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Summer Camp Adventures (Pt. 2)
Missouri Conservation Corps has partnered with Camp I Love Me once again to bring nature excursions to this local summer camp! In this final story, see where we and the Camp I Love Me campers have been exploring all summer.
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Habitat Restoration and Volunteerism in Again Street Park
Volunteers in Columbia have been rallying at Again Street Park to restore habitat and to clean up the park. Find out how you can get involved in the effort!
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Summer Camp Adventures (Pt. 1)
Missouri Conservation Corps has partnered with Camp I Love Me once again to bring nature excursions to this local summer camp! See where we and the Camp I Love Me campers have been exploring this summer.
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Missouri Conservation Corps and the CoMo Canopy Program
This spring, we planted over 50 trees throughout Columbia, and through our partnership with the CoMo Canopy program, we are aiming to plant even more this fall.
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Restoring Native Habitat in Again Park
Join us on Saturday, August 8th as we begin our venture into Again Street Park to remove invasive bush honeysuckle.
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Sharing the Stories of Columbia’s Historic Wells and Springs
As part of Creek Week, Missouri Conservation Corps Project Director led a tour on Historic Wells and Springs of Downtown Columbia.
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Summer Storytimes in Boonville with MCC Naturalist Laura Semken
Join MCC Naturalist Laura Semken for Summer Storytimes in Boonville this July!
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The Missouri Scholars Academy Cleans Flat Branch Creek
Missouri Conservation Corps and Missouri Scholars Academy had a great day pulling out over 700 lbs of trash from Flat Branch Creek! Thank you to the amazing Scholars who came out to clean up one of Columbia’s urban creeks!
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“Replant and Restore” Reflections
Missouri Conservation Corps was honored to have been a part of “Replant and Restore”, a Love Your Block mini-grant project that brought back nature and greenery to a block of N. Eighth Street in Columbia.
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Fourth Annual Kiwanis Park Bird Hike
Our fourth annual Guided Bird Hike in Kiwanis Park with the Columbia Audubon Society was a success! Read about the beauty and birds we encountered, with direct insight from MCC Project Director Stephen Bybee and CAS Member John Besser.
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A New Chapter for the Historic Alspaugh Farm
New beginnings are afoot in Alspaugh Park, one of Columbia’s newest parks. Removing invasive species is one of the first of many steps in transforming this historic land, and we are excited to be a part of it.
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Missouri Conservation Corps West Ash planting featured on KOMU News
Missouri Conservation Corps and Flower Folk partnered to bring three new trees to a community green space in the West Ash neighborhood in Columbia.
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The Monarch Journey
The Monarch Journey returns! Learn more about how to participate in larva surveys and Monarch tagging programs this year.
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Garth Nature Area Spring Volunteer Events
So far this year, Missouri Conservation Corps has hosted two invasive species removals in Columbia’s Garth Nature Area, and though both events looked wildly different, they were hugely successful!
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2026 Callery Pear Buyback
Register now for the 2026 Callery Pear Buyback! Cut down a callery pear tree, receive a free native tree. Registration closes April 16th.
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Successful Spring Creek Cleanup on Flat Branch Creek
What an amazing creek cleanup! Missouri Conservation Corps and Missouri Stream Team are so grateful to everyone who made our first volunteer event of 2026 a success.
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Join Us and Missouri Stream Team for a Flat Branch Creek Cleanup!
Join Missouri Conservation Corps and Missouri Stream Team in cleaning up Flat Branch Creek on the MKT Trail! Come for the cleanup, stay for the hotdogs and goodies!
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Support Earth’s Classroom at Al-Pint Night
Earth’s Classroom will be at Al-Pint Night on Thursday, March 12th! Support this environmental outdoor education center in Missouri.
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MCC Partner Event with Columbia Audubon Society in the Columbia Audubon Nature Sanctuary on March 21st
MCC is teaming up with the Columbia Audubon Society to do restoration work in the Columbia Audubon Nature Sanctuary, and we hope you’ll join us!
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CoMoGives 2025 Thank You!
Thank you for all your support during CoMoGives! Together, we were able to raise over $5,000, and we couldn’t have done it without you!
