Spring 2008

ES field trips introduce you to the natural, built and cultural resources available in the mid-Atlantic region. ES students are required to choose one each semester - however, we encourage you to attend as many as you like! To sign up, bring a hard copy of your Field Trip Sign-Up sheet -- along with a check made out to "University of Maryland" for your trip AND course fees -- to class and give to Ms. Giblin or Lauren Land, the ES Field Trip Coordinator. If you want to sign up sooner than your next class, please bring your materials to the ES Office, in 1215 Centreville.

Questions about signing up for field trips? Get in touch with Lauren Land at lland@umd.edu!

To see the Field Trip Sign-Up Sheet or print out a copy: click here!

This semester's field trips (click on the links to learn more!):

Friday, February 29: Visit to the Second Chance Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, Gaithersburg, Maryland. The mission of the Second Chance Wildlife Center (SCWC) is "to facilitate the conservation of wildlife through rehabilitation, education and referrals." Each year, concerned citizens bring in thousands of native wildlife for medical treatment, attentive care, and release. Christine Montuori, a licensed wildlife rehabilitator since 1986, oversees the treatment, housing, and feeding of the wild patients. Join us on this very special visit to SCWC, where Ms. Montuori will educate us on the process of wildlife rehabilitation, as well as the other ways in which SCWC works to conserve wildlife. (We will leave campus at 1:30 p.m. and return by approximately 5:00 p.m.)

Saturday, April 5: Saturday of Service, Greenbelt, Maryland. Join your fellow Terps for a Saturday of Service at this great event organized by TERPcorps and the University of Maryland Office of Community Service-Learning. Saturday of Service is an annual day of service for the campus and local community. TERPcorps works with a variety of community and university groups to co-sponsor this event which has taken place at Lake Artemesia for the past few years. The details of this event are still to come; TERPcorps will be working with interested students to plan this year's service activities. ( If you would like to help plan this year’s Saturday of Service, please contact Jess Shin, our Saturday of Service Coordinator: jshin9@umd.edu!!)

Sunday, April 13: Invasive Plant Removal at Little Paint Branch Park, Beltsville, Maryland. Come help the Anacostia Watershed Society (AWS) rescue native plants and animals at a local park here in the Anacostia River watershed! Several of the worst invasive species in the Mid-Atlantic region, including English Ivy, Asiatic Bittersweeet, Garlic Mustard, Bush Honeysuckle and Porcelain Berry, are in the early stages of invasion in this park.  Japanese Stiltgrass covers about 5% of the park. Research indicates that Japanese Stiltgrass is a major contributor of Nitrogen pollution in the Chesapeake Bay and reduces by half the ability of any land it dominates to hold water and release it slowly. Our objective is to remove the invasives to allow natives to grow back. AWS will provide an introduction, which includes a welcome, natural history and special features of the park, methods and reasons for the project to control the spread of invasives. Native flowers and other plants will be identified as we work to rescue them. (We'll leave campus at 9 a.m. and return by about 1 p.m.)

Friday, April 18 - Sunday April 20: Scholars in New York. If you are going on the Scholars in New York trip, this will count as your “required” ES field trip! Details on seat availability and registration are available at: http://www.scholars.umd.edu/nyc/students.cfm

Saturday, April 26: Visit to the Patuxent Research Wildlife Refuge, Laurel, Maryland. Join us for a visit to a 12,841-acre wildlife refuge, just minutes away from campus! With land surrounding the Patuxent and Little Patuxent Rivers between Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, Patuxent Research Refuge is one of over 540 refuges in the National Wildlife Refuge System, the world’s largest network of lands and waters dedicated to protecting wildlife and their habitat.  Established in 1936 by executive order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Patuxent Research Refuge is the Nation's only National Wildlife Refuge established to support wildlife research. Rachel Carson, author of Silent Spring, the book that revealed the impacts of the pesticide DDT and kicked off the modern environmental movement, conducted research at Patuxent! Our visit will include a meeting with an education specialist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, going on a tram tour of the refuge, and then taking a short hike along one of the refuge trails. (We'll leave campus at 9:30 a.m. and get back around 1:30 p.m.)