Photo: Northern Shovelers, Renda Glick/Audubon Photography Awards
Libby Lyons
Volunteers have always been the lifeblood of ASNV, and we recently welcomed some new volunteers at a February 18 training session. These generous folks will join the volunteer ranks of our board and committee members, our legions of citizen scientists who have collected data for decades, our Audubon at Home (AAH) Ambassadors, those who advocate on ASNV’s behalf for protection of natural environments, our bird walk leaders, those who write for our newsletter and website, and many more.
ASNV wanted to address the growing demand for local nature walks, for presentations related to birds and environmental topics, and for wildlife information at environment-themed festivals, events, and fairs. We also wanted to develop a cadre of volunteers for on-the-ground conservation projects we hope to launch soon. In the past we relied heavily on our board members and AAH volunteers for many of these events but realized we needed a larger cadre of volunteers. We felt sure that northern Virginia was full of talented folks with a passion for nature.
So, our first step was to form a new committee on community engagement to organize and implement this effort. The committee is headed up by board member Stacey Remick-Simkins, an active volunteer for several decades at the intersection of nature and faith communities. She has found that volunteers are passionate helpers when the project connects from the heart. She also is a firm believer in building a large community around volunteer projects to share experiences and lessons learned.
Our next step was to hire a part-time Volunteer Coordinator. With the support of a locally-active family foundation, we were fortunate to hire Meg Oakley, who started in February. Meg grew up in Vermont and is a lifelong nature lover. She recently retired from a long career at Georgetown University, where she rose in the ranks of leadership in the Law Library and the University Library. We are delighted to have her skills in managing people and information now focused on coordinating our growing flock of volunteers.
To learn more about our new volunteers, please read the article in this issue about our recent outreach volunteer training. A big thank you to these newcomers and to all of our other volunteers. And, we are always interested in recruiting more helpers. If you are interested, please make sure you let us know by filling in a volunteer form here.