Pictured: Don Corrigan
Don Corrigan was recently on KMOX’s “Whole Nother Story” with Kevin Killeen. The short radio interview gives a glimpse into the story behind Corrigan’s new book, “Nuts About Squirrels: The Rodents That Conquered Popular Culture.”
Hear the radio interview from KMOX below. (The audio is 2 minutes long.)
MDC Outreach and Education Chief Shawn Gruber (right) presents Fox 2/KPLR-11 Midday News Producer Peggy Dierssen with the 2018 MDC Statewide Outreach and Education External Partnership Award. The two TV stations have been providing exemplary communications and outreach support to MDC for 10 years. Photo: MDC
The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) awarded two local TV stations with the 2018 Outreach and Education External Partnership Award.
Communication, public outreach, and education have always been a top priority for the MDC. Conserving fish, forest and wildlife resources requires public appreciation and support. Each year, MDC’s Outreach and Education Division recognizes one external partner in Missouri for their significant contributions to conservation outreach that benefit the community, MDC, and Missouri citizens.
The Fox 2 KTVI and KPLR-11 television stations in St. Louis were selected to receive the statewide 2018 Outreach and Education External Partnership Award by MDC for their outstanding public service efforts and exemplary support of conservation for the last 10 years.
Read more from the MDC information release below.
Missouri Environmental Education Association announces new Executive Director Lesli Moylan.
“I’m excited and humbled to lead this amazing organization into its next chapter. It has been documented that the single most important factor for a person to choose an environmental career is a caring adult who fostered a love of nature in them during childhood.” Moylan said.
Jan Weaver is retiring after 12 years with MEEA. Since she started, first as a contractor and then as part time staff, MEEA has grown from 160 to over 400 members.
More from MEEA’s press release and newsletter below.
Workers unclogging bags at recycling sorting facility. Source: Tampa Bay Recycles
OneSTL released information about the newly coined “Plastic Bag Awareness Day” in St. Louis. The impact of plastic bags on the environment is extensive and the bags take a toll on recycling efforts, which can be plainly seen in the photo above. Please read more below from OneSTL about the April 13, 2019, event.
OneSTL is a regional collaboration that focuses on a sustainable future for the St. Louis region.
Concerned about contamination in recycling, experts in the St. Louis region have declared that Saturday, April 13, is Plastic Bag Awareness Day. The OneSTL Materials and Recycling Working Group says plastic bags too often make their way into residents’ recycling bins. Once at the recycling sorting facility they jam equipment and put workers at risk for injury.
“We’re going all out to educate people that plastic bags cannot be recycled in your home or workplace bin,” said Jenny Wendt a member of the OneSTL Materials and Recycling Working Group and Senior Project Manager at University City. “It can be confusing because many plastic bags have a recycling symbol on them, but that just indicates what type of plastic the bag is made of – not that it can go in your home recycling bin. Plastic bags have to be recycled separately. Plastic bags and other plastic film should be brought back to grocery and retail stores for recycling.”
OneSTL has partnered with numerous retail stores and business districts to spread the word. Dozens of volunteers will be stationed at stores throughout the day, handing out flyers and answering questions about recycling. Some stores will hand out free reusable shopping bags and other giveaways.
The week will be comprised of a wide variety of events and opportunities for the campus community to make a greater connection with our campus’ built and natural habitats.
Monday, April 15th at 10 a.m.: Webster University’s Sustainability Week will kick off with an arts and crafts activity for all located in the UC Presentation room, Campus Activities and the Sustainability Office will provide planters, paint supplies, plants and soil for you to make a DIY a planter in your own style to take home. Snack will be provided as well!
Tuesday, April 16th at 11 a.m.: The Webster University Facilities staff will be partnering with Perennial STL on the University Center Patio to provide a fair full of opportunities for attendees to bring items in need of repair – clothing, small appliances and furniture, electronics, bicycles – to transform people into fixers instead of consumers and exchange ideas and skills among our community.
For more information and the events scheduled for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday below.
CLICK HERE to check out the Missouri Department of Conservation’s website for pictures, videos, important information, like the description of the lookalike poisonous false morels.
We also have our own story about local Missouri Morel hunting. Read our past post HERE.
Get outside and have fun looking for the yummy Missouri Morel!
Don’t miss the Gateway Greening “Spring Plant Sale” coming up on Saturday, April 6, 2019, 9 a.m. to noon, located at 3841 Bell Ave., St. Louis, MO 63108.
Gateway Greening is a local organization that connects people to education and opportunities to connect with community gardening and food production “through sustainable urban agriculture projects.”
Learn how to get involved or volunteer HERE.
See an interactive map of local gardens and greening projects HERE.
Missouri Sierra Club released a statement related to the coal ash waste rule comment period and proposed regulations.
Excerpt from the release: “It is already plain that the rules are designed to protect utilities’ bottom lines rather than the interest of the public, including people who rely on groundwater for drinking water and agriculture. It is also plain that the utilities played a role in drafting these rules,” said Maxine Lipeles of Washington University Interdisciplinary Environmental Law Clinic. “It is necessary to review the full record to see how extensive that role was.”
See the full release below.
Posted in Home
Popular composer/musician John Nilsen will perform at Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center Friday, April 26.
The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) will welcome popular northwest musical artist John Nilsen to a live performance at its Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center Friday, April 26 at 7 p.m.
For this multi-media engagement, Nilsen will compliment his nature-inspired music with the spectacular landscape and wildlife images of MDC Photographer Noppadol Paothong. Paothong’s photography can be seen regularly in MDC’s Missouri Conservationist magazine, as well as many other MDC publications.
Attendance for the John Nilsen concert is free and open to the public. Advanced online registration is required. CLICK HERE to register.
Katherine Golden with a giant tortoise.
By Don Corrigan (Webster-Kirkwood Times)
IMAX Theatre presentations at the Saint Louis Science Center used to inspire Katherine Golden when she was younger to imagine herself as an explorer. Thanks to a National Geographic program for teachers, she no longer has to imagine.
Golden has returned from a trip to the Galápagos Islands, where she explored the islands’ marvels, courtesy of Linblad Expedition ships, including the National Geographic Explorer, National Geographic Endeavour II and the National Geographic Sea Lion.
She saw the incredible tortoises and the vast diversity of plant and animal species, many found nowhere else in the world. She saw the creatures Charles Darwin discovered in 1835, which played a role in his formulations for the scientific theory of evolution.
“The trip taught me so much about seeing things as an explorer would, about the importance of place, and about the power of storytelling,” Golden said.
“Now I want to share my stories with other teachers, which is part of the responsibility for educators chosen for the National Geographic Grosvenor Teacher fellowships,” she explained.
Environmental Echo 