by Elizabeth Pass, Cohort VIfor the June 2023 issue of Headwaters Highlights Happy June and welcome in summer! In my ramblings around the internet, I found a fascinating site you may be interested in. I know it’s become a rabbit hole for me! TEMPO (Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution) is a UV-visible spectrometer instrument, the first…
New approved activity for HMNs! Thanks to Scott Jost in our new Cohort VIII class of trainees, the Headwaters Chapter Volunteer Service Projects Committee has approved Bumble Bee Watch as a citizen science activity. From Scott’s proposal for the project: Project Purpose and Value: Bumble Bee Watch is a collaborative effort to track and conserve…
Saving the American Chestnut On Saturday, May 6, Headwaters Master Naturalists were treated to a tour of Lesesne State Forest in Nelson County by forester John Scrivani. Thanks to Malcolm Cameron and Elaine Smith for organizing and hosting the trip and to Malcolm for this report! John Scrivani retired from the Virginia Department of Forestry…
Harrisonburg’s Blacks Run Cleanup Green Scene, April 15 Earth Day Staunton, April 22 On left, Sarah Foster, Cohort VIII, hosts our table at Earth Day Staunton on April 22. On right, Rob Beaton, Cohort VIII, and Ann Murray, Cohort II. Lots of visitors on a rainy day, for a native plants theme.Other volunteers: Gretchen Achenbach,…
Part 1 Training for a Statewide “Living with Bears” Project Through the VDWR Headwaters Master Naturalists came together for a beary good training on the evening of Monday, April 24th. We met at the McKinney Center for Science and Mathematics at Bridgewater College to hear from the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (Virginia DWR) for “Black…
Ticks are active year-round in Virginia As Virginia Master Naturalists, it is important to know that every season is tick season in Virginia, and winter weather doesn’t necessarily determine how bad the spring and summer tick seasons will be. April through September are generally considered prime tick months but May is National Lyme Disease Awareness…
Vicki Langdon is among our newest Chapter members, having transferred in from another chapter and currently living in the Harrisonburg area. Stephanie Gardner, with our Chapter’s Newsletter Team, was recently in touch with her to find out a little bit about her and help introduce her to other members: Welcome to Headwaters Master Naturalists, Vicki!…
Maple Flat Ponds Each spring, as wood frogs and salamanders across Virginia make their way to vernal pools, so too do avid Vernal Pool Monitors. This presented an opportunity for me to connect with an extraordinary citizen scientist and Master Naturalist by the name of John Holden. If you ever get a chance to attend…
by Elizabeth Pass, Cohort VIfor the April 2023 issue of Headwaters Highlights As Spring comes into full bloom, I think of my recently passed aunt who lived in Albuquerque. Every morning from early spring to late fall she would sit with her coffee on the back patio in the same chair, which was next to a…
Headwaters members are treated to guided star gazing of the early spring sky On March 26, 2023, Zack Perdue led a stargazing party at Starry Meadows Farm in Linville. Sadly, this event had to be postponed due to cloud cover earlier in the week, so only four Headwaters members could come. The sky this night…
Virginia Master Naturalist Headwaters Chapter 