Tag Archive for: virtual

**Virtual** Prescribed Fire as a Foundational Landscape Tool: From Campus to Residence

**Virtual event**

Register here: https://www.ndal.org/upcoming-events/fire

Co-Director Bert Harris will present the Clifton Institute’s recent research on remnant Piedmont grasslands as part of the New Directions in the American Landscape’s Spring Virtual Series!

He’ll discuss how Clifton is using these results to set goals for meadow plantings and grassland restoration projects including the 50 acres that are burned annually at the Institute. He’ll then talk about the Institute’s 100-acre grassland restoration experiment that is testing eight different methods (e.g. fire, mowing, tilling, planting, herbicide) to convert non-native fields to native meadows. He’ll finish by covering how even the timing of prescribed fire can affect the resulting plant communities and pollinator habitat.

Fritz Reuter, a conservation-based landscape designer and land planner, and founder of Virginica LL, will discuss how  he incorporates fire into small landscape design and practices. He’ll demonstrate how his “burn on the run” techniques have resulted in the type of vegetative vigor that only a practice done for thousands of years – before centuries-long wholesale suppression – could re-offer. He will also cover how he advocates for and explains the benefits of prescribed burning to his clients.

 

Price: $58 (all proceeds go to NDAL)
Student & Wild Ones member discounts
Group and Gift Orders
Student Scholarships

Age: All ages

/by

**Virtual** Five Lessons We Can Learn From Plants

**Virtual Event**

As pet owners, bird watchers, and animals ourselves, we are very familiar with how animal bodies work and what animals need to survive. It’s easy to overlook the plants that are quietly living their lives around us all the time. But there’s a lot we can learn by paying attention to plants. In this Zoom presentation, Co-Director and plant enthusiast Eleanor Harris, Ph.D., will share some of the life lessons we can learn from plants, some of the mind boggling ways they are different from animals, and some things we all have in common. Consider this a little Botany 101 to kickstart your relationship with plants before the growing season really gets going.

Cost: Free! But if you are able, there is a suggested donation amount of $10.

Registration is REQUIRED.

Cancellation policy: If you register and can no longer attend this event, please let us know as soon as possible so that we can open your spot to someone else. Refunds not given for participant cancellation. Refunds will be given if Clifton cancels.

By registering for this event, you are affirming that you have read and agree to our liability release policy.

We look forward to seeing you at the Clifton Institute!

/by

**Virtual** Piedmont Prairie Restoration: What We’ve Learned from our Restoration Experiment

**Virtual Event** Please note that we are closing registration at 12:00pm on February 6 so that we can get the Zoom link to everyone on time. If you would like to register after that time, you can email Eleanor at eharris@cliftoninstitute.org, but we cannot guarantee we will see your email in time. Thank you!

Since 2019 we have been working on restoring an overgrazed cattle pasture into a diverse native grassland. In collaboration with Virginia Working Landscapes and the Oak Spring Garden Foundation, we designed an experiment to test the effects of four ways of establishing native plants and two ways (mowing and burning) of maintaining a grassland. Native grasslands take a long time to reestablish themselves, but five years in we are starting to have an understanding of how to restore grasslands in the Piedmont region and what happens when we recreate the habitat that used to be much more widespread in our region. In this Zoom presentation, Co-Director Bert Harris, Ph.D., will give an update on what we’ve learned from the grassland restoration experiment so far and where we’re going next.

Cost: Free!

Age: Adults and children accompanied by an adult.

Registration is REQUIRED.

Cancellation policy: If you register and can no longer attend this event, please let us know as soon as possible so that we can open your spot to someone else. Refunds not given for participant cancellation. Refunds will be given if Clifton cancels.

By registering for this event, you are affirming that you have read and agree to our liability release policy.

We look forward to seeing you at the Clifton Institute!

/by

Education Volunteer Information Session *Virtual*

***THIS IS A VIRTUAL EVENT***

The Clifton Institute provides around 40 field trips per year to around 1,200 pre-K-12th students from Fauquier County and beyond. During the field trips, students learn about the natural history of the Northern Virginia piedmont and participate in some of our ongoing research projects, such as our Native Grassland Restoration or Vernal Pool Monitoring!

We rely on an excellent team of volunteers to help run large field trips (sometimes 90 students at a time) alongside Clifton’s small education staff. This virtual program will be an introduction to Clifton’s educational mission, an overview of what field trips look like, and an opportunity for curious folks to hear about the volunteer positions available and ask questions.

If, after the online session you feel like you’d be willing to help with our field trip program, you can attend the in-person training on Friday, September 20th. All volunteers hoping to help with the education programs must attend the in-person training. Returning volunteers from previous years are encouraged but not required to attend the in-person training and do not need to attend this virtual session.

A Zoom link will be sent to registered participants the day of the event.

Cost: Free!

Age: Adults only.

 

 

/by

*Virtual* Restoration of Piedmont Prairies

,

**This is a virtual event**

In this Zoom event, Co-Director Bert Harris will present the latest results from our grassland restoration experiment! He will cover which management methods were most successful at converting fescue to native grasses and wildflowers. He will also talk about our study of the native seed bank and the recovery of grassland soils.

 

Register through VNPS: https://vnps.org/potowmack/events/clifton-institute-grassland-restoration-project-with-bert-harris-via-zoom/

/by

The Sounds of Nature: How Natural Sounds are Made and Why They Sound Like They Do *Virtual*

**This is a virtual program. We will close registration at noon on February 22 to make sure everyone gets the Zoom link. If you registered and have not received a Zoom link by that time please email Eleanor at eharris@cliftoninstitute.org. If you would like to register after that time you can email Eleanor, but she may not see your message in time.**

As mostly visual creatures, we often take sound for granted, but there is a whole incredible world of vibrations going on around us. In this Zoom program, Co-Director Eleanor Harris, Ph.D., will explain how natural sounds are made and how both human and non-human animals hear them. From why birds sing in the morning to how insects hear with their legs, thinking about sounds in nature might change the way you see and hear the world around you. A Zoom link will be emailed to participants shortly before the program.

Cost: Free!

Registration is REQUIRED.

Cancellation policy: If you register and can no longer attend this event, please let us know as soon as possible so that we can open your spot to someone else.

By registering for this event, you are affirming that you have read and agree to our liability release policy.

We look forward to seeing you at the Clifton Institute!

 

 

/by

American Kestrel Research Update (Virtual)

**This is a virtual event. We will close registration at noon on February 9 to make sure everyone gets the Zoom link. If you have registered and have not yet received a Zoom link please email Eleanor at eharris@cliftoninstitute.org. If you would like to register after noon on February 9 you can email Eleanor, but she may not see your message in time.**

Join Executive Director Bert Harris to hear the latest on our American Kestrel research. We have been studying these declining falcons for three years in collaboration with Joe Kolowski from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and Alan Williams. Dr. Harris will present on our results from the 2023 field season and what they tell us about how to manage land for these charismatic animals. The work is funded by the Raines Family Fund, BAND Foundation, Nick Lapham, the Virginia Society of Ornithology, the Washington Biologists Field Club, and Janine Moseley. We will send a link to the Zoom meeting a few days prior to the talk. Please make sure your email address is up to date!

Cost: Free!

 

 

/by