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Missouri Conservation Corps Receives DAR Conservation Award
The Columbia Chapter of the Daughter of the American Revolution presents Missouri Conservation Corps with the 2025 Conservation Medal for our work and partnership with them and the Missouri River Bird Observatory in restoring the native habitat of historic Arrow Rock.
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Summer Camp 2026 Call for Volunteers and Educators
We are looking for volunteers and educators to help us this summer! Learn more about our work with Camp I Love Me, how we bring young campers into nature, and how you can be a part of this amazing experience.
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Planting Trees with our volunteers in Columbia’s Parks
Since our first volunteer tree planting event in Kiwanis Park, Missouri Conservation Corps has been engaging community members to plant trees in Columbia’s parks and green spaces. In 2022 we planted […]
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MCC Collaborations with MU Student Groups
Missouri Conservation Corps has been working with MU student groups to help engage more students with volunteer opportunities in Columbia.
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2025 Year in Review with Missouri Conservation Corps
Missouri Conservation Corps reflects on its fourth year as an organization and everything that made 2025 such a unique year.
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Planting Trees with City Garden School and Karis Church
In November, Missouri Conservation Corps planted trees at Karis Church and used the opportunity to involve City Garden School staff and students in a lesson in heat resilience and tree-planting techniques.
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Snippet of Summer: Young Campers Explore Local Creek
This past summer, young campers from Camp I Love Me explored a local creek at Capen Park with Missouri Conservation Corps and Missouri Stream Team.
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Environmental Education for a Local Summer Camp
During the summer, Missouri Conservation Corps collaborates with a local summer camp to bring campers out into nature, but recent funding changes jeopardizes future opportunities.
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Community Tree Planting at Fresh Start for Sober Living
Missouri Conservation Corps held its first community tree planting event at the Fresh Start for Sober Living campus, 1101 Grand Avenue, on October 23rd. This outdoor event brought together Fresh Start […]
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Trees for Columbia’s Urban Neighborhoods
Missouri Conservation Corps has been busy this fall, organizing urban tree planting events in Columbia’s northeast and north-central neighborhoods. These events are designed to bring trees, shade, and additional canopy cover […]
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Missouri Conservation Corps Volunteer Metrics in 2025
In 2025 Missouri Conservation Corps organized 34 invasive species volunteer events in Columbia to restore native habitat to Columbia’s parks, trails, and green spaces. Our volunteers spent more than 1700 hours […]
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A Few Words from MCC Naturalist Laura Semken
Laura Semken shares why being a naturalist and an educator means so much to her and the community.
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Missouri Conservation Corps Naturalist Activities with Laura Semken
Missouri Conservation Corps Naturalist Laura Semken has been working with us since 2023 to passionately bring environmental education to all audiences.
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Missouri Conservation Corps Summer Camp Education Series
In 2025, Missouri Conservation Corps organized or participated in 23 environmental education events in our community. We also organized and hosted 12 summer camp morning education segments for our young friends […]
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Community Environmental Education in Action
In June, Missouri Conservation Corps and Centro Latino hosted History Among the Trees to community members in the Garth & Sexton lot.
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Community Environmental Education
Missouri Conservation Corps incorporates environmental education throughout their events and wants to continue sharing the importance of conservation with the community.
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ComoGives 2025 Offers Funding and Hope for Area Nonprofits
Missouri Conservation Corps will once again be involved in the annual ComoGives fundraiser for local and area nonprofits. This year our fundraising efforts will focus on our dedication to environmental […]
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Hogan House Tree Planting in Boone County
Neighbors help to plant a new tree at Hogan House Pantry on Hogan Drive. On a sunny afternoon in early November, the normally quiet street in front of Hogan House […]
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Urban Tree Planting in Columbia with Missouri Conservation Corps and Community Partners
Missouri Conservation Corps has been busy this fall, organizing urban tree planting events in Columbia’s northeast and north-central neighborhoods. These events are designed to bring trees, shade, and additional canopy cover […]
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Missouri Conservation Corps partners with Missouri River Bird Observatory in Arrow Rock
In late October, Missouri Conservation Corps completed our second annual volunteer workday in the town of Arrow Rock. Volunteer teams assembled in the parking lot at the Visitor Center and […]
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End of Year Volunteer Events
Only a few more opportunities to volunteer with us this year! Find out how you can help us finish strong this winter.
