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The Trust Teams up with Project Plastic at Ashbridge Preserve to Clean Up Microplastics Using Innovative Device: The Plastic Hunter

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Last year we learned that Microplastic Pollution is No Small Problem, after our Watershed Protection Program discovered the dangerous presence of these minute plastics within the headwaters of our focus area: Crum, Darby and Ridley Creeks. Our Watershed Team continues to document and monitor their presence, but now with the help of Project Plastic.

Based in Princeton, New Jersey, Project Plastic is made up of Princeton students and postdoctoral researchers working to design, develop and implement natural systems that can be used to remove plastic pollutants from rivers. Founder Yidian Liu was inspired to find a solution to plastic pollution after observing an increase in the presence of plastics and microplastics gathering in the waterways following large storms in her hometown in China. Now, with Project Plastic, it is her goal to create the first portable microplastic collection device that is both easily portable and environmentally friendly.

Enter the “Plastic Hunter,” an “affordable floating wetland unit that collects and removes microplastic debris from rivers via plant root biofilters.” Resembling an elongated hexagon, this device consists of a fiberglass frame that holds a net-like pad that is both compostable and consisting of a planting membrane. This is where the magic happens – once deployed on the surface of a polluted river, the plant membrane grows downward, and over time, its dangling roots catch microplastic fragments. Once saturated, the removable planting membrane is carefully lifted from the water with a net, and the contaminated plant matter can be taken back to the lab for analysis. A new pad replaces the old one, and the microplastic-trapping cycle continues.

  • Plastic Hunter’s natural fibers and root system catch microplastics
  • Removing Plastic Hunter
  • A Root Sample Retrieved for Analysis

Conceived and developed by Yidian Liu and Nathaniel Banks, this device and Project Plastic have already received attention after winning multiple awards, including a $10,000 prize for top startup at the Princeton Startup Bootcamp.  They have since added to their team, refined their idea, filed a patent, and made multiple design improvements using 3D print prototypes. And then this past December and January, Project Plastic officially launched the very first Project Hunter prototype at Ashbridge Preserve with the help of our Watershed Protection Team.

Thanks to the continual monitoring of our watersheds, Watershed Protection Program Director Lauren McGrath identified a test site known to be highly contaminated with microplastics at Ashbridge Preserve. Plastic Hunter lived here for one month, where it was anchored to stakes located on either side of the stream, covering the majority of the stream’s width. And in place of a true plant membrane, an artificial root system comprised of coconut fiber brushes was used to entrap microplastics, essentially acting as a filtration device.

  • Project Plastic and WCT at Ashbridge Preserve
  • Plastic Hunter Up and Running at Ashbridge Preserve

Throughout Plastic Hunter’s stay at Ashbridge, Lauren McGrath and Watershed Conservation Associate Anna Willig collected water samples around Plastic Hunter on a weekly basis to determine if the device had reduced microplastic quantities within the stream. Once Plastic Hunter was removed from the stream, its fibers were taken by to Project Plastic’s lab for analysis, and there, the team found that their prototype was mostly effective in capturing microplastics.

  • Water Samples for Analysis
  • Processing of the Water Samples
  • Microplastic Fiber Identified under a Microscope

Says Yidian Liu, “The Ashbridge Preserve field test marks a prospective start to the development and continued refinement of the Plastic Hunter, as well as an auspicious confirmation of the device’s technical feasibility and efficacy. We are looking forward to continuing to improve this device with the help of the Trust’s Watershed Team.” The group hopes to make Plastic Hunter more buoyant with increased connectivity between those fibers and the device’s frame.

The vision for this group is to deploy future generations of Plastic Hunter across rivers, ponds, and other bodies of water, where their hexagonal frames can connect to one another to create larger filtration devices. Yidian and Nathaniel aim to keep costs as low as possible, so that their product can be affordable and reach a variety of customers across the world. And by focusing on using compostable, natural materials, they hope to also reduce the cost to our planet.

Says the Trust’s Watershed Protection Program Director Lauren McGrath, “Globally, microplastic contamination is a major concern for public and environmental health, and identifying meaningful solutions for the reduction and removal of plastic from stream and ocean systems has been a serious challenge. We have enjoyed partnering with the Project Plastic Team and are inspired by their creative and innovative approach to this increasingly complex issue. We hope that through regular monitoring and creative problem solving, we can continue to better understand how to reduce microplastic pollution in our waterways.”

Visit Project Plastic to learn more about their plastic-free vision for the future!

