How to iNaturalist, February 3rd

Image: Courtesy of The Clifton Institute

February 3, 2024
2:00 pm
 – 4:00 pm

The Clifton Institute
6712 Blantyre Rd
Warrenton, VA 20187

FREE

Registration is REQUIRED.

Cost: Free!

iNaturalist is a powerful tool for people to learn about nature and to contribute to science, but there are lots of people who are not sure how to use it. In this program, Co-Directors Bert and Eleanor Harris will give a brief introduction to the iNaturalist app and website and some background and why it is loved it so much. Then you will go outside and practice how to take pictures and upload them to have the best chance at having your observation identified. Please download the iNaturalist app onto your phone before you arrive.

Age:Adults and children accompanied by an adult.

Weather policy: Rain or shine except in case of extreme weather (e.g. thunderstorm or significant snow fall).

COVID-19 Information: This program will be entirely outdoors (an outside porta potty will be available). Please do not attend if you are experiencing or have experienced in the last two weeks any symptoms associated with COVID-19 (fever, cough, shortness of breath, etc.).

Cancellation policy: If you register and can no longer attend this event, please let the Clifton Institute know as soon as possible so that they can open your spot to someone else.

By registering for this event, you are affirming that you have read and agree to the Clifton Institute’s liability release policy.

 

Behavior, Society and Sex in Adolescent Birds with Liam Taylor, February 8th

Photo: William Young, Great Horned Owlet

February 8, 2024
7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Virtual Seminar

ASNV Member ticket: $15 (Non-member ticket: $20)
Registration details

Most birds have some growing up to do before they start to breed. Despite reaching full size within weeks or months of hatching, some species will not raise offspring for years, or even decades. Liam Taylor explores the strange things that some birds need to do before they reproduce—from meeting a fishing buddy on a rocky island to finding a dance partner on a rainforest floor. Looking back through millions of years of evolution, Taylor uncovers how behavioral, social, and sexual development continues to create new challenges and opportunities for adolescent birds.

Liam Taylor is a PhD candidate in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Yale University. He studies how social development influences, and is influenced by, the life history and evolution of birds, with a focus on delayed reproduction and delayed plumage maturation in colony-nesting seabirds and lekking Manakins.

Ducks and Waterfowl Identification with Greg Butcher, January 25th

Photo: FMN Jerry Nissley

 

Thursday, January 25, 2024
7:00 PM – 8:30 PM
Virtual Presentation
FREE, but registration is required!

Join Greg Butcher, Audubon Society of Northern Virginia (ASNV) board member and retired migratory species coordinator for the U.S. Forest Service International Programs, for an introduction to waterfowl identification. Get to know many of the species that winter in the open waters of our region. You’ll learn how to tell a Bufflehead from a Hooded Merganser, and you’ll learn the features (and hear the call) of the beautiful Tundra Swans that winter in Northern Virginia. Strategies will include identification by shape and color pattern.

This event will be helpful for those participating in the Winter Waterfowl Count on Feb 3rd and 4th but is open to anyone who would like to know how to identify winter waterfowl!

Some good locations to see waterfowl in Northern Virginia are Huntley Meadows, Dyke Marsh and Mason Neck State Park.

Bird Friendly® Certified Coffee (and how you can help) Webinar, January 18th

Photo: Courtesy of the Smithsonian Bird Friendly certification

Thursday, January 18, 2024
7 – 8 pm
Webinar
Free but registration required.

Did you know that the coffee you drink can affect the birds in your backyard? The Smithsonian Bird Friendly certification does more than any other certification program to conserve habitat for birds and other wildlife on coffee farms. Bird Friendly Program Manager Kirstin Hill will describe the link between coffee and conservation, discuss what makes Bird Friendly certification the gold standard in biodiversity protection, and share ways to get involved in the movement to “Drink Bird Friendly.” Your coffee is stronger than you think! Currently, we know of no coffee shops in northern Virginia where you can buy a fresh hot cup of bird-friendly coffee – and we want to change that! We are looking for volunteers who are inspired by this program to help us with coffee shop outreach.

Climate Extremes: What’s the Forecast for Invasive Species?, Webinar, January 16th

Photo: Julia Blum

Tuesday, January 16, 2024
7 pm
Webinar
Register here.

As the planet heats up, non-native species all over the U.S. are pushing north to follow the warmer weather. But the simple narrative doesn’t end there. Dr. Andy Chang, lead marine biologist for Smithsonian Environmental Research Center’s California branch, has tracked the movement of species introduced by human activity to San Francisco Bay and the California coast for the past two decades. In addition to northward and upstream migrations in warmer years, his team has also noticed species getting wiped out in years of intense rainfall. In this talk, he’ll reveal how climate change and extreme weather like droughts and floods are changing the seascape for invaders. He’ll also highlight how countries can use this knowledge to help stop nascent invasions before they get a foothold, in San Francisco Bay, Chesapeake Bay and around the world.

Winter Tree Identification at The Clifton Institute, January 13th

Image Courtesy of The Clifton Institute

Saturday, January 13, 2024
1:00 – 3:00 pm
Program is Free

Registration is required!

6712 Blantyre Road
Warrenton, Virginia 20187

Winter is a great time of year to learn how to identify trees and to practice looking at bark and twigs. The program will start with a brief presentation indoors about the tips and tricks to identify the most common trees in the forests. Then instructors will take participants on a mile-long walk in the woods to practice. This program is meant for beginners. Advanced botanists are welcome! If you would like to start practicing now or if you would like to bring some resources with you, we recommend the book Winter Tree Finder by May Theilgaard Watts and Tom Watts and the Flora of Virginia app.

The How and Who of Urban Wildlife Conservation with Dr. Charles Nilon, January 7th

Sunday, January 7, 2024
3 – 4 pm
Virtual
FREE but registration required.

