Harrisonburg City’s Public Works department is hosting “Parks for Pollinators: Harrisonburg VA,” a BioBlitz event all September long.  “In celebration of pollinators, join us all September long to create a snapshot of the variety of local wildlife. Work alongside City staff to advance the health of local pollinators, which are essential to our ecosystem. Participants…

Surrounded by industrial plants, farm fields, and encroaching subdivisions, Cowbane Prairie Natural Area Preserve in Stuarts Draft is an oasis for wetland loving wildflowers. It is one of 65 protected Natural Area Preserves which are scattered around Virginia and managed by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation’s (DCR) Natural Heritage Program. The program’s South…

On July 15, HMNs Adrie Voors, Art Fovargue, and I, along with other volunteers, participated in the “Heat Watch” project, a nationwide program for heat mapping in local communities. Our job was to drive around a preset 20-mile route with a temperature sensor attached to the passenger’s side window of our car. The device measures…

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…

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…