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Missouri Conservation Corps Will Participate in CoMoGives 2025
Missouri Conservation Corps has had a busy, busy year bringing volunteers to Columbia’s parks, trails and green spaces to remove invasives, restore habitat, clean up creeks, plant trees and promote […]
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Winter Workshops & Webinars
A selection of free educational programs available online or locally in Columbia this November, 2025.
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Winter Reading Recommendations
What we are reading, now that fall is upon us. At Missouri Conservation Corps, we like to read. We enjoy reading books about forestry, native plants, invasive species, pioneering naturalists, […]
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Missouri Conservation Corps Hosts Its First Community Tree Planting Event in Columbia
Missouri Conservation Corps joined neighbors and community partners to plant trees in the Ridgeway Neighborhood.
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A Woodland Community Grows at Columbia’s Gans Creek Recreation Area
In September 2025, during a social gathering at the Missouri Department of Conservation’s Regional Office in Columbia, we heard a rumor that our city’s Parks and Recreation Department was interested […]
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Missouri Conservation Corps returns to Arrow Rock
Missouri Conservation Corps is excited to be going back to Arrow Rock Missouri this fall to improve native habitat in this picturesque and historic village in Saline County. We will once […]
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The Magic of Monarchs
As Monarch butterflies embark on their autumnal journey south, their migration provides curious minds of all ages magical moments in nature.
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MCC Collaborates with Local Golf Course for Monarch Awareness
Missouri Conservation Corps partnered with a local golf course to bring awareness of the importance of pollinator plots in supporting the Monarch butterfly migration.
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Raise a Glass for Conservation!
Thank you to everyone who supported us at Al-Pint Night!
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“Who’s Hoo” Storytime at Boonville Public Library
A special storytime and crafts event is coming to Boonslick Regional Library on October 18th.
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Volunteer to Remove Honeysuckle on National Public Lands Day
Volunteers are needed to remove invasive bush honeysuckle from the Hall’s Ferry unit of the Big Muddy National Fish & Wildlife Refuge. This area has significant ecological and historical value, […]
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MCC Environmental Education | Notify Subscribers | Upcoming Events | Upcoming Events, Deadlines, and Flyers | volunteer work days
New Fall Events with Missouri Conservation Corps
Summer is coming to an end, and Missouri Conservation Corps is ready for a brand new season of events! This upcoming fall, we will be present at a variety of […]
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Missouri Conservation Corps and Camp I Love Me 2025
During the summer of 2025, Missouri Conservation Corps was heavily involved in a local summer camp called Camp I Love Me. With the help of partners, educators and volunteers, our organization […]
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Ann Koenig Moves On From MDC
Friend, mentor and MDC Community Forester Ann Koenig is retiring from the Missouri Department of Conservation.
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Monarch Tagging Programs in Mid-Missouri
Monarchs are one of North America’s best-known butterflies, and every year, hundreds of millions of Monarchs migrate south to overwinter in Mexico and the California coast. This phenomenal migration is […]
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Volunteer for Show Me The Relief with Columbia’s Office of Sustainability
The City of Columbia’s Office of Sustainability is looking for volunteers to help with the Show Me the Relief program. Show Me the Relief aims to provide residents with the […]
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Fall Fairs, Festivals, and Fundraisers
Even in the middle of a sleepy summer, Missouri Conservation Corps is gearing up for a busy and exciting fall season. Within the coming months, we will be at multiple […]
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SUMMER 2025 FOR MISSOURI CONSERVATION CORPS
Summer in Columbia can be hot, and this summer is certainly no exception. When Missouri Conservation Corps started leading volunteer events in Columbia’s parks back in 2021, our events took […]
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Missouri Conservation Corps partners with Powerhouse Ministries for the Camp I Love Me Summer Camp
For the second year in a row, Missouri Conservation Corps has gotten closely involved with a local summer camp called Camp I Love Me. Camp I Love Me offers an […]
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2025 Missouri Community Forestry Council Conference
The date for the 2025 Missouri Community Forestry Council Conference has been set, and this year’s conference will take place in St. Louis, starting on Wednesday, September 24th and running until […]
