Goodbye, Laura!

Photo: Canada Geese, S. Hermann via Pixabat

We are going to really miss Laura McDonald, who is leaving her position as ASNV’s Program Manager after twelve years. Laura gets much of the credit for ASNV’s success in recent years and is the person responsible for the breadth and quality of our classes and events. 

Laura McDonald

She has arranged for a broad variety of speakers on topics including ornithology, wildlife photography, native plants, attracting pollinators, butterfly identification, and dyeing with native plants, to name just a few. She also developed productive partnerships with Oak Spring Garden Foundation and American Horticultural Society, enabling ASNV to offer programs with both organizations. Laura worked hard to develop relationships with public land managers in the region, including Meadowood Special Recreation Management Area and the I-95 Landfill Complex at Lorton. She has been a key part of the nature surveys led by Jim Waggener and has spearheaded the effort to incorporate this survey’s data into databases used in research.  

Laura oversaw our switch to Zoom-based programming very early in the pandemic, resulting in a huge increase in the number of people who take advantage of our classes and events. You’ve probably encountered her as she shepherded people into our virtual programs, dealt with camera and microphone problems, and provided supplemental information via the chat box. She is also responsible for our popular Monday Nature Mystery on Facebook.

Most of the behind-the-scenes work for ASNV is done by Laura. She answers many of the emails we receive, addressing concerns about everything from bird identification to what to do about sick birds and threats to natural habitat.  

Laura will be transitioning out of her Program Manager position over the next few weeks as she brings our new employee, Tina Dudley, up to speed. If you’d like to say goodbye to Laura, you can send her an email at laura@audubonva.org.

ASNV Welcomes a New Program Manager – Tina Dudley

Photo: Eastern Bluebirds, Danny Brown/Audubon Photography Awards

Tina Dudley is a lifetime animal lover, proud Arlington Regional Master Naturalist, and has 10+ years of experience working in the non-profit field with a focus on community building, adult education, inclusion, and equal access to opportunity. 

Tina Dudley

While working at Enterprise Community Partners, Tina helped manage the National Disaster Resilience Competition and worked on technical assistance projects for HUD grantees. She worked on projects to expand internet access to low-income families, increase availability of affordable housing, prioritize equitable city development strategies, and improve equal access to parks and recreation areas. Tina also has experience in fundraising and grant writing from her time at The Family Tree in Baltimore, MD. As the first in her family to go to college, Tina has lived experience with affordable housing, and with that brings a lens of empathy and inclusion to her work. She spent much of her childhood outdoors, playing in nature and visiting parks with her family. 

 Through Arlington Master Naturalists, Tina has reconnected with her childhood passion for nature and wildlife. Research has shown the restorative and equigenic power of nature, especially for children from low-income communities. Tina is also volunteers for Nature Core Outdoors Initiative, which seeks to increase access of low-income children to nature-education opportunities. 

As a resident of the DMV area for 15 years, she is thrilled to turn her professional focus to engaging all Northern Virginia communities in enjoying, conserving, and restoring nature for the benefit of birds, other wildlife, and people, as the new Program Manager for Audubon Society of Northern Virginia.