Local Volunteering and Stewardship
Natural Stewardship
Community Science
– Amphibian Road Crossing guards and data collection
– Vermont Atlas of Life project communities like the:
1. Upper Valley Fungi Association (aka Loose Morels) in Hartford, atlasing local fungi species using photography of fruiting bodies, and eventually DNA sequencing on hyphae and mushrooms
2. Butterfly Atlas local group for the Vermont Center for Ecostudies project. Some local friends from the Americorps program will be helping to organize an event in early July around this!
3. Birding, especially eBird scouting trips – collecting bird species observations through visual and auditory evidence collection (looking and listening) and reporting bird species to the eBird platform
Community Volunteering
Organizational Volunteering
– High Horses Therapeutic Riding Program in Sharon, their volunteer coordinator is the wonderful Ellen! High Horses volunteers support different therapeutic programs within sessions (helping with safety of riders on horseback, and working with the horses in a number of capacities). If you like horses and good people, send them an email!
– VINS – scrape bird poop off enclosure walls while being eyed be overly aggressive eagles. Seriously tho, each spring VINS is overwhelmed by baby birds that their staff and volunteers support through early adolescence until they can be safely released! If you’d like to grow as a naturalist educator, VINS also has volunteer roles for you.