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Litter Pickups in July and August with Volunteer Columbia
Our good friends at Volunteer Columbia have several summer litter pickup events planned for July and August. These events will take place in Columbia’s parks, neighborhoods and trails, and they are […]
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Missouri Conservation Corps attends 2025 Columbia Earth Day Festival in Peace Park
The spirit of Earth Day never wanes at Missouri Conservation Corps. Back in early May, Missouri Conservation Corps propped up a few tables and a canopy on the edge of […]
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MCC Environmental Education | New Developments | Notify Subscribers | Past Events & Galleries | Photo Album
Spring and Summer 2025 Volunteer and Community Activities with Missouri Conservation Corps
A photo taken during our tree planting demonstration and tree giveaway in May 2025. Missouri Conservation Corps has had a busy four months since our first volunteer event of the […]
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AmeriCorps | New Developments | Notify Subscribers | Partners and Collaborators | Past Events & Galleries
MCC Spring Tree Events in 2025
During the spring of 2025, Missouri Conservation Corps was involved in several tree-related events in our community. Our organization helped to give away trees, we raised awareness of the importances of […]
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Flat Branch Creek Cleanup with MU Missouri Scholars Academy and Missouri Conservation Corps
Missouri Conservation Corps works primarily in invasive species removal, habitat restoration, and tree planting. We do not specialize in creek cleanups, but we sure enjoy it when we get to […]
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Missouri Conservation Corps Teams up with Teachers at the Boone County Nature School
Missouri Conservation Corps would like to thank the teachers of the Boone County Nature School for joining us to battle and remove invasive honeysuckle around the school’s cherished champion oak […]
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Columbia Audubon Society Leads Third Annual Guided Bird Hike in Columbia Kiwanis Park
Missouri Conservation Corps would like to thank the Columbia Audubon Society of Missouri for organizing and leading the third annual guided bird hike in Columbia’s Kiwanis Park in May 2025. […]
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MCC Environmental Education | Notify Subscribers | Upcoming Events | Upcoming Events, Deadlines, and Flyers
Outdoor Environmental Education Event in Kiwanis Park
On Saturday, May 31st naturalist and educator Laura Semken will host a family-friendly education event in Columbia’s Kiwanis Park. Laura has partnered with Missouri Conservation Corps on recent educational events focused on […]
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Neighborhood Tree-planting in Urban Columbia
On May 21st, Missouri Conservation Corps was excited to plant trees with neighbors from Ridgeway Neighborhood Association and Oak Towers, as well as staff and volunteers from Volunteer Columbia, City […]
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Summer Volunteer Events with Missouri Conservation Corps
Missouri Conservation Corps has a new schedule of volunteer work events to move us out of spring and into summer in Columbia’s parks and natural areas. Our work events will […]
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MCC featured in local “Blooms in Blossom” article
Missouri Conservation Corps was recently featured in a Columbia Missourian article highlighting spring’s arrival in mid-Missouri. While documenting the colorful blooms appearing around town—from native eastern redbuds to violets—the piece […]
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On The Road This Weekend with Missouri Conservation Corps at Birds, Bees and Blooms and Columbia’s Earth Day Festival
Missouri Conservation Corps has spent a very busy week in Columbia, removing honeysuckle in Kiwanis Park, canvassing the central city to offer trees to willing homeowners, partnering with local and […]
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2025 Callery Pear Buyback in Columbia, Missouri
Volunteers from Missouri Department of Conservation, Columbia’s Office of Sustainability, and Missouri Conservation Corps helped distribute native trees during the 2025 Callery Pear Buyback in Columbia
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MCC Environmental Education | Notify Subscribers | Upcoming Events | Upcoming Events, Deadlines, and Flyers
Nest Success with MCC Naturalist Laura Semken
On Saturday, May 31st naturalist and educator Laura Semken will host a family-friendly education event in Columbia’s Kiwanis Park. Laura has partnered with Missouri Conservation Corps on recent educational events focused on […]
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Spring 2025 Volunteer Events and Community Events
Missouri Conservation Corps has recently published our spring volunteer events calendar, comprising dates and events stretching from April 15 to May 15. Our volunteer work events this spring will take place […]
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Kiwanis Park Guided Bird Hike with Columbia Audubon Society and Missouri Conservation Corps
Join the Columbia Audubon Society and Missouri Conservation Corps for a guided bird hike in Columbia’s Kiwanis Park on Tuesday, May 6th at 7 a.m.