The Trust Receives 525K from DCNR for Land Conservation

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We have exciting news to share! The Trust will soon receive two grants from PA DCNR to further land conservation efforts in Chester County:

🍃$500,000 toward the acquisition of approximately 12 acres for an addition to the Kirkwood Preserve.

🍃$25,400 for further development of Rushton Woods Preserve, including the construction of a pedestrian walkway, ADA access and landscaping.

“Willistown Conservation Trust’s phenomenal work in protecting and preserving more than 7,500 acres has given people of all ages the chance to enjoy nature,” said State Representative Kristine Howard. “I’m excited to see the trust utilize these grants to not only grow protected lands, but to make them more accessible for all.” Howard said the funds are part of the Pennsylvania DCNR grant program, which pulls from multiple state and federal funding sources to award grants.

Bird Conservation Group Receives Funding from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to Track Important Migratory Routes along the Northeast

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The ability of scientists to track migrating animals as small as hummingbirds and butterflies along the Atlantic Coast will take an important step forward in the coming year, thanks to a partnership between the Northeast Motus Collaboration (NMC) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).

The NMC, comprised of Willistown Conservation Trust in Newtown Square (where it is based), the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, the Ned Smith Center for Nature and Art in Dauphin County, and Project Owlnet, has received $82,500 from the USFWS to upgrade a dozen stations in the Motus Wildlife Tracking System, a rapidly growing global network of automated telemetry receivers.

Established in 2013 by Birds Canada, the Motus Wildlife Tracking System combines highly miniaturized transmitters, some weighing as little as 1/200th of an ounce, with more than 13,000 automated receiver stations around the world. As a result, scientists can now track small birds, bats and even migratory insects like monarch butterflies and green darner dragonflies across continents and hemispheres, like a gray-cheeked thrush that made a remarkable 46-hour, 2,200-mile non-stop flight from Colombia to Ontario.

The Northeast Motus Collaboration will upgrade 12 coastal Motus sites managed by the USFWS, from Massachusetts to Virginia, which were among the earliest stations in the Motus network. With these upgrades, the receivers – which originally tracked transmitters using the 166 MHz frequency – will also be able to monitor a second, 434 MHz, which is used by a new generation of tracking tags. The funding will also underwrite maintenance on the stations through 2024 and decommission two sites that are no longer needed.

  • Oven Bird with Nanotag. Photo by PARC
  • Todd Allegher of Willitown Conservation Trust working on a Motus Station in Nantucket
  • Northeast Motus Collaboration – Todd Allegher, Pam Loring, Zoe Korpi at a Nantucket Motus Station

Says U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Public Affairs Specialist David Eisenhauer, “We are thrilled to work in partnership with Northeast Motus Collaboration to upgrade Atlantic coast Motus stations with new tracking technology. These stations provide key detection coverage at coastal sites throughout the northeastern U.S. to track regional movements of thousands of birds, bats, and insects tagged by Motus collaborators throughout the Western Hemisphere. Data collected by the Motus stations help us learn more about migratory routes and stopover sites used by many different species as they travel, rest, and refuel throughout our region. This information is critical for developing science-based conservation strategies to benefit wildlife, habitats, and people at local to international scales.”

Since its founding in 2015, the Northeast Motus Collaboration has installed more than 100 Motus sites in the mid-Atlantic states and New York, and is in the middle of a multi-year project to install an additional 50 sites in New England. It is, after Birds Canada, the largest operator of Motus receivers in the world. Says Willistown Conservation Trust’s Director of the Bird Conservation Program and Northeast Motus Principal Lisa Kiziuk, “This critical funding is a testament to the scientific understanding and advancement that we can achieve when we collaborate for conservation.” The work of Northeast Motus Collaboration has been made possible by state and federal grants, private foundations and individual donors.

Northeast Motus Collaboration – The Mission of Northeast Motus Collaboration is to create an interior northeastern U.S. telemetry network to track migratory animals while taking a landscape-scale approach to conservation – connecting enormous expanses of land through scientific research, for the benefit of both humans and wildlife. For more information, visit www.northeastmotus.com.

Willistown Conservation Trust – Found 20 miles west of Philadelphia, Willistown Conservation Trust focuses on 28,000 acres within the watersheds of Ridley, Crum, and Darby Creeks of Chester and Delaware Counties. Since 1996, the Trust has permanently conserved over 7,500 acres, including three nature preserves open to the public: Ashbridge Preserve, Kirkwood Preserve, and Rushton Woods Preserve, which is home to Rushton Conservation Center and Rushton Farm. The Trust offers six nationally renowned programs for public engagement and research: Bird Conservation, Community Farm, Education and Outreach, Land Protection, Stewardship, and Watershed Protection Programs. For more information, visit www.wctrust.org.


