Steve Patterson, foreground, and Roger Williams University student Todd Massari check on oyster gardens tied to the dock at Roger Williams University in 2006. Massari was awarded a federal fellowship for his work on the oyster restoration program.

The Providence Journal / Kris Craig

The Friends of Canonchet Farm is a nonprofit organization with the mission to improve and preserve Canonchet Farm in partnership with the Town of Narragansett. The property consists of freshwater and saltwater wetlands, forests, meadows and history. It abuts Pettaquamscutt Cove and Narrow River, both environmentally fragile areas.

Walks of the property are held from the end of September until the end of May and are led by historians, geologists, environmentalists, biologists, arborists, naturalists and members. The schedule includes: today, a leaf walk led by arborist Tom Fortier, 1 to 3 p.m.; and Oct. 26, a bird walk led by Phil Budlong, from 8 to 10 a.m., which includes a stone wall lecture and walk led by Prof. Robert Thorson, of the University of Connecticut. For information on these and future walks, call (401) 783-3951 or visit www.canonchet.org.

Movie focuses on electric cars

The Focus on Green Committee will present a free environmental movie, Who Killed the Electric Car, at the Tyson Amphitheater at the Johnson & Wales University Harborside Campus tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. The documentary, produced by Chris Paine and narrated by Martin Sheen, talks about the 100-year existence of the kind of car that is only now gaining popularity.

The event is free and open to the public, but reservations are required. For information, call Patricia Overdeep at (401) 598-1883 or email poverdeep@jwu.edu.

Nature workshop offered to teachers

The Audubon Society of Rhode Island is offering a workshop for teachers, The Living Landscape: Where People and Nature Connect, on Thursday from 4 to 6:30 p.m. at its headquarters at Powder Mill Ledges Wildlife Refuge, 12 Sanderson Rd., Smithfield. The program is geared toward elementary- and middle-school educators who will participate in a nature refuge walk and exploratory activities that connect artifacts and nature to living history. The workshop includes background information, activities, lessons and ideas for teaching a multidisciplinary, natural and cultural history curriculum in the classroom. Links to learning standards will be addressed, and a packet of information is included in the workshop fee.

Participants should be prepared for both indoor and outdoor activities. Light to moderate walking will be involved. The fee is $15 per person; registration is required. Space is limited. Call (401) 949-5454, ext. 3014 to register.

Concert to benefit wildlife care

Wildlife Rehabilitators Association of Rhode Island (WRARI) will hold its fifth annual Halloween “Wildstock” benefit concert Saturday from 6 p.m. to midnight at Jacky’s Galaxie, 383 Metacom Ave., Bristol. This year’s musical lineup includes Band of Brothers, The Electric Gypsies, Rune and Just Say Yes.

Ticket cost is $20 and includes a full evening of music, a buffet donated by Jacky’s Galaxie and a chance at a door prize. There will also be a raffle and concert T-shirts, donated by Bartlett Tree Experts. Costumes are optional, but prizes will be awarded for creativity.

All proceeds from the event directly benefit the care of injured and orphaned wildlife in Rhode Island. WRARI oversees the operation of The Wildlife Clinic of Rhode Island, which handled more than 1,800 wild animals and birds last year. WRARI depends upon memberships, private donations, grants and fundraisers, such as Wildstock, to provide free medical care and proper food to all species, from mice to deer, sparrows to great horned owls. For this work, WRARI received the 2007 Sen. John H. Chafee Outstanding Environmental Project Award.

For information or for ticket purchase, call Kristin Fletcher at (401) 253-3991.

Rivers Council to award grants

The Rhode Island Rivers Council, One Capitol Hill, Providence, announced another round of grants. The due date for applications is Nov. 7.

The council has allocated $20,000 for its 2009 grants program. Grants will be competitive with a maximum award of $4,000. Funds are to be used for project costs only and will not be approved for general operating support.

Eligibility to participate requires formal recognition as a watershed council and full compliance with all grants previously awarded to the applicant.

For information, call Claudia Staniszewski at (401) 647-7445.

Workshop to shape Exeter’s future

“What will Exeter look like in the future?”

A Vision for Exeter is an initiative of the Borderlands Project, a joint effort of The Nature Conservancy and other partners, supported by The Orton Family Foundation.

A public workshop at which participants will help shape how the community might look in the future will be held on Oct. 29 from 5:30 to 9 p.m. at the Metcalf Elementary School, 30 Nooseneck Hill Rd., Exeter.

For information about the project or workshop, call Susan Westa, project coordinator, at (860) 774-9600, ext. 24, email susan.westa@uconn.edu, or visit www.borderlandproject.org.

Student awarded EPA fellowship

A student from Connecticut attending Roger Williams University in Bristol was chosen as one of 2 students in New England and 22 nationwide to receive a Greater Research Opportunities (GRO) fellowship to complete either an undergraduate or graduate degree. Todd Massari, of Hamden, Conn., received the funding from the Environmental Protection Agency to complete a bachelor of science degree in natural and life sciences.

Massari has been helping the university’s Rhode Island Oyster Gardening for Restoration and Enhancement Program in growing juvenile oysters and releasing them onto reconstructed oyster reefs for restoration in Narragansett Bay. By using restored oyster reef habitats as a study site, Massari is looking to study their effects on both the changes in water quality and their use by juvenile fish species as nursery habitat.

The EPA supports several fellowship programs as a way to address the country’s environmental work force needs. The EPA is now accepting applications from students for GRO undergraduate fellowships. Applicants must be U.S. citizens or be lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence.

For information, visit www.epa.gov/ncer/fellow.

Estuary workshops to be offered

The New England National Estuarine Research Reserves (NERR) will receive a grant of $259,901 for professional teacher development workshops titled Teachers on the Estuary. Financed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the program will include workshops over three summers, starting next year.

Teachers on the Estuary will offer field-based professional development for educators on watershed and estuary topics.

In Rhode Island, the courses will provide information about estuaries and watersheds, an overview of NOAA and the Research Reserve System and training on their national education initiatives. It will also include activities focusing on topics of research at the Narragansett Bay Research Reserve based on Prudence Island.

A three-day teachers’ workshop will be held next summer at Narragansett NERR and Waquoit Bay NERR. The workshops are being developed in coordination with teacher advisory groups formed at the reserves this fall. The grant provides stipends for participants, stewardship funding to implement student projects, support for follow-up sessions and money for ongoing evaluation of the programs.

Application information will be available in March at www.nbnerr.org or by contacting Kristin Van Wagner at Kristin@nbnerr.org.

Lead-paint control money available

In an effort to protect Providence families by helping them remove and prevent lead hazards within their homes, Sen. Jack Reed recently announced that the city will receive $3 million in Lead Hazard Control aid and $2.45 million in Lead Hazard Reduction Demonstration money.

The programs will enable the city to identify and control lead-based paint hazards in 590 eligible, privately owned homes.

Activist to speak at Tripp Center

Author and environmental activist Terry Tempest Williams will speak at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Tripp Athletic Center on Thursday at 7 p.m. Williams will discuss her latest work, Finding Beauty in a Broken World.

Williams is the Annie Clark Tanner Scholar in Environmental Humanities at the University of Utah.

In 2006, Williams received the Robert Marshall Award from The Wilderness Society, the society’s highest honor given to an American citizen.

The Environmental Journal is a listing of brief news items about the actions of individuals, organizations and businesses that affect the air we breathe, the water we drink and the landscape that surrounds us.

If you have comments or suggestions, please contact environment reporter Peter B. Lord at (401) 277-8036, by email at plord@projo.com or by writing him, care of The Providence Journal, 75 Fountain St., Providence, RI 02902.