MacArthur Meeting © Steve Cornelius | MacArthur Foundation Grantees Meet in Haiti On a recent trip to Hispaniola, Chris traveled to Port-au-Prince for two days of meetings with MacArthur Foundation grantees actively working in Haiti. VCE is collaborating on a MacArthur grant to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, primarily for capacity building of conservation partners in Haiti and the DR. The meeting involved 11 MacArthur-funded groups involved in programs ranging from terrestrial and marine biodiversity conservation, training and communications, judicial education, to sustainable agriculture and fisheries. In a city still battered from the January 2010 earthquake and chronic socioeconomic hardships, sincere optimism exists to turn things around. With its many local and international partners, VCE looks forward to playing a small but pivotal role in advancing Haitian conservation.
| Enjoy Great Italian Food and Support VCE
Whether you favor pasta, brick-oven pizza or eggplant parmigiana, head to Three Tomatoes Trattoria on March 16! VCE has been selected as Three Tomatoes' non-profit partner during March for their 2011 Sustainable Communities: Sustaining Change initiative. On one evening each month, Three Tomatoes features a non-profit group at each of its four restaurant locations: Burlington, Williston, Rutland, and Lebanon NH. For each dinner entree ordered by customers on March 16, $1 will be donated to VCE. This is a wonderful opportunity for VCE, both to spread awareness of our wildlife conservation work and to directly raise funds for it. We're very grateful to Three Tomatoes and hope to see many of you there on March 16!
| | Chris Rimmer presenting a check.
| VCE Launches Dominican Fund to Protect Bicknell's Thursh In partnership with several Dominican conservation groups, VCE has launched an innovative fund to protect habitat of Bicknell's Thrush on Hispaniola.
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VCE Publications Promote Conservation on Hispaniola VCE has published an important paper on birds of Haiti's highly-endangered La Visite National Park. This paper, in the current issue of the Journal of Caribbean Ornithology, highlights the fragile status of the park's remnant forests and outlines several immediate conservation actions that must be taken. Two recent outcomes of VCE's leadership of the International Bicknell's Thrush Conservation Group include a Spanish version of the Conservation Action Plan for Bicknell's Thrush and bilingual versions of proceedings from our November 2010 international workshop in Santo Domingo. Both are available online.
| 2011 Vernal Pool Volunteer
Training Workshops
These free workshops, conducted by VCE biologist Steve Faccio and Arrowwood Environmental ecologist Michael Lew-Smith, will begin with a brief introduction to vernal pools: What they are, how to recognize them, why they're important, and why we need to map them. They will also discuss the mapping project and how volunteers can get involved. The group will then venture outdoors to visit an active vernal pool during the height of the amphibian breeding season, and review field protocols for the Vernal Pool Mapping Project.
Dress appropriately for the weather and wear hiking boots or muck boots. All workshops limited to 40 participants, please register early.
| Matt Stevens checking a
Vernal Pool
© Steve Faccio
| Wood Duck © Kent McFarland | Record Your Sightings of
Spring Arrivals on eBird!
Your sightings can help scientists learn more about the changing world. Read how Kathleen Anderson's daily life is guiding conservation. VCE is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
All donations are tax-deductible. Don't forget to support VCE and bird conservation by buying Birds & Beans coffee. | |  | | | VCE Events
February 22nd 10:15ish WDEV Radio (550AM or FM 96.1) Mark Johnson will interview VCE's Judith Scarl about the MBW program.
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February 25th 7 PM Unitarian Church Montpelier, VT Judith Scarl will join the North Branch Nature Center's Naturalist Journeys Lecture Series. * * *
Wicked Big Puddles or Critical Wildlife Habitat A Slide Presentation by Steve Faccio on Vernal Pool Ecology and the VT Vernal Pool Mapping Project March 23rd 7 PM Proctor Library March 30th 7 PM Pond Village Church Brookfield, VT Sponsored by the Brookfield Nature Club
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