Grand Caverns, the oldest show cave, discovered in 1804 by Bernard Weyer, was the site of another field trip for “Cohort Zoom.“ On Thursday, June 24, eight members of Cohort VII (aka “Cohort Zoom” due to completing all our classroom work through Zoom), plus our instructor Peggy, were led on a personalized tour by guide…
This is the second installment in a series to learn more about who’s doing the work behind the scenes to keep our Chapter running along. Stephanie Gardner, HMN Board Historian and Parliamentarian, is conducting a series of online interviews with the members of our 2021 Board of Directors. Here we are featuring Mary Gatling-Finks, Vice…
There is a new pollinator garden in town, and it is starting to bloom! Four Headwaters Master Naturalists are members of the small team at Trinity Presbyterian Church who installed the garden, located on the church campus at 725 South High Street, Harrisonburg. The new pollinator garden is located near the church playground. It is…
HMN Project Spotlight by Dave Forrer on his work at the Edith J Carrier Arboretum at JMU I was asked to write an article about my experience volunteering at the arboretum…and I’m pleased to do whatever I can to support this wonderful natural gem we have within the sprawl of eastern Harrisonburg. Although I had…
Book Review by HMN Elizabeth Pass Healing Spaces: The Science of Place and Well-Being by Esther M. Sternberg Harvard University Press, 2009 If you have access to JMU libraries, you can read the book for free: Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvjghtgs.1 In some of my recent research, I ran down the rabbit hole of ecopsychology, a relatively…
Bridgewater College student Trevor Brooks is looking for volunteers to help collect data for a heat mapping project named Heat Watch. “We aim to collect highly detailed near surface air temperature data of different areas around Harrisonburg and Bridgewater. The data collected will relate land use and topography to temperatures, and the projects’ results should…
On Thursday, June 17th 2021, members of the Headwaters Master Naturalists chapter volunteered at The Save Lucy Campaign facility in Mount Solon. The Save Lucy Campaign is a non-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness of white-nose syndrome in bats and rehabbing injured bats along with education to the public regarding all things bats. The volunteers…
Basic Training field trips have continued in June, many thanks to HMN Training Committee Chair Peggy. On the beautiful, cool, crispy, evening of June 15, Dave Forrer and Jan Mahon, Arboretum Director, took us (Peggy and six of the trainees) on a tour of James Madison University’s Edith J Carrier Arboretum. Jan first told us…
Friends of the Middle River will hold its annual trash cleanup of the River likely between August 16-22, 2021. Volunteers pickup trash by walking in the River pulling a canoe behind them which acts as a barge for the trash collected. A team consists of between 2 to 10 persons per team who clean a…
Warblers & Wildflowers organizer Sandy Greene gives us the numbers, collaborations and take-aways from our May 2021 event celebrating spring on Shenandoah Mountain: N&Ns (Names and Numbers) Temperatures were only in the 50s on May 8th for our Mother’s Day Weekend Warblers and Wildflowers Event – a down (for the birds) or down-coat (for the…
