Blue Ridge Center: Education

Blue Ridge Center for Environmental Stewardship

	Learning from the Land
	Scientific & Historical Research
	Education
	Agro-Ecology

Education

Nature walk at Blue Ridge Center Education will be a core activity for the Blue Ridge Center for Environmental Stewardship. The Blue Ridge Center invites partners to use our 900 acres for their education programs.

Our objectives for the Blue Ridge Center environmental education program are to:

Provide environmental learning opportunities to engage students in our scientific research program.
Develop a field station for students who don't normally have access to such resources.
Work with local educators that already have modules that can be modified to serve needs of local school districts and their standards of learning.
Invite educators to design site-specific education modules, such as a geology trail, habitat trail, agro-ecology garden, etc., and other pilot programs.

CURRENT EDUCATION PARTNERS

Audubon Naturalist Society
Audubon Naturalist Society (ANS) has been inspiring citizens around the Nation's Capital to love and respect the gifts of our natural inheritance for more than 100 years. ANS seeks members, supporters, and citizen involvement for its many programs. ANS has hosted a stream habitat assessment course on Piney Run, a stream running through Blue Ridge Center lands. This course is part of a project to educate citizens on appropriate parameters with which to measure the health of a stream.

Fairfax Audubon Society
Fairfax Audubon Society (FAS), a local chapter serving Northern Virginia, is committed to the Audubon mission: To conserve and restore natural ecosystems, focusing on birds and other wildlife, and their habitats. FAS engages in scientifically-based conservation programs which contribute to the knowledge of the distribution of birds and other wildlife in northern Virginia, the natural ecosystems upon which these species depend, and works in partnership with other conservation organizations and land managers to provide effective stewardship of these habitats. FAS welcomes members, volunteers, and activists. Fairfax Audubon members have explored the property to enjoy the lively bird activity and identify prime bird habitat.

Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy
Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy (LWC) is a volunteer-based organization in Loudoun County, Virginia, committed to protecting and perpetuating natural habitats for the benefit of people and wildlife. LWC has an active calendar of meetings and field trips for adults and children. In partnership with the Audubon Naturalist Society, the Loudoun Soil and Water Conservation District, and the North Fork Goose Creek Watershed Project, LWC is actively involved in monitoring Loudoun County streams. LWC invites general involvement and support.

LWC uses the land at the Blue Ridge Center for a wide range of field trips such as stream monitoring projects, butterfly counts, and bird walks. Data collected from LWC efforts has helped to identify species catalogued in the Center's online biological inventories and data.

Izaak Walton League
Izaak Walton League is a diverse group of 50,000 men and women dedicated to protecting America's soil, air, woods, waters and wildlife. The League employs a grassroots, common sense approach to solving local, regional and national conservation issues. Member and volunteer interests span a spectrum of outdoor recreation and conservation activities, from angling and birding to stream monitoring, wildlife photography and hunting. Izaak Walton League has partnered with Audubon Naturalist Society to study Piney Run as an example of excellent stream quality for participants in a stream habitat restoration class.

Virginia Native Plant Society
Virginia Native Plant Society (VNPS) was founded in 1982. It is a Virginia-wide organization supported primarily by dues and contributions. VNPS's purpose is to further appreciation and conservation of Virginia's native plants and habitats. The Society's programs and activities are carried out by volunteers that emphasize public education, protection of endangered species, habitat preservation, and encouragement of appropriate landscape use of native plants. VNPS uses Blue Ridge Center hiking trails for native-plant outings and educational sessions.

Millsaps College
Millsaps College, located in Jackson, Mississippi, is a privately supported liberal arts college founded in 1890 by members of the Methodist Church. Students participate in summer programs in archeology and biology at the Blue Ridge Center led by Millsaps professors. Data collected from Millsaps' efforts has helped to identify species catalogued in the Center's online biological and historical inventories and data.

If you would like to explore ways in which you or your organization could utilize any of the natural resources on the Blue Ridge Center property, please contact Crissie McMullan, [email protected], (540) 668-7640.

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