UNH Cooperative Extension launched The Stewardship Network: New England (now called Nature Groupie) in 2013 and the project has since come a long way. Early on we asked our partners to share their top stewardship priorities. Now, volunteers can easily sign-up for volunteer opportunities, find citizen science projects, and improve their skills through training. In addition, organizations and volunteers who plan workdays can use the Network to post events to our calendar and learn best practices.

This infographic helps to show the Network's collective impact on stewardship and volunteerism since our launch. The Network doesn't just mean our staff. It encompasses a wide range of people: professionals, educators, scientists, students, and volunteers. We've had 135 groups or organizations post volunteer workdays or trainings to our calendar and over 1,112 sign-ups for events in the past two years alone! The Network now has over 1,700 members who receive our weekly e-bulletin and that number grows every week!

We’ve been talking to partners and volunteers around the state to find out what The Stewardship Network: New England means to them and to glean some ideas for where we are headed in the future.  We were so inspired by their thoughtful responses and hope this video helps inspire YOU to get involved in new ways.

Note: in 2018 the Stewardship Network: New England changed its name to Nature Groupie...but we still do the same things!