Join Audubon Society of Northern Virginia for a virtual Audubon Afternoon that features the first of their Stretch Our Parks Lectures featuring Dr. Charles Nilon, an ecologist and professor from the University of Missouri.

Dr. Nilon’s decades of research and service have combined two of his lifelong passions – understanding how to safeguard urban biodiversity and making conservation biology more inclusive. He has been a lead researcher on projects combining data from more than 150 of the world’s cities to assess how ecological and socioeconomic factors influence birds in urban environments. He will share his ideas about what actions cities and towns might take to protect biodiversity as human density increases, and why making conservation efforts more diverse, inclusive, and just is paramount to their success.

Stretch Our Parks is a community-based conservation initiative. Given that northern Virginia is increasingly urbanizing, with more than a million new residents added since 1990, and that the diversity of our residents also has increased, it is fitting that Dr. Nilon presents the first Stretch Our Parks Lecture.

Dr. Nilon has a B.S. in Biology from Morehouse College, a Masters of Forest Science with an emphasis on wildlife from Yale University, and a Ph.D. in Ecology/Wildlife Ecology from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry. Dr. Nilon was awarded the Ecological Society of America’s Commitment to Human Diversity in Ecology Award in 2014. He also serves on the Advisory Board of the Audubon Center at Riverlands, a Migratory Bird Sanctuary approximately 20 miles north of St. Louis.

Preventing Avian Extinctions: What Works with Dr. David Luther, January 11th

Photo: Cerulean Warbler by Matt Felperin

Thursday, January 11, 2024
7 – 8 pm
Virtual
ASNV Members: $10
Non-members: $15
Register here.

Join Audubon Society of Northern Virginia and Dr. David Luther for a program on preventing avian extinctions. More species in the world are threatened with extinction today than at any other time in recent history. However, at the same time, a number of programs have made great strides in successfully conserving threatened species and preventing their extinctions. Dr. Luther will explore the state of birds globally, the threats they face, and what is working in the field of conservation biology to prevent the extinction of endangered bird species. The talk will focus on global and local examples of successful conservation efforts, his research on conserving endangered species in the United States and around the world, and future conservation opportunities.

David Luther is an Associate Professor in the Biology Department at George Mason University and a member of the ASNV board. He teaches courses on ornithology, community ecology, and animal behavior. His research applies principles from animal behavior and ecology to examine conservation biology problems. Current projects focus on how climate change and habitat loss are affecting birds in the Amazon as well as the mechanisms that make conservation actions succeed in preventing extinctions of threatened species.

 

Afternoon at the Smithsonian – Interpretive Tour of the Museum of Natural History

Photo by FMN Susan Martel, Geology section National Museum of Natural History with FMN Dr. John Kelmelis.

Tuesday, 5 Dec 2023
3:00 to 5:00PM (Tour is approximately 2 hours).
WhereNational Museum of Natural History, Washington D.C.
Meet at the information desk in the rotunda beside Henry, the big elephant.
Group limit. 6 individuals

To register:

  1. Login to BI and click on your ‘Opportunities’ tab.
  2. Select ‘Opportunity Calendar’ from the pull-down list.
  3. Find the event in the displayed calendar and click on it to display event details.
  4. To sign up, Click on the ‘Sign Up’ box in the lower right. This automatically signs you up and puts the event on your calendar.
  5. To claim CE hours: use All Continuing Education -> FMN All other Chapter Training

Bring paper and pencil to take notes if you desire. No recordings please.

FMN Dr. Kelmelis will guide an interpretive tour of the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History relevant to Virginia Master Naturalists.  This tour will identify the relationship of some exhibits to the natural environment of Virginia including the geologic history, mineralogy, entomology, osteology, evolution, mammalogy, and many other topics.  Some of the take-aways will include an introduction of how the NMNH’s display collection can be used to enrich the naturalist’s understanding of science, the scientific method, and some techniques that are applicable to naturalists’ domain of interests; as well as some facts related to the natural condition and history of Virginia.

Emerged, Emerging and Potential Infectious Diseases of Virginia Wildlife, December 7th

Photo: Courtesy of the VMN Continuing Education Webinar Series

Thursday, December 7, 2023
12:00-1:00 pm

VMN Continuing Education Webinar
Registration: Pre-registration required.

As Virginians, we live in a unique, diverse but fragile ecosystem comparable to any area on earth. A realization of this is made obvious when one considers the havoc that an introduced infectious disease can have on a wildlife population. In this presentation, the biology and impact of three different infectious diseases will be presented and the roles Master Naturalists could play in recognizing and controlling these diseases. The first is an infectious disease that has emerged: white nose syndrome of bats that is devastating the bat population in our state. The second, chronic wasting disease of deer, an emerging disease that is slowly spreading through the deer population of Virginia with potential public health implications. The final disease is Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (a.k.a. Bsal) a deadly disease that has recently spread from Asia to Europe and is expected to soon be found in North America. North America has the greatest salamander diversity in the world with much of this diversity occurring along the mid-Atlantic Appalachians.  

 

Robert “Bob” Dunstan is a veterinary pathologist who has over 100 publications dealing with diseases of animals and humans in their many manifestations.  He was a full professor of pathology at Michigan State University and at Texas A&M University where he specialized in dermatopathology.   In 2004, he was recruited by Pfizer to help develop new treatments for dermatologic diseases in humans.  To do this he started using artificial intelligence to quantify the microscopic effects of emerging topical therapies. Four years later he was recruited as a distinguished investigator by Biogen, where he studied Alzheimer’s disease as well as several autoimmune diseases.  He finished his career working for Abbvie, applying deep learning methods on inflammatory bowel disease.  Retiring this year, Bob became a Master Naturalist in 2012.