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FCPA 2025 Outstanding Volunteer Awards

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As announced by FCPA at its meeting on May 28, the Fairfax County Park Authority Board approved a resolution honoring 20 individuals as 2025 Outstanding Volunteers. These peer-nominated individuals were recognized for their dedication to community and their invaluable service to the Fairfax County park system.

Jean Lockhart on duty at Hidden Oaks – photo FMN Kristina Watts

Of the twenty, two Fairfax Chapter Master Naturalist volunteers were officially recognized:
* Jean Lockhart, Hidden Oaks Nature Center, Front Desk
* Elizabeth Train, Huntley Meadows Park, Roving Naturalist/General Support
The Board stated that more than 10,000 volunteers contributed to the operation, preservation and conservation of Fairfax County parks in Fiscal Year 2025. They contributed 116,005 hours of volunteer service and their work is valued at over $3.88 million. The Park Authority could not function without the support and commitment of our volunteer force.
“Our parks meet the highest standard of beauty, safety, and accessibility in large part due to our volunteers. Their skill and passion, whether repairing trails, planting trees, or educating visitors, elevate every acre, every day,” said Park Authority Executive Director Jai Cole.

Liz Train in her finest ‘vernal pool monitor apparel’ – photo FMN Jerry Nissley

Jean, a relatively new VMN (2023), contributed hours as volunteer on duty, nature program leader, and bird counts. Liz, a VMN since 2019, is involved with just about every volunteer role possible at Huntley Meadows Park. They are both very deserving of this recognition.

The Park Authority, joined by Fairfax County Board of Supervisors honored all of its amazing volunteers with a special evening of music and celebration at the Volunteer Appreciation Night on Thursday, July 10, as part of the Government Center’s ‘Evenings on the Ellipse’ Summer Concert Series.

And The Emmy Goes To …

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… FMN Kathryn Pasternak for the Outdoors Maryland segment titled “Ghost Rivers”. Ghost Rivers tells the story of Sumwalt Run, a stream that once flowed through Baltimore’s Remington neighborhood. In the early 20th century it was buried in a brick and concrete culvert up to 40 feet below street level. The same fate as natural streams in cities throughout the world, including a network of streams in Arlington, Alexandria, and Washington, D.C. – But I digress.

MPT’s David Wainwright (sound) and Brian Windle (camera) filming Ghost Rivers tour led by artist Bruce Willen – photo Kathryn Pasternak

Artist Bruce Willen memorialized Sumwalt Run by tracing its path through the neighborhood, marking it with a sinuous blue line and adding educational markers that tell the environmental, cultural and historical story of the stream along the path it takes all the way to the Jones Falls, and then out to the Chesapeake Bay.  Kathryn and the team worked with Bruce filming the final stages of the Ghost Rivers public art installation, and accompanied him on a walking tour he gives with local residents. They also filmed the Baltimore Department of Public Works inspecting the interior of the Sumwalt Run culvert using a crawler camera, and then doing water testing at the outflow of Sumwalt Run at Jones Falls.

DPW inspecting Sumwalt Run culverts – photo Bruce Willen

The Outdoors Maryland Episode received the Emmy Award and like all their episodes, it has three stories. The 3 stories stitched together in Episode 3603 each have a different theme about water. Series Producer Stefanie Robey describes it this way: It was a Bay/water themed episode, with stories about submerged aquatic vegetation restoration work, open-water swimming, and the Ghost Rivers project.

Brian Windle films Bruce Willen during installation of Ghost Rivers Site #2, Wyman Park Dell at 29th Street, Baltimore. – photo Kathryn Pasternak

Kathryn thinks part of what helped them win was that the episode told stories about water from three totally different perspectives — a more science/restoration focused piece, a recreation focused piece, and then a historical/cultural/arts focused piece with Ghost Rivers. Kathryn’s segment starts at the 9:45 mark of the episode and runs to the 18 minute mark. But the entire episode is interesting.

Eight months work for eight minutes of video. That’s tenacity. The episode won for Science/Environment Long Form.  (Watch here: Outdoors Maryland, scroll down to Episode 3603).

Sumwalt Run expelling into Jones Falls – photo Kathryn Pasternak

Kathryn (Pasternak Media) became an FMN in 2021 but she is also a veteran of wildlife, conservation, and cultural films; and recipient of two National Emmy Awards for ‘Best Science and Nature Program’. She spent 15+ years at National Geographic Television working on high-end programs for international distribution. Since 2007, she’s been producing media independently both as a freelancer and small business owner.

