Save the Date!
2025 Annual Meeting & Program (in person and via Zoom)
Saturday, November 1, 2025 from 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM
The Center at Belvedere
540 Belvedere Blvd.
Charlottesville, VA 22901
Please join us for our 2025 Annual Meeting & Program on Saturday, November 1 starting at 10am at The Center at Belvedere in Charlottesville, VA. [map]
You can attend in person (We hope you will. It’s been far too long since we’ve seen many of you!) or virtually by Zoom. We do need your attendance either in-person or via Zoom in order to have a quorum for voting.
We will vote to elect Officers and Directors.
All attendees (in-person and via Zoom) will be entered in a drawing to win a choice of Bluebird apparel from our Shop , and a special bluebird book.
Meeting & Program Schedule
10:00am – Social Time. Coffee, Tea, and Pastries.
10:30am – Business Meeting.
Elect Officers and Directors.
11:00am - Program: The Virginia Grassland Bird Initiative
Lauria McShane, Program Assistant for the Virginia Grassland Bird Initiative at the Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC), will present an overview of the Virginia Grassland Bird Initiative (VGBI). The Initiative — a partnership between Smithsonian’s Virginia Working Landscapes, The Piedmont Environmental Council, American Farmland Trust, and Quail Forever — is innovating new ways to reverse the declines of grassland birds on working lands in the Virginia Piedmont, Blue Ridge, and Shenandoah Valley. Together, VGBI partners work with landowners and producers in 16 counties to restore grassland habitat for the benefit of birds and farms.
12 Noon - Lunch and free time. Catch up with friends, then join fellow members for lunch on your own in Charlottesville.
Lauria McShane joined PEC’s staff in October 2023 as an assistant to the Virginia Grassland Bird Initiative. Prior to joining PEC, Lauria graduated from Sweet Briar College in May of 2023 with her B.S. in Biology. Lauria also studied in the Conservation, Biodiversity and Society program at the Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation in the fall of 2022. Shortly after graduation, Lauria worked with the James River Association as a riparian buffer steward where she completed site visits and reports to help landowners fund and maintain their CREP sites. Lauria also studied and worked in sustainable agriculture productions at her campus greenhouse, garden and apiary where she discovered a passion for producing food in a way that respects the environment and the community. Lauria also works for Seven Bends Native Plant Nursery as part of their marketing and outreach team and as an Apprentice Beekeeper for Trophic- a local honeybee hive management service.
The Center at Belvedere, Charlottesville, VA