Entries by Janet Quinn

City Nature Challenge, April 30th – May 3rd

Photo from City Nature Challenge Invented by citizen science staff at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (Lila Higgins) and California Academy of Sciences (Alison Young). The City Nature Challenge is an international effort for people to find and document plants and wildlife in cities across the globe. It’s a bioblitz-style competition where […]

Science Fair Judges Needed, dates various

Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on Unsplash Fairfax County Regional Science and Engineering Fair Online judging is scheduled during the week of March 13-20, 2021Register on the category judge website Mount Vernon High School, 8515 Old Mt Vernon Rd, Alexandria VATuesday, February 2 to Saturday, February 6, 2021Judges will have several days to review student videos, evaluating the work with […]

Virginia Association for Environmental Education Virtual Mini-Conferences, Feb. 20, July 17, Oct. 23

Want to connect with other environmental educators? The Virginia Association for Environmental Education (VAEE) is offering a virtual mini conference series! Each day will highlight one of Virginia’s different regions, seasonal changes, and the educators that work within that area. February 20 – Winter in the WestJuly 17 – Summer on the ShoreOctober 23 – […]

Spruce Up your Foundation Plantings

Photo and article by Plant NOVA Natives When developers build a neighborhood, they almost always add some shrubs against the foundations of the houses to soften the lines of the buildings. Just as they paint all the interior walls white, they use just a few conventional plant species for a uniform look until all the […]

Proposals to Reintroduce Red Wolves to Virginia, webinar January 27th

Photo by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Wednesday, January 27, 20216:30 -7:30 pmHosted by the Great Falls Group of the Sierra ClubLearn more and register. Richmond-based journalist Stephen Nash has been looking into proposals to reintroduce red wolves, Canis lupus rufus, to Virginia. In the 1970s, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service caught the last […]

Review of Naming Nature, by Carol Kaesuk Yoon

Reviewed by Michael Reinemer In the midst of an accelerating mass extinction where we are losing species much faster than science can identify them, this is an engrossing look at taxonomy, or how we organize life on earth. Yoon laments our disconnects from nature. A child living among the Indigenous Tzeltal Maya people in Mexico […]

Public Meeting and Comment Period to Introduce the Salt Management Strategy Toolkit, January 21st

Article by Joe Gorney; Photo by Ann Fossa on Unsplash The use of salt during the winter provides benefits, such as making roads and sidewalks safer and keeping businesses and services open. However, winter salt use also impacts the following: • Drinking water (which is especially challenging for people on salt-restricted diets)• Infrastructure and property (through corrosion)• Freshwater […]

Winter is for Nature Lovers

Article and photos by Barbara J. Saffir (c) Don’t hibernate! Winter is for nature lovers. You can glimpse Bald Eagles nesting, self-heated skunk cabbage wildflowers that resemble Georgia O’Keefe paintings, perky kinglets that pop up their ruby-red crests when they’re excited, sly foxes hunting for a mate, and many other winter wonders mentioned below. It’s enough […]

Back to our Roots: Leveraging Native Plants to Restore the Environment, GreenScapes Symposium, February 19th

Photo (c) by Barbara J. Saffir Friday, February 19, 20219:30am – 4pmEarly Bird registration fee of $45 ends on Friday, January 8thStandard fee is $55Register using this link ActiveMontgomery.org (Course #87621) or call 301-962-1470. Join industry experts as they tackle the native vs. non-native plant debate: Is a native plant-only prescription necessary? Under what conditions […]

NVSWCD Green Breakfast: Valuing our Urban Forest, January 9th

Huntley Meadows, photo by J. Quinn Saturday, January 9, 20219 amFree To register for this webinar or learn more, please email [email protected]. Recently, Fairfax County adopted the updated Tree Action Plan unifying many program efforts to enhance Fairfax County’s urban forests. At the same time new climate and pest stressors have been discovered. Grab the breakfast of […]