Acknowledgments:
Outdoors Maryland: Series Producer Stefanie Robey principally, and Executive Producer, Frank Batavick.
Photos: FMN Kathryn Pasternak and Bruce Willen

A BFF to the ‘Friends of Trees’

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The Fairfax County Tree Commission’s “Friends of Trees Awards” are awarded annually to recognize exceptional and innovative conservation-based tree activities in Fairfax County and the people behind them.
FMN Maryam Dadkhah, received the 2024 award in the ‘Individual’ category for providing extraordinary unpaid leadership in conceiving and implementing various tree-related projects throughout the year.

FMN Maryam Dadkhah – photo courtesy C. Wolter

She first volunteered as a Fairfax Master Naturalist in 2022. The award announcement mentions that Maryam has worked as a community leader to educate the public and local agencies about native trees and plants since 2021.

Highlights from her array of 2024 stewardship activities include:
* volunteer Project Manager for Fairfax ReLeaf
* volunteered with the Town of Vienna’s Parks superintendent to improve area parks through native tree and shrub seedling planting and protection
* partnered with Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District and

Maryam’s rain barrels – photo William Mayhew

Fairfax Releaf to plant 337+ native trees and shrubs in the Vienna public parks of Wildwood, Glyndon, and Southside
* served her third year as a group leader from Navy Federal, instructing employee volunteers on invasive removal and native tree and shrub planting
* worked with Fairfax County Park Authority’s Invasive Management Areas Program to cage active tree seedlings in Middleridge and Woodglen Lake Parks
* Encouraged and educated local friends and family to plant and maintain native areas on their personal property in an organized, tidy, compliant manner – planting 146 trees and shrubs in county neighborhoods including her own.

Maryam also engages in “passive” education with a highly visible little book and seed library on her property. Anyone walking by can peruse or borrow

Maryam’s Little Seed and Book Library – photo William Mayhew

books describing native plants and their benefits. Small drawers hold a collection of free seed packets. She also makes native plant magnets for this unique neighborhood library. From one seed packet for one person, to hundreds of trees planted by family, friends or volunteers, Maryam makes it happen.

 

Acknowledgements:

– Fairfax County Tree Commission – content and photo
– FMN Sarah Mayhew and William Mayhew – content and photos

– FMN Janet Quinn – research

– FMN Jerry Nissley – cover photo

 

Elly Doyle Awards – 2023

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Fairfax County Park Authority and the Fairfax County Park Commission announced their 2023 Elly Doyle awards presented annually to deserving volunteers or organizations. For 2023, two FMN volunteers received “Outstanding Volunteer” Awards via parks they support. Jo Doumbia received an award via Hidden Oaks Nature Center (HONC) in Annandale and Celia Boertlein via Huntley Meadows Park (HMP) in Hybla Valley.

Hidden Oaks Nature Center – Photo curtesy of FCPA

Jo’s nomination letter cited her enthusiastic demeanor, graciousness in sharing her multilingual skills, and her joy of fostering natural history education in support of environmental justice. Jo is the perfect example of an outstanding volunteer.
The letter went on to say that she excels at her role inside the nature center building and also took it upon herself to go above and beyond the normal Volunteer on Duty role and extend Hidden Oaks’ interpretative outreach through a variety of activities within the local community. An experienced presenter and naturalist, Jo represents Hidden Oaks by planning and hosting nature outreach activities with neighborhood Community Centers supporting a highly diverse audience.
Since last summer Jo also interpreted monarch butterfly programs for elementary and high school age audiences at Wedgewood Community Center, which serves a highly diverse, low-income apartment complex in Annandale. These programs included monarch tagging and monarch migration activities.

Jo helping the Culmore teens into Kayaks at Riverbend – photo Jerry Nissley

She is the HONC liaison with Culmore Community Center. With Hidden Oaks’ staff, Jo put considerable effort into arranging four summer programs for 22 low-income Latino teens to attend complimentary STEM workshops at Hidden Oaks, Lake Fairfax, and Riverbend Park. Students participated in fishing, orienteering, geocaching, and kayaking. They studied live herps, STEM careers, conducted soil sampling with NVSWCD and benthic macroinvertebrates with DPWES. They were also sure to have fun at picnics and gathering around campfires. She coordinated volunteers from Fairfax Master Naturalists to assist in these events.
Through her vision and efforts, she extended Hidden Oaks’ nature interpretation programs to a more diverse audience, including those who are low-income and may otherwise not be able to participate in a paid program.

