We invited Virginia Master Naturalists who also identify as people of color to share perspectives on their experiences as volunteers.  What we received went beyond that original scope in a terrific way, as VMNs also wanted to share stories about other people of color in their communities whom they saw as conservation role models (e.g, Bonita's story below, or a separate post about Adolph White.)  Thank you to all who responded for your time and willingness to share!

Ivan Hiett, Certified Virginia Master Naturalist Volunteer in the Southwestern Piedmont Chapter:  
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Upon entering basic training orientation on the first day, I first thought maybe I was in the wrong classroom. I hadn’t expected that I’d be the only person of color in the group, but there I was deciding whether I should enter or not. After confirming this was indeed the Master Naturalist orientation class I decided to stay. After all I’d been in similar situations during my career and was successful. No one seem to mind or care about my race, well at least no one showed it. We had one thing in common in that we cared about protecting and conserving our natural resources. We all were supportive of each other and began to bond. I was impressed by the diverse backgrounds of participants of the class members. Each member shared valuable experiences and knowledge in a variety of topics. 

Being the only person of color in training, I’d hoped to meet other minorities at chapter meetings but that didn’t happen. I accepted the fact that I’d be the one to break the ice. Being the only minority at meetings, group outings, and volunteer events was somewhat challenging, but I wouldn’t let that deter me. Everyone was very friendly and made me feel welcome although occasionally I felt some cohorts were not used to being around persons of color and may have been somewhat uncomfortable. But everyone was professional. I often wondered why other minorities hadn’t joined the group since we too are concerned about protecting our environment and natural resources. I concluded that most are probably intimidated at the prospect of being a minority in an organization of mostly Whites. As for me, college, and military travels prepared me to be an adventurer.

Volunteer service projects have been most challenging for me. While many of my volunteer hours were spent at the Virginia Museum of Natural History, I’ve also participated in group outings and other volunteer service projects. Not being a native of the Piedmont area, I wasn’t totally familiar with the culture or the resources of the area. Moving here I spent most of my time working and during vacations usually I traveled.  I regret that I hadn’t taken time to get to experience the local area but becoming a VMN member gave me the opportunity to explore. Volunteer projects would have to be chosen carefully. Some potentially interesting projects was passed if I wasn’t comfortable with some aspects of the area. Understand some projects that are in remote rural areas may not be good for a person of color to visit. Visiting an area adorned with rebel flags and Trump signs probably wouldn’t be a good idea. This may sound petty or trivial to some but can be unsettling to minorities. Expect the unexpected. Fortunately, I have not experienced any issues or problems on any field trips or service projects that I’ve attended.

After being a member of my chapter for about a year, I was asked to assume the role of secretary. I was hesitant at first, but after some persuasion I accepted the position and was approved unanimously by members. A year later I was voted President of our chapter. I didn’t want to be observed as the token minority representative. However, being a board member gave me the opportunity to have a voice in chapter activities. Besides maybe I could pave the way for other minorities. I think to attract more minorities to the organization, we may need to focus more on projects that affect minority interests, their neighborhoods and recreation areas.

In conclusion I’d say my experience with VMN has been positive and rewarding. Once people of different cultures and backgrounds unite for a common cause, great things can happen. We must set aside our differences and focus on those things that matter to us. I’ll always remember the first day of basic training and thinking “I’m in the wrong place, this group is not for me”. We must put aside our negative preconceived notions and ideas toward the realization that we must work together to make our home (earth) a better place to live and preserve it for future generations.           

Joshquinn Andrews, Certified Virginia Master Naturalist Volunteer in the Pocahontas Chapter:

My name is Joshquinn Andrews and I am a Virginia Master Naturalist of the Pocahontas Chapter. I have been a member for six years.

Currently I primarily help with projects known as the Monarch Larva Monitoring Project and Monarch Watch. The former involves collecting data on the larva of the monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) and their host plants known as the milkweeds (Asclepias spp.) while the latter deals with tracking and researching the autumn migration of the monarch butterflies through tagging. Before joining this project, I had only seen butterflies and the stages of the monarchs through pictures. With my participation, I had the chance to see both the larva and pupa stages of the monarchs for the first time. In fact, participating in the Monarch Larva Monitoring Project has also led me to see milkweed for the first time and the organisms that rely on the plant as a source of food. Some examples include the larva of the milkweed tussock moths (Euchaetes egle) and large milkweed bugs (Oncopeltus fasciatus).

Another experience I enjoy is participating in what is known as a Bio Blitz, in which we search Pocahontas State Park for different species of butterflies and keep tally of the number of species we spot. Through this experience I have explored new locations in the park and learned of different species of butterflies and where they can be found.

