Tag Archives: New York

Baltimore Woods Nature Center, environmental volulnteers, Robert Barossi

Fifty Years of Volunteer Work

January 14, 2016 Rob 2 Comments

photo by Robert Barossi

by Robert Barossi

Many environmental volunteer stories deal with a one-time event or shot term project. Others stories, though, demonstrate how volunteers are often involved with a particular place for a long period of time. In upstate New York, just outside of Syracuse, the Baltimore Woods Nature Center has been connecting local citizens with their natural surroundings for five decades. And, as this story points out, community members and volunteers have been a part of the nature center’s work since the very beginning. Speaking of those volunteers, Executive Director Kate Intaglietta says, “Very few of them, if you ask, really knew each other before they came to Baltimore Woods. What’s inspiring for a lot of us in the work we do is … to see what that’s done for the organization in the past 50 years and to see what they’re excited about for the next 50 years.”

If you’ve enjoyed any of the stories on this blog, download my eBook – Being Where You Are: How Environmental Volunteers Impact Their Community and the Planet Every Day

citizen science, climate change, environmental volunteers, Robert Barossi

Climate Change, Birds and Volunteers

December 9, 2015 Rob Leave a comment

(Photo by Robert Barossi)

by Robert Barossi

According to Weather.com, it’s 44 degrees Fahrenheit today, here in the Boston area. Above normal, for sure, but perhaps not as shocking as this coming weekend. Temperatures are expected to hit the high 50s by the end of the week and then reach 62 degrees on Sunday. That’s Sunday, December 13th. These types of unusual temperatures have numerous impacts and ripple effects, on us humans as well as every other animal species.

This great story out of upstate New York details how citizen scientist volunteers are helping collect data on birds of prey. The volunteers are working alongside professionals in Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge, cataloging the presence of raptors, from owls to hawks and numerous others. They are also seeing some of the ways temperature changes are impacting the birds, such as changes in migration observed in certain owl species.

Surveying and monitoring birds is just one way to deal with the ways climate change impacts our avian friends. As described in this blog post from the National Audubon Society, volunteers can also help by protecting and maintaining bird habitats. Specifically, the story deals with volunteers with Audubon Miami Valley in Ohio who are working to remove invasive species which are negatively impacting places where birds find food and shelter. It’s another way that we can help birds, and other species, survive in the new environments and ecosystems created by the changing climate.

If you have enjoyed the stories on this blog, download my eBook – Being Where You Are: How Environmental Volunteers Impact Their Community and the Planet Every Day

environmental volunteers, public transportation, Reconnect Rochester, Robert Barossi, Rochester

Volunteers Supporting Public Transportation

June 17, 2015 Rob 1 Comment

(Photo by Thomas Wieczorek, Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)

by Robert Barossi

Environmental volunteers do important work in so many ways, it seems like there are always great new stories about some new way they are making an impact. In the city of Rochester, New York, volunteers are working hard to encourage residents to use public transportation, which can have wide-ranging benefits for the environment. Reconnect Rochester is a volunteer-run organization which is hosting an entire day dedicated to public transportation. On June 18th, the organization is leading the event, known as ROC Transit Day, which encourages residents to go without their cars for the day and use the bus system. Free bus passes have been given out to offer some extra motivation for the public and there will be a number of events happening around the city to celebrate the day and its importance. As one local reporter notes, there are a number of great reasons to participate, including benefits to the individual citizens and the city as a whole.

If you’ve enjoyed the stories on this blog, download my eBook – Being Where You Are: How Environmental Volunteers Impact Their Community and the Planet Every Day

	Rob on Fifty Years of Volunteer Work
	Stacy on Fifty Years of Volunteer Work
	Fiona McLellan / Dan… on Volunteers at the Film Festiva…
	mkguzi on Environmental Volunteers Coast…
	Composting Volunteer… on Composting Volunteers

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Telling the Stories of Environmental Volunteers