A free public program at the Lancaster Community Library in Kilmarnock titled “Virginia’s Freshwater Tidal Marshes: A Coastal Gem” is being offered by the Northern Neck Chapter of the Virginia Native Plant Society on Thursday, April 17 beginning at noon with light refreshments and social time followed by the program at 12:15. The speaker will be Maeve Coker, a biologist with the US Fish and Wildlife Service.  

Tidal freshwater marshes occur below the fall line of our coastal rivers and are a unique habitat in that they are influenced by the tidal cycles but with minimum salinity exchange. They are the interface where the tidal saltwater meets the incoming freshwater of our rivers. “Although these marshes occur worldwide, the mid-Atlantic coastal region is a hotspot for this rather unique habitat due to land topography, large rivers and the many bays, especially the Chesapeake Bay, said Kevin Howe, Vice President of the Chapter. They are characterized by a high species diversity of plants and animals due to the abundant shelter provided by plants and high productivity of all life forms. Further, of interest to all of use living near the shoreline, these marshes mitigate storm surges and flooding and provide wild open space for all – hunters, fisherman, birdwatchers, photographers - they are indeed a gem!”

Maeve is a Pennsylvania transplant having received her bachelor’s degree in Fisheries and Wildlife Biology from California University of Pennsylvania (now PennWest California). With varying biological survey and research work on Virginia’s Barrier Islands for The Nature Conservancy, she became an all-encompassing flora and fauna naturalist and is currently a biologist with the US Fish & Wildlife Service at the Eastern Virginia Rivers Refuge Complex which includes four separate refuges from the James River to the Rappahannock River with headquarters near Warsaw. She is an avid and active volunteer with a myriad of citizen science projects in the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula, the Citizen Science Chair for Friends of Dragon Run and the Education Chair/Board member for the state Virginia Native Plant Society. Leasure time is spent her husband, Joey, and their rescue dog, Gypsy venturing out birding, botanizing and searching for new native plant records to add to the Flora of Virginia.

This program is free and open to all. For questions email nnvnps@gmail.com