Swanfall Celebration at Mason Neck, 3 December

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The Friends of Mason Neck State Park will hold their annual Swanfall celebration this Sunday, December 3, from 2 to 4.

There will be a light buffet, followed by a talk by Paul Bacich on the intriguing Winter Waterfowl of Mason Neck.  Paul is the co-author of the just-published The Crossley ID Guide: Waterfowl and has been a volunteer in Huntley Meadows Park’s Wood Duck and Hooded Merganser nest box program for nearly 25 years.

Registration is required; the cost is $10 per person.  More information and a registration page are at http://www.masonneckstateparkfriends.org/event-2692645.

Sign Up the 36th Annual Manassas-Bull Run Christmas Bird Count!

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Sign Up the 36th Annual Manassas-Bull Run Christmas Bird Count!

Sunday, December 17, 2017

7:00 AM  11:30 AM

The Manassas-Bull Run Christmas Bird Count will be on Sunday, December 17th.  The count circle is around Centreville and includes Manassas Battlefield, parts of Bull Run Regional Park, undeveloped areas south of Dulles Airport, and many stream valley parks and undeveloped locations from Clifton to west Fairfax City.   A hot lunch will be served to participants.  Birders of all skill levels are needed.

If you participated last year your sector leader will be in touch soon.  If you don’t hear from your sector leader, or if you would like to be in a different sector, contact Bob Shipman.  This year, we will be offering an opportunity for feeder watchers.  If you or someone you know lives within the count circle and cannot go out on the count, he or she can sit inside and count the birds that come to a feeder or yard on count day as an alternate way to participate.

Sign up here.

Stream Monitoring Events: Serve and Learn

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Saturday, December 9

Stream Monitoring: Lake Accotink

9:30 – 11:30 a.m.

Assess ecological conditions in Lake Accotink, based on the presence and abundance of bottom-dwelling invertebrates.

Where to Meet: Parking lot behind Lake Accotink Park Administrative building. Call or email for directions.

See Friends of Accotink Creek for additional stream monitoring information:

http://www.accotink.org/StreamMonitoring.htm

RSVP/Questions

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The FMN Strategic Communications and Marketing committee members welcome your news and event notices, learning and service opportunities, stories, resource reviews, (and other ideas–we are open to creative thinking). We curate our content, so, yes, you’ll work with an editor, but the exchange will simply polish your pearl.

Send your content or requests to Marilyn Kupetz: [email protected], with the header: FMN website content

Biodiversity and Global Change: Science & Action online class starts December 4

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Coursera’s eight-week course, “Biodiversity and Global Change: Science & Action,” is taught by scientists at the University of Zurich. Registration begins Nov. 27, and the first session is on Dec. 4. Here’s the course description:

“In this course, featuring many researchers at the University of Zurich, you will learn about the amazing diversity of biological organisms in the world around us. You will discover the field of “biodiversity science”, experience the countless forms that biodiversity takes, look at the values and importance of this diversity, understand the processes that create and maintain diversity, and hear about how biodiversity is distributed across the Earth. You will also experience how biodiversity is threatened, and what conservation, management, and individual actions can do for its protection. Having been equipped with such knowledge through the course, we encourage you to take action, however small, to positively influence the future of biodiversity, and thereby become a Biodiversity Ambassador.”

The course requires two to four hours of study each week.

World Wildlife Fund hosts The Nature of Change: The Science of Influencing Behavior

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Behavior change has not yet been extensively incorporated into conservation practice planning, design, or overall thinking. This year’s Fuller Symposium, December 4, brings together a diverse array of experts from the behavior sciences to tackle how we can better integrate behavioral strategies and interventions into conservation practice to produce more effective outcomes for nature.

Attend in person at the National Geographic Society’s headquarters, or by by web streaming.

The conference is free and counts toward VMN continuing ed credits

You can attend in person or online. Register here

This year’s winner of the Nobel Prize for Economics, Richard Thaler, was recognized for his contributions to behavioral economics, a critical component in understanding how we make decisions about our health, wealth, etc. (Book recommendation: Nudge, with his coauthor, Cass Sunstein). Dan Ariely, one of the presenters at the symposium, is another prominent behavioral economist, and a regular contributor to the Wall Street Journal. (Book recommendation: Predictably Irrational.)

