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spring 2015 Volume 40, Issue #1 UnderstoryTHE NEWSLETTER OF IRVINE NATURE CENTER 40CELEBRATING years of environmental education Did you know? Irvine has spent four decades inspiring the community to explore, respect and protect nature. You Made 40 Years Possible! IN THIS ISSUE This year, Irvine turns 40! Here’s a brief OUR EARLY YEARS Ask the Naturalist ..................... 3 history of where we’ve come from. A small group of dedicated nature- The Nature Preschool at Irvine .... 4 enthusiasts formed a board and then Animal Spotlight ....................... 5 Look for milestone celebrations all hired its first Executive Director, Volunteer Spotlight ................... 6 year long! “Bud” Ribero. He hailed from the Funder Focus ............................. 7 AT OUR START Massachusetts Audubon Society. During Your Irvine at Work .................. 8 In 1975, sisters Olivia Irvine Dodge and this time, St. Tim’s provided the barns Signs of the Season ................. 10 Clotilde “Coco” Irvine Moles made a rent-free and even paid Irvine’s utilities. Welcome New Members ......... 11 substantial gift to St. Timothy’s School In 1976, Irvine held its first birdseed Spring 2015 Programs ............ 12 in Stevenson, Md., for the express sale, distributing 7 tons from the back Kids...............................................12 purpose of founding a nature center on of a trailer. Irvine also organized the first Youth .............................................13 their campus. Mrs. Dodge had been a Jones Falls Cleanup, partnering with our Families .........................................13 graduate of St. Tim’s, and imagined the longtime friends, the Greenspring Valley Adults ............................................14 nature center in two rustic old barns Garden Club. (This clean-up would near a pond at St. Tim’s. later expand to become Project Clean The idea of Irvine Nature Center had Stream, now run by the Alliance for the been planted. Chesapeake Bay and drawing 7,500 volunteers.) In 1977, Irvine offered its Continued on next page Continued from front very first Summer Nature Camp, and from Baltimore County. The move to the next year it began a bird banding Over the past Caves Valley, our current home, took research program. place in August 2008. 15 years, Irvine has After a few years, Bobby Johnson (now grown from 13,000 Another big change for Irvine during an Emeritus Board member) took this period of transition was Dick Gibbs’ over as executive director. “The annual visitors to be retirement in 2007 and Peggy O’Neill’s budget at the time was something like Maryland’s 28th most popular appointment to executive director. Peggy $40,000,” Bobby recalled. Those funds tourist attraction with 70,000 arrived just before the 2008 financial came primarily from donations and a year. crisis that devastated many non-profits. just covered the salaries for Bobby and visitors The recession hit hard, but Peggy three naturalists, who did everything deftly led Irvine through the times by from running educational programs to diversifying Irvine’s revenue streams. She Programming grew fast. In the ’80s, accounting to answering the phone to expanded the Summer Nature Camp Irvine initiated an evening lecture series sweeping the floor. dramatically and drew up the plans for and a winter bird count. The newsletter, The Nature Preschool at Irvine. In 1979, Irvine launched its formal Understory, the first Maryland State education programs for the Baltimore Department of Education accredited Mrs. Dodge remained committed to in City and County schools. And in 1980, Teacher Training Course and the her “little nature center,” and was able to staff conducted its first formal Volunteer tradition of PumpkinFest all started too. see our amazing new home. She passed Naturalist Training. Both of these away in 2009. During the ’90s, Irvine pioneered programs have been known for their urban environmental education RECENT YEARS excellence from the start! programs. The new programming Peggy’s plans for The Nature Preschool and the additional personnel meant helped Irvine craft an extraordinary For more than 20 years, a higher budget, with accompanying program that is now licensed by Irvine has provided needs for fundraising. In 1991, Irvine’s the Maryland State Department of environmental education budget stood at just $343,000, but it Education and accredited by the opportunities for teachers nearly doubled to $636,000 by 2000. National Association for the Education and over 23,000 underserved So Irvine hired some new professionals of Young Children. In 2013, current Baltimore City students. Last year to bring their talents to memberships, Executive Director Brooks Paternotte 2,800 students took part in our fundraising and marketing. took on the job, and he and the Board fun, interactive Nature in the of Trustees are developing our next Beginning in 2005, Irvine offered Classroom sessions. strategic plan that will