Green Breakfast: Harnessing the Power of Stormwater: Micro-turbines in GMU Storm Drains

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Saturday, 10 March, 8.30am
Brion’s Grille, 10621 Braddock Rd, Fairfax, VA 22032
Get ready to look at stormwater in a totally different way.  George Mason University’s Dr. Jennifer Sklarew, of the Department of Environmental Science and Policy, and STEAM Undergraduates for Renewable Energy will be placing two hydropower micro-turbines in the stormwater network on GMU’s Fairfax campus. Coupling the turbines with battery storage, the project will analyze the potential for small-scale clean power applications on a university campus, for use in cell phone charging stations and emergency lighting. This project will contribute to Mason’s sustainability goals and it is hoped that the lessons learned from this project can create other uses for this renewed energy source in other ways.
Dr. Jennifer Sklarew, George Mason University Department of Environmental Science and Policy
Nathan Moravitz, President, GMU’s STEAM Undergraduates for Renewable Energy

Dr. Leslie Reis to speak on butterflies and climate change at Huntley Meadows

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Join Fairfax Master Naturalists and Friends of Dyke Marsh for a talk by Georgetown University biologist Dr. Leslie Reis. She will discuss butterflies, their host plants, and how both are responding to climate change.

Summarizing her work with the monarch, the Baltimore checkerspot, and the silver-spotted skipper, Dr. Reis will show how she builds on work by citizen scientists such as Jim Waggener, who has contributed 25 years of data on behalf of the Audubon Society of Northern Virginia at the Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

9 May 2018

7.30 pm

Huntley Meadows Park Visitor Center

3701 Lockheed Blvd., Alexandria, VA 22306

 

Bluebird Trails: Learn and Volunteer

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Saturday, 10 March from 3.00 – 5.00 pm

Pohick Regional Library

6450 Sydenstricker Road, Burke, VA

Come learn how a favorite songbird, the Eastern Bluebird, lives and breeds right in our community and how volunteers have helped this bird come back. There are about 80 bluebird trails which house at least three bluebird houses each, in Fairfax County.  The Virginia Bluebird Society is seeking volunteers to monitor these houses.  This presentation will include information about what is involved in monitoring and how you can help this species.

 

 

Rod Simmons presents Last Defense for Local Forests: Edges of Woodlands

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Thursday, 8 March, 7-9 pm
Dolley Madison Library,
1244 Oak Ridge Ave, McLean, VA 22101

Sponsored by the Virginia Native Plant Society, this program is free and open to the public.

Rod Simmons is a plant ecologist, with a background in biology and geology, who has extensively surveyed the flora and natural communities of the mid-Atlantic region, especially the inner Coastal Plain and Piedmont of the greater Washington, D.C. area. He is a Research Associate with the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution; a member of the Virginia Botanical Associates; and works closely with the Virginia and Maryland natural heritage programs. He is the Natural Resource Manager and Plant Ecologist for the City of Alexandria, Virginia.

Semi-open conditions along woodland edges and openings give rise to a diverse suite of light-demanding native flora. A variety of habitats that occur in woodland edges and openings will be presented, including meadowy areas, seepage wetlands, stream banks, rocky outcrops, and others. Simmons will also discuss best management practices , including non-native invasive plant threats and control.

Fairfax Vernal Pools Tours

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Saturday Feb 24, Kutner Park – 1-2.30pm – 3901 Jermantown Rd, Fairfax, VA 22030 (Sign up here: https://www.meetup.com/Accotink/events/247996570/
Monday, Feb 26, Old Colchester Park – 9.30am-12pm – 10721 Old Colchester Rd, Mason Neck, VA 22079 (200 feet before the entrance gate to the Fairfax Yacht Club) Sign up here: https://www.meetup.com/Accotink/events/247997608/

Vernal pools are seasonal wetlands, rare ecological features that provide essential habitat for a variety of living beings, including frogs and salamanders. They are vulnerable to a variety of threats associated with human impact.  Michael Hayslett (Virginia Vernal Pools LLC), a state expert on vernal pools, will lead the tours.  He is conducting an inventory of the pools as part of an initiative for Fairfax County Park Authority and is being aided by the Friends of Accotink Creek.  For more information, contact Kris Unger at [email protected], or 301-980-5621.

