What’s in these streams? Come find out!

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Ever wonder what’s living in our local streams? Join a stream monitoring team and help gauge local water quality by surveying aquatic organisms living on the stream bottom. Led by certified stream monitors, the teams welcome interested observers and offer an opportunity to explore Northern Virginia’s lovely creeks.

NVSWCD Sugarland Run Stream Monitoring Workshop
When: Saturday, 6 October 2018, 10 am-12:30pm
Where: Sugarland Run Stream Valley Park, Herndon

Registration is required and limited. Register by email to Ashley Palmer at [email protected], Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District Conservation Education Specialist.

Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy Stream Monitoring Session
When: Sunday, 7 October 2018, 10:30am-12:30pm
Where: Goose Creek

Limit 7. Registration required. The exact location will be sent to registered participants closer to the date. The rain date for this event is October 14. Contact [email protected] for registration and questions.

Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy Stream Monitoring Session
When: Sunday, 14 October 2018, 9-11am
Where: Waterford

Limit 7. Registration required. The exact location will be sent to registered participants closer to the date. The rain date for this event is October 21. Contact [email protected] for registration and questions.

Reston Association Stream Monitoring Workshop
When: Saturday, 20 October 2018, 1-4pm
Where: Reston
Get involved with a small team to collect data and identify insects with the goal of assessing the health of Reston’s stream. Not only do you get to learn about streams, it also provides an opportunity to make new friends. Learn more and register.
Holmes Run Stream Monitoring Session
When: Sunday, 21 October 2018, 9am-12pm
Where: Falls Church
Join a volunteer certified stream monitor as she assesses ecological conditions in streams, based on the presence and abundance of bottom-dwelling invertebrates. Registration is required and limited. Register by email to Valerie Bertha.
Hidden Pond Stream Monitoring Session
When: Saturday, November 3, 9:00am-12:00pm
Where: Springfield
Join a volunteer certified stream monitor as she assesses ecological conditions in streams, based on the presence and abundance of bottom-dwelling invertebrates. Registration is required and limited to 5 registrants. Register by email to Susan Demsko.

Volunteer at the Virginia State Fair

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Volunteers are needed to help with the Virginia Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts (VASWCD) and Virginia Department of Forestry (VDOF), or Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) exhibit booths at the Virginia State Fair, which runs from Sept 28th-Oct. 7th at Meadow Event Park in Doswell, Virginia.

Displays:

  • Interactive Watershed Address/Soil Water Conservation District Map
  • Mini Mock Dominion Envirothon Program
  • Virginia Conservation Assistance Program Educational Outreach Tools
  • Interactive stream table
  • Prescribed fire information
  • Kids activities

All workers will receive a free fair entrance ticket. There are two time slots for each day 9:45-2:00pm & 1:45-6:00pm, with the goal of having 4 people for each time slot.

To sign up for VASWCD/VDOF booth, please visit the Signup Genius https://www.signupgenius.com/go/508084ca5ac22a6f49-2018 please choose the VASWCD Booth or additional volunteer slot as where you are signing up.

To sign up for the DEQ booth, go to https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f044baba72ca2fa7-volunteer2  and then email your preferred mailing address to [email protected] so she can mail you your entrance tickets.

Become a Wildlife Rescue League transporter

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Wildlife Rescue League operates a wildlife hotline in the Northern Virginia and surrounding areas to inform the help them find a wildlife rehabilitator. WRL also educates the public about the natural history of native wildlife, coexisting with it, and preventing the need for wildlife rehabilitation.

WRL has two types of support needs: transport and hotline support.

Transport volunteers are needed for:

  • Short, ad hoc trips
  • Long, scheduled trips between rehabilitators
  • Daily pick-ups from the Fairfax Animal Shelter

This project is year round, although Spring and Summer have a greater transport volume.

Hotline volunteers:

Retreive messages left by the public, shelter, or veterinarian’s office in a voice messaging system (VMS). The volunteer will return the call, providing advice or a referall to a wildlife rehabilitator. Volunteers work designated shifts from their own homes calling into the VMS. WRL asks volunteers to commit to signing up for 3-4 two to two and a half hour shifts per month.

This project is year round and takes place in the volunteer’s home or anywhere they have access to a phone and internet.

(Service code: consolidated with S081)

Earth Sangha Fall Native Plant Sale– September 30th

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Earth Sangha Wild Plant Nursery

6100 Cloud Drive in Franconia Park, Springfield VA

Sunday, 30 September 2018

9 am – 12 pm

Many folks could not attend last week’s sale so Earth Sangha is having a second sale!

Fall is really the best time to visit the nursery. In the Spring, the plants are still emerging from winter dormancy, and Earth Sangha cannot offer as many species. The Fall, as experienced gardeners know, is also the best time to plant. Trees, shrubs, and perennials like the cooler weather and greater rainfall lets them establish robust roots. Late blooming annuals can make great additions to your garden, and many will “volunteer” from seed next year. Click here for the Wild Plant Nursery Species List.

If you are interest in volunteering at the sale, please email Katherine Isaacson at [email protected].  There will be a morning shift (9:30 to Noon) and an afternoon shift (Noon to 2:30).

