Dear partners in conservation,
The end of a year is a natural time to look back and reflect, and 2021 was quite a year for the Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art—one that was filled with a mixture of great successes and unique challenges. While we take time to honor this past year and look ahead towards the future, we’d like to first recognize the recent departure of the Conservancy’s Director, Ellen Ferretti. As you’ll read about further in this issue of Environmental Currents, Ellen recently left the Conservancy in November to return to her hometown and lead a small but mighty land trust doing great work in northeastern Pennsylvania. This issue marks our first as Acting Co-Directors of the Brandywine Conservancy.
As we processed the impact of Ellen’s departure, we also began to reflect on the transformative five years of her leadership. Taking a forward-thinking approach, Ellen was always preparing the Conservancy for whatever came next. While leading us through the preservation of incredible new acreage totals, she also focused on staff professional development at all levels of the organization.
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Most notably for us, that included our advancement to Assistant Directors in December 2019, which prepared us both for our new leadership roles as Acting Co-Directors. Over the last two years we have received incredible mentorship from Ellen, and also from the Brandywine’s Morris Stroud, Chairman of the Board; Virginia Logan, The Frolic Weymouth Executive Director & CEO; other members of the Executive Leadership and Trustees; and members of our Conservancy Committees. |
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Through their leadership and support, they have helped us prepare for the Conservancy’s next chapter. We are honored to be selected for this role and we embrace the opportunity that lies ahead to steward the Conservancy in the interim. |
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As the new year quickly approaches, we also hope to see you at our next Holiday Subscribers Party, which will finally be returning as an in-person event at the Brandywine River Museum of Art on January 6, 2022. Additional details and RSVP information can be found in this issue below.
It is a privilege to work for such an esteemed organization that has strong roots in the past and a mission for the perpetual conservation of our natural resources that is guiding us into the future. Our work requires partnerships, constituents, visitors, supporters and landowners for success, and we look forward to our continued work with you all.
Sincerely,
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Stephanie Armpriester & Grant DeCosta
Acting Co-Directors, Brandywine Conservancy
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A New Chapter for the Brandywine's Ellen Ferretti |
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Last month, staff bade a bittersweet farewell to Ellen Ferretti as she left her post as Director of the Brandywine Conservancy. After more than five years as an accomplished champion for conservation at the Brandywine, Ellen returned to her home in Dallas, PA, to begin a new job as Executive Director of North Branch Land Trust—a fellow accredited member of the Land Trust Alliance—where she had helped establish this organization early in her career. |
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SAVE THE DATE: Annual Holiday Subscribers Party |
Join us on Thursday, January 6, from 5:30–7:30 p.m., for the return of our in-person Holiday Subscribers Party, held at the Brandywine River Museum of Art in Chadds Ford, PA. A brief program will be held at 5:45 p.m., followed by a reception and access to the Brandywine’s galleries and Museum Shop. A formal invitation with registration links will follow soon.
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Over-seasoned: Our Taste for Salt Is Killing Our Freshwater Ecosystems |
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The American palate has developed a taste for salt, not only in our diets—to the detriment of our blood pressure—but also, in standard consumeristic fashion, in a cornucopia of markets that promise to make our lives easier. We soften our household water with salt, coat our crop fields and pastures with salt-laced fertilizers and compost, and deice our roads, bridges and parking lots with rock salt and brine. In this guest article by John K. Jackson, Ph.D., a senior research scientist at Stroud Water Research Center, learn about how the widespread and intense use of salt is now threatening our streams and rivers, marshes and ponds, and even groundwater—freshwater resources that were never meant to be so salty. |
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Invasive Species Spotlight: Japanese Knotweed |
Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica) spreads aggressively and forms dense thickets. Once established, Japanese knotweed is persistent and challenging to eradicate. It is also a particular threat to riparian and other low-lying areas because it is tolerant of flooding and quickly populates scoured shores and islands. Learn more about this invasive species, including how to identify Japanese Knotweed in its various stages and how to control its spread.
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New Faces of the Conservancy |
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Some new faces have joined our team!
Meet two of the Brandywine’s newest staff members: Liudmila “Mila” Carter and Julia Steiner.
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Featured Link: River Runner Visualization |
Where does a raindrop go once it hits the ground? Try out this interactive website to "drop" a raindrop anywhere in the contiguous United States and watch where it flows from the “nearest” stream to the sea.
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Featured Photo: New Roof at Penguin Court |
The Brandywine’s Penguin Court Preserve, in Westmoreland County, PA, recently undertook a phased rehabilitation project to the roof of its conservatory, which was built in 1988-89. In the latest phase of this project, a crane was brought in to remove and then place the cupola on the building, after the windows were replaced and support structures were rebuilt. Interior work will continue this winter. Click here to see photos of the project in action.
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Brandywine Conservancy
Route 1, Chadds Ford, PA, 19317
610.388.2700
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Header Photo:
White throated sparrow. Photo by Jim Moffett Photography
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