Delaware Center for the Inland Bays

Rehoboth Beach, DE:  Dr. Dennis Bartow of Ocean View was awarded the President’s Volunteer Service Award with thanks and appreciation from President Barack Obama for his devotion to service in his work for the Delaware Center for the Inland Bays.  

A retired educator and administrator from Montgomery County Pennsylvania, he came to the CIB in 2008 to teach in the middle school education program at the James Farm Ecological Preserve.  Soon after, Bartow could be found volunteering his time and enthusiasm to nearly every activity and project at the Delaware Center for the Inland Bays. 

As a science teacher, Dr. Bartow is especially interested in the citizen science surveys conducted by CIB volunteers.  He is Volunteer Leader of the Inland Bays Horseshoe Crab Survey and leads the survey team at James Farm where he can be found on the beach counting and tagging horseshoe crabs on the nights around the new and full moons in May and June.

He can also be found pulling seine nets and compiling data for the Inland Bays Fish Survey, and is right-hand man to Fish Survey Volunteer Leader Ron Kernehan, assisting with management of the survey. It was Ron Kernehan who nominated Bartow for the award. 

‘Always alert to a ‘teachable moment,’ Dr. Bartow has the wisdom of age and the curiosity and energy of youth; an irresistible combination to those who venture with him on the trail or in the water, especially children, who are his favorite students,’ said Sally Boswell, Education and Outreach Coordinator at the CIB.

Bartow is a biologist by training, but has a passion for entomology and frequently takes his ‘bug collection’ to programs at the Bethany Beach Nature Center, to schools and to community events.  He volunteers for the Inland Bays Clean Up, leads nature walks at the CIB’s Gardening for the Bays Native Plant Sale, participates in osprey banding, and takes great photographs, many of which are featured in the Inland Bays Journal and other publications.  

At the presentation of the award, Chris Bason, CIB Executive Director said, ‘Dennis is always ready to step in when we need him–I can’t say enough about his dedication to our mission and his contributions to the CIB.’

The Delaware Center for the Inland Bays is a non-profit organization. With its many partners, the CIB conducts public outreach and education, develops and implements restoration projects, encourages scientific inquiry, and sponsors research.  For more information, or to learn how you can support this important work call or visit our website at www.inlandbays.org.