Willistown Conservation Trust and Delchester Group Inc. Partner to Permanently Protect 16 Acres on Grubbs Mill Road

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Of the 16 acres, nine will be added to the Trust’s Kirkwood Preserve

Willistown Conservation Trust is pleased to announce that up to nine acres will be added to Kirkwood Preserve, and seven acres surrounding the public nature preserve will ultimately be permanently protected with a conservation easement, thanks to a partnership with Delchester Group Inc. (DGI). Through the protection of the 16 acres, the Trust is forever preserving both critical bird habitat and an important piece of history within the Willistown countryside.

The 16-acre property – commonly known as the “Massey Farm” or the “Alpaca Barn” – can be found on Grubbs Mill Road, where it has gone on and off the market for the past couple of years. When the Trust and DGI learned that a developer from out of town was proposing to purchase the land and build up to four homes on Grubbs Mill and Goshen Roads, they knew they had to act quickly. Surrounded by conserved open space, public preserves, and the adjacent Historic White Horse Corner, development would be devastating to the natural and historic landscape of Willistown. DGI’s community of investors purchased the property in September; the Trust plans to purchase nine acres from DGI through private and public fundraising, and DGI will hold the remaining seven acres until the group finds a conservation buyer willing to preserve the property’s beauty, rural character, and open space. 

  • The Alpaca Farm (when it had alpacas) in 2003 | Photo by Jennifer Mathes
  • 9 acres of the property will be added to Kirkwood Preserve | Photo by Jennifer Mathes

The Trust’s nine acres will allow Kirkwood Preserve to expand across Grubbs Mill Road, with new public walking trails anticipated. Additionally, this parcel is part of the Upper Ridley/Crum Important Bird Area, and its rich habitat has been identified by the Audubon Society as critical for bird conservation. The grasslands on this property are vital for nesting birds. Listed as a Class II historic resource by Willistown Township, its conservation also preserves the history and legacy of Thomas Massey who purchased the land among 500 acres in 1699, and later passed it on to his son, James Massey who built the “James Massey House” (c.1790) and historic barn that exist on the property today.

The Trust intends to refurbish this Chester County, stone-posted bank barn, in addition to hosting many volunteer days at this site to clean up debris, remove invasive plant species, and spruce up the outdoor spaces around the barn and other structures. Stay tuned for a future volunteer day!

Honoring Bonnie’s Legacy and Looking to Willistown Conservation Trust’s Future

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Within the ever growing area of Chester County lies a hidden swath of land that sits in stark contrast to the noisy highways and developments that surround it. Here, the rolling hills dotted with an abundance of wildlife, luscious pastures, and scenic woodlands offer a quiet reprieve to passersby, one that has remained nearly untouched since the early settlers first arrived. Today, this special place is known as Willistown, and its rural charm and 7,500 acres of protected open space would not exist if it weren’t for Bonnie Van Alen.

Born in Chester Springs, Bonnie Van Alen (née Bartholomew), grew up on her family farm, where she spent her time working and riding her pony across the countryside. She describes her childhood as “free range,” one without boundaries aor constraints that afforded her a deep connection with nature and the great outdoors. “I loved every aspect of it: the animals, the wildlife, and the freedom,” she says. Following her education at Agnes Irwin School and later at Penn State University, Bonnie returned to Chester County with her sweetheart, Jim Van Alen. The two married and settled in Jim’s childhood home of Willistown in 1969 where they lived next door to Jim’s family on Delchester Road. It was there that they raised their three boys — Jimmy, Alex and Rob — who spent their younger years exploring creeks and woodlands around the farm.

During this period in the 1980’s, the Van Alens and their neighbors grew concerned over development pressures threatening to disrupt the important habitat and rural characteristic of this area. Bonnie took it upon herself to explore a new tool that the Brandywine Conservancy had been using to restrict uncontrolled development: conservation easements. Leaving her work with the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, Bonnie launched a satellite program under the Brandywine Conservancy with the purpose of conserving Willistown properties with conservation easements that would be held by Brandywine.

After a crash course in conservation easement law and easement drafting, Bonnie and her conservation partner Kathe McCoy got to work drawing a map by hand to identify their focus area within the headwaters of the Crum, Ridley, and Darby Creeks: about 28,000 acres. After systematically identifying strategic properties and their owners, the duo began approaching landowners with this new concept of conservation, and they found that many were thrilled to contribute to this greater cause. As Bonnie explains, “These first landowners who donated easements took a risk and a leap of faith. And as the years went on, this land ethic grew and developed to build a true community of conservation.”

