Heinz Refuge with Philadelphia Skyline looking over Darby Creek and Tinicum Marsh. New family programs target what lives in the waters and sediments of the refuge as well as how to capture the beauty of nature in photos. Photo: Bill Buchanan, USFWS.

The John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum has added two new programs aimed at families as part of its regular weekend calendar.  Both programs were created by Refuge Communications and A/V Specialist, Bill Buchanan.

Microlife Adventures explores the unseen, and often forgotten, world of the very small that is the foundation of the food chain. The program was developed around a microlife exhibit that Buchanan created last year along with a 12 minute video that highlights some of the tiny life forms that one might find in the waters and soils of the refuge.  In the new family program participants are shown many of the minute creatures found not just at the refuge but almost anywhere there is water and soils.  Much of program deals with protozoan life and how they can be both a source of food as well as one of the great recyclers in nature. 

Utilizing new digital micro-photographic equipment and special software programs the participants will be able to actually see real time images of samples collected on the refuge (weather permitting) and/or set up from cultures that are kept alive in one of the wet labs in the Cusano Environmental Education Center.

Along with the real time, hands-on work visitors will learn about the use of microscopes and how to create their own mini-cultures from materials they can find in and around their own homes, schools, and neighborhoods. 

We hope to expand the program to area schools who already utilize the refuge for many of their environmental education studies.

The "Family Photo Safari" is a program that shows folks how to photograph nature as well as how to do it in an ethical fashion.  Participants learn the basics of photography such as proper exposure, depth-of-field, composition, and how to get the most of whatever they have in the way of photo equipment.

The program also teaches how to best approach wildlife and tips about what to, and what not to do, when photographing the natural world.  Because this is a family program we also give tips on how to include family members in photos and how to best take group and action shots. In addition, students learn how to pan properly, look at the same subject in different ways, and use photos to tell a story. 

Part of this program is taken from the refuge's Friends Photo Group's "Learning About the Environment Through the Lens" program which is offered to area high school students each spring. 

In both programs participants are given a folder with information on each of the subjects. 

Hopefully, both programs will bring new visitors to the refuge and help in connecting new urban audiences with nature and an appreciation for the refuge system.