It takes patience, persistence, and passion to be part of a successful long-term volunteer program, on the part of both the leaders and the dedicated volunteers. To honor the volunteers’ role in supporting volunteer-based conservation programs, the New Jersey non-profit Citizens United to Protect the Maurice River (CU Maurice River) has hosted the volunteer recognition dinner and award called “Ah Why Knot.”
“The name relates to volunteers’ response to being asked to help,” says CU Maurice River’s Board President Jane Morton Galetto. “Knot,” of course, is also a play on Red Knot, the threatened shorebird species that flocks to the shores of Delaware Bay to feast on horseshoe crab eggs before departing to its breeding grounds in the Arctic.
Left: Laura teaches horseshoe crab biology 101 on a May on the Bay walk. Photo: Melanie Keller. Right: Laura trains new reTURN the Favor volunteers, starting with the most important information: how to tell the difference between males and females. Photo: Luciane Almeida.
One of this year’s recipients of the Ah Why Knot award was WHSRN’s own Laura Chamberlin! Laura was honored for her work to engage the Delaware Bay community in the conservation of shorebirds and horseshoe crabs, through her coordination of the reTURN the Favor effort. reTURN the Favor is a multi-partner program working to rescue overturned or impinged horseshoe crabs stranded on New Jersey’s Delaware Bay beaches.
Upon receiving this honor, Laura emphasized that the award is really a recognition shared by all the organizations and volunteers that have made reTURN the Favor a success since it began in 2013. During spring shorebird migration last year, 100 reTURN the Favor crew leaders led 698 rescue walks, during which 85,746 crabs were saved on 21 beaches – thanks to 2,084 volunteer hours! Since 2013, 2,500 rescue walks have saved 361,755 crabs. Overall, this collaborative effort has resulted in a greater understanding, by these volunteers and the friends and neighbors they recruit, of the Bayshore’s natural resources and conservation needs.
Laura, second from right, with the wooden Red Knot decoy, the symbol of the Ah Why Knot award. From left to right: Megan Thompson, CU Maurice River; Jane Morton Galetto, CU Maurice River; Larry Niles, Wildlife Restoration Partnerships; Amanda Dey, New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife; and Karla Rossini, CU Maurice River. Photo courtesy of Jane Morton Galetto.
Cover Photo: Horseshoe crabs on Delaware Bay. Photo: Laura Chamberlin.
