 Juvenile broad banded copperhead; Photo: Larry Mendoza important role that snakes play in the environment. “A couple of snakes in your yard will take care of your rodent population,” he said. “If you have chickens, snakes will make sure your hen house is free of rodents,” he noted. “If they take an egg or two once in a while, it seems like a fair exchange for their protection,” he said with a grin. When and how did you become interested in nature and the natural world? “My earliest memory of nature was dinosaurs,” Larry stated. “They looked so much like dragons.” This led to a love of reptiles of all kinds. There was a particular park his family visited frequently that he recalled being “filled with lizards.” He was not allowed by his mother to bring any home – but one day he caught a lizard, put it in a cup, and snuck it into their car. Unfortunately the lizard jumped out of the cup and he couldn’t find it. He has a vivid memory of what happened next. “Two days later my mother was eating fast food in the car while waiting for his father to run an errand on base and the lizard jumped up into her lap, “ Larry said. “My mother threw her French fries into the air and screamed.” Describe what you do on your property to support a healthy ecosystem. Larry and his wife live in Glen Allen, about 20 minutes from Richmond. While the 295 interstate is close by, his home is in a wooded area where it is easy to get out and enjoy nature. “I’ve stopped raking leaves,” Larry said, explaining the importance of letting leaf debris decompose into a natural soil amenity. One of his best friends is a leader in the Virginia Native Plant Society and is urging Larry to plant natives on his land. “I know he would be a consultant – and might actually offer to do the planting for me,” Larry said with a smile. He definitely wants to make part of his yard a place for Monarch butterflies. “Their life cycle is simply amazing,” he stated, “and I’d like to be part of the effort to create the habitat they need to survive and thrive.” What is the most amazing thing you have experienced in nature? One of the most amazing moments in nature he experienced was when he and his wife were on vacation at Bethany Beach Delaware. It is normal to see pods of dolphins out in the distance on the Atlantic coast from a beach, but what was really amazing was when he was swimming and dove under water, he could hear the dolphins calling and making sounds. “It was so neat to actually hear them under water as they were chatting away and communicating, probably organizing hunting or who knows” he related. “But that was an amazing experience.”  Larry Mendoza with Eastern copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix); Photo: Julianne Tripp What is something you would like to share with ORMN members? Larry serves as the Chair of the Regulatory Affairs Committee of the Virginia Herpetological Society (“a one-man show”) where he is an advocate and liaison with the community. He is also on the educational outreach committee and travels all over the state, giving talks, tabling at various events, meeting with educators, outreach coordinators, and others to share his knowledge of snakes and to help more people appreciate the invaluable role they plan in the natural world. He has presented to a number of Master Naturalist chapters in Virginia as well as given talks to preschools, and emergency management certification courses on snake bite treatment and venomous snake identification to help them better understand the physiology, behavior and value of snakes in Virginia. This liaison role led to him being appointed as stakeholder to the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources planning group, which was charged with developing a plan to encourage people to view wildlife. “VDWR never had a position or information on viewing wildlife so the planning group asked a researcher from Virginia Institute of Technology (VTEC) to help. “With the help of this VTEC researcher we developed a statewide plan with goals and milestones that were published in 2021,” Larry explained. He is very proud to have been a part of this effort and looks forward to more opportunities to give back to the community. Interviewed by Charlene Uhl, January 2023  Eastern Hog-nosed snake (Heterodon platirhinos) in Loudoun County VA; Photo: Larry Mendoza
