The Virginia Master Naturalist program’s state office is now accepting nominations for six statewide awards: Volunteer of the Year, Project of the Year (with four subcategories), and Advisor of the Year.  These awards will be judged by the VMN statewide office team and at least one VMN Steering Committee member.  We will announce and distribute the awards at our annual conference, Friday evening, September 15. 
 
To submit a nomination, please send the information requested for that particular award to Michelle Prysby, mprysby@vt.edu.  Nominations are due by August 7 at 5 pm.

​You can read about last year's winners and nominees here!
 
Volunteer of the Year
This award is intended to recognize a volunteer who has made outstanding contributions to natural resource education, citizen science, and/or stewardship.  There is no minimum requirement for amount of hours or length of service for a volunteer to receive this award.
In your nominations, please include the following:

• Name, email address, and VMN chapter affiliation of nominator
• Name, email address, and VMN chapter affiliation of the nominee
• Description of why the nominee should receive the award, limited to 400 words.  You may choose to include a description of the individual’s service, specific examples of positive impacts made, aspects that make the individual stand out from other volunteers, and quotes from other volunteers or local partners.
• You may include examples from the individual’s entire length of service, but please place your primary focus on the last 1-2 years.

 
Project of the Year
Subcategories: Education/Outreach, Citizen Science, Stewardship, Administrative
This award is intended to recognize a chapter or individual volunteer’s project that has made significant and noteworthy positive impacts for natural resource education, citizen science, and/or stewardship within the last 1-2 years.  Nominated projects should be projects created and led by a VMN volunteer or chapter, but they may be in partnership with other entities.  We will give awards in each of four subcategories:

• Education/Outreach – Volunteer service in which VMN volunteers educate the public, such as interpretive programs at parks
• Citizen Science – Service projects involving data collection, monitoring, biological inventories, etc.
• Stewardship – Service projects to improve habitat or improve the ability of the public to access natural resources through trails, etc.
• Administrative – Projects to improve the functioning of a VMN chapter, such as re-vamping of the basic training course, mentorship programs, efforts to streamline chapter processes, etc.

 
In your nominations, please include the following:

• Name, email address, and VMN chapter affiliation of the nominator
• Name, email address, and VMN chapter affiliation for the primary VMN volunteer contact for the project
• The primary award subcategory for which you are nominating the project: Education/Outreach, Citizen Science, Stewardship, or Administrative.  The project may include aspects of multiple subcategories and you may describe these aspects in your nomination statement, but you should indicate the primary subcategory under which you want to nominate the project.
• Description of why the project should receive the award, limited to 400 words.  Please include a description of the project goals, activities completed, and impacts and outcomes for natural resources in your community and/or for your chapter.  Include the roles and contributions of VMN volunteers to the project.  Identify any significant partners for the project. 

 
Chapter Advisor of the Year
This award is intended to recognize a chapter advisor who has made significant and noteworthy contributions to a VMN chapter within the last 1-2 years. 
In your nominations, please include the following:

• Name, email address, and VMN chapter affiliation of the nominator
• Name, email address, and VMN chapter affiliation of the chapter advisor
• Description of why the chapter advisor should receive the award, limited to 400 words.  Please include specific examples of how the chapter advisor has helped the chapter run effectively, make positive impacts in the community, or otherwise achieve its goals.

​Please help us recognize the outstanding people and work of your chapters!

SAVE THE DATE! The Virginia Master Naturalist Conference will be from Sept. 15 to 17 this year!

Our 2017 VMN Statewide Conference and Training is just 5 months away, and members of the VMN-Shenandoah Chapter and VMN program staff have been busy planning the program, lining up instructors, making arrangements with the venue, and handling all the logistics to make this our biggest and best conference yet.  This is an exclusive event, open only to VMN volunteers! 

The Venue
We'll be taking over the Northern Virginia 4-H Educational Center in Front Royal, VA, where we will make use of up to 8 classroom and meeting spaces, grounds with a trail that connects to the Appalachian Trail, a large dining hall, and lodging.  The center is on top of a hill with excellent views of a beautiful part of the state.