Help with the Arlington Bioblitz, September 15th

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Glencarlyn Picnic Pavillion #1, 401 S. Harrison St., Arlington VA

Saturday, September 15th

9 am – 4 pm

Celebrate Arlington’s biodiversity by helping us conduct a citizen science inventory of plants and wildlife that will help shape the County’s updating of its Natural Resources Management Plan.
Participating in the Bioblitz is a great way to discover and get to know the wildlife and flora of Arlington. We will team participants with experts to help find, identify and catalog plant and animal life, using a free application called iNaturalist. Novices are welcomed. Please let us know if you would like to be a team leader (what’s your expertise?) or participant.
For more information and to register call Alonso Abugattas at 703-228-7742 or email [email protected].

Check out a tutorial on how to use iNaturalist, which will be the primary recording tool for this project.

Sign up to help with the event.

Enjoy Runnymede Park NatureFest

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Runnymede Park, 195 Herndon Parkway, Herndon VA

Sunday, 23 September 2018

1 – 5 pm

Explore various nature stations throughout the park including butterflies, bees, life in the meadow, web of life, and much more. Live animal shows throughout the day with bats, mammals, raptors, and reptiles. Arts and crafts and fun for the whole family will be included! The event is co-sponsored by The Friends of Runnymede Park and Herndon Parks and Recreation Department. Call if your group would like to volunteer (703-435-6800 ext. 2014). Satellite parking with a passenger van shuttle will be available to and from the Herndon Police Station, 397 Herndon Parkway. Learn more from the Friends of Runnymede Park website. Free event.

NoVA PRISM Restoration Events in Arlington and Falls Church

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NoVA PRISM is a collaborative effort by several NGOs, governmental entities, volunteer groups, and Dominion Energy to manage invasive species in the Northern Virginia region. Arlington County is the grant administrator. NoVA PRISM has been developing pilot projects in Northern Virginia on or near the W&OD Trail, and two of them, Isaac Crossman Park in Falls Church and Bluemont Park in Arlington, will involve planting native species this September and October. Organizers will need the assistance of volunteers to complete these planting efforts.
Here are the details for the pilot projects:

Isaac Crossman Park

535 North Van Buren Street, Fall Church VA

Saturday, 22 September and Saturday, 20 October 2018

9 am – 12 noon

Contact: Alex Sanders, [email protected], (703) 772-7032. Details: At the Van Buren Street entrance, follow the gravel path until you find the booth. For GPS direction purposes, the closest street address to the park is 501 Van Buren Street. Participants will plant grasses, herbaceous species and shrubs in an ongoing effort to restore a riparian forest habitat.

Bluemont Park

601 N Manchester St, Arlington, VA

Saturday, 27 October 2018

9 am – 12 noon

Contact: Alex Sanders, [email protected], (703) 772-7032.  Participants will plant meadow grasses and herbaceous species.

Volunteers should wear clothing appropriate for the weather.  Please bring water, any personal items that you might need, and lots of energy!

Volunteer for an Animal PJ Party Program

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Hidden Oaks Nature Center

7701 Royce Street, Annandale, VA

Saturday, September 8, 2018

6:30-8:15 pm

Assist with a nature program for children and their parents.  Program includes hearing animal bedtime stories, meeting live animals, and wishing goodnight to the center’s live animals.  To volunteer or for more information, contact Suzanne Holland at  [email protected] or 703-941-1065.

Master Naturalists, record your service hours as E110: FCPA Nature Programs.  Include the number of participants in the Contacts field.

Volunteer for children’s program at Hidden Oaks, 8 Sept

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Hidden Oaks Nature Center needs a naturalist to assist with a program for children and their parents on Saturday, September 8, 6:30-8:15 pm.  Program includes hearing animal bedtime stories, meeting live animals, and wishing goodnight to the center’s live animals.  

To volunteer or for more information, contact:  Suzanne Holland, [email protected] or 703-941-1065.

(If you’re recording your service hours, use E110: FCPA Nature Programs. Include the number of attendees in the Contacts field.(

Volunteer with Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food & Agriculture

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Ivy Mitchell, the farm education manager for Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food & Agriculture, is seeking master naturalists to to help with their field trips this fall. This project has been approved for volunteer hours as E252: Sustainable Growing Educator.

What it involves: Each field trip begins with a garden tour, in which you can point out parts of the plant and talk about the life cycle of a plant, as well as taste the vegetables. Then each volunteer is assigned to teach one hands-on station, while the groups of children rotate through the four stations. The two stations relating most to our mission is 1) “Pests and pollinators” (bees as pollinators) and 2) “Superb Soil” (about compost), and you can request to be assigned to one of these two stations in order to earn master naturalist volunteer hours. (The topics of the remaining 2 stations are chickens–they help eat some of the garden pests–and healthy vegetables.)

Time: Volunteers generally choose one day of the week to volunteer–Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday–through the season (fall/spring). This fall’s season runs from 27 September – 2 November, or 6 weeks, with training days during the 2 weeks before field trips begin (Thursdays or Fridays). However, scheduling can be flexible, and even if you can only commit to some of the days, Ivy can make it work.

Location: 9000 Richmond Hwy, Alexandria, VA. The farm is located on Woodlawn Estate, near Fort Belvoir.

If you’re interested, please contact Ivy Mitchell at [email protected]