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 Macro photo of native bee enjoying the native, Verbena hastata; Photo: Karen Tavakoli Karen Tavakoli’s family moved to Illinois when she was nine years old, which allowed the family to realize their dream of having a horse farm. Their farm was surrounded by thousands of acres of land that was farmed by local farmers for hay or crop production. The barter system was actively utilized, and as her family became part of the community, she and her sister also became part of the farming workforce. . “I was hooked from the start,” said Karen. In exchange for helping in the hayfields, a local farmer would have his son help them unload the square bales for their horses and stack them in their farm’s hayloft. She learned to drive and operate the hay baler the very next year. In her teens, she learned to plow fields, run the combine, and move semi-trucks around the fields for easier staging. “Although I loved farming and growing things,” she explained, “the challenges and hardships I observed made me choose a different career path when the time came.” Her own family faced hardship during the 2008 recession which led them to move to Virginia. When she graduated from high school, Karen knew she wanted to make a difference so she enrolled in college part-time and became a firefighter/EMT with plans to continue her education, with the goal of eventually becoming a nurse. After about five years working as an EMT in the emergency room at the Level 1 Trauma Center in Fairfax and continuing to take college classes, “I realized I was miserable and wanted to go back to what truly made me happy - growing plants and being out in nature.” She gave notice at the hospital, didn’t sign up for any more college classes and began to study and read all she could about landscaping with nature and native plants. She also started to help friends and neighbors with small landscaping projects around their homes. This led to applying for a position at Fauquier Spring Country Club as a horticulturist. Karen noted that most of the plant beds on the country club grounds were filled with annuals that were pulled up and discarded at the end of the season. She started to work with a local wholesale company – Owl Run Nursery – to introduce perennials and shrubs around the golf course. During one of her visits to Owl Run Nursery, she mentioned to the owner that she was currently studying for the chemical applicator’s license. He wanted to hire her to do some spraying at the nursery but Karen was too busy at the time to take on another task. As the growing season came to an end, so did her position at Fauquier Springs Country Club and she was laid off. During her layoff, the owner of Owl Run Nursery contacted her to see if she was available to come out for a consult “and the rest is history” Karen said with a smile. When and how did you become interested in nature and the natural world? “I can’t recall a moment when I wasn’t interested in nature,” Karen shared, “but I know it started with my parents who are also nature lovers who care about the environment.” Karen recounted how she recently moved and, in the process of unpacking, she found her second grade yearbook. “We had to write something about each month,” she said. “For the month of April, I wrote about how much I loved Earth Day and that ‘every day should be Earth Day!’” Describe what you do on your property to support a healthy ecosystem. Karen has been removing lawn and invasive plants, with the goal of having only 20% being lawn and the remaining 80% planted with a diverse assortment of native shrubs and perennials. While a small number are not native, “I can’t let go of my grandma’s daffodils or peonies”, she explained; “but they are not invasive.” Due to a very abundant mosquito population on rainy days, Karen was motivated to put up bat houses – both to encourage their presence as well as a natural defense system against the mosquitoes. “When I put up the bat houses around my home, several neighbors expressed concern.” The neighbors asked if she wasn’t worried about rabies from the bats. Karen shared the fact that one bat can eat up to 1,000 mosquito-sized insects per hour (whereas the odds of a human getting bitten by a bat is estimated at 1 in one million and getting rabies from a bat bite was about one in 200). “It was a pretty teachable moment,” she said with a big smile.  Karen Tavakoli photographing migrating warblers at Great Dismal Swamp; spring 2022; Courtesy of Ophiuchus Photography What is the most amazing thing you have experienced in nature? Karen noted that she spends a lot of time in nature and as a result, has had many amazing experiences. She offered the back story to her choice of her most amazing experience: Karen started working at Owl Run Nursery almost five years ago when there were many techniques that are no longer practiced. Due to the poor soil on the nursery property, which was primarily due to construction soil that had been used to level the ground, her boss began to grow trees above ground in bags (a very progressive practice at the time). But the nursery still sprayed an herbicide around the base of each bag, leaving the ground mostly bare or covered with invasive plants. In her role as a manager/grower, she quickly did away with this