Being a part of the Virginia Master Naturalist has opened me to new experiences while being around people who share in a similar vision of conservation and a love for the ecosystem. 

Bonita Russell, VCE Master Gardener and Virginia Native Plant Society volunteer:​

​When we put the word out inviting people of color within the VMN program to share their experiences in our newsletter, Ted Munns, President of the Northern Neck Chapter of the Virginia Native Plant Society and a Virginia Master Naturalist volunteer in the Northern Neck Chapter connected us with Bonita Russell.  Bonita is an active Master Gardener volunteer and member of the Virginia Native Plant Society who has been making a difference for natural resource conservation and education in the community.  

Bonita Russell retired about five years ago, and joined the Northern Neck Chapter of the Virginia Native Plant Society soon after to pursue her love of all plants.  More recently, Bonita became a Virginia Cooperative Extension Master Gardener volunteer.  A long-time Master Gardener, Diane Kean, contacted her and asked her to consider joining the program.  Bonita was reluctant at first, worried that she didn’t have enough experience or knowledge of things like Latin names for plants.  But, Diane really encouraged her, and even met her to carpool to the registration session in Kilmarnock.  “If it wasn’t for Diane Kean, I would not have become a Master Gardener.”  Bonita wants others to know that you don’t have to have a lot of experience.  “You don’t have to know a lot.  They’ll teach you what you need to know.”

Bonita has put what she has learned through the VNPS and Master Gardener program to work in both her own garden.  In 2005, she had moved from Richmond to a 2-acre property on the Northern Neck.  Creating gardens was appealing to her, because she didn’t want to have to mow so much!  She started with a small section and now has converted a big area of the property into gardens. She especially likes gardening with native plants, “because they take less water and support native insects.”

What she really enjoys about being a Master Gardener, though, is the volunteer time.  In her volunteer role, she assisted other Master Gardeners with programs at assisted living and rehabilitation centers in the area and to answer plant questions from the public at the farmers markets in Tappahannock and Montross and at the Master Gardener Help Desk.  As part of the VNPS, she led the maintenance of the native plant garden at the Heathsville Courthouse, coordinating and participating in monthly work sessions there.  Bonita also helps with upkeep of the historic gardens at Stratford Hall and the George Washington Birthplace.  As you can see, she is a very active member of the community, helping to create habitat and educate others!

Bonita says her favorite native plants are golden alexander, butterfly weed, and passionvine.  But, she loves them all, and she loves the joy and satisfaction she gets from observing plants.  A t-shirt gifted by her daughter says it all: “You’re never too old to play in the dirt.”

​I first met George Braxton last December, just a few weeks after he was hired into the new role of Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer at the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR).  Since then, we have been serving together on the advisory committee for the DWR Wildlife Viewing Plan, a new management plan that will guide the agency in engaging wildlife viewers and promoting their needs.  Recently, we sat down (via Zoom) to talk about his role in the agency and DWR’s goals related to diversity and inclusion.
--Michelle Prysby

The Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer role came about when Ryan Brown, the new DWR director, highlighted diversity as a focus for the agency.  In addition, Governor Ralph Northam appointed Dr. Janice Underwood as Virginia’s Chief Diversity Officer, the first cabinet-level position of this kind not only in the Commonwealth, but in the nation.  Dr. Underwood is working to build a strategic plan for inclusion across more than 100 state agencies.  In his role at DWR, Braxton will lead the development and implementation of objectives for diversity and inclusion specific to DWR. 
 
Braxton sees his role as focusing both inward, on diversity within the agency, and outward, on broadening the agency’s constituency.  “The agency has a history of not being the most diverse organization.  People hire those they identify with.”  The goals for internal diversity are to have a diverse workforce that reflects Virginia, to have an inclusive environment in which people of different backgrounds feel they can reach their potential, and to have an equitable organization in which people have the tools and access they need to succeed.  A first step has been to empanel an ‘inclusive excellence council’ made up of people throughout DWR.  The council will be creating a strategic plan that is focused on the experience for the employee and works toward aligning the agency’s culture with its goals.
 
Looking outward, Braxton wants to expand the agency’s audience.  “Hunters, anglers, boaters, recreational shooters, and wildlife viewers—that’s our universe of people.  Previously, we have not had a strategic approach to reaching out to underrepresented groups.”  He is looking to partner with outdoor affinity groups like OutdoorAfro, Latino Outdoors, and Women Outdoors to find opportunities to help them move their agenda forward while also helping to connect them to DWR.
 