continue a summer fellowship program for Irvine’s story as a recognized leader in Baltimore City high school students. environmental education for all ages. THE EIGHTIES AND NINETIES This science education program was Devoted birder, Mr. Dick Gibbs became so highly regarded that the Howard Here’s to another 40 years! Irvine’s Board president in 1983 and, Hughes Medical Institute gave Irvine in 1986, took on the job of executive the two largest grants in HHMI director. He remained at the helm for 21 history to support it. Irvine started in a tiny barn using years. Dick could often be found out on 25 acres and is now housed debt THE BIG MOVE the trail building bluebird houses, and free in a beautiful In 2007, Irvine began to outgrow the 17,200- he helped shape Irvine as a real gem. space provided by St. Tim’s and faced square-foot green Rob Mardiney, presently Irvine’s the daunting challenge of finding a new building Director of Education, joined the staff home. Thanks to amazing donors and in 1985 as a naturalist and has been friends, Irvine raised $7.5 million to on 116 responsible for Irvine’s creative and create a first-class green building and acres. award-winning program development trails on a 116-acre parcel purchased ever since. 2 | UNDERSTORY Ask the Naturalist By Steven Mickletz, Irvine’s Naturalist & Manager of Public Programs QUESTION: When will I start seeing butterflies in the spring? Where have they been all winter? ANSWER: The appearance of butterflies is one of the most welcome sights as the day light increases and the outdoor world warms up. When considering the diversity of moths and butterflies – over 12,000 species in North America alone Birdies on – it is reasonable to expect a variety of winter survival methods and ETA for the spring season. Let’s take a look at some of the species that excite me the most the Green! when I catch that first glimpse. Tiger swallowtails are quite common at Irvine. This particular swallowtail is May 5, 2015 a generalist as a caterpillar. You may see the caterpillar in the summer months on black cherry, sweet bay magnolia or tuliptree munching leaves. By the end For details, visit of the summer, the only swallowtails you will see are in the well-camouflaged www.ExploreNature.org . pupal stage. In this form, they may look exactly like a piece of tree branch and are very difficult to find. By May, though, the conspicuous adults begin fluttering about flowerbeds. I don’t think I really need to introduce the monarch. Many people are already Summer Nature Camp familiar with this animal’s incredible migration to Mexico each fall. Over several generations, the butterfly returns to the north, laying eggs on milkweed. We can expect to see adults in Maryland in mid-May. This is a good time to check young milkweed plants for caterpillars! But what if I told you, “You don’t need to wait for May flowers to see butterflies!”? That’s right! Head out on Irvine’s trails on a warm winter day, particularly in March, and you may see the mourning cloak, a personal favorite of mine. The mourning cloak rivals Outside experiences for the monarch as the longest children ages 2-15! lived adult butterfly and will June 8 − August 21, 2015 spend its entire winter in our Choose from more than 40 nature-based camp sessions with activities that include: woodlands! To survive, it •Hiking •Animals •Water Activities seeks out dripping sap on the •Biking •Camping •Green Games warmest winter days, and finds •Stream Studies •Healthy Cooking shelter amongst loose tree bark, •And other hands-on activities outdoors! evergreens or oak leaves on Before and aftercare available with most sessions. the coldest. Irvine’s upcoming Butterfly House will feature this local species, the For info, contact Clare at 443-738-9220 or tiger swallowtail. [email protected]. UNDERSTORY | 3 Animal Spotlight By TheTHE Nature NATUREPreschool at Irvine PRESCHOOL Staff AT IRVINE: Wild Things in Spring By Monica Wiedel-Lubinski, Irvine’s Director of The Nature Preschool When it comes to outdoor play, children at The Nature Preschool know how to dig in! And while every season offers magical encounters, spring brings her own energy bursting with new life. If you are familiar with The Nature Preschool, you might already know about our emergent curriculum approach to learning. We cannot know the precise moment or day we will discover skunk cabbage, bloodroot or Jack-in-the-pulpit blossoms springing up. But we can seize these moments as they emerge, in real time, when children discover them. This mindful approach encourages children to share ideas and observations as they occur, not when a given activity or topic is scripted to learn about. When plants and animals awake in spring, discoveries of new life abounds. Our early childhood educators are just as excited as students when mild weather finally breaks. On a typical day, the children spend half of their class time engaged in outdoor learning.

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