The Program
We have approximately 40 sessions for attendees to choose from.  Here are some of the topics you can learn about:

• Black Bear Conservation with Seth Thompson of the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries
• Overcoming the Fear of Flora: Learning to Use the Flora of Virginia with native plant experts Marion Lobstein and Sally Anderson
• Protection and Monitoring of High Elevation Plant Species with Wendy Cass of the National Park Service
• Wood Turtle Life History, Movement Ecology, and Conservation with Jonathan Drescher-Lehman of the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute

In addition, we will offer field trips to the Abrams Creek Wetlands Preserve, Shenandoah River State Park, the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, multiple sites in Shenandoah National Park, and other locations in the local area.

On top of all that, if you want to come early, we will have 5 different pre-conference sessions on Friday, including a program at Blandy Experimental Farm and State Arboretum.

Photography is an important part of many Virginia Master Naturalist projects.  Citizen science projects such as Wildlife Mapping, the recent City Nature Challenge, and RareQuest all require photos of observations in order for them to be research-quality.  High quality images, whether mounted on a chapter's display at an Earth Day event or used in a public presentation, can enhance education and interpretive programs.  And, simply documenting VMN projects through photos shared on our photo-sharing site is critical for us to be able to share and describe the work that our volunteers do with all our stakeholders.

Given this central role of photography in the Virginia Master Naturalist program, our annual volunteer photo contest has become a valued tradition.  It started as an expansion of a chapter-wide contest that our Historic Rivers Chapter was doing.  Now, each year, VMN chapters send their top photos to the VMN Statewide Conference and Volunteer Training, and local expert judges select the winners in several categories.  While there's no monetary prize, winners receive ribbons and their photographs are recognized on our website and in our newsletter, as well as at the conference.

Since this statewide contest started in 2012, it has been in print format.  Submissions had to be transported to the contest and  displayed in standard-sized black frames.  We are excited to announce that the 2017 Virginia Master Naturalist Statewide Photography Contest will be conducted in a digital format!  We hope this new format will encourage and make it easier for chapters to enter the contest and also offer an opportunity for a few digital lessons to be learned.  We know it will have a much smaller ecological footprint than frames, mats, packing and printing!

Marie Majarov, 2017 VMN State Conference Photography Contest Coordinator, has prepared a download of useful information to help with image preparation and will be glad to talk with representatives from each chapter to answer questions.  Full contest rules, the entry form, and a digital format guide are posted on the contest webpage.

All Virginia Master Naturalist Chapters are invited to enter photopraphs and may use any means that they wish in order to select photos to submit for representing their chapter at the statewide contest.  Internal chapter contests are encouraged since photography is an important part of VMNs making and recording observations and a skill essential in communicating to the public as part of Education and Outreach.

Each VMN Chapter may enter one photograph in each of the following three categories, for a total of 3 entries per chapter:

• Virginia Flora, Fauna, and Other Species
• Virginia Landscapes and Habitats
• Virginia Master Naturalists in Action

The contest acknowledges the wonderful talent that exists in our membership, as well as the important role that photography can play in teaching and learning about natural resources. The entries will be judged by a qualified group of judges who will select First place, Second place, and Third place for all three categories.  Honorable Mention(s) will be awarded as the judges see fit.  All entered pictures will be exhibited via a slide show at the Northern Virginia 4-H Educational Center for the duration of the 2017 VMN Statewide Conference and Training. 

If all goes well embracing a digital format this year, next year we can expand our categories and opportunities!

Check out the 2016 and 2014 contest winners for inspiration!

Checking in with Natural Heritage

The Virginia Natural Heritage Program with the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation released their annual newsletter last month.  The Virginia Natural Heritage Program's mission is to conserve Virginia's biodiversity through biological inventory, data management and sharing, environmental review, land protection, and the stewardship of the Virginia Natural Area Preserves System.  

In the newsletter, you can learn about Virginia's newest Natural Area Preserve, actions taken to protect one of Virginia's largest populations of hibernating little brown bats, confirmation of an endangered mussel in Nelson County, the discovery of globally rare plants and natural communities, and more.

