The Friends of Patuxent is an all-volunteer group that raises funds and provides financial support for the USFWS Patuxent Research Refuge and the USGS Eastern Ecological Science Center. In FY 2023, FOP’s support totaled $37,458 including:

• $14,000 for a postdoc researcher to study how bird-strikes to buildings affect bird mortality.

• $14,000 for a new exhibit in the National Wildlife Visitor Center to highlight Patuxent’s role in restoring the whooping crane, once a critically endangered wildlife species.

• $4,394 to fund the Dr. Chandler S. Robbins Outdoor Education Center and new Wisdom Trail.

• $5,064 in support of educational programs at the Refuge such as the Kids Discovery Center and Monarch Education Program.

In addition, the FOP provided support for: 

• The historic Patuxent Herbarium located in the National Wildlife Visitor Center.

• Art exhibitions in the Hollingsworth Gallery at the National Wildlife Visitor Center.

• The Refuge’s Latino Conservation Day and Wildlife Conservation Day.

• The Pollinator Container Gardening Program at a nearby community.

• Operating the Wildlife Images Bookstore & Nature Shop at the Refuge.

• Special events at the refuge such as the annual Pollinator Festival, the Holiday Bazaar, and this year, the first annual 5k Walk for The Wild, part of the America’s Wildlife Refuges campaign in cooperation with the Public Lands Alliance.

Want to help in this vital conservation, education, and wildlife research? Please consider joining and volunteering with the Friends of Patuxent!

Check out our 2022 accomplishments here.