- At Wenatchee Valley College Van Tassell Center cafe
- Friends and family welcome
- Celebrate over a dozen Wenatchee Naturalists who will receive service pins
- Listen to a talk by Dr. Mark Oswood, “Stream Ecology is Subarctic Alaska”
- Visit with friends old and new
- Explore the natural history book table
- Bring a finger food snack to share. Beverages provided
- Parking is free on Sundays at Wenatchee Valley College
You are invited to attend a Sunday, Nov. 17, 2019, 2-4 pm program and social, featuring guest scientist, Dr. Mark Oswood, at the annual all-Wenatchee Naturalist volunteer recognition event. Mark’s talk is titled, “Cold Waters: Doing Stream Ecology in Subarctic Alaska.” The afternoon event will also feature Jon Riley, Chelan County Community Wildfire Liaison, who will briefly share highlights of his local work balancing shrub-steppe habitat conservation with reduction of wildfire fuels in Wenatchee’s foothills.
Wenatchee Naturalist program director Susan Ballinger will begin by recognizing volunteers. Susan extends a warm welcome to both Audubon and Wenatchee Naturalist members and friends to attend the gathering, which will be held at Wenatchee Valley College Van Tassell Center.
Dr. Oswood retired to his hometown of Wenatchee after serving 22 years as an aquatic ecologist, on faculty at University of Alaska as a celebrated teacher and researcher. Many of us know Mark Oswood for his tireless, almost two decades-long, volunteer work as lead educator for NCWAS. He developed and leads “What’s That Bird” field activity that has introduced thousands of local children to the magic of using binoculars to find and see common birds. He herds his “flocks” of loaner binoculars for both adult and student group use, including the Wenatchee Naturalist program. Mark has served as a guest scientist for all 11 Wenatchee Naturalist courses. Mark’s volunteerism for conservation is something for us all to celebrate.
This mission of the Wenatchee Naturalist program is to cultivate awareness, understanding, and stewardship of the Wenatchee River region by developing an active corps of well-informed community volunteers. To date, over 200 people have completed the 50-hour course, with 24 people enrolled in the Fall 2019 class offered through Wenatchee Valley College Continuing Education. Chelan-Douglas Land Trust sponsors the post-course volunteer component, where participants can voluntarily pledge to complete 20+ hours of volunteering in support of conservation, either through board service, land stewardship, community science, or education & outreach. As of 2018, 107 people have earned their 20+ hour service pin, and a total of 9131 hours of volunteer service have been reported. On Nov. 17th, volunteers will be celebrated for their 2019 service prior to the guest speaker presentations.
Sunday, Nov. 17 2-4pm program and social at Van Tassell Hall, WVC campus in Wenatchee
On-campus parking is free on Sundays at Wenatchee Valley College
Beverages will be provided; attendees are asked to bring a finger-food snack to share
