SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. -- Susan C. Morse, a nationally known authority on wildlife habitat, will speak on Tuesday, December 4, at 7 PM in Mount Holyoke College¯s Chapin Auditorium. Her talk, sponsored in part by the College¯s Center for Environmental Literacy, will kick off an effort to recruit and train trackers to monitor wildlife in the Holyoke Range as part of a long-range research project.

Morse¯s talk and slide show, "Where the Wild Things Walk," is free and open to the public, and is wheelchair accessible. She will display and discuss her extensive collection of pelts from every North American carnivore, from the least weasel to the polar bear, and will bring plaster tracks, preserved animal feet, antlers, and other items she has gathered ¡ a "museum without walls" that takes up 18 conference tables. A staff of five will be on hand to interpret the collection, and visitors will be able to handle many of the items.

Morse, who has been featured in Smithsonian, Audubon,and Vermont Lifemagazines and on National Public Radio¯s Morning Edition, is the founder of the Vermont-based Keeping Track, which is committed to the preservation of wildlife habitat by increasing public awareness and community stewardship. Her unique track and sign survey protocol represents the leading edge of wildlife research in the United States today. Since 1994, Keeping Track has trained more than 1,000 people in eight states.

The Keeping Track approach is to zero in on a few local species of wide-ranging carnivores, species whose well-being reflects the health of the entire ecosystem. In this part of New England, those species include bear, otter, mink, bobcat, and fisher, a relative of the weasel.

The wildlife survey of the Mount Holyoke/Mount Tom/Pelham Hills area is being sponsored in part by the Ecological Working Group, affiliated with the Center for Environmental Literacy. Working group members hope to recruit 10 to 15 students, landowners, and other volunteers to learn to detect wildlife and their uses of habitat. The work will add to the body of scientific knowledge of the area and promote responsible land-use planning.

Also sponsoring Morse¯s presentation and the research project are the Connecticut River Watershed Council, Connecticut Valley Summit, the Hampshire Bird Club, Harvard Forest, the Hitchcock Center for the Environment, Holyoke Gas & Electric, the Kestrel Trust, Massachusetts Audubon Society¯s Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary, the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, RESTORE: The North Woods, Rezendes Nature Programs, Save the Mountain, and the Springfield Naturalists Club.