations seeks to raise awareness of the need to conserve bird habitat. Peter has presented at photography groups nationally and locally, including the Photographic Society of America (PSA), New England Camera Club Council (NECCC) and several camera clubs throughout New England. He is a regular speaker for the Appalachian Mountain Club, Mass Audubon and the National Wildlife Refuge System, as well as numerous birding clubs and dozens of libraries. Peter is Vice Chairman of the Massachusetts Camera Naturalists (an invitation-only nature group), and is past president of the Camera Club of Central New England. He has been the recipient of many prestigious national and international awards and gold medals recognizing his photographic talent. Peter is also responsible for publishing three bird photography books, including his latest “The Art of Bird Photography.”