**In-person Annual Meeting**
Friday, September 11th, 2026
6pm-9pm
Middlesex Community College (Bedford Campus)
Campus Center – 591 Springs Rd, Bedford, MA
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The EMHW Board of Directors will be holding an in-person meeting once again in 2026. We will gather on Friday September 11th, 2026 from 6:00–9:00PM at Middlesex Community College in Bedford, MA. The meeting will take place in the Cafe East section of the Campus Center. Please see the enclosed map; the Campus Center is Building 8.
Schedule of Meeting:
- Social Hour & Refreshments: 6:00PM – 7:00PM
- Business meeting: 7:00PM – 7:15PM
- Keynote Speaker: Mark Wilson 7:15PM – 8:15PM
- Q&A: 8:15PM – 8:30PM
- Raffle Winners: 8:30PM
Plus: Our annual business meeting including the vote for board members, information on fall sites, raffle prizes and refreshments!
Directions and Parking Notes:
- Bedford Campus
- Middlesex Community College has multiple campuses – for the EMHW Meeting, make sure you are traveling to the Bedford campus, NOT the Lowell campus.
- Street Address
- MCC’s street address is listed as 591 Springs Road in Bedford MA. If you use a GPS directions app like Google Maps, Waze, or Apple Maps – using the 591 address in your app will get you to campus, but perhaps not directly to the right building. You may have better luck using the address 590 Springs Road in Bedford MA.
- Please note, the numbers 590 or 591 do not appear on any MCC buildings – these address numbers should only be used to orient your GPS to the campus.
- Building 8/Campus Center
- Our event will take place in the Campus Center, located in Building 8.
- There is a large visitor parking lot near the Campus Center. EMHW members can park anywhere in the main lot, regardless of what Faculty/Student signs are present.
- EMHW Signage
- We will look to place EMHW signage on campus to make it easier for folks to navigate to the parking area and Campus Center.
- Step-by-Step Directions from Rt 3
- If you prefer step-by-step directions, follow along below:
- From Exit 76 on Route 3, turn left onto Concord Road
- After approximately 1 mile, turn left onto Springs Road
- After approximately 1/2 mile, turn left onto Orchard Road (not well marked)
- After 500 feet, turn right at the Middlesex Community College sign (North Entrance)
- Continue on this road, passing by the A/B parking lot, library (“Academic Resource”) and finally the Cataldo building on the left.
- Turn left into and park in the large lot. Park anywhere in the main lot, regardless of what Faculty/Student signs are present.
- There is a long set of attached academic buildings; the Campus Center is towards the Eastern end of this group.
- If you prefer step-by-step directions, follow along below:
Keynote Speaker:
Mark Wilson – Wildlife Photojournalist and Teacher Naturalist
Keynote Topic: Ten Wild Photos, Ten Wild Stories
Join noted wildlife photojournalist and teacher naturalist Mark Wilson in a unique slide program that explores some of Mark’s best wildlife photos taken over 30 years in some surprising places. Mark will present ten select images. Each image will be discussed in-depth as to how and why it was made. Supporting photos will help explain. Topics of discussion will include photo techniques, equipment, ethics and natural history, and staying comfortable and healthy in harsh environments. Aspiring beginner photographers and traveled veterans alike will find inspiration to assess and improve their own work. Non-photographers get to peek under the lens cap and see how a pro comes up with knock-out photos.
Mark Wilson was a staff photographer for the Boston Globe for 23 years. During those years he also wrote regular columns on photography and birds for the Globe. His wildlife photos have appeared in a wide variety of publications including National Geographic (Oct. 1992 cover, bullfrog). Mark and Marcia Wilson work as a team in the field, exploring remote areas that few people get to visit. In 2001 they completed a 19-day canoe trip down a North Slope River in Alaska’s Arctic Refuge. That trip is the basis for a chapter Mark wrote for the book Arctic Wings.
Copies of Mark’s award-winning books are available at each presentation: Owling (Storey 2019) and The Snowy Owl Scientist (HarperCollins 2022). They can be signed and personalized in person after the program, or by emailing eyesonowls@earthlink.net. Each book is available for $20, cash or $22 credit. Owling was chosen by the American Association for the Advancement of Science as 2020’s Best Science Book for Middle Grade Students. However, Owling is a favorite of owl lovers from 3 to 103!
Keynote Speaker Biography:
Wildlife photojournalist and author Mark Wilson has focused his life on observing, photographing, speaking about and writing about wildlife. His first book Owling: Enter the World of the Mysterious Birds of the Night, came out in 2019. It explores the 19 species of owls that nest in North America, north of Mexico. The science-based book was named Best Science Book for Middle Grades for 2020 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Wilson says the book was written for kids aged 3 to 103.
His second book, The Snowy Owl Scientist, was published two years ago. For the book Wilson shadowed field researcher Denver Holt as he conducts a long-term study of nesting Snowy Owls on arctic Alaska’s North Slope.
Mark and his wife Marcia care for 15 non-releasable owls that they employ as educational ambassadors in programs around New England. The Wilsons estimate they have spoken to more than half a million people as they continue to give live owl presentations that they started offering in 1994.
Mark worked as a newspaper photographer and columnist for the Boston Globe for 23 years. His photos have been published widely in magazines, books and galleries and viewed live at slide shows that often accompany their live owl programs.