Monday, March 9 | 10:00am

Little Naturalists

Introduce your three- to five-year-old to nature! Trained guides explore topics such as food chains, hibernation, how trees grow and more with 3 to 5 year olds and their accompanying adults. The program starts indoors for 20-30 minutes where the children engage with the guides through reading nature centered books and doing a hands-on activity related to the learning in the book.  This is followed with a short moderate hike on one of the ICNA trails. Little Naturalists meet  on the second Mondays and third and fourth Saturdays. Gatherings are held from 10:00 to 11:30 am. We prefer that people preregister for these programs. The link to register for the next Monday program is here. Siblings are also welcome to attend.

Little Naturalists follow the weather cancellation policies for Albemarle County Schools.  When the schools are closed or there is a late opening, the Little Naturalists will not meet on that day.

Thursday, March 12 | 2:00pm

Open House - Meet Our New Executive Director!

We are delighted to announce that our Executive Director search is over! Please welcome Shawn Halifax. Shawn most recently served as an internal consultant to the Fairfax County Park Authority, but his wide-ranging experience includes ten years managing the Caw Caw Interpretive Center, a natural and cultural history preserve in Charleston, South Carolina, where he also founded the Charleston-area Master Naturalist program. Other career highlights include developing and facilitating the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture’s Ethical Interpretation Workshop; founding the American Association for State and Local History’s History in Our Parks initiative; and leading the first-ever ownership transfer of a United States Army museum at Fort Monroe’s Casemate Museum. A graduate of Christopher Newport University, he is certified by the National Association for Interpretation in planning and training at nature- and history-based sites.

His work is guided by four core principles: aligning natural and historic resource management strategies; teaching how those resources are fundamentally connected; collaborating with underrepresented communities to elevate their place-based histories; and building meaningful, lasting relationships among diverse stakeholders.

Shawn says, “It’s an exciting time for the Ivy Creek Natural Area and Historic River View Farm, and I’m humbled to take on a role in leading it into its next chapter. The Foundation’s board, volunteers, and staff are a wonderful group of dedicated people. I look forward to working with them and getting to know the Charlottesville community.” Shawn’s first day is March 2.

Come meet Shawn at our Open House on Thursday, March 12, from 2:00 to 4:00 PM at the Education Building.

Friday, March 13 | 7:00pm

Second Fridays Under the Stars

Under The Stars is scheduled for the second Friday of every month in 2026.  Learn about upcoming celestial events in a short lecture given in the education building at 7:00 PM.  Afterwards, go outside where local area amateur astronomers will help point out constellations, planets, nebulae, star clusters, and distant galaxies.  Have a look through telescopes of the Charlottesville Astronomical Society, or bring your own. Telescopes will be in the field next to the parking lot at the Ivy Creek Natural Area.

Cloudy skies cancel.

Although this event is free and open to the public, we ask that you contact the Charlottesville Astronomical Society at ivycreek@cvilleastro.com if you plan to attend.  Only if at least one visitor makes contact and confirms attendance, can the CAS guarantee that they will be at Ivy Creek for their presentation and telescope observing session.