Groundwork Hudson Valley BioBlitz 2009

Media

Articles Covering BioBlitz 2009:

Journal News 10-25-09

Journal News 10-26-09

Enterprise Article 10-27-09 (page 1)

Enterprise Article 10-27-09 (page 2)

Junior BioBlitz Article

There are terrific opportunities to bring nature and biodiversity to the public during this BioBlitz weekend:

• Follow field scientists to locations: We have bird, insect, aquatic invertebrates, beetle & bug, butterfly & dragonfly, spider & moth, lichen & moss, herps, fungi & mammal scientists, among others! Follow them at night, or early morning. See them work! Great opportunity to “see” science happening for people. Field sites include areas of Chappaqua, Pleasantville, Tarrytown, Irvington, Elmsford, Dobbs Ferry, Hastings-on-Hudson, and Yonkers.

• Interview scientists about their specialty: With the specialty list above, pick the most esoteric or the most basic and capture the story for our local audience.

• Join the Junior BioBlitz to showcase how kids really learn about nature: We will be taking young students and exploring the wild areas of Pace University, capturing bugs and aquatic insects, taking water samples, looking at species under a microscope, identifying plants and trees that they have seen, and making art with nature.

• Cover the specialists’ talks: The Saw Mill River BioBlitz presentations are targeted to making science “real” at the local level. We have very accessible speakers who have very practical things to say about how to improve biodiversity in our own villages and towns. This is a terrific opportunity to translate science to individual action for our residents in the Saw Mill River watershed.

• Sit in on the Municipal Officials’ Biodiversity Roundtables: These municipal officials—trustees of village boards, representatives of town councils, planning board and conservation advisory board members—make day-to-day decisions about how biodiversity will be protected in their towns. This Roundtable is an open discussion between those members about how they want to improve what they do to help species.

• Film the Bird of Prey demonstration: Professor Jim Eyring is known throughout the nature center world as a great presenter with his birds of prey. This special occasion will celebrate our final total species announcement.

Please contact Ann-Marie Mitroff, Director of River Programs for more information, to arrange interviews or to accompany field scientists. (914) 375-2151, or cell: (914) 815-5872, or email: annmarie@groundworkhv.org