Maddie Cogar is an Assistant Nongame Fisheries Biologist with the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR). She completed a B.S. in Wildlife and Fisheries Resources and then continued her education in Missouri studying aquatic insect and fish response to varying restoration and conservation efforts. Here in the nongame and endangered fishes section of DWR she and her coworkers focus on conservation, management, preservation, and restoration to benefit present and future generations. Come catch, observe, and identify macroinvertebrates and learn about what makes them feel at home in Big Laurel Creek.

Karen Powers, PhD, Radford University, will check several hundred pre-set live traps in the woods surrounding BRDC in hopes of examining a sample of the small mammal diversity of the MRNRA. Join her program to see what she and her crew trap!

Join Arthur Merschat, PhD, USGS, as he leads a short excursion to examine local landslides from Hurricane Helene, as well as the Quaternary and Neoproterozoic geology of the Konnarock valley.

Join Vasiliy Lakoba, Director of Research, and Lucinda Wigfield, Orchard Manager, from The American Chestnut Foundation to take a guided tour through the American Chestnut farm in Meadowview. Along the way, they will discuss the history of the American Chestnut in its native range and efforts to restore this iconic tree.

Edible and Medicinal plants and fungi are everywhere! Join this seasoned horticulturist, forager, and self-proclaimed plant nerd, Ben Casteel on a walk around the BRDC campus to see the useful plants that can be found in our ecoregion.

Join bird enthusiast and Virginia Tech graduate, Joshua Ward for an introduction to birding on the BRDC Campus. We will make this a casual walk, recommended for beginners. We will be watching for any and all birds, but particularly  Black-billed cuckoo, Rose-breasted grosbeak, Scarlet tanager, and a living rainbow of colorful warblers, thrushes, and vireos.

Explore the local habitat created by North America’s largest rodent, Castor canadensis with Jay Martin. The North American beaver is a habitat modifier. Their created wetlands and associated meadows help to create habitat diversity for other species. While exploring, we’ll discuss how beaver alter the ecosystem, their biology, and the other local species that benefit from the habitat diversity.