From the Ground Up: Managing and Preserving Our Terrestrial Ecosystems: Free, approved, online course starts November 27

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From the Ground Up: Managing and Preserving our Terrestrial Ecosystems is a new 7-week online course from the SDG Academy about sustainable use of our terrestrial ecosystems.You will learn about the impacts of deforestation, climate change, and more, with a particular focus on the human activities that affect these ecosystems. In studying the interplay of local communities dependent on these natural resources, you will emerge with a deep understanding of how to ensure the long-term health of our global ecosystems.

The course launches November 27th, 2017. Register here. While there are only 7 weeks of course content, the course will remain open until January 29th, 2018. Students can enroll anytime! After January 29th, 2018, the course content will no longer be available.

Course materials each week include pre-recorded lectures, readings, discussion questions, and quizzes. In addition, live webinars are offered throughout the course so that you can ask questions directly to instructors. Each Monday, course materials are made available and remain available for the duration of the course. All course components can be completed at a time that is convenient for students; quizzes can be completed anytime before the course ends.

Time commitment: Approx. 2-4 hours per week

Cost: Free

Requirements: An internet connection. Certificates: Students who successfully complete the course will receive a digital certificate of completion. In order to successfully complete the course, students must score an average of 70% or higher on the quizzes, all of which are multiple choice. Students who score 85% or higher will receive certificates of completion with distinction.

Stream Monitoring Events: Serve and Learn

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Certified Monitors Networking and Team Building Workshop

Saturday, November 18

Time: 11am – 1pm

Location: Manassas National Battlefield, Administrative HQ Building

The Northern Virginia and Prince William Soil and Water Conservation Districts are proud to announce the first networking and team building event for certified volunteer stream monitors! Meet fellow certified monitors, discuss best practices with long-time volunteers and staff from the two Conservation Districts, and hear about new national-level stream initiatives from the Izaak Walton League, the coordinators of the Virginia Save Our Streams Program. For more information or to RSVP, please contact Dan Schwartz. Open only to volunteer monitors who have passed their certification test.

 

Stream Monitoring Workshop: Reston

Monday, November 20

Time: 10am – 1pm

Location: Snakeden Branch behind the Walker Nature Center, Reston

Join Walker Nature Center staff as they monitor Snakeden Branch in the forested parkland behind the Center. To RSVP and get directions, please fill out a Reston Volunteer Application and then sign up through the event calendar.

Audubon scholarship to Hog Island, ME, for VA public school educators, at Hog Island, ME

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The Audubon Society of Northern Virginia is taking applications from public school teachers for an all-expenses paid week of professional development plus transportation to National Audubon Society’s Hog Island Camp in Maine. This year’s Sharing Nature: An Educator’s Week occurs July 15-20, 2018. Highlights include ospreys, bioluminescent sea creatures, and boat trips to nearby islands, including to a puffin colony. Applicants must be public classroom teachers, specialists, or school administrators working in the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Fredericksburg, Manassas, Manassas Park, Leesburg or the counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William or Stafford.

Application at http://audubonva.org/hog-island-scholarship

Application deadline: February 1, 2017

Questions? Email ASNV Youth Education Chair Stacey Evers at [email protected]

 

The Trees of Fraser Preserve, Led by Margaret Chatham

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The Potowmack Chapter of the Virginia Native Plant Society

Saturday, November 18, 2017
10 am to 1 pm

Fraser Preserve
101 Springvale Road
Great Falls, VA 22066

VNPS programs are free and open to the public. Space is limited on walks, so please register at https://vnps20171118.eventbrite.com

Join Margaret Chatham for a tour of the Trees of Fraser Preserve, Saturday, November 18, at 10 am. Some fifty species of trees have been recorded for Fraser Preserve. Come see how many of them we can spot with the help of turning colors, with the certainty of viewing the State Champion American Elm down by the river.
This will be a somewhat energetic hike, downhill and up several times. You might want to bring binoculars and a walking stick in addition to water and the usual dress for the weather.
Margaret is a devoted Fraser Preserve Volunteer Visitation Committee Member who removes invasive barberry shrubs in winter and wavy leaf basket grass in summer and knows the preserve intimately. She is also editor of the VNPS Potowmack News newsletter, a volunteer at the VNPS propagation beds at Green Spring Gardens in Alexandria, and an Arlington Regional Master Naturalist.