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

2018 Virginia Working Landscape survey season activities kicking off

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Virginia Working Landscapes, a program of the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, hosts citizen science service projects for master naturalists and other members of the public.

Joe Guthrie, the new field coordinator, is a local conservation biologist with extensive experience in designing and implementing ecological surveys and brings with him a strong passion for biodiversity conservation and research. He and his team have set dates for spring  trainings:

Grassland Bird Training: Saturday, 14 April, 9 am-1 pm at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, in Front Royal. Led by Joe Guthrie and Amy Johnson.

Grassland Plant Training: Saturday, 28 April, 9 am-1 pm at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, in Front Royal. Led by Sally Anderson and Joe Guthrie

Pollinator Training: Sunday, 13 May, 9 am-noon at Blandy Experimental Farm, in Front Royal. Led by T’ai Roulston, Alex Newhart and Joe Guthrie.

If you are a current citizen scientist, please send a note to Charlotte Lorick ([email protected]) with your name and survey interest. VWL will put your name down as confirmed for 2018 surveys, and Joe will be in touch with more specific details later this spring.

If you are not yet a volunteer, but are interested, please sign up here.

The VWL events page hosts additional learning and service opportunities.

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

 

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.

Citizen Science Opportunities via the National Museum of Natural History

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Anyone can be a citizen scientist–especially you! It only takes an interest, some curiosity, and a little time to volunteer. Tweens and teens who want to contribute to real science can get involved. Teachers can bring citizen science into their classrooms, engaging students in authentic and relevant science. And naturalists from Fairfax County!

The Museum of Natural History collaborates with the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Virginia Working Landscapes, City Nature Challenge 2018, and other organizations to design rewarding, meaningful opportunities for those of us willing to volunteer for them.

Ask other naturalists to join you and do the work as a team!

Learn more and sign up

 

 

 

 

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.

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.

Help remove invasives at Lake Accotink Park

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Invasive plants are a huge threat to local wildlife, including migrating birds. You can help these creatures and others by volunteering to remove invasive plants at Lake Accotink Park. Sign up on the IMA website to volunteer. Sessions are every Wednesday, 2-5 pm.

 

Hidden Oaks Nature Center Needs Volunteers for Family Activities in March

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Hidden Oaks Nature Center has many opportunities for volunteers. Here are a few:

Full Moon Hike and Campfire

2 March, 7-8.45 pm

Help the resident naturalist with an outdoor hike and campfire prep and clean up. You have the option to lead part of the program at campfire, including story telling.

Flying Squirrels Gliding in Tonight

11 March, 6.15-8.00 pm

Help a naturalist with a program on gray vs. flying squirrels and see live squirrels at the feeders.

Dinosaur Egg Hunt

25, 29, 30 March, 1 April, 9.30-4.00 pm

Come help with one or more of their dinosaur egg hunts, each 45 min. Volunteers will help lead a short indoor presentation, and/or the craft and/or the egg hunt in Nature Playce. This event enjoys a highly-diverse audience. No candy distributed.

For all activities, contact Suzanne Holland at [email protected] for details and to volunteer.

Hidden Oaks Nature Center, 7701 Royce ST., Annandale, VA 22003

Review of Climate of Hope: How Cities, Businesses, and Citizens Can Save the Planet, by Carl Pope and Michael Bloomberg

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Reviewed by Wendy Cohen

Climate of Hope (2017, 277 pp) avoids the usual gloom-and-doom discussion around climate change by offering up two premises: First, if we shift the focus from international treaties to projects in local municipalities, much work can be done to mitigate climate change. Second, rather than view the multiple causes of climate change as problematic, seeing them as numerous opportunities for solving the problem of rising earth temperatures can help us make headway with the problem. Every sector of society can help with climate protection. In other words, “think globally, act locally,” and above all, act. These two tenets are also at the core of the work of master naturalists.

Citing example after example of actions that have had a proven positive impact, Michael Bloomberg, former mayor of New York City and current head of Bloomberg Philanthropies, and Carl Pope, longtime environmental activist and former executive director of the Sierra Club, give the reader cause for hope in the fight against environmental threats causing rising temperatures. In addition to showing how innovative public/private partnerships have helped fund greener technologies, Climate of Hope points to the natural world as “an enormous, largely unread library of solutions.”

Bloomberg and Pope show examples of something naturalists have long known: investing in more sustainable agriculture and forestry practices is key to combating climate change. In their words, maintaining healthy ecosystems allows them to “do what they are equipped to do–suck carbon out of the atmosphere and turn it into soil and vegetation”(p. 178). One example they give is mangroves: According to their research, if half of what has been lost of the mangroves found mostly in Asia were restored, 6 billion tons of carbon dioxide could be stored, a number that matches total U.S. emissions each year! An additional advantage would be greater protection of the tropical coastline from typhoons.

Climate of Hope demonstrates how local efforts to protect our ecosystem can have a ripple effect. Promoting environmental stewardship goes a long way in helping to counter rising global temperatures. This book validates the work of master naturalists.

Want to review a resource? We’d love to hear from you. Instructions for submission await your click and commitment.