practice, slowly beginning to remove invasive plants and encourage natives to re-establish themselves. Since initiating this promotion of natives, Karen has counted over 80 species of native plants that now grow beneath the nursery trees. ”This year I had three amazing new finds,” she shared. “In the spring two native ferns – Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides) and sensitive fern (Onoclea sensibilis) – had established themselves under the canopy of the bag-grown trees. In July, she found a Dyemaker’s Puffball (Pisolithus tinctorius) growing in the tree bag with her white oaks. “It was like receiving a message of thanks from nature,” she said. For Karen, it is a confirmation that she is replicating nature in her nursery practices. What is something you would like to share with ORMN members? Karen loves opportunities to educate people: neighbors, friends, customers, anyone who will listen to her – as her bat house story demonstrates. Karen is also exploring wildlife photography, particularly taking pictures of birds. She has photographs from her hikes along the Appalachian Trail as well as from the different habitats on the nursery grounds. She also is a big fan of Doug Tallamy’s book, Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants. Karen believes that we can all live harmoniously with nature. She feels she is in the exact right place to help nursery practices be improved to be more “green”. Interviewed by Charlene Uhl, October 2022  Photo: Christopher Frost CLICK HERE to watch Alison Zak's October 2022 presentation. NOTE -- the first 9 minutes have captions but poor audio quality. This is remedied for the final 51 minutes. Alison Zak, born in Tampa, Florida, earned her undergraduate degree at the University of South Florida, and then went on to get her masters in anthropology at San Diego State University where she studied primatology and human-wildlife conflict. She worked for six years in environmental education and outreach, including at the Potomac Valley Audubon Society, the National Zoo, and most recently at the Clifton Institute. Alison is also an Emerging Wildlife Conservation Leader (Class 9), writer, and yoga teacher. Alison is founder of the Human-Beaver Coexistence Fund (HBCF), an organization dedicated to educating the public about the benefits of coexisting with beavers. The organization provides informational resources and financial support to help address human-beaver conflict using nonlethal management strategies. Partners include the Clifton Institute, Potomac Valley Audubon Society, Green Muslims, Old Town’s Open Book, the Animal Welfare Institute, and Beaver Institute. When and how did you become interested in nature and the natural world? Like most children, Alison was always interested in nature. She had a large collection of stuffed animals as a 5-year old, and when she was in 3rd grade her grandfather gave her a bird field guide to use, which made her decide she wanted to be an ornithologist. She often observed the interaction of people with nature and noted that nature was often discussed as if “people weren’t part of nature.”  Photo: Alison Zak After becoming a yoga instructor, Alison took great joy in incorporating mindfulness practices in outdoor programs to inspire curiosity and compassion and enhance her clients’ connection with nature. She is fascinated with the many poses that have names associated with nature (e.g., pigeon, downward facing dog, cow-face and of course, Sun Salutation). Alison began to read non-fiction books and essays that discussed the intersection of people and animals and to write about the intersection between people and nature. She also participated in a “pitch competition” on Twitter that resulted in an editor choosing her book proposal on using yoga to connect with animals and nature. Alison's book, Wild Asana, is scheduled to come out in summer 2023. Describe what you do on your property to support a healthy ecosystem. “My husband and I have a townhome in Oakton,” Alison said. “Like most townhomes we have a small fenced-in yard.” They decided about a year ago to convert everything to native plants, with the exception of a single raised bed for growing their own food. They put in two pawpaw trees and “we have even put pots with native plants along the fence outside our yard to extend that ‘natural environment’ and so far no one has complained yet!” Alison and her husband also convinced the townhome association's pest control company not to spray along their fence line. The pest control technician highlighted that the spray would kill spiders--thinking that would be a selling point for the “woman of the house." “My husband said, ‘You don’t know my wife.' "  North American beaver (Castor canadensis), Photo: Alison Zak What is the most amazing thing you have experienced in nature?
