Photo: Canada Geese, S. Hermann via Pixabat
We are going to really miss Laura McDonald, who is leaving her position as ASNV’s Program Manager after twelve years. Laura gets much of the credit for ASNV’s success in recent years and is the person responsible for the breadth and quality of our classes and events.
Laura McDonald
She has arranged for a broad variety of speakers on topics including ornithology, wildlife photography, native plants, attracting pollinators, butterfly identification, and dyeing with native plants, to name just a few. She also developed productive partnerships with Oak Spring Garden Foundation and American Horticultural Society, enabling ASNV to offer programs with both organizations. Laura worked hard to develop relationships with public land managers in the region, including Meadowood Special Recreation Management Area and the I-95 Landfill Complex at Lorton. She has been a key part of the nature surveys led by Jim Waggener and has spearheaded the effort to incorporate this survey’s data into databases used in research.
Laura oversaw our switch to Zoom-based programming very early in the pandemic, resulting in a huge increase in the number of people who take advantage of our classes and events. You’ve probably encountered her as she shepherded people into our virtual programs, dealt with camera and microphone problems, and provided supplemental information via the chat box. She is also responsible for our popular Monday Nature Mystery on Facebook.
Most of the behind-the-scenes work for ASNV is done by Laura. She answers many of the emails we receive, addressing concerns about everything from bird identification to what to do about sick birds and threats to natural habitat.
Laura will be transitioning out of her Program Manager position over the next few weeks as she brings our new employee, Tina Dudley, up to speed. If you’d like to say goodbye to Laura, you can send her an email at laura@audubonva.org.