Kimberly Valentin

Savannah River Environmental Sciences

06/26/2026
Tour by: Brad

• Thinning the pine trees helps nature.
• Lots of carvings to pay tribute to people. That’s beautiful, every detail is purposeful.
• the Birch family are very much horse people.
• The carving of the dogs gave me a mental break because I was losing focus on the present & I started thinking of the past & my issues. It made me reflect that it’s not that deep. I also liked here it was (is) located, it is more enclosed, & that makes me feel so much better.
• The graveyard for the family & the slaves are next to each other. That surprised me.
• Brad & his family use their wealth on helping the environment & promoting research.
• Although we didn’t go to the ponds, I’d like to go eventually. Seeing any body of water reminds me of my home island. Being away for so long makes me realize how much it means to me. I wish I could go back whenever, :(
• The property has many trees, not so many fruits.
• The carving of the tree that grew back into itself is one of my favorites by far. I love the view, the simple shape, the colors are so beautiful & the blend gives personality. From here we can see the tree line on NC.
• Seeing & hearing someone talking with so much respect on something so simple as conserving nature reminds me of how issues that will affect us in the future are going to cost us a lot.
• The grass looks so comfortable, laying on it after a hard day would be great. Seeing the sunset would help. The “painter dog”, carving was cute too! The green of the grass with the blue sky makes the View even better. It makes me like being in the sun more
• Spray herbicide to invasive grasses. I wonder if they use biopesticides.
• Recycle horse elements are used as fertilizer. The location of the place is strategic
• Primary source of food for monarch butterflies: milkweed.
• I love all the bugs. Seeing new bugs makes me even more interested in their role in the ecosystem.
• Mentioned part of the property doesn’t look “tidy” but nature isn’t supposed to be clean.

06\26\2026
Talk by Anna

• “nesting birds”
• bird boxes
• snakes
• ducks
• Owls
• bobcats
• foxes

SnapshotUSA
Thomson Creek goes to PeeDee River.

00/27/2026
Waking up early & making coffee while drinking it in the backyard alone is a very good way to ground yourself. Days can be hard & give you a hard time, but it all depends on what you do after to deal with it. Seeing the small bug world is something that that’s so easy to miss. You can see so many different dynamics, so many movements, colors…

It must be hard living in the world as a bug. Constantly trying to not get eaten constantly.

I’m just glad we have different struggle.