This newsletter is brought to you by Human Resources.
| | Special Event for Cornell Retirees | | |
Bird Walk at the Lab of O for Cornell Retirees
Friday, May 16, 2025, 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Register
Join fellow Cornell retiree Meena Haribal and learn more about local birds and explore the Lab of Ornithology.
We will stroll the approximately 1.24 trail in Sapsucker Woods and search/listen for birds and also look at other natural history including plants and insects. C. Lucas from Cornell Wellness will lead us in some gentle stretches, along the way. Make sure to check out the new Visitor's Center at the conclusion of the walk!
Please dress appropriately for the weather and wear comfortable shoes. Park in the lab visitors parking lot and meet at the front entrance of the building. Bring a pair of binoculars if you can--there will be a few pairs of binoculars to share. Rain date is Wednesday, May 21, 2025, at 9:00 AM.
About Meena Haribal: She has been an avid naturalist for over 50 years! She has special interests in birds, butterflies, dragonflies/damselflies, and plants. Now retired, Meena was a chemical ecologist by profession, studying interactions and behaviors of organisms mediated by chemistry. Her interest in birds began in India where she was a very active member of the Bombay Natural History Society. She has written two books on insects and is also an avid photographer, nature sound recorder and world traveler.
Questions? Contact: Cornell Work/Life, worklife@cornell.edu.
| | |
Tree Buds Weekly Tree Phenology Walks at the Cayuga Nature Center
Mondays from April 21, 2025 to Oct. 27, 2025 (no program on May 19), 3:00 PM
Be tree "buds" and join this weekly citizen science walk to observe and collect data on seasonal changes in trees.
Rain or shine, we will monitor when buds break, leaves emerge, flowers bloom, fruits ripen, and when leaves change color and fall. The data is sent to the USA National Phenology Network, which makes it available to researchers who are trying to understand the mechanisms behind seasonal changes and how they are influenced by a changing climate. Learn how to make these types of observations, and how to do this at home or in your neighborhood.
This event is free and everyone is welcome to attend. Meet in front of the Cayuga Nature Center lodge at the beginning of the program.
| | |
Cornell Concert: Roomful of Teeth
Thursday, April 24, 2025, 7:30 PM
Bailey Hall
Buy Tickets
Roomful of Teeth is a Grammy-winning vocal project dedicated to reimagining the expressive potential of the human voice. Earning awards and accolades for both performances and compositions, the group has been hailed as “fiercely beautiful” (NPR), “impressive” (The New York Times), and “revolutionizing choral music” (The New Yorker).
Through study with masters from vocal traditions the world over, the multi-voice ensemble continually expands its vocabulary of singing techniques and, through an ongoing commissioning process, forges new repertoire without borders. Exploring a bold sonic palette of speech, sighs, whispers, throat singing, and more, Roomful of Teeth is one of the most impressive and in-demand vocal groups on the planet.
| | |
Friends of Tompkins County Public Library Book Sale
The Friends of Tompkins County Public Library will hold its annual Spring Book Sale over three long weekends in May, beginning Saturday, May 3. Over 220,000 gently used books, comics, graphic novels, DVDs, CDs, puzzles, games, and other items donated by community members, are organized into 70+ subject categories. The Collector's Corner offers rare and antiquarian books, first editions, collectible vinyl records, artwork, vintage toys and games, and more.
Location: 509 Esty St, Ithaca. Free parking lot across the street.
Special shopping day: Senior Day (age 60+ and anyone with a disability): Wednesday, May 14, 10:00 AM-4:00 PM
More details are available online.
| | |
Tour of Chinese and Asian Plants
Thursday, May 8, 2025, 12:00-1:00 PM
Cornell Botanic Gardens
Register
Join this guided outdoor stroll exploring different areas of the garden to highlight several plants endemic to China and eastern Asia. Discover the importance of trees and garden plants in East Asian culture, and learn about plans to develop an Asian Summer Garden to showcase tree and herbaceous peonies and other plants native to China, Japan, and Korea. Co-organized by the Cornell Botanic Gardens, the Cornell China Center, and the Einaudi Center for International Studies' East Asia Program.
The walk will take place rain or shine, but will be postponed to the next day, Fri. May 9, in the event of severe or hazardous weather. Registrants will emailed at least 45 minutes in advance if this outdoor walking tour is postponed.
| |
Spring Ephemeral Walk
Saturday, May 10, 2025, 10:00-11:30 AM
Register
Spring ephemerals are harbingers of the changing season. They pop up before early before trees have leafed out and fill the forest with a short burst of color. Come discover the different species you can find in our woods each spring on this walk. The trail is one mile long and mostly flat but with uneven ground, please wear sturdy shoes and dress for weather.
The exact location will be sent out to participants a few days in advance. The walk will be in Trumansburg and the walk will meet at the trail.
