We were first introduced to Julia Pryde in August 2003 when she was a student in Dr. Mike Rosenzweig’s Principles of Biology course at Virginia Tech. Julia stood out as a natural-born teacher/scholar. Her love of science and deep respect for nature spoke loud and clear. Passionate, organized, and a real people-person, Julia quickly became known as a beacon of hope for the future.
Julia began volunteering for SEEDS in 2004. By that time, Julia was well known and respected by her peers and by her professors, including Dr. Mary Leigh Wolfe, Virginia Tech Department of Biological Systems Engineering. In addition to her activities in the community with SEEDS, Julia was known for presenting the VT administration with a university-wide composting feasibility study.
In September, 2005, Julia was nominated by her peers to serve as an officer of the VT Chapter of SEEDS. We have enjoyed and enormously benefited from Julia’s work in our peer and children’s programs. She was our lead volunteer; and present at the first meeting in 2007 where we discussed plans to move into the Price House. She would have been so excited to see the nature center open.
Julia is sorely missed. She was extremely bright, intelligent, intuitive, and flexible, with a high degree of creativity and integrity. She rallied her friends into action and was not one to let challenges stop her from trying. Most importantly, Julia was known as a most wonderful, friendly, yet serious “old soul”. The sparkle of her eyes, her smile, and laugh are unforgettable. Our love goes out to Julia’s family and friends. She is irreplaceable.
How SEEDS will dedicate programs in Julia’s honor.
We want to take Julia’s energy and spirit and turn her ideas into lasting and meaningful action. All donations in Julia’s memory will support two long-standing SEEDS programs that Julia was interested in: To help financially underprivileged children attend our summer environmental and community field camps; and to support the nature center's local watershed education project. Julia had been helping SEEDS with that project for five years.