“There are some fairly daunting challenges,” says Braxton.  Expanding the agency’s “universe of people” means recruiting more people of color, women, and other underrepresented populations into all the wildlife recreation activities.  “In Virginia, much of our ethnically and racially diverse populations live in urban areas, and hunters aren’t usually third generation inner city people.”  There are also barriers of economics and access to equipment.
 
Braxton is hopeful that the external and internal efforts will work in tandem.  “We are introducing new populations to these activities like hunting and boating.  For example, from a gender perspective, women are the fastest growing population in the outdoor sports, but they are not well-represented in the Conservation Police Officer force, so the next step might be to create opportunities for that career move.”  Likewise, wildlife viewing is something that people can do even in urban areas, so efforts to help people grow their wildlife viewing interest into a hobby and then a career may aid efforts to diversify the agency’s workforce.
 
When asked about the role of volunteers like Virginia Master Naturalists in the agency’s efforts, Braxton says that volunteers can help provide more “touch points” with a wide variety of people.  He is very interested in finding ways for us to support each other with diversity and inclusion efforts.  “We do have a platform for communications, but it reaches our current constituency.  I definitely want volunteers to know we are really reliant on organizations like the Virginia Master Naturalist program to reach everyone else.  We are reliant on everyone to articulate the interest we have in making sure underrepresented groups take advantage of what Virginia has to offer in terms of the outdoors.”
 
Want to get more information on wildlife in Virginia and the conservation and education work of DWR?  Subscribe to the Notes from the Field email list.
​

Adolph White was a naturalist long before he knew what one was. 
 
“I was basically a loner as a child and spent a lot of time touring through the woods and enjoying the birds, squirrels and other living things. Nature was my partner because I was a budding artist,” said White.
 
He could step out into a wild world that was “like a friend I depended on,” said White, who grew up in the Spring Grove community of Surry County, where his parents of six, Roosevelt and Ethel White, were sharecroppers. 
 
“Walking in the fields or forest, I’d commit what I saw to memory. I’d take notes, or quickly sketch a scene, then run home and improve on my drawing.” White would ponder the patterns in leaves, snow drifts, clouds and stars. 
 
He felt calm hearing cicadas sing in the pines. Intrigued at a snake disappearing in grass, he wrote a little story about that, but found his teacher was not as delighted.

And today?
 
“Adolph is interested in everything pertaining to nature,” said Barbara Eck of Glen Allen, who has watched birds and explored the outdoors with him nearly weekly for about 15 years.
 
White, 77, reflected on his passion for the environment in summer phone chats, without a clue that friends he’s made along trails and watersides were about to honor him.
 
The retired Richmond teacher was given a Friend of Nature Award for his “dedication to and care of” the purple martins at North Richmond’s Joseph Bryan Park, and using his “creativity to teach folks of all ages about these charming birds and so much more.” It cheers his “lifelong love of earth’s wonders” and calls him a “true inspiration.”
 
This surprise awaited White when he joined the shade-tree social half of Richmond Audubon’s monthly bird walk at Bryan Park on Sunday, Aug. 2. It came with thanks from Audubon, the Falls of the James Group Sierra Club and Friends of Bryan Park.
 
“This is a heart-warming situation for me,” White responded, raising the framed award high for 10 relatives and 20 friends to see. A hawk print scarf had hidden it.
 
The sit-together was billed to White as a “happy travels party” for the park’s southbound martins, so he smiled skyward and said, “Bon voyage, purple martins! I will protect you next year... Nothing messes with my birds!”
 
Guests were amused to see his cute iPad animation of a martin leaving a house. ​

It was the late Jimmy Fitzgerald of Providence Forge who oversaw installation of the first of the trio of multi-room nest houses in time for spring 2009 birds. Fitzgerald had plenty of martin gourds and houses of his own to tend and encouraged White to take the park’s martins under his wing.
 
“Jimmy and I formed a perfect friendship,” said White. They met one summer evening in 2008 in Shockoe Bottom under a sky full of swirling martins. Fitzgerald said the birds were “staging” -- gathering to fortify on insects before leaving by summer’s end on a 5,000-mile flight to Brazil’s Amazon Basin. 
 
Fitzgerald invited White to see his 160-martin operation on the Chickahominy River. White began to help him there and research martins like crazy. Soon, White was sharing information with martin spectators, who came nightly to the 17th Street Farmers’ Market for six summers to see 25,000 or so birds sculpt huge tornadoes and roller coasters.
 
Battalions of martins then swooped just yards overhead to claim branches in a line of leafy Bradford pear trees at dusk.
 