Virginia Master Naturalists volunteer with Natural Heritage in several ways.  They help provide education, citizen science, and stewardship at the Natural Area Preserves.  VMNs reported more than 800 hours of service at nine Natural Area Preserves in 2016.  This work is most notable on the Eastern Shore, where Dot Field, the VMN-Eastern Shore Chapter Advisor and Eastern Shore Region Steward, says, ​"They are true extensions of my eyes and ears and my hands and feet.  Quality stewardship of Natural Heritage resources on the Eastern Shore would not be possible without Master Naturalist volunteers."

Virginia Master Naturalists also have been collaborating with Natural Heritage on the RareQuest project, through which VMN volunteers visit and document occurrences of rare species across the state.

Along with being extremely supportive sponsors of the VMN program since its inception, Virginia Natural Heritage Program staff have led classes and field trips for VMN chapters and co-developed our Virginia Biogeography curriculum.  Natural Heritage vegetation ecologist Gary Fleming generously shared his high-quality photos and descriptions of Virginia's natural communities for use in our curriculum materials.  You can watch a video version of his presentation on our curriculum page.

Ninety-five native trees were planted at Banshee Reeks Nature Preserve in Leesburg, VA in November as part of the The Living Legacy Project, focused on commemorating soldiers that perished in one of the most defining moments in American history – the American Civil War. On Saturday, April 15, the community gathered to dedicate these trees and acknowledge the tremendous work and partnerships it took to implement this project.

The dedication ceremony featured a keynote speech by Loudoun County Supervisor Geary Higgins, as well as stories of the fallen, and a performance of the National Anthem by local Loudoun County students from Briar Woods High School. This project was accomplished through partnerships with Journey Through Hallowed Ground; Loudoun County Parks, Recreation and Community Services; Banshee Reeks Nature Preserve; and Virginia Master Naturalist Banshee Reeks Chapter.

VMN volunteer Leslie Ashman spearheaded this project and stated “I view these plantings as a means of communal healing for the wounds that our country sustained in the Civil War.” “We plant them with a vision of new life and beauty in areas where Witness Trees still stand.” Ashman worked with Banshee Reeks staff, Ron Circé and Julie Paul, to identify a location for a new trail and native trees suitable for the site. A thousand-foot trail was created by staff, overlooking nearby hills and mountains. The Banshee Reeks Chapter Communications and Outreach Committees advertised and marketed the event to gather volunteers, as well as raise awareness around this unique partnership at the preserve.

Volunteers planted multiple native species, including white oak, black gum, sassafras and the Virginia state tree – flowering dogwood. Each tree will be geo-tagged by volunteers from Booz Allen Hamilton, and will be associated with a Civil War soldier that died during the war. The Living Legacy Project not only recognizes the known soldiers that perished, but also the unknown.

“We’re excited about the partnership, and happy to help establish a native tree planting that will improve habitat and last for generations,” said Susan Sims, Secretary of the Banshee Reeks Chapter Board. “It’ll be a reminder of how much we can do when we work together.”  

The Living Legacy Project is planting one tree for each of the more than 620,000 casualties of the American Civil War over a 180-mile scenic byway from Gettysburg to Monticello. Following the planting at Banshee Reeks, the project has planted over 5,000 trees.

The project was made possible by help from many VMN and community volunteers, and staff from multiple organizations. Special thanks to Banshee Reeks staff; VMN volunteers Leslie Ashman, Susan Sims, Bill Cour, Jonathan Kauffman, Frank McLaughlin, and Sue Robinson; current VMN trainees Jody Brady, Wendy Cook, Karla Etten, Renee Kitt, Carol Matheny, Mike Sanders and Conrad Varblow; volunteers Angela Hepola, Caitlin Marcotte, and Sangam Pullikut; the Aeromodelers Association; and Journey Through Hallowed Ground Chief Operating Officer Michelle Burrelli.  
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The Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership is a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising awareness of this region and encouraging Americans and world visitors to appreciate, respect and experience this rich cultural landscape through education and heritage tourism. Visit HallowedGround.org for more information. For more info on the VMN Banshee Reek Chapter, visit vmnbansheereeks.org.