by Sue Roy
As the Plainsboro Preserve gears up for its busiest season, it faces some new challenges. Due to budget concerns, the New Jersey Audubon Society has decided to permanently close two of its centers and consolidate its programs into three regional centers. The Plainsboro Preserve will serve the central New Jersey region.
The preserve is already the single largest and busiest Audubon Center in the state. Says Sanctuary Director Sean Grace: “We will now be the hub for central New Jersey, since Sandy Hook has already closed and Rancocas is closing. There will be some changes here; for instance, the retail section of the gift shop will be closing, and the visitor center will become more of a true ‘welcoming’ center. But we will have the same level of programs and services that we have always had.”
“There are ongoing family programs from 3:30 to 5 p.m. every Saturday, with several special programs interspersed between the regular programming. For instance, we will be participating in the 30th annual World Series of Birding on Saturday, May 11.”
Grace notes that the Audubon Society continues to offer adult field trips, as well as the All Things Birds program, and hosts special events, such as the current nature photo contest.
Says Grace: “One of our most popular programs is our camp series. Some sessions are already full. The staff to camper ratio is approximately 5 to 1 because we have high school students, from ages 16 to 18, also serve as counselors, and we even have a junior counselor program for those kids who have aged out of the camp.”
New to the preserve is an outreach program for the schools. The preserve received a grant from the Horizon Foundation for the program, which is called “Discovering the NJ Ecosystems.” It is geared toward fourth graders and encourages them to get involved with nature and wildlife. Preserve staff visit the schools, and the students learn about reptiles and amphibians, mammals, and birds. Then the students have a field trip to the preserve.
The Plainsboro Preserve is a private, nonprofit organization, says Grace, who has been director since 2005. “We support ourselves through our programming and NJ Audubon memberships. And none of this would be possible without the support of Plainsboro Township.”
The preserve’s volunteers include several West Windsor and Plainsboro residents: Shardul Rathod, animal care; Neel Rathod, bird feeders and custodial services; Prasannasai Meruga, bird feeders; Raj Godse, information technology; Andrew Insua and Juan Pena-Velasquez, grounds and maintenance; Jason Xie, summer camp, bird feeders, and buildings and maintenance; Stephanie Kuech, animal care specialist; Jane Klein and Lorraine Jackson, front desk and administrative support; Harold Gattsek, front desk; Sanjana Bhat, front desk and marketing support; Alex Zhou and Yinan Zheng, animal care and grounds and maintenance; Henry Schaeffer, associate naturalist.
Also John Lilly, Eagle Scout project placing 20 nest boxes; Kurt Snieckus, information technology; Prashant Sharma, summer camp; Jason Li, summer camp and custodial services; Leslie Miller, front desk; and Shari-Beth Nadell, front desk and associate naturalist.
“The preserve is a way for community members to share their interests and passions about nature, and we cannot serve the community with environmental education without all of the dedicated volunteers,” Grace says.
Those interested in volunteering should visit www.njaudubon.org/SectionCenters/SectionPlainsboro/Volunteers.aspx and download the volunteer form.