Richmond officials wanted to cut the old trees, in which the birds were first noticed roosting en masse in 2007. But bird lovers in 2008 organized the Gone to the Birds Festival that brought revenue to the city and diners to the Bottom through 2013.
 
White helped at the Purple Martin Conservation Association festival booth, and children flocked to him to hear about the migration.
 
He was even among early-risers hosing the poopy sidewalks all season after the hungry birds left the trees in the mornings to forage. 
 
White recalled the crowd’s stir as Richmond’s rare peregrine falcons appeared at dusk. When a falcon caught a martin in air, the martins already tucked in the trees switched from a busy chatter to a “warning chorus that sounded like running water.” Redtail hawks going into the trees to get carry-out dinner caused a louder rush.
 
Such exciting nights and festivals ended when martins didn’t cluster downtown in 2014.
 
Before the gala at Bryan Park Aug. 2, only two or three chatty martins remained. 
Typically, White sees the birds leave this pond site a few at a time until all are gone by July 31. These join a big group in the region preparing for the pilgrimage to Brazil. With family raising done, all can be leisurely, flying 300 miles a day. Their final destinations for fall in South America vary. They rush coming north to nab the best mates, nest sites and food. Masses can be seen on weather radar each way. 
 
White said, “Just think, martins raised at our park this year are making their first trip!”  
 
Friends of Bryan Park president and Master Naturalist John Zuegner thanked White for providing park visitors the opportunity to see the special birds raise families up close for 11 years. ​

White made sure the houses don’t feed hawks, especially a grabby local Cooper’s hawk. He attached “wire porches” through which large winged predators cannot reach the house openings.
 
Sometimes, friends said, White looks like he is dancing to scare away house sparrows, nuisance birds brought to the United States from Europe in the mid-1800s, that will squash martin eggs, kill chicks and build their own nests on top of the carnage.
 
He repaired baffles that keep snakes from climbing the poles when his family brought him to the colony in July.  ​

White has given up driving and can’t get to the park as often as he could when he lived 15 minutes away, but birders vow to help watch the colony. 
 
Martins typically return to the park on March 15, if warmth brings ample insects to eat, he said. Martin caretakers must clean the houses and open the doors on time.  ​

​The VMN State Program office recognizes volunteers who complete 250, 500, 1,000, 2,500, 5,000, and 10,000 hours of service.  These are cumulative volunteer hours starting when a volunteer joins the program.  Many of our chapters recognize additional interim milestones and achievements.  

Below, we have listed the volunteers who have achieved these milestones between August 2019 and December 2019 (based on reports received by our office as of January 31.)  Some of these volunteers have demonstrated long-term dedication through many years with the program.  Others have joined the program more recently, but they have done extraordinary levels of service in a short time frame.  We are honored to have all of them sharing their time and talents as Virginia Master Naturalist volunteers, and we are pleased to recognize their efforts in this newsletter and with special milestone pins.  Their names are listed alphabetically within each chapter.

In addition, although we cannot list them all here, we are thrilled to recognize the 1,483 Virginia Master Naturalist volunteers who certified or re-certified for 2019, meaning they completed 40 hours of volunteer service and 8 hours of continuing education. Congratulations, everyone!

Thank you to Tiffany Brown, VMN project assistant, for compiling these lists!

The 5,000 Hour Circle Grows with the Addition of Ida Swenson

Completing 5,000 hours of Virginia Master Naturalist volunteer service is no easy task.  To date, only ten volunteers have achieved this distinction.  

By the end of 2019, Ida Swenson joined this exclusive VMN club.  Ida is one of the founding members of Rivanna Master Naturalist Chapter and an active participant in multiple capacities.  Cindy Westley, Past President of the chapter, writes, "Her knowledge of nature and science is wide-ranging.  As a former middle school teacher, she is very comfortable teaching children of all ages using abstract concepts and hands-on resources.  Kids immediately relate to her because she teaches on their level, where they live, but with a sense of how to keep the learning experience on track.   She is imaginative and interesting and, well, she is cool. Whether it’s working a table at a public science event or community festival or teaching Master Naturalist trainees in the introductory course, Ida is always able to capture the attention and imagination of her audience. She is knowledgeable, dedicated, reliable and really enjoys herself.  The RMN and VMN are fortunate to have her as a member and leader."

Ida joins Marian Childress (Tidwater), Shirley Devan (Historic Rivers), John Ford (New River Valley), Cheryl Jacobson (Historic Rivers), Les Lawrence (Historic Rivers), Susan Powell (Historic Rivers), Jack Price (Old Rag), Jim Scibek (Central Rappahannock), and Robert Toner (Eastern Shore) as part of this 5,000 hour circle of amazing volunteers!