Instructor's bio: Marvin Pritts was born in rural southwestern Pennsylvania. He obtained a B.S. in Biology from Bucknell University in 1978, a M.S. in Biology (Plant Ecology) from the University of South Carolina in 1980, and a Ph.D. in horticulture at Michigan State.
| | |
Rhododendron Ramble
May 10, 17 and 24, 2025, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM
Cornell Botanic Gardens
Register
Join this stroll through the picturesque Bowers Rhododendron Collection, located behind the Nevin Welcome Center on Comstock Knoll. The Knoll is ablaze in May and early June with the vibrant white, yellow, pink, and red blossoms of the Collection. Rhododendrons and azaleas are interspersed with small flowering trees, ferns, and perennials—including an extensive hosta collection—all shaded by century-old white pine trees.
Walks will be held rain or shine and include some stairs.
| | |
Wang Tiande Exhibit: Wong Chai Lok Calligraphy Fellow 2025
Celebrated for his revolutionary takes on traditional Chinese art in China and abroad, Wang Tiande, the 2025 Wong Chai Lok Calligraphy Fellow, is best known for his burned landscapes, consisting of a painted underlayer and an overlayer burned with cigarettes or incense sticks. More recently, he has incorporated landscape rubbings of famous ancient steles from his own collection. In their fusion of the fleeting and the timeless, Wang Tiande’s works meditate on creation and destruction. They are both elegies to the past and celebrations of its present persistence.
Wang Tiande's exhibit will be on view through July 20, 2025 in the Johnson Museum’s fifth-floor Rockwell Gallery. During his weeklong stay as an Artist-in-Residence at Cornell, EAP invites you to attend an artist’s talk and calligraphy demonstration that will offer further insight into Wang’s work and creative process.
| | |
Stretch With Wellness - Upper Body Focus
Thursdays, through May 8, 11:30am - Noon, virtual
Register
Join Cornell Wellness for this 4-week stretching series focused on the upper body. This series will include movements for the shoulders, chest, and back to help you deepen your connection to the muscles and joints of your upper body. Each session will include a combination of active, energizing stretches and soothing, relaxing stretches. You can attend one or more of these drop-in sessions from anywhere, and you need not attend previous sessions to join later in the series.
No equipment is necessary, though some of the stretches will be from a chair. Open to the entire Cornell community; no membership required. Contact session facilitator C Lucas with any questions.
| | |
Care.com Care Talks
With virtual Care Talks, you’ll access free, exclusive events from expert speakers offering advice and guidance to help you better care for yourself and your family.
Check out these upcoming events:
-
How to Modify Your Home for More Safety, Serenity, and Less Stress - Wednesday, April 16, 2025, 1:00 PM. This webinar takes a Peter Pan house (a home built for someone who is never going to age) and goes room by room showing you how to make your home or your loved one's home safe, how to address air care, green eco and sustainable design and the new trend in biophilic design to create healing spaces for a lifetime.
-
Caregiver Burnout - Wednesday, May 21, 2025, 1:00 PM. Surveys show caregivers experience more burnout and stress than the general population. This session touches upon the challenges to mental and emotional health and how to find more happiness, joy and balance in life.
For additional Care.com webinars and past recordings, please visit their web page.
| |
Boost Your Brain-Body Connection
Mondays, April 21 - May 19, 2025, 2:30-3:30 PM
In-person at the East Hill Plaza Wellbeing Room, 345 Pine Tree Road
Register
This 4-week, in-person series is designed to strengthen the brain-body connection. During the sessions, you’ll practice a variety of mental and physical exercises designed to strengthen balance, coordination, and overall bodily control. While the movements will be lower in physical intensity, they will be higher in complexity. You can look forward to solving puzzles, training hand-eye coordination, and much more.
This series is appropriate for all fitness levels. Contact session facilitator C Lucas with any questions.
| |
2025 Garden Fair and Plant Sale
Friday, May 16, 2025, 1:00-7:00 PM
One of the Finger Lakes' most highly anticipated gardening events is the annual Garden Fair and Plant Sale, organized since 1982 by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County. The sale features a wide variety of vendors who offer specialty plants and gardening advice on topics ranging from growing rock garden plants to selecting native species for the garden. Plants for sale include organically grown and heirloom vegetable transplants, colorful annuals, fragrant herbs, hanging baskets, small flowering shrubs, hardy roses, fruit crops, trees, evergreens, and specialty perennials.
Master Gardeners from CCE-Tompkins and other community groups participate in the sale to raise funds or create awareness of their programs.
Visitors are encouraged to bring carts or wagons to aid in transporting their plant purchases to their cars. For more information please visit the event web page.
| |
Rock Gardens for Everyone
Thursday, May 22, 2025, 5:30-7:00 PM
Register
There’s a rock garden to match every gardener’s needs. Have a small yard? Have no yard? Want low maintenance? Have awful soil? Like to grow different plants? Want a challenge? Or are you just curious to learn more about rock gardening? This is the class for you, it will include an indoor presentation and an outdoor demonstration and tour of the Al Wurster Memorial Garden at CCE, which should be peak bloom.
Those over Zoom will get to enjoy the entire presentation, the outdoor portion is weather dependent.
Instructor's bio: Carol Eichler, a Master Gardener Volunteer of more than 40 years, began as a reluctant rock gardener but has since gotten hooked. Recently, she has been contemplating how to make rock gardening less daunting and will share her ideas of different ways to approach rock gardening for beginners.
This class is offered in-person or via Zoom.
| | | | |
