Abbott Professorship Lecture: Kerry Yurewicz

This event is free and unticketed.

Masks required for all patrons.
Unmasked performers will be tested for Covid19 immediately before the performance.

​​Janice Griffin, a former student from Union, NH, established the Helen Abbott ’39 Professorship of Environmental Studies to honor her friend, teacher and mentor, who graduated from the Plymouth Normal School (which is now PSU), for her commitment to youth environmental education. The endowment supports a three-year term professorship that recognizes an exemplary member of the PSU faculty who integrates elements of environmental studies into coursework or research.
Kerry Yurewicz is an ecologist who uses natural surveys and experiments to investigate questions about animal behavior, interactions between species, and patterns of biodiversity across environmental gradients. She joined the faculty at PSU in 2004, after earning her PhD in biology from the University of Michigan and conducting postdoctoral research at the University of Notre Dame. Kerry teaches courses in introductory biology, invertebrate zoology, and ecology, often using local habitats as outdoor labs. She is passionate about inspiring an appreciation for biodiversity, and working with students to ask and answer questions about the natural world. Most of her research has focused on amphibians and invertebrates, often in freshwater systems, and she’s enjoyed collaborating with both undergraduate and graduate students on projects involving crayfish, insects, fish, and salamanders. Kerry is also a long-time member of the board of directors at Quincy Bog Natural Area, a local nonprofit environmental organization whose mission is to conserve land and connect people with nature.