“All of my most amazing and profound nature experiences are in the mountains,” Alison explained. “I feel a sense of connection in the mountains that I don’t feel elsewhere. I feel the love of my grandparents and ancestors in the mountains of West Virginia, my favorite state. I feel closest to the divine above tree line in Rocky Mountain National Park ‘where the sky is the size of forever and the flowers are the size of a millisecond’ (quote by Ann Zwinger). And a few years ago I felt the sheer thrill of sharing habitat with snow leopards (even if I didn’t see them!) in the Indian Himalayas.” What is something you would like to share with ORMN members? “I would like ORMN members to encourage friends and neighbors to view beavers as a ‘natural change agent’ - a species that changes the environment as a part of the natural cycle of life.” Alison noted that beaver activity to create ponds often results in damage to trees as well as flooding of agricultural land. While she is a big supporter of this natural activity, she also realizes that it may jeopardize the income and well-being of landowners. She pointed out that her organization’s name – Human-Beaver Coexistence Fund – has “Human” as the first noun. The well-being of humans and beavers are of equal concern to HBCF! Interviewed by Charlene Uhl, September 2022  Saddled Prominent (1st instar – just out of the egg); Photo: Lee Alloway The son of a career military officer, Lee Alloway was born in Korea and as a U.S. Air Force officer himself, he lived in 10 U.S. states as well as Guam, Germany, Hungary and “the usual unusual locations during deployment.” He has spent a total of 28 years in Virginia, moving here in 2000. Lee graduated with a BS in chemistry during the Vietnam War. His plans for graduate school were derailed by a low draft number and a “Welcome” letter from his draft board. Believing that Vietnam would look better from the air than from the ground, he signed up for a 6-year tour with the Air Force and enjoyed it so much he stayed another 20 years. He worked in Germany and Hungary for a few years after retirement before returning to Virginia, where he worked at the Pentagon for another 14 years. His work and travel has taken him to every U.S. state and more than 100 countries. When and how did you become interested in nature and the natural world? “My earliest memories are of growing up in Georgia with a forest behind the house. I spent most of my free hours roaming the woods, eating blackberries and looking for snakes,” Lee recalls. “I did lots of camping in high school and worked for Kansas City Parks and Recreation as a camp counsellor in the summer during college,” Lee noted. In addition to dogs, cats and birds, Lee had pet snakes (some venomous), coyotes and one skunk. “Interest in nature never left me.” Describe what you do on your property to support a healthy ecosystem. Three years ago, Lee and his wife purchased a house set on three acres abutting Culpeper County's Lake Pelham. Their property is surrounded by 58 acres of forest on one side and the lake on the other side, offering them “plenty of biodiversity to track.” Over the last three years, they have planted native trees and grasses on their land and have nurtured wetland plants and milkweed along the lake shore. The added benefit is “the natives and the fruit and vegetables we grow attract plenty of bugs for me to photograph,” Lee said with a smile. He and his wife also observe many snakes in their area and actually had black snakes denning in their basement their first year in the house. What is the most amazing thing you have experienced in nature? Given his extensive travels and many unique experiences, it’s not surprising that Lee found this a tough question to answer. Here are just a few he shared: ➢ a close encounter with a parrot snake in Belize, a vibrant green snake with an amazing blue tongue; ➢ an unexpected and breathtaking sight of thousands of azaleas blooming at high altitude in the Himalayas; and ➢ the spectacular waterfalls and forests of Bhutan (80% of the country is forested) as well as the sound of thunder echoing through the valleys. “Bhutan (Druk Yul) deserves its name as Land of the Thunder Dragon,” he noted.  Metric paper wasp showing off its egg; Photo: Lee Alloway What is something you would like to share with ORMN members? “I've been a photographer as long as I can remember,” Lee explained. He set up a dark room and processed his own film while he was in elementary school. He noted that his interest in macro photography is more recent, starting about 20 years ago. Lee began going to BugShot workshops, which are photography classes offered in the United States and around the world that focus on the local insects. When the pandemic hit and stopped him from traveling, he began to focus on photography of local bugs. His surprise at the diversity of local insect life convinced him to share his findings with his neighbors.  Robberfly does yeoman’s work eating all manner of garden pests; Photo: Lee Alloway “My mother and sister were both librarians, so I grew up around books and have several thousand books in my own library” Lee related. “I have written songs and poetry most of my life but only got around to publishing anything in 2010.” Over the last two years, Lee decided to combine his publishing experience and his photography of local insects by self-publishing three books on insects, which are all illustrated with his photographs. “I begrudgingly accept the advent of e- books and have produced e-versions of most of my recent books,” Lee noted. His three latest books (Wazzat Lep?, Wazzat Bug? and Wazzat Beetle?) feature some of the 1,000 species Lee found one season, which he says speaks well of our biodiversity here in central Virginia. His books can be found on Amazon, a local bookstore in Orange called Spelled Ink and directly from his own company - Ancient Eagle Press (https://ancient-eagle-press.square.site/)