HMP Visitor Center – Photo Jerry Nissley

Celia received Huntley Meadows “Ken Howard” award and the Elly Doyle “Outstanding Volunteer” Award. Ken Howard was an autochthonal supporter of HMP and this eponymous award is considered HMP’s highest honor. Her Elly Doyle nomination letter stated that Celia is an essential member of the volunteer team. She wears many hats and is nearly always the first volunteer to assist with programs and scouts. Celia continues to fulfill her roving naturalist and vernal pool monitor duties without fail and dedicates an incredible amount of time and energy to support Huntley Meadows Park special events.

Celia helped immensely with the HMP Wetlands Awareness Day as a Friends of Huntley Meadows Park representative and stayed especially busy organizing the event. She continually steps up as an interpretive program assistant, field trip leader, roving naturalist, and vernal pool monitor – she is an essential park volunteer.  

HMP Big Pond – Photo Jerry Nissley

Celia continuously updates natural resource records with new developments in her vernal pool. She researches additional data, provides materials for others, and utilizes her contacts to reach out for more detail. She provides invaluable assistance in many different programs at HMP. Her skill set contributes to citizen science, educational, and community outreach activities. She brings a depth of naturalist knowledge and interpretation skills when speaking with park guests. As a roving naturalist she provides essential support to the park’s interpretive staff through her energetic, hands-on program assistance.

Virginia Master Naturalists receive award for expanding diversity

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Photo by Rich Brager

By David Fleming      21 JAN 2022

A team of Virginia Master Naturalists committed to diversity and inclusion has spent much of the year focused on finding ways to increase participation and encourage engagement between conservation volunteers and communities in the commonwealth.

For their efforts in addressing these challenges of conservation work, the program’s Diversity and Inclusion Working Group was recently awarded the Outstanding Team Award from the Alliance of Natural Resource Outreach and Service Programs.

“Our diversity and inclusion group was formed in early 2021, with the particular intention of having a team of people who reflect the diversity of the populations we want to reach with our program,” said Michelle Prysby, a Virginia Cooperative Extension faculty member in the College of Natural Resources and Environment and the director of the Virginia Master Naturalist program. “Our goal has been to meet to talk about what some of the barriers are for participation in these programs and what potential actions could be taken to help reduce those barriers.”

The group, composed of master naturalists from numerous chapters of the organization, was tasked with developing a list of action items that would serve to increase diversity and inclusion across all of the organization’s programs.

“There is a lot of interest and enthusiasm among Virginia Master Naturalists to engage with communities,” said Alexis Dickerson, a member of the working group awarded the prize. “But people who aren’t naturally engaged in other communities have a hesitation about how to approach that work.”

Dickerson, a member of the Arlington Regional Chapter of the Virginia Master Naturalist program and an urban outreach educator for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, notes that the Virginia Master Naturalist program is a useful conduit to connect citizens and community groups with relevant information about natural resources.

“Many of the environmental issues we talk about or educate on are relevant to a lot of very different and diverse communities,” Dickerson explained. “Our ability to identify where those places are, and to work to be a better resource for the people who are already starting to do conservation work, or who have concerns about their natural resources, can significantly increase our service to the state of Virginia.”

The working group, which worked collaboratively during twice-monthly Zoom meetings, recently presented a webinar for all Virginia Master Naturalist volunteers. The group outlined their goals, provided actionable steps for regional chapters, and explained how increasing diversity among participants can contribute positively to the broader outreach aims of the organization.

Prysby said that while these initial steps are positive, the task of expanding access to and participating with the Virginia Master Naturalist program is a long-term challenge.

“The challenge of diversity is always a concern for people working in natural resource education,” said Prysby, who works in the Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation. “If our end goal is conservation of natural resources, that isn’t something that just happens. It requires people and communities, and for us to be effective, we need to involve all people and all communities.”

To learn more about how the Virginia Master Naturalist program fosters citizen science in the commonwealth, consider joining CNRE’s Third Thursday Lunch & Learn Webinar on Feb. 17 from 12 to 1:15 p.m.

This article is reprinted with permission from Krista Timney, Ph.D., Director of Communications, College of Natural Resources and Environmen, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. The article appeared in the Virginia Tech News daily email.