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Missouri Conservation Corps Project Director Stephen Bybee Profiled on Moinvasives.org
Back in January, Missouri Prairie Foundation Executive Director Carol Davit reached out to me to conduct an interview for the Missouri Invasive Plant Council newsletter and website, Moinvasives.org. The interview […]
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Callery Pear Buyback Event in Columbia
April 22nd, 3-6 p.m. Missouri Department of Conservation Central Regional Office3500 East Gans Road, Columbia, MO, 65201 On April 22nd, Missouri Invasive Plant Council (MoIP) will host a Callery pear […]
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Guided Bird Hike in Kiwanis Park on May 6th with CAS and MCC
Photo by Rebecca Allen for Missouri Conservation Corps If you are interested in learning more about the migratory birds that travel through Missouri each year during the spring, come and […]
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Habitat Restoration in Garth Nature Area
This spring, Missouri Conservation Corps got an early start on our habitat restoration work in Columbia’s Garth Nature Area. Our first official workday in Garth was on Tuesday, March 18th, and […]
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Missouri Conservation Corps’s First Creek Cleanup in Columbia
On a warm, sunny Sunday in early March, volunteers began assembling in Columbia’s Grasslands Park. By 1 p.m. over 60 people were lined up in front of the registration table where […]
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MCC Project Director and co-founder Stephen Bybee interviewed in MDC Natural Areas Newsletter
MDC Natural Areas Newsletter 2024 As cofounder and Project Director for Missouri Conservation Corps, I was excited to be interviewed last year by Eric Hempel for an article on trees […]
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Welcome to Columbia our new AmeriCorps VISTA member, Anna Do
Missouri Conservation Corps is VERY excited to welcome our new AmeriCorps VISTA member Anna Do to our organization, and to Columbia, Missouri! Anna grew up in Dothan, Alabama, where she […]
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Flat Branch Creek Cleanup in March, 2025
At Missouri Conservation Corps, we focus on removing invasive species, plantings trees, and restoring native habitat. But…we also appreciate a little diversity in our volunteer workday schedule, so this spring, on […]
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Columbia’s Garth Nature Area
As of the publication of this month’s email newsletter, Missouri Conservation Corps has been involved in the improvement of Columbia’s Garth Nature Area for nearly one full year. Well, about eleven […]
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Missouri Conservation Corps Spring Events Calendar
We have just published our first volunteer events calendar for 2025, and this is the earliest start we have ever gotten on our spring events in Columbia. If the weather […]
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MCC Environmental Education | Notify Subscribers | Upcoming Events | Upcoming Events, Deadlines, and Flyers
Stephens Lake Park Arboretum
Winter Speaker Series 2025 Stephens Lake Arboretum, Columbia’s Level II Arboretum, will be hosting a winter speaker’s series dedicated to discussions of native plants, planting for pollinators, and edible urban […]
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2024 Volunteer Workday Superlatives of meteorology, invasive species, and natural phenomena in Columbia’s parks and green spaces
When we think back on the work we did in Columbia’s parks in 2024, a few events and moments offer themselves as striking examples that really need to be talked […]
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CoMoGives 2024 Thank You!!!
Thank you to everyone who generously donated during CoMoGives 2024!
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Show Me Adventure Outdoor Event Expo at Walt’s Bike
Saturday, February 22nd, 2 p.m.-6 p.m. Missouri Conservation Corps is excited to be involved in this year’s Outdoor Event Expo at Walt’s Bike and Fitness. Organized by the creators of […]
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Winter reading from Missouri Conservation Corps staff for 2025
The Power of Trees by Peter Wohlleben Winter offers us all a chance to slow down and focus our energies on indoor pursuits. After nine months of working outdoors, organizing volunteers, […]
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THANK YOU FOR YOUR DONATIONS TO MISSOURI CONSERVATION CORPS DURING COMOGIVES 2024!
Missouri Conservation Corps wishes to thank the many generous donors who helped us during our 2024 CoMoGives fundraising campaign. We will be back in 2025 for more volunteer events in Columbia’s parks and green spaces.
Missouri Conservation Corps
Community • Climate • Service
