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Jamin Bray of MEEA: Working For Real Change, One Conversation At A Time

Jamin Bray, co-director of the Missouri Environmental Education Association (MEEA), enjoys strumming in the Ozarks. Photo courtesy of MEEA

By Zoe DeYoung

Jamin Bray, co-director of the Missouri Environmental Education Association (MEEA), knows where change starts. She confidently insists: “right here.”

A lifelong educator with a soft spot for empathy, Bray said she believes that a conversation is the first step in any real change making. And for MEEA, an organization dedicated to providing environmental education for a more sustainable future, change is the problem and the solution.

“When I talk about climate, I’m always trying to help people understand,” Bray said. “If I talk to somebody who doesn’t ‘believe’ in climate change, I’m like, ‘Talk to me. Let’s have a conversation,’ and then I can see their point of view.

“Wouldn’t the world be better if everybody would have conversations like that?” Bray asked.

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Posted on March 18, 2024 in Environment, Home

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Explore Missouri With The MDC’s Driving Tours

Bennett Spring Fish Hatchery. Photo, MDC.

The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) is a great resource to explore our beautiful state’s outdoor treasures.

As Missourians, we have not only a beautiful state, but an accessible one. Many public areas, many managed by the MDC, are a fun and family-friendly escape from the busy, noisy, and crowded urban landscape. Plus, being outdoors is good for the body, mind, and soul.

Take advantage of the MDC’s driving tours website page. You’ll find lots of places to visit, tour, and enjoy.

From the MDC website: View Missouri’s recently restored elk herd, fall color, spring flowering trees and an Ozark woodland from your car. Get tour routes, maps and info – CLICK HERE.

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Posted on March 16, 2024 in Home, Outdoor/Nature

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Happy Birthday To Us! Environmental Echo Eyes Its Future On 10-Year Anniversary

How many blogs last 10 years? Or even one year?

Statistics show the average life of a blog is less than two years. There are literally hundreds of millions of abandoned blogs on the worldwide web. In 2023, there were 600 million active blogs worldwide.

If each of those blogs had as many hits as EE has had over its 10 years, we would be talking 36,000,000,000,000 hits.
Environmental Echo is happy to report it will celebrate 10 years this October! Hurray for us! The blog started as a class project in an environmental communications class at Webster University in October 2014.

Stories posted in those early months of EE included such topics as fracking, raising urban chickens, climate change and coverage of Gateway Greening and Ethical Society events on climate justice.

Many of the first EE posts were written by Webster students. EE became independent of the university when the School of Communications pulled the plug on the Outdoor/Environmental Journalism Certificate in 2018.

Professor Don Corrigan and environmental writer Holly Shanks resolved to continue EE. They became the ad hoc co-editors of the blog and kept it lively – never going a month without some informational posts.

“I am pleased to report that EE will soon be posting some great student writing again from Jack Farish, Zoe DeYoung, Jess Holmes and more,” said Corrigan. “I’m teaching in the school’s sustainability course area and the students are as motivated as ever to make a better world.

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Posted on March 12, 2024 in Home, Opinion, Outdoor/Nature

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SEED STL First Plant Sale of 2024!

From the Seed STL website:

Seed STL hosts three seedling sales throughout the year. These sales are open to the general public and will include Seed St. Louis seed packets of varieties we recommend for the area, and merchandise.

All of the plant sales are held outside behind the Carriage House building at 3815 Bell Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63108. Cash, credit card, Google Pay and Apple Pay are accepted as payment.

Find more information about the March 9 sale HERE.

2024 Sales
March 9: March Sale (Potatoes, Onions, Strawberries, Asparagus, etc.)April 6: Spring Seedling Sale
May 11: Summer Seedling Sale
August 10: Fall Seedling Sale
October 5: Garlic Sale

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Posted on March 7, 2024 in Home, Local Events

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Free “Eco-Ed” Sessions: Webster Groves Hosts Events To Hype Sustainability & Green Awareness

The Sustainability “Eco-Ed” Series will feature a presentation on the book, Environmental Missouri, by Don Corrigan at the Webster Groves Public Library at 7 p.m., May 7.

by Don Corrigan

Volunteers with two city commissions are joining hands to provide Webster Groves area residents with some free “Eco-Ed.” The once-a-month ecology education sessions begin in March with energy efficiency and continue through October.

“Malachi Rein, director of Building Energy Exchange of St. Louis, is going to kick off the series with timely information about why and how to make buildings and residences more energy-efficient,” said Karen Anderson.

“This first session on sustainability is at the Webster Groves Public Library at 7 p.m. on March 5,” said Anderson. “A pillar of the sustainability concept is to save money, while reducing resources used for energy, food needs and so much more.”

Anderson is a member of the Sustainability Commission. Carrie Coyne is a member of the Green Space Advisory Commission. Coyne said not all the “Eco-Ed” sessions are inside. An April 17 event will be at 5:30 p.m. outdoors at Southwest Park.

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Posted on March 4, 2024 in Home, Local Events

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Free Virtual Mushroom Hunting Class March 16, MDC

 

Morels – Photo MDC.

