On October 27, six homeschool students, ages 8 – 12 joined education lead Laurel Schwartz and Amy Moore Thomas at at Cool Spring Preserve to capture the changes we see in nature with the coming of autumn. Students were prepared with the technical basics of using a DSLR camera, and explored the artistic elements of composition, contrast, and color. After...
On September 29th, PVAS offered our fall Nature Photography program at Cool Spring Preserve. Homeschool students aged 8-12 joined Americorps Educator Gus Rasich and Lead Naturalist/Teacher Amy Moore to learn how to capture the flora and fauna of the preserve and gain hands-on experience. Students were prepared with the technical basics of using a DSLR camera, and explored the artistic...
On April 30, homeschool students, ages 8- 12, joined PVAS staff for our third “Capturing Spring” nature photography program at Cool Spring Preserve. This program was led by Amy Moore and Emily Sperling. Each student was provided their own Nikon DSLR camera and were challenged to capture signs of spring. Students snapped shots of blooming flowers, bees and butterflies visiting...
On March 19th and 29th, homeschool students joined PVAS staff for our “Capturing Spring” nature photography program. This program was led by Amy Moore, Abby Freidline and Emily Sperling. Each student was provided their own Nikon DSLR camera and were challenged to students practiced photography techniques such as automatically and manually focusing on a subject. Students also practiced using both...
At PVAS’s March 10th Monthly Program, Ariel Firebaugh shared a wealth of information and interesting facts during her presentation on ‘Fireflies’. Fireflies bring magic to our summer evenings, entertaining and bringing joy to all ages. We were eager to have Ariel enlighten and educate us about these amazing creatures. Ariel discussed the following topics (and more!) to the PVAS community...
On January 13th, we joined Dr. Leskey’s for their PVASMonthly Program presentation on ‘The Invasive Spotted Lanternfly: Ecological and Agricultural Impacts and Potential Solutions.’ The spotted lanternfly is native to China, India and Vietnam. This invasive species was first detected in Berks County, PA in 2014. Since that time it has spread to additional states including WV, VA, DE, MD,...
Eight creative homeschool students, ages 8-13, participated in this January’s “Capturing Winter”; PVAS’s special nature photography workshop at Cool Spring Preserve. “Capturing Winter” was led by youth program instructors Abby Freidline and Amy Moore. Students began the day with the prompt; “What benefits does nature photography provide society?” The students suggested that nature photography is a great way to remember...
On November 11th, Susan Fluharty, Master Naturalist and retired teacher, and Ellen Murphy teamed up to produce ‘Road Warriors’, PVAS’s November Program. Mrs. Fluharty researched and compiled information on our local roadside weeds found along secondary roads as well as I-81, and together, Ellen and Susan have produced ‘Road Warriors’. Mrs. Murphy discusses those common weeds in the November Monthly...
Wil Hershberger – the mind behind songsofinsects.com – leads a Singing Insect Walk for PVAS each year. This year’s walk was held on July 31st at Cool Spring Preserve. Because attendance was more limited than usual due to COVID-19, and because Wil has such a way with words, we’d like to share his post-walk write-up: “We walked the northern portion...
As part of their “Finding Peace in Nature” series, our friends at West Virginia Rivers recently highlighted Cool Spring Preserve. Tanner Haid – WV River’s Eastern Panhandle Field Coordinator – writes about his family’s experience visiting Cool Spring, and how placing the preserve under a conservation easement is one step toward ensuring safe drinking water in WV’s Eastern Panhandle. You...
© 2026 · Potomac Valley Audubon—Website powered by The Downstream Project