For Immediate Release: September 8, 2022
For more information contact Lisa Goodnight at lisa.goodnight@anshome.org or 301-523-5394.

CHEVY CHASE, MD – The Audubon Naturalist Society works with communities throughout the Washington, DC region to spark environmental action around specific issues. Now, ANS is focusing even greater attention on Fairfax and Loudoun Counties under a new, two-year program called “Empowering Environmental Stewards in Northern Virginia.”  

Thanks to a generous $50,000 grant from the Virginia Environmental Endowment, ANS is strengthening its environmental education presence in Loudoun County Schools following Covid interruptions and expanding its work within historically excluded communities in Fairfax County around two issues: the ongoing redevelopment of the eight-mile-long Route 1 Corridor, from south of Alexandria to Dogue Creek in Fairfax County and the stream health of Little Hunting Creek. 

“With the disruptions caused by the global pandemic, schools need more support than ever to provide the outdoor learning experiences that foster early connections to the natural world and communities need partners in the ongoing fight for cleaner, heathier watersheds,” said ANS Deputy Director Alison Pearce. “We’re grateful to Virginia Environmental Endowment for being a significant supporter of ANS’s ongoing efforts in Northern Virginia.”  

On the environmental literacy front, ANS has provided environmental education in Loudoun County for 20 years through school programs. This summer, ANS hired a Virginia-based environmental education program manager to provide outdoor educational experiences to school children and build a sustainable model for environmental education in the county. On the advocacy front, ANS recently released its Story of the Streams Report Card to spur action around stream health in Northern Virginia and beyond. To get Route 1 right and improve the health of Little Hunting Creek, ANS will build on previous partnerships to connect residents to the creek and provide them with skills and knowledge to advocate for improved public transit and pedestrian safety, stormwater management, and green infrastructure. This program can serve as a regional and national model for more just, inclusive and sustainable land use.  

"The Virginia Environmental Endowment is pleased to support ANS’s important work to further the environmental education of the region's school children and on projects relating to healthy and cleaner communities,” said VEE Executive Director Joseph H. Maroon. “The organization's work is consistent with the Endowment's mission to improve the quality of the environment by encouraging all sectors to work together to prevent pollution, conserve natural resources, and promote environmental literacy.” 

###

For Immediate Release: August 10, 2022
For more information contact Lisa Goodnight lisa.goodnight@anshome.org or 301-523-5394, or ANS Communications Director vince.robinson@anshome.org, or 904-710-8224

CHEVY CHASE, MD – The Story of the Streams, a first-of-its-kind report released by the Audubon Naturalist Society, Neighbors of the Northwest Branch, Friends of Holmes Run, and the Friends of Oxon Run, gives the three area streams surveyed Moderately Poor to Fair ratings.  But the health of those streams, and all our region’s streams, can improve through public engagement.

###

For Immediate Release: August 8, 2022
For more information contact Lisa Goodnight lisa.goodnight@anshome.org or 301-523-5394, or ANS Communications Director vince.robinson@anshome.org, or 904-710-8224

ADELPHI, MD –

###

For Immediate Release -- February 24, 2022
For more information contact Lisa Goodnight at lglisagoodnight@gmail.com or 301-523-5394, or ANS Communications Director vince.robinson@anshome.org, or 904-710-8224

CHEVY CHASE - The Audubon Naturalist Society and its partners are proud to announce the dates for the fourth Naturally Latinos Conference (NLC4). Themed “Otro Mundo es posible/Another world is possible,” the event will take place virtually Tuesday, March 22 through Thursday, March 24, with an in-person day on Friday, March 25 at the Silver Spring Civic Center. Saturday, March 26 will include outdoor nature experiences.

“The serious environmental challenges that we face across our region, country, and planet affect us all. The Naturally Latinos Conference is important because it recognizes that all communities need to be part of the solution,” said NLC4 Conference Co-Chair Serenella Linares.

Naturally Latinos and its sister conference Taking Nature Black reflect the pressing need to engage a larger and more diverse community of people who treasure the national world and work to preserve it. Linares said NLC4 “is a place for Latine professionals to come together and have our voices centered and celebrated not only by our community but also by our allies.”

NLC4 session topics will include: "Land Acknowledgement & Indigeneity in the Latinx Community," "Hecho por Manos Verdes, The Role of Latinos in the Watershed Restoration Movement" and "Urban Agriculture: Growing, Sharing, Learning in Community."

Ana Luz Porzecanski, Director of the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation at the American Museum of Natural History, will deliver the opening day keynote presentation. Adam Ortiz, Regional Administrator for EPA's Mid-Atlantic Region (Region 3), will give the closing keynote.

The March 26 outdoor experiences will take place at 10 am ET in the Washington, DC area. Attendees who purchase "Hybrid" tickets will have access to the Friday & Saturday in-person activities. Bilingual English Spanish interpretation will be available. See the full agenda at: Naturally Latinos 2022 | Audubon Naturalist Society (anshome.org)

###