Learn how to become an invasive species hunter at Commander Ben’s Invasive Hunter Academy at Kid’s Day during National Invasive Species Awareness Week (NISAW) in Washington D.C. With this video, get a preview of some of the techniques that I’ll teach you.
Join me as an elite defender of native species, and learn more about NISAW and Kid’s Day at the U.S. Botanic Garden on February 26, 2012.
I have great news! I was invited to talk about invasive species during National Invasive Species Awareness Week (NISAW) from February 26 – March 3, 2012 in Washington, DC. Wow! What an honor to be invited to our nation’s capital!!!!
I’m going to bring my Invasive Hunter Academy to NISAW Kids’ Day at the U.S. Botanic Garden on Sunday, February 26th. I’m going to train kids with fun activities to teach them how to be an invasive hunter.
I’m looking forward to learning more about invasives too and to going to Washington for the first time. I want to visit the Natural History Museum, Smithsonian, Air and Space Museum, and the Lincoln Memorial.
I’d like to climb up the Washington Monument too, but I don’t know if my Dad can make it all the way up. (I hear it might be closed for repairs after the earthquake too. At least that’s what my Dad told me.)
If you’re a kid near Washington, and you want to learn more about invasive species, go to Kids’ day. (It’s free!) I would love to meet you and help train you to battle invasives too!
Earlier this month, I was in the library looking for some new audiobooks. I really liked Christopher Paolini’s Inheritance Cycle, and I’m sorry that it’s his last book in the series.
In any event, while at the library, I picked up the January 2012 Austin Family magazine and was surprised to find that they picked me as one of the winners of their cover contest. (Wow! That was a cool surprise. Thanks for entering me, Mom, and thanks Austin Family for picking me!) I learned that I’ll be on one of their covers later this year.
If you’re looking for a camp this summer, don’t miss Austin Family’s Summer Camp Fair 2012 at the Palmer Events Center on Saturday, January 28. There will be a lot of booths and a lot of fun activities for kids.
I’ve been there before, and there’s a lot to do and a lot of goodies to get. I’m looking forward to science, acting, and sports summer camps. (And of course, I’ll be learning more Tae Kwon Do for my future Battles with Invasive Species videos!)
Hope to see you there!
Commander Ben signing off…
Wow! What a nice surprise on New Year’s Eve to receive the December 2011 issue of iWire, the monthly e-newsletter about invasive plants and pests in Texas, and to see that they featured my latest Battles with Invasive Species video, “An Invasive Carol”, as part of their newsletter.
The newsletter picture shows my Ghost of Christmas Present costume and my Texas Invasive Plant and Pest Council (TIPPC) water bottle cozy that I got at the 2011 Texas Invasive Plant and Pest Conference.
Watch my “An Invasive Carol” video and let me know which Ghost of Christmas Past, Present, or Future costume you like the best.
Thanks TexasInvasives.org! 🙂
Commander Ben signing off…
Ms. Mary Gilroy describes two invasive plants that have raided Texas waterways and prairies. Learn how Hydrilla (Hydrilla verticillata) creates massive monocultures in lakes and how King Ranch Bluestem (KR Bluestem – Bothriochloa ischaemum) outcompetes native vegetation in the Central Texas Hill Country. Ms. Gilroy is an environmental scientist in Austin, Texas.
This video is part of Commander Ben’s “Invasive Species: Secrets Revealed” series of interviews from the 2011 Texas Invasive Plant and Pest Conference.
Also, watch this YouTube video to see how the City of Austin and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department have teamed up to release sterile grass carp to hunt down and munch away at Hydrilla on Lake Austin.
Commander Ben signing off…
Commander Ben 