Through experiences that enrich and inspire, SOAR  delivers educational and professional science programs that connect culture and curriculum, facilitate equitable educational strategies, develop young-adult wildlife advocates, and cultivate global citizens focused on social and environmental sustainability.

As part of our mission, we collaborate with organizations that share the same enthusiastic objectives for preserving nature.  These objectives are supported by various activities, and include habitat restoration and remediation, biodiversity studies, and citizen science projects.  

We are thrilled to work with fellow nonprofits, environmental commissions, and nature centers to highlight the importance of positive human impact on the environment.   

SOAR Education, Inc.

This citizen science project is a component of a collaboration between the Demarest Nature Center (DNC) and SOAR Education, Inc.  The first year of funding for this project was made possible by a partnership between Eagle Scout Oliver Couillard,  and SOAR Education, Inc.  SOAR has utilized Emerson Meadow as a focal point of interactive community engagement via a native pollinator garden project.

Demarest Nature Center (DNC) is located in Demarest, NJ.  It is 55 acres of meadows, forests, and wetlands. Through active stewardship and community engagement,  DNC board members and community partners work to maintain this vital green space for current and future generations

Emerson Meadow is located along the oft-traveled Meadow Trail and provided the perfect location for the installation of two native plant gardens for increasing pollinator activity and local biodiversity.   This Chronolog is placed by the larger of the two garden plots with a partial view of the grasses of the meadow.

Thanks to an existing bird feeder, there is consistent bird activity of the local avian residents: red-winged blackbirds, cardinals, black-capped chickadees, downy woodpeckers, and many others.  Chipmunks are the prevalent small mammal, along with rabbits and squirrels.  Deer roam through the nature center and are often seen grazing in the meadow.  Lucky trail visitors can also see foxes, raccoons, and skunks.

Prior to the pollinator garden project, milkweed and various grasses made up the majority of the vegetation in the meadow.   To encourage an increase in biodiversity, specifically pollinators, the garden project installation has introduced native plant species to the meadow.  These include Dense Blazing Star, Great Blue Lobelia, Cardinal Flower, Bee Balm, Honeysuckle vine, Magnus Echinacea, and Buttonbush shrubs (to name a few).  Insect hotels have also been installed to invite and encourage the critters that play such a critical role in the garden ecosystem.

Why is this project so important?  Pollinator gardens serve as functional beauties that provide a hub for diverse pollinators.  Pollination is crucial for a strong and healthy ecosystem.  Pollinators are responsible for 1 out of 3 bites of food we take each day!  This project also alleviates habitat fragmentation created in the surrounding area of the local high school and residences.  Creating a welcoming garden with key habitat components will encourage regular pollinator activity and increase the biodiversity of the meadow and the immediate surrounding area.  It also naturally beautifies the space,  increases biological control of “pest” insects, and provides community engagement and learning opportunities.

Your photo contributions help track the garden's progress as it flourishes.  There have already been sightings of hummingbirds and evidence of activity at the pallet insect hotel!  This is just the beginning, though, and the photographs taken here will help document the benefits of the garden, and of the strategies to be maintained or implemented to ensure its success for the betterment of the local ecosystem and its denizens.

SOAR Education, Inc.

New Jersey

1 chronolog managed by SOAR Education, Inc.

DNC Emerson Meadow

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