Interviewed by Charlene Uhl, April 2022
In February 2022, Keith received the Best Effort Award for Land Ethics and Conservation from the Bowmans Hill Wildflower Preserve. This recognized the creation of the Potomac Valley Native Plant Collection at Meadowlark. Recently, Keith spent four months with the American Horticultural Society helping them with a needs assessment for various new projects. He left to assist with a new grandchild – but is continuing to consult with them on education and travel programs. During the forty years he worked as an interpretive naturalist and natural resource manager, he has studied wilderness areas and botanical gardens in Asia, the Pacific, Africa, Australia, the Americas and Europe. When and why did you become interested in nature and the natural world? Keith cannot remember when he wasn’t interested in nature. While his father was not an outdoor person, his mother was always outdoors – taking him on walks through the local parks and enjoying being outside whenever the weather permitted. He has always been fascinated by birds but said he’s not a “lister – I just enjoy them in the environment in which I see them.” While enjoying outdoor sports such as rock climbing, mountaineering or traveling the globe, Keith was fascinated with the natural world and the native ecosystems. He is particularly interested in regional flora. He has been to more than 100 botanical gardens in nearly 40 countries around the world where he always makes a point of visiting native plant collections. What is the most amazing thing you have experienced in nature? In his travels around the world, Keith has seen many amazing things in nature, including lava flowing into the sea on the big island of Hawaii. “It was stunning to essentially see earth being created,” he said. But one experience in nature stands out more than any other. During his gap decade between high school and college, Keith worked for the Montgomery County School System, taking students on white water rafting, camping and climbing trips. One of those trips stands out vividly in his memory. “It was early May and we were hiking Old Rag to camp on the summit, which was allowed back then,” he explained. The following day they climbed up Mount Robertson and then dropped into Weakley Hollow where they were met by the most phenomenal site. It was covered in wildflowers. “I was blown away. I had never seen such a diversity of flowers in my life,” Keith stated. That experience was an epiphany for Keith, who decided to go to college and study plants.
But he cautions that we need to be realistic. The nursery stock is still 99% ornamental plants. “We can’t set the world back 500 years before Europeans started altering the landscape on a vast scale,” Keith explained. “You can have native and nonnative plants which are not aggressive that remain ecologically stable.” He also noted that climate change is having an immense impact on our existing native plants. “Red maples are becoming prolific and grapevines more aggressive.” Actions that we can take include legislation like that adopted by Oregon which prohibits the sale of English ivy.
Tell us about your work as a Seasonal Naturalist, Potomac Overlook Regional Park and Smithsonian Associates Study Tour Leader “As native plant specialist, I really enjoy introducing new plants to park visitors,” Keith stated. “I always stress that all native plants in cultivation support our regional biodiversity,” he emphasized. “Native plants are patronized by many insects, birds, mammals, and even reptiles.” He tells park visitors that when they use native plants in their yard, they’re supporting the local ecosystem – and in turn, entire eco-regions. “Our area is truly diverse and a great place to grow natives,” he explains that folks will be amazed at the diversity of life that appears as their “native-scape” garden matures over time. As a local study leader for Smithsonian Associates, he has led guided tours for over 20 years. These have included tours to the Chesapeake Bay, West Virginia Highlands, Shenandoah and Great Falls National Parks. Keith maintains a blog – keithtomlinson.blogspot.com – that includes articles on botanical gardens he has visited as well as information on environmental education and nature resource management with a focus on plant diversity conservation. He is careful to explain that he is an interpretive naturalist – not a scientist. “I try to make nature ‘accessible’ to the general public by sharing experiences with them in natural areas.” Interviewed by Charlene Uhl, May 2022 Kinner Ingram was born and raised in Roanoke, Virginia. He has always viewed Roanoke as the gateway to southwest Virginia. He attended Virginia Tech, which is “just 45 minutes up the road from Roanoke.” He started out majoring in wildlife science, then gravitated towards a Conservation major that was “more hands-on." During his undergraduate years he worked each summer at a regional wildlife rehabilitation operation. “I have always enjoyed watching animals in their natural habitats,” he said. He found that working in wildlife rehabilitation helped him learn many of the small adaptations that help animals do what they need to do.
