Newsletter 2026: From the President

Newsletter Vol. 41, No. 1 • Spring 2026

Elizabeth McCance

From the President

Elizabeth McCance

After this winter’s serial storms and low temperatures, I can’t wait to get back to Fishers for warmth, sunshine, friends, and Museum events. One of our primary goals set forth in our new strategic plan is to increase engagement across our community with year-round residents, seasonal residents, and fellow institutions. The Museum is offering many new ways to participate, and I hope you will join us.

Over this past winter, participants enjoyed a whimsical program creating birdseed ornaments as well as a more educational “Lunch and Learn” focused on Osprey monitoring. Visitors during our Saturday winter hours were welcomed by Program Assistant and Docent Patti Norton. Our Land Trust Coordinator, Jessica NeJame, instituted a nature-based after-school program for F.I. School 3rd to 6th graders. The Museum looks forward to continuing and furthering collaborations with other Island institutions, including the Lighthouse Works, the Conservancy, the Movie Theater, and the Community Garden. The Museum is contributing to the upcoming 100th anniversary book projects for the F.I. Club (1926) and the F.I. Fire Dept. (1927).

Twelve miles of Land Trust trails are open for your enjoyment and there are expanded opportunities to participate with Citizen Conservationist programs. If your interests are more land-based, pitch in clearing trails, replacing invasives with native plants, monitoring birds, and more. If you are drawn to our waters and coast, help the Fishers Island Seagrass Management Coalition (FISMC) monitor human activity in the seagrass meadows. If you prefer a one-day event, sign up for the eelgrass boat tour or the native plant workshop.

Our year-round lecture series ramps up for the summer with a great line up of speakers. Dr. Tina Morris will recount her personal story of reintroducing eagles into the Northeast in the 1970s. Dr. Paul Spitzer will survey the growth of Osprey populations since the late 1960s when he conceived a project to move healthy eggs into DDT-ravaged nests in our region. Dr. John Pfeiffer will give his overview of Native American life on Fishers Island, informed by two decades of onsite archaeology in the 1980s and 1990s. Dr. Andrea Bogomolni will speak about the return of seals to New England after centuries of near extinction. Dr. Ned Friedman, director of the Arnold Arboretum, will inform us of the history and purpose of that legendary Olmsted-designed institution. For the children, all our popular programs are back this summer – the Wednesday drop-in program, the one-week-intensive Fishers Island Nature Discovery (FIND) program, and the popular Treasure Hunt. The full listing of programming can be found on our calendar of events.

I also invite you to explore the many exhibits in the Museum on your own time. In addition to our permanent exhibits on the history, pre-history and natural history of Fishers Island, Museum Director Pierce Rafferty has organized three new annual exhibits for your viewing. This year’s main exhibit extends between both floors and features Matt Kaelin’s portraits of F.I. year-round residents taken between 2016 and 2023. The 2nd floor Side Gallery hosts an exhibit documenting Sarah Upson’s Fishers Island murals created in collaboration with IPP between 1990 and 2026. The 1st floor Natural History Gallery displays a colorful series of monoprint paintings of the Brick Yard Marsh by artist Sukey Bryan.

Finally, I hope you join us at our opening party on June 27th. It is always such a great way to connect and launch the summer season.

—Elizabeth McCance

Satellite photo of Barley Field Cove taken August 2025 showing eelgrass extent. See “Mapping the Future: Advancing Eelgrass Monitoring in Long Island Sound” article.