Please join us on Monday, October 26th as we explore the importance of nighttime and the vital role darkness plays in healthy ecosystems. From bats and moths to birds, frogs, insects, and nocturnal plants, countless living things depend on natural darkness to feed, navigate, reproduce, rest, and survive. Participants will learn how excessive artificial light can disrupt wildlife, change natural behaviors, and affect the delicate relationships that connect nighttime species.

Birds are an important part of this story. Millions of migratory birds travel at night, using natural cues such as the stars, moon, and Earth's magnetic field to navigate. Bright lights can attract and disorient migrating birds, increasing the risk of collisions with buildings and exhausting birds already on a long, difficult journey.

We will discuss the international dark sky movement, which is an effort to reduce light pollution by promoting responsible outdoor lighting and protecting naturally dark night skies. Protecting dark skies preserves star visibility, supports wildlife, and reduces unnecessary energy use from excessive artificial light. We'll then zoom in to local movements such as the Lights Out campaign launched by ASK this fall.

Jessica Hagen is a local science teacher at The Montessori School and a nature enthusiast passionate about preserving nighttime ecology. She will be joined by a few students from the Super Epic Earth Defender (SEED) student group. Gail Walter is the current ASK president and an advocate for reducing threats to birds, including window collisions and artificial light at night.

We hope you'll join us on Monday, Oct 26th, at People's Church, 1758 North 10th Street, Kalamazoo. This program is geared to all audiences, and we enthusiastically invite families and nature lovers of any age to join us! Come at 6:30 PM (new time) for some refreshments and socializing. Snacks and beverages will be provided. It's helpful if you bring your own cup. The one-hour program will start at 7:00 PM. Handicap parking and access is at either the front or the rear entrance of the building.

We will have a simultaneous Zoom link to the meeting for those who can’t make it or feel uncomfortable attending in person. The link will be available in the ASK newsletter and website event calendar. We will also be recording the meeting for later viewing.