2026 Annual Meeting
Wednesday, February 18, 2026 - 6:00 pm
WLT 2026 Annual Meeting
6:00 pm - Members Meeting: Members will elect Trustees before the Board votes on the slate of officers.
6:30 pm - Public Social: Join us for refreshments and mingling before the Public Meeting.
7:00 pm - Public Meeting: Hear from President Craig Johnson, Executive Director Whitney Beaman, and Keynote Speaker Victor DeMasi.
The highlight of the evening is our Keynote Speaker, Victor DeMasi, an entomologist, world-traveling conservationist, and curatorial affiliate at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History. Victor will discuss butterfly biology, pollinator habitat, citizen science, and the dangers of pesticides with a display of museum-quality specimens for an up-close experience. This is an event you won’t want to miss!
WLT 2026 Annual Meeting Registration
About the Keynote Speaker
Victor DeMasi is an extremely active member of The Pollinator Pathway. He was a wetland conservation officer in his hometown of Redding for 20 years and is presently a curatorial affiliate at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History in New Haven. He busies himself with preserving open space in town and preserving butterflies in the museum. His field work with butterflies contributed almost a thousand citations to the recently published Connecticut Butterfly Atlas. He has contributed articles to scientific publications, and his mark-recapture studies with Swallowtail butterflies were recently cited in the book Swallowtails of the Americas. Recent butterfly study trips with his spouse, Roanna, a photographer, have included several to the Amazon forest in Guyana and Nicaragua, as well as yearly studies in montane California assessing the impact of climate change. His work in South America was featured in The Yale Environmental News.
More about Victor DeMasi
Victor DeMasi is also a 45-year owner of Monarch Painting, a decorative painting firm in Redding, Connecticut, which specializes in faux finishes and trompe l’oeil. His murals often feature natural history subjects such as native wild flowers and butterflies. Clients delight in a Monarch butterfly painted sitting atop a window frame in an unlikely corner of their house.
DeMasi’s name appears on the referral list maintained by the Connecticut Historical Trust. He has done historical painting-restoration projects for Yale University, the National Park Service, and the State of Washington. He has worked in over 1000 residences. He includes Richard Gere, Blake Lively, and Patricia Hearst among his more recognizable clients.
DeMasi is also known for his writing, teaching, and lecturing. His recent book is Designer Faux Finishing by Rockport Publications. His work has been featured in House and Garden, The New York Times, Yankee Magazine, and Connecticut Magazine, to name a few. He authored over one hundred and fifty articles, including Fine Home Buildings and Fine Wood Working, and he is a major contributor to The Reader's Digest Book of Tools and Skills. He is a regular contributor of articles to American Painting Contractor and the now-defunct Faux Finisher Magazine.
Victor DeMasi's 2026 Keynote Talk
Discover the hidden world of butterflies with entomologist Victor DeMasi. In this lecture, Victor explains butterfly biology, the pressures facing pollinators, and how citizen scientists are contributing to conservation. He’ll share insights for enhancing pollinator habitat using native plants—especially milkweeds—and delve into the fascinating life cycle of Monarchs. The talk features a display of museum-quality specimens.