Fred Schueler and Aleta Karstad with one of the paintings from the Art and Science in the South Nation Watershed project. Paintings and research will be showcased Thursday November 24 from 6 - 8:30 at South Nation Conservation.

PHOTO CREDIT - SNC

Finch - November 21, 2011 - Results of a fall scientific and artistic exploration along and around the South Nation River by the husband and wife team of Dr. Fred Schueler and Aleta Karstad will be showcased this Thursday with all those interested invited to attend.

"Art and Science in the South Nation Watershed" will open at 6 p.m. at South Nation Conservation's Finch headquarters and continue until 8:30 p.m., featuring a one-hour film celebrating International Year of the Forest along with the Schueler/Karstad project. Admission is free and refreshments will be served.

The project is intended to expand knowledge and understanding of the watershed while increasing awareness of the need for conservation. It's a joint venture by SNC and Schueler and Karstad's Bishops Mills Natural History Centre.

The couple will release a 57-page publication summarizing their expedition, complete with 19 renditions of Karstad's South Nation paintings, observations about making each one, and biologist Schueler's research notes about the landscape with special attention to interactions between native and invasive species.

Priced at $22 each, the volume would make an excellent Christmas gift for family and friends with an interest in conservation in general and the Eastern Ontario landscape in particular.

Among titles of scenes depicted in the paintings are "Old Bridge at Lemieux," "South Nation River Flats at Crysler," and "Bear Brook with Geese." Sale of individual paintings at $200 each will help support cost of the venture.

"It's all about making the watershed and it's habitat and species more accessible to average residents who might not get a chance to immerse themselves to the extent Fred and Aleta did," said SNC Communications Director Angela Coleman. "Along the way, they'll learn something about conservation efforts in general and the threat of invasives."

"What better way to do that than through skilled, beautiful paintings and expert research notes."