  • The Inaugural Board Meeting
  • Top Row, Left to Right Alice Hausmann, Peter Hausmann, Bill Howard, Jim Van Alen, Bonnie Van Alen. Bottom Row, Left to Right: Tana Wall, Peter Strawbridge and Jane MacElree. Not Appearing in the “Now” Photo: Doug Walker who is no longer with us, and Tim Barnard.
    Photo by Jennifer Mathes

Of course, not every neighbor was moved to permanently protect their land. In 1995, a 200-acre, centrally located farm went on the market, and the owner submitted a plan to the township to construct 80 houses on it, along with the necessary infrastructure to support these homes. Gathering their neighbors, Bonnie and Kathe, guided by local attorney, Peter Somers, formed a community partnership of investors to acquire the property for resale to conservation minded buyers. This became the model for the nonprofit Delchester Group, Inc., which, under the leadership of Bonnie, Peter and Alice Hausmann, and others has since been used to create community partnerships to acquire and save 17 properties comprising over 2,000 acres that would have otherwise been bulldozed and developed within Willistown.

After completing 90 conservation easements with the Brandywine Conservancy, in 1996 Bonnie and Alice took the next steps to turn their satellite organization into its own independent 501(c)(3) charity with the support of the community and the blessing of friend and Brandywine Conservancy President, Frolic Weymouth. Called Willistown Conservation Trust, the organization soon began preserving public trail easements and three public nature preserves — Ashbridge Preserve, Kirkwood Preserve, and Rushton Woods Preserve — in addition to completing many more conservation easements with local landowners. Under Bonnie’s leadership, the Trust expanded to over 25 employees, 22 Trustees and hundreds of volunteers, and today it offers six nationally renowned programs for public engagement and research, including the Bird Conservation, Community Farm, Education and Outreach, Land Protection, Stewardship, and Watershed Programs.

  • Alice Hausmann and Bonnie Van Alen in 1996
  • Alice & Bonnie Today!
    Photo by Jennifer Mathes

Looking back on her many accomplishments, Bonnie declares, “I think the thing that I love the most about this organization is interacting with our remarkable staff, our wonderful board of trustees and our many volunteers and supporters. Our staff is above and beyond incredible. They are experts in their field and completely devoted to what they do, and I’m regularly inspired by their passion.”

Kate Etherington is one of the newer staff members at the Trust, though she has been engaged with the organization for many years, first as a volunteer getting her hands dirty at Rushton Farm, and later serving on the Board of Trustees. In 2020 Bonnie, inspired by Kate’s dedication and skills, invited her to join the staff as Associate Executive Director. Kate brought to the role a Master’s degree in Nonprofit Leadership from the University of Pennsylvania and a breadth of management experience within the nonprofit sector. Like Bonnie, Kate grew up in the Chester County area where she spent her time as an avid horseback rider and member of the Radnor Hunt Pony Club. Her parents instilled in her a love of nature and appreciation for open space, where she spent many hours exploring the local woods, trails, streams, and fields. Today, Kate lives on a small farm in Easttown Township with her husband Ben and their three daughters, Lucy, Maggie, and Alice.

  • Meet the Etheringtons: Ben, Kate, Alice, Maggie, Lucy

“The landscape of Willistown would look completely different had it not been for Bonnie’s foresight, hard work and determination,” says Kate. “Her capacity to grow a small land trust into the organization it is today, with thriving programs and community events, is amazing. It is inspiring to see and learn from another woman’s leadership in our community.”

As Executive Director, Kate plans to continue focusing on land conservation and the critical properties in the Willistown area, as well as the smaller parcels that contribute to larger greenways. She hopes to further the Trust’s many robust environmental programs and to grow education and outreach efforts at the Rushton Conservation Center to reach a broader and more diverse group of people in the region and beyond.

In her transition, Bonnie will remain dedicated to the organization as President Emerita and by serving on the Trust’s Board of Trustees, assisting Kate with critical land conservation acquisition projects and fundraising endeavors to help the Trust reach its goal of conserving 4,000 more acres. She will also continue her work with The Delchester Group Inc., saving plenty of time for Jim and their beloved extended family, including six wonderful grandchildren.

  • Kate and Bonnie at Rushton Woods Preserve
    Photo by Jennifer Mathes