It was a beautiful July afternoon in Gallatin, New York when Claudia Knab-Vispo and Kyle Bradford arrived for a scouting walk in the meadow where they’d be leading a walk later that evening. The site, a family-owned property managed by Eli Arnow and Avalon Bunge, is in the process of being converted to a native biodiversity hotspot. After two years without mowers in the fields, native plants were evident in every direction, and bees and butterflies floated among them.

Community members teamed up to support ecological restoration on Kite’s Nest campus. Volunteers learned about compost care, helped with the “lasagna layering” method for soil building, and cleaned up the site. Kite’s Nest was a recipient of PCA’s 2023 Ecological Restoration Grants program.

As a parent, caregiver, educator, or anyone with children in their lives, talking about the realities of the climate crisis can be hard. On May 30th, Harriet Shugarman, Executive Director of ClimateMama, shared her insights on how to inform, inspire, and empower the next generation.

On April 25th, Matt Schlesinger, Chief Zoologist with the NY Natural Heritage Program, joined our 2023 Morning Coffee series to discuss “Preserving Native New York Pollinators: What to Know and What to Do,” sharing the results of the recently completed Empire State Native Pollinator Survey.

Thank you to everyone who joined our Climate Action Mixer in Poughkeepsie! In addition to wonderful networking, we learned about state and federal funding opportunities for local climate action, with presentations by Mark Lowery, NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, and Juan Gutierrez, US Environmental Protection Agency.

Bread Alone is a family-owned business that has been baking organic bread for 40 years. As an early adopter of sustainability measures, they are now a certified “carbon-neutral” business. CEO Nels Leader shared his insights with us as part of our Morning Coffee series.

Sarah Brannen, Former Poughkeepsie Common Council Member, joined Salem, Former Poughkeepsie Common Council Chair and Director of the Hudson Valley Food System Coalition, to discuss Community Choice Aggregation, Waterfront Development and Historic Preservation in Poughkeepsie as part of our Morning Coffee series.

An atmospheric scientist, National Geographic Explorer, Research Scholar with Bard College's Center for Environmental Policy, and tornado researcher, Dr. Anton Seimon shared insights from decades of observing Hudson Valley storm phenomena and climate change impacts to help us plan for the future.

Grant funding from federal, state, and foundation sources can galvanize your climate-related project into action or help bring it to the next level. In this Morning Coffee session, Kristen Wilson provided an overview of strategies for approaching the grant process with success.

Thank you to everyone who attended the launch of the Hudson Valley Climate Action Network and our first Climate Action Mixer! On September 15th, we gathered for a festive reception to meet climate allies from across the region as we celebrated our community and local network of friends and collaborators.