Please join us at the Historic Richmond House for The Before New York: A Public Lecture on the Historical Ecology of Staten Island with landscape ecologist Dr. Eric Sanderson. The program invites audiences to step back 400 years and explore the borough as it existed long before urbanization. Drawing on decades of historical ecology research, the lecture illuminates Staten Island’s original forests, wetlands, wildlife, and landforms, revealing how Dr. Eric Sanderson and colleagues reconstruct these landscapes through archival records, maps, and environmental data. This lecture will offer a vivid look at the island’s deep natural history and provide context for understanding today’s conservation challenges and opportunities.

Dr. Eric Sanderson serves as the Vice President for Urban Conservation and Director of the Center for Conservation and Restoration Ecology at the New York Botanical Garden. He is the bestselling author of Mannahatta and is now completing its five borough sequel, Before New York: The Natural Geography of the City. His work has been featured in The New Yorker, National Geographic, NPR, BBC, and The New York Times, and his TED Talk has been viewed more than three million times. He has published more than 65 papers and technical reports on urban, wildlife, and landscape conservation, drawing on experiences from around the world and here in the Bronx.