Spring warmth stimulates natural life, including fungi such as morels and other edible mushrooms. The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) is offering a free virtual Mushroom Hunting 101 class from 1 to 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 16.

This online course will cover how mushrooms are produced and their role in ecology. Nikki King, MDC naturalist, will explain where and how people can look for mushrooms. King will provide tips on identifying edible mushrooms and avoiding those that are not safely edible.

Mushroom Hunting 101 is open to all ages. Registration is required. To register, CLICK HERE.

For more information about mushrooms in Missouri, CLICK HERE.

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Posted on March 3, 2024 in Home, Outdoor/Nature

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Webster’s Champion Birder: Phoebe Snetsinger’s Fans Gather For Blackburn Park Event

The weather was perfect for a tribute to the world’s most famous birder in Blackburn Park in the St. Louis suburb of Webster Groves. The proviso in the WGNSS flyer regarding inclement weather was unneeded.

by Don Corrigan

Admirers of the late champion birder, Phoebe Snetsinger, gathered at the entrance of the Bird Sanctuary at Blackburn Park on Saturday, Feb. 3. An avid naturalist, she turned a humble hobby into a worldwide adventure.

Snetsinger fans were happy to celebrate the unveiling of an informational structure dedicated to her birding accomplishments. They described it as great way to get an introduction to the “Bird Woman of Webster Groves.”

“It’s my privilege to unveil this new sign for the most famous birder of Webster Groves,” said Bill Duncan, who is president of the Webster Groves Nature Study Society. “This new display is dedicated to birding and to Phoebe Snetsinger.

“What was here before was worn out and damaged, as might be expected for something 20 years-old,” said Duncan. “So, Rich Thoma of WGNSS saw that something new was needed and took the initiative to get it replaced.”

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Posted on February 18, 2024 in Home, Outdoor/Nature

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Meatpacker Backs Off Request To Dump Wastewater

By Don Corrigan

Story follow up from the top stories of 2023.

Growing citizen opposition to dumping animal waste into rivers and streams has prompted a Missouri meatpacker to back off from a request to dump animal wastewater into rivers and streams that already are impaired.

According to an article in Missouri Independent, Missouri Prime Beef Packers is backing off from its request to discharge wastewater from its operations into the Pomme de Terre River.

Allison Kite, reporter for the Missouri Independent, attempted to reach the beef packers company for comment about its decision, but did not receive a response. State regulators had indicated that they would deny a discharge permit, according to Kite.

Southwest Missouri newspapers have reported increasing citizen opposition to plans by companies to discharge animal waste products in Ozark streams and rivers.

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Posted on February 7, 2024 in Environment, Home

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Mississippi River Work: Tribute to Environmentalists’ Hero Don Sweeney in St. Louis

Professor Jill Bracy from the University of Missouri-St. Louis knew Don Sweeney as a student, then as a mentor, then as a co-worker. She spoke about his excellence in teaching.

by Don Corrigan
Among the many accomplishments cited for the late Don Sweeney at his St. Louis tribute in January was his work with the Army Corps of Engineers. Sweeney became a whistleblower at the Corps over a proposed billion-dollar Mississippi River project.

Included in relics from that 2000 controversy, available at the Sweeney tribute, was a Time magazine cover story on the Corps’ Mississippi River project, which Sweeney opposed over the objections of his supervisors.

Stories inside the July 10, 2000 edition of Time magazine were packed with headlines, subheads, captions, and accounts of Sweeney’s opposition. Similar news accounts appeared in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the Washington Post.

One caption read: “Don Sweeney blew the whistle on wasted dollars and a ruined river.” A headline warned: “Mississippi Mud: The Army Corps of Engineers wants to build and dredge, no matter what.”

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Posted on February 3, 2024 in Environment, Home, Local Events

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Tiger-Lily To Visit Powder Valley Nature Center Starting Jan 23

The famous two-headed western rat snake, Tiger-Lily, will be at Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center in Kirkwood from Jan. 23 through the end of February.

Are two heads really better than one?  Visitors to the Missouri Department of Conservation’s (MDC) Powder Valley Nature Center in Kirkwood can soon find out.

Tiger-Lily, a two-headed western rat snake, (Pantherophis obsoletus), will arrive at Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center on Tuesday, Jan. 23.  The snake will remain there for visitors to see until the end of February.  From there, the two-headed snake will continue her journey around Missouri, staying temporarily at other MDC sites across the state.

Tiger-Lily is on loan from her home at the Shepherd of the Hills Conservation Center near Branson, which is currently closed for construction.

Western rat snakes are non-venomous and native to Missouri.  Tiger-Lily is actually a pair of conjoined identical snake twins that were never completely separated.  Such snakes are rarely seen in the wild, partly because snakes born this way have a low survival rate.

“Tiger-Lily” is the name given to the two-headed snake by the family who found this unique reptile in Stone County in 2017,” said MDC Interpretive Center Manager Alison Bleich. “The female snake was donated to the Shepherd of the Hills Conservation Center for display purposes. “Tiger-Lily is almost five feet long and has a healthy appetite,” according to Bleich, but she said that feeding time always presents a challenge.

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Posted on January 21, 2024 in Home, Local Events, Outdoor/Nature