AACC Environmental Center

10/14/2026

🐦‍⬛ Crows have developed a bad reputation over the centuries, but they are entirely misunderstood!

💀The crow’s association with bad omens and evil spirits originated during Medieval Europe when plagues and wars ravaged the land. Their behavior as scavengers fueled their associations with death. The Masks commonly worn by plague doctors played with the iconography of crows!

🧠But crows are actually very intelligent! Crows have incredible memories and facial recognition. They can identify individual human faces and remember our behaviors.

👀🌽Bonus Fact: For a scarecrow to be effective, it must be moved around the garden often. Otherwise, the crows will notice the figure has not moved and treat it as a stationary non-threat.

Sources:

⭐️https://blog.zoo.org/2022/10/something-to-crow-about-in-october-are.html?m=1

⭐️https://dnr.maryland.gov/wildlife/pages/plants_wildlife/american_crow.aspx

10/07/2026

During the early 1900s, predator-control programs resulted in the elimination of wolves throughout most of the United States, including Maryland. 🐺🌕

Currently, there are three populations of gray wolves in the United States: the Northern Rocky Mountain Population, the Western Great Lake Population, and the Mexican Wolf Population. 🌎

Gray wolves in the United States and Mexico were originally listed under the Endangered Species Act.
The Northern Rocky Mountain Population was delisted and has been in recovery since 2021. ❤️‍🩹
However, most gray wolves in States are still endangered or threatened.

U.S Fish and Wildlife: https://www.fws.gov/species/gray-wolf-canis-lupus

Maryland Department of Natural Resources: https://dnr.maryland.gov/wildlife/pages/plants_wildlife/mammals.aspx

10/06/2026

📢Tonight from 7pm-9pm in HLSB 145B AACC’s Environmental Center is partnering with the Magothy River Association to bring a speaker to campus! Renowned osprey expert, Greg Kearns will be giving a talk about osprey (AACC’s mascot😄).

Please come out to hear about the research being conducted on these important birds of prey and learn why their population might be declining.

‼️The talk is also available to attend on Zoom! Email [email protected] for the link.

10/04/2026

‼️The AACC Open House is this Wednesday, October 7 from 5-7 p.m. Stop by, take a tour, and learn about the programs offered at AACC. The Environmental Center will be there with some special guests! 👀 🦀

10/02/2026

The AACC Environmental Center is participating in Campus Sustainability Month, an international celebration of sustainability in higher education! 🎉🌎

Students are invited to participate in AACC Environmental Center’s Project Green Challenge for a chance to win a prize! 🏆

Each Friday during October, three tiers of challenges will be posted. You may choose which challenge you’d like to participate in, but remember some tiers give higher points for completion.

💚Green Tier- 20 points.

💚Greener Tier- 40 points.

💚Greenest Tier- 60 points.

The more you participate, the more points you can score!

‼️Post your submissions to Instagram and tag AACC Environmental Center and AACC STEM so we can find you and so your post can be counted!

⭐️”Can YOU Fix Climate Change”: https://youtu.be/yiw6_JakZFc?is=OCt56S34vGRqX-HO

⭐️United Nations Sustainable Development Goals infographic: https://sdgs.un.org/goals.

⭐️For more information on Project Green Challenge visit https://projectgreenchallenge.com.

⭐️Visit The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education for more information about campus sustainability and other ways you can participate: https://www.aashe.org.

09/30/2026

Look up in the sky! From late September through October the migratory Canada Geese return to Maryland!🪿🍃

But did you also know Maryland has a large population of non-migratory geese living near ponds, lakes, city parks and golf courses? ⛳️

These geese can be found grazing on grass, leaves, flowers, roots seeds and “leftovers”in fields of corn, soybean, and wheat. 🌾🌻



Source: https://dnr.maryland.gov/wildlife/pages/plants_wildlife/canada_goose.aspx

08/02/2026

Our time at Shoals is almost done, but there’s always time for a sunset watch party—especially when it’s followed by dockside searching for bioluminescence.

07/30/2026

Ten AACC students are spending the week at the Shoals Marine Lab in Maine to conduct research projects with faculty members Seth Miller and Kelly Livernoche. Living on an island marine station in the Gulf of Maine provides slightly different views than their normal classrooms!

07/28/2026

07/01/2026

By land, air, and sea, the EC hunted for SAV! This week, EC staff and volunteers did some pre-restoration surveys in Hunters Harbor Cove, identifying SAV species from kayaks and conducting aerial surveys using drones. Submerged aquatic vegetation restoration is one of the signature programs of the EC—check the link in our Instagram bio to help out!