Canada Goose Management Workshop

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Learn about the behavior of Canada geese, effective goose management techniques (egg oiling, border collies, exclusion techniques), community case studies and regulations. Volunteers should plan to make a commitment to survey a minimum of one park during the egg laying season.

Thursday, 8 March 2018
10-11.30 am

Fairfax County Animal Shelter Training Room
Limited to 40 participants

Register by 5 March with Kristen Sinclair  or call 703-324-8559

Explore the Trees and Forests of Virginia

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Saturday, 10 March 2018

9.15 am to 3.30 pm

University of Richmond
Ryland Circle
Richmond, VA 23173
Building Number: Jepson Hall (Website Campus Map #17)

Please join the Virginia Native Plant Society for a one-day workshop that celebrates Virginia’s trees and woodlands.

The workshop will begin with a review of tree biology and ecology and a review of some of the recent research on what trees are doing. It will move on to the topic of interactions with other organisms, specifically birds and insects. Finally it will explore two Virginia forests – the longleaf pine of the coastal areas, and an old age mountain forest.

For more information and to register, click here.

Register for a Week of Wildflower Viewing

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 8-14 April 2018
Great Smoky Mountains National Park

 10-16 June 2018
Southwest Virginia’s Balsam Mountains

The Virginia Native Plant Society is planning two extended field trips for your wildflower viewing. Sign up for a heavenly week-long excursion – either in April, for a trip to the Great Smokies; or in June for a trip to Virginia’s Balsam Mountains. See details and register here.

FrogWatch USA looking for volunteers to monitor calls this summer. Training in March

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FrogWatch USA at the National Zoo is in its sixth season. To date, they have monitored 75 sites in DC, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and Maine and have submitted 1,650 frog call observations.

Tracking frog populations throughout the United States, FrogWatch invites participants to choose a monitoring site that is easily accessible and close to where they live or work to listen to frogs that are calling throughout the warmer months.

Three indoor trainings will help orient people to the frogs that are in the DC-metro area and their calls. Content is the same, so choose one training that fits your schedule. If you are interested please contact Matt Neff: [email protected]

Trainings:

Sat., March 3rd, 3:00-6:00pm @ NZP – Rock Creek Campus

Thur., March 8th, 6:00-9:00pm @ Huntley Meadows Park, Alexandria, VA

Sat., March 17th, 3:00-6:00pm @ NZP – Rock Creek Campus

 

Meet people who care about what you care about at Green Breakfasts, Brion’s Grille

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Join the Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District and fellow naturalists for the next Green Breakfast To be notified when the Green Breakfast speaker and topic is announced, contact NVSWCD.

  • Brion’s Grille: 10621 Braddock Rd., Fairfax, VA 22032, located in the University Shopping Mall (Braddock Road and Route 123) across the street from the Roanoke River Road entrance to George Mason University.
  • Cost: $10.00 for the Breakfast Buffet, including an all-you-can-eat hot buffet with fresh fruit and coffee, tea, orange juice or water. Cash is preferred.
  • Note: You may bring fliers about your organization’s events and activities. There will be time for announcements.

Green Breakfasts are bi-monthly gatherings to discuss environmental topics in a casual setting on a Saturday morning. Attendees include agency representatives, interested citizens and community members, students, lawmakers, members of the business community and representatives of local non-profits. Six green breakfasts are held each year. Tentative 2018 schedule:

  • May 12
  • July 14
  • September 8
  • November 10
  • All dates are subject to changes. Sign up for Green Breakfast emails to be notified of speakers, topics, date changes and inclement weather information. Contact NVSWCD.

Learn more about Green Breakfasts.