Bi-Weekly Communication for VMN Volunteers

Bi-weekly Email for March 21

3/21/2023

person's hands putting plant seeds into a paper bag

Volunteers will collect seed from a select group of native pollinator plants.

Hello, VMNs. The vernal equinox was yesterday, March 20! Remind yourself of what the spring equinox is and why it is significant with this article from EarthSky. You can catch up on other news in the Bi-weekly email.

This email includes:

New VMN Name Tag Design
Conference Updates
Continuing Education Opportunities
Volunteer Opportunity

New VMN Name Tag Design
Using our new VMN logo we have redesigned our name tags. As part of this process, we have added the option of having your pronouns on your name tag. You can view the details on the Volunteer Management page of the VMN website.

Conference Updates
The 2023 VMN Conference will be in Abingdon, Virginia on September 29-October 1. You can view all of the details on the Conference page of the VMN website.

The latest updates include - lodging information and booking links as well as the dates that registration will open.

Continuing Education Opportunities
VMN Continuing Education Webinar Series: Pollinators in the woods? How wild bees nest and forage in trees and woody habitats, and what you can do to support them
Date: Friday, April 7, 12:00-1:00 pm
Presenter: Kass Urban-Mead, Ph.D. is the Mid-Atlantic Pollinator Conservation Specialist with The Xerces Society and an NRCS Partner Biologist.
Registration: Pre-registration required.
Please see the VMN Continuing Education Webinar Series for a full description and presenter bio. VMN CE Webinars are always recorded and posted on that page within two weeks of the webinar, so no need to ask!

Caterpillars Count! Information sessions
Caterpillars Count! is a citizen science project for measuring the seasonal variation, also known as phenology, and abundance of arthropods like caterpillars, beetles, and spiders found on the foliage of trees and shrubs. Learn more about the project during these free informational webinars, offered at three different times. Registration links are provided.

Monday, April 3, 12:00 - 1:30 pm EST (https://unc.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJEqfu-vqDgpHdc6ynzvdMSTEtsPbKluMcAh)
Wednesday, April 12, 1:30 - 3:00 pm EST (https://unc.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJElcuyqrT8qHdO3JS9OCrALfPlpQ9N8L7VZ)
Tuesday, April 25, 3:00 - 4:30 pm EST (https://unc.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUkdO2prDgjHd07rcAbxDST6bpYYufJZnwN)

These webinars are provided by the Caterpillars Count! team, so please contact them directly with questions: caterpillarscount@gmail.com.

Volunteer Opportunity
Native Seed Pilot Project with Clifton Institute

VMN volunteers with solid plant ID skills are invited to take part in a new service project for this year to collect seed from a selection of targeted native plants. The seeