Programs Development: Our Programs Committee meets once every few months to brainstorm ideas for speaker programs and field trips and then reaches out to local experts to schedule/plan the events. If you'd like to be a part of this, please let us know. In addition, we need volunteers to help with the logistics for executing programs such as helping with refreshments and setting up the room.
Public Relations: This committee coordinates with the media (online and in print) to get our message out and promote our programs and activities. We need volunteers to help prepare materials as well as to keep our brochures stocked at local locations.
Field Trip/Nature Walk Leader or Assistant: We currently lead a variety of field trips and nature walks (e.g., birds, butterflies, wildflowers, dragonflies, general nature) and can use more volunteers to help with them. You can start by assisting a leader – it’s a great way to learn and also help make field trips more successful.
Publications: Whether you enjoy coming up with ideas for publications or helping to design and develop them, we can use your talents. If you have special skills with writing, photography, graphics design and layout or have a good eye for catching typos, we could use your help.
Naturalist Instructors: We provide elementary, middle school and high school teachers with programs and volunteer instructors for field studies/trips for a variety of environmental, wildlife and nature subjects. Volunteers are needed to assist with developing and providing environmental education programs.
Fair Booth: Throughout the year, we set up our tent and table at local fairs. Help us to “man the booth” for a few hours. This includes handing out informational materials and answering general questions. We volunteer in pairs so there is always a backup if you need to take a break.
If you have experience in an area of wildlife or nature that you would like to share with the group, let us know! The speaker programs are generally indoors and last up to 2 hours (including Q&A).
Fair Booth Set Up/Take Down: We also need volunteers to help transport, set up and take down our tent and gear. It takes about an hour and we really need help with this.
Habitat Restoration: We’re looking for volunteers to help plan and execute habitat restoration projects. If you have an idea or would like to participate in an event please let us know. We plan 1-2 habitat restoration projects per year.
Writer for Habitat Herald: New contributors to the Habitat Herald are always needed. Areas for writing include: the lead article which sets the theme for the issue, articles about specific animals, interesting insects, facts on plants. Articles can be short or long.
Conservation Advocacy: Advocacy is a critical part of our work to preserve and protect healthy wildlife habitat here in Loudoun. We need volunteers to help research issues, design communication tools, develop messages, and coordinate logistics for advocacy efforts.
Membership Development: Help build our voice for wildlife! Support in this area includes helping identify ways to reach more citizens, participating in mailings, creating promotional materials, and assembling/sending the new member information packet.
Fundraising: While we are an all-volunteer organization, we still have to pay for materials, speaker fees and equipment. Fundraising is critical to our being able to operate. Each year, we hold a variety of fundraising events such as the Birdathon, grant writing, and in some years a benefit concert or holiday bazaar. We need your help in conducting these fundraising activities and in coming up with new ones.
The Mailing Team: Every few months we assemble a team to label and stuff envelopes and sort the items we’re mailing by zip-code for the post office. We’re usually doing this for the Habitat Herald but we also do this for special mailings to the membership. A few more helping hands are always appreciated.
Bluebird Trail Monitoring: Each monitoring team consists of four monitors. Each monitor visits the trail one day per month to check the nest boxes and record information such as bird species seen, number of eggs, and number of fledglings. The monitoring season lasts from late March through August. Training at the trail and an information packet on bluebirds is provided to new monitors. If you’d like to set up a new trail at a local park or restore an existing trail at a public location, we could really use your help with that too. To learn more, please visit the Bluebird Monitoring Page and fill in the sign up form. Volunteer Coordination: This committee makes “first contact” with new volunteers, welcomes them to Loudoun Wildlife Consrvancy, provides additional information about our organization, and ensures that the connections are made to appropriate LWC committee chairs and coordinators so new volunteers can become involved. If you'd like to help make our volunteer program stronger, please volunteer to help this committee.
Amphibian Monitoring: We have three ways to monitor: Frog Call Survey, Site Survey, and Migration Mapping. Participate in as many tracks as you’d like. Monitoring takes place at least once during each of the 4 peak periods (February – July) but can also be done more frequently through August. Training materials are provided. To learn more, please visit the Amphibian Monitoring Page and fill in the sign up form .Judging/Evaluating: There are a few occasions throughout the year where we need volunteers to evaluate an application, serve as a judge for the Loudoun County Science Fair or review and rate Roger Tory Peterson nature journals.
Stream Monitoring: Join one of our stream monitoring teams. We'll provide the training. Each team monitors their stream 3x per year, spending about three hours each time. The main focus of stream monitoring is to look at benthic macroinvertebrates (insects) that live in the water in order to determine the health of the streams throughout the County. To learn more, please visit the Stream Monitoring Page and fill in the sign up form. Volunteer to identify and count birds in one of the 75 blocks across Loudoun. This project, which runs through 2013, will eastablish for Loudoun a comprehensive list of birds in a particular area, including their dates of occurrence and distribution. To learn more, please visit the Bird Atlas page and sign up with Spring Ligi, our coordinator.