What is the most amazing thing you have experienced in nature? Kinner described two experiences that immediately came to mind. “We were conducting a prescribed burn in a field and I saw a turtle digging a hole to escape the heat,” he said. “And while it was painful, I also remember very clearly when I was bitten by an owl when I worked in animal rehabilitation.” He also recalled what it was like as a teenager sitting in a tree stand in the early morning hours and “watching the world come alive around me.” Consistent with his fascination with nature, Kinner recounted a time during his wildlife rehab experience when a woodpecker was brought in but did not survive. The vet on duty performed an autopsy and showed the employees how a woodpecker’s tongue is exceptionally long and wraps around its skull as a cushion when the woodpecker is drilling holes.
What is something you would like to share with ORMN members? Kinner recently became the ORMN chapter advisor. He shared several things about himself that he wanted our members to know:
Describe what you do on your property to support a healthy ecosystem. Tree and her family live on 3 acres in Montgomery County that were previously logged, then used as a cow pasture. They leave the remaining wooded area alone and typically mow the grass a minimum number of times during the summer. “We mostly mow to keep the tick population away from the house”, she explained. They try to minimize their use of chemicals. “I try to manage insect pests in my vegetable garden by hand-picking caterpillars and squash bugs, or timing my plantings to avoid the worst of the insect damage.” She rarely cleans up her flower garden until late spring, “when most of the overwintering invertebrates have woken up.” A pile of cut wood is home for bugs, birds, snakes and the occasional rabbit. Her family has composted for years but recently got four pet Nigerian dwarf goats. “They have been getting much of my vegetable scraps as treats,” she said with a chuckle. The goats do their part by eating multiflora rose, autumn olive, and oriental bittersweet. “All of their soiled bedding now goes into the garden to enrich the soil.” Her family also has solar panels in the back yard. Tree truly enjoys sharing experiences in nature with her 14-year old daughter. “We recently saw a pair of black snakes mating, which offered a wonderful chance to discuss what an ecosystem is and the importance of procreation by animals that are integral to the balance of nature.” What is the most amazing thing you have experienced in nature? Tree had a marvelous list of amazing things she has seen in nature. Here are just a few:
What is something you would like to share with ORMN members?
Tree shared something that is rooted in the concept of biophilia: “One thing I have learned over the years is that not everyone has the same need or desire to experience or learn about nature as deeply as others do.” She has recognized that some folks are perfectly content to watch birds at a feeder or take a walk in a park. “My grandmother adored butterflies and flowering plants – but she only knew their common names,” Tree noted. She continued, “Some people simply appreciate the beauty of the natural world without understanding the workings of the ecosystem before them, and that’s perfectly fine.” She believes the more people who enjoy nature on any level, the greater the support there will be for protecting our natural resources. With respect to the spotted lanternfly, “The more you know about this insect, the less fearful you will be,” Tree stated. “This isn’t like a Japanese horror film (remember Mothra?). These insects are actually fairly fragile. They do not bite, they don’t invade your home like stink bugs, they are not a major threat to landscape plants and, they are easy to recognize and control.” Interviewed by Charlene Uhl, March 2022 Ann and Bruce Bowman have been Master Naturalists since 2013, graduating as members of Old Rag chapter’s Class 6. They responded to our interview questions in their own words, below. When and why did you become interested in nature and the natural world?
How long have you lived in Virginia? If not a lifelong resident, where did you grow up/come from?
What is the most amazing thing you have experienced in nature?
Describe what you do on your own property (house, farm, woods, etc.) to support a healthy ecosystem.
Tell us about the projects for which you have volunteered and what you would share about those projects with other ORMN members.
Interviewed by Charlene Uhl October 2021 Photographs of Bowman property in fall courtesy of Ann and Bruce Bowman
Celia at Pen Druid courtesy of Justin Proctor
The focus of these biologists, including Celia, is to help private landowners by providing free technical advice on managing early successional habitats (old fields, restored meadows, pine savannas, etc.), developing management plans, and connect them (if needed) with financial assistance to implement those plans. Celia is the biologist for northeast Virginia and provides service to 20 counties. In the piedmont, that includes Culpeper, Fauquier, Loudon, and Rappahannock counties. “I’m on the road a lot,” she noted. “But I know that my contributions and those of my fellow private land biologists are making a significant difference in land management across the State.” |
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