Gardener State: NJ Women and Wildlife Awards coming Nov. 7

Nicholas Polanin, Correspondent Published 8:00 a.m. ET Nov. 1, 2018

The 13th Annual ‘Women & Wildlife Awards and Silent Auction’ to honor women for their valuable contributions to protecting New Jersey’s wildlife, with keynote speaker NJDEP Commissioner Catherine R. McCabe, is scheduled for next Wednesday, November 7, from 6–8:30 p.m. at the Coach Barn at Duke Farms, 80 Route 206, Hillsborough.

Accepting this year’s Leadership Award will be Beth Styler Barry, who has worked as a volunteer, member and Executive Director for the Musconetcong Watershed Association for over 15 years.  She currently works at the Nature Conservancy as a River Restoration Manager. Through all of this work, Barry guided a small organization to become a beacon for watershed associations and the poster child for small environmental nonprofits.

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Receiving the Education Award is Pat Heaney, who has served as both a steward of the environment and an educator about New Jersey’s wildlife.  She has spent her career teaching about nature to diverse audiences in an engaging way, while also effectively leading organizations in promoting environmental education. She has worked with thousands of students over the years, thrilling kids by helping them catch and hold a frog so they could feel the magic of nature. And for the past five years, Heaney has served on the Board of the Alliance for New Jersey Environmental Education (ANJEE), where she helps to spread the mission of environmental literacy to teachers throughout the state.

Accepting this year’s Inspiration Award will be Sharon Petzinger, a dedicated champion for stabilizing the Golden-winged warbler, an endangered species which has declined as steeply as nearly any songbird species in America. Petzinger has helped to create contracts with 30 landowners to help stop the decline of this bird and has helped to establish over 350 acres of actual habitat specifically created to promote this species.  Sharon works as a senior zoologist with the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife’s Endangered and Nongame Species Program. While her primary focus is on New Jersey habitat, Petzinger has also championed the efforts to consider the protection of wintering habitat in Central America by supporting organic shade-grown coffee plantations.

Diane Soucy, one of the founding members of The Raptor Trust in Millington, will be receiving the Legacy Award. Close to 130,000 songbirds, wading birds, waterfowl, hummingbirds, raptors, and other birds have been admitted to The Raptor Trust. For over 50 years now, Soucy has devoted her life to the rehabilitation of wild birds.  She has inspired thousands of people who have called or passed through the doors of The Raptor Trust, looking for help with an injured or orphaned wild bird. And, at 82, Soucy remains a contributing member of The Raptor Trust, cooking up fledgling woodpecker food and answering the phone and advising hundreds of people each year about the injured wildlife they have found.

The event continues CWF’s thirteen-year tradition of honoring women for their success in protecting, managing, restoring, and raising awareness for the State’s endangered and nongame wildlife species. Proceeds will benefit Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey’s efforts to protect rare and imperiled wildlife. 

Dinner reservations are accepted online at conservewildlifenj.org/getinvolved/event/women/, by phone at  609-292-3707, or by mailing a check made payable to ‘Conserve Wildlife Foundation’ to P.O. Box 180, Trenton, New Jersey, 08601.

Seeking stewards for 2019

Since 2005, hundreds of volunteers have made the commitment to protecting New Jersey’s environment by participating in the Rutgers Environmental Stewards Program. Offered by Rutgers Cooperative Extension, the program introduces non-scientists to the science underlying key environmental issues in the Garden State and offers them training to solve problems in their respective communities.  In January and February 2019, depending on which program you take, participants can enroll in a program in one of four New Jersey counties: Atlantic, Essex, Middlesex and Somerset.  Participants do not have to be county residents to participate in the program, which costs $250 for the 20 weeks of training.

Stewards start out in the classroom once a week, dealing with topics that include climate change, soil health, energy conservation, water resource protection, invasive species management, land use policy, wildlife ecology, protecting pollinators, and native vs invasive species, among others. Optional field trips to environmentally significant sites around the state are included as part of the program. Leading researchers from Rutgers are joined by government and non-profit representatives to share their knowledge with the stewards.

In order to become certified, graduates must complete a 60-hour volunteer internship of their choosing. Internships are unique and intended to align with the passion of the individual, the needs of the program and those of the local community. Some previous steward internship projects have included monitoring shorebird populations, composting restaurant food waste, mapping and eradicating invasive species in local parks, restoring native dune vegetation in shore communities, and creating rain gardens.

The classes, field trips, and internship do not replace a science degree. However, the program presents stewards with real-world environmental problems and introduces a network of experts and organizations that can help participants as they wrestle with solving problems in their local communities. For more information on previous internships and registration details, please visit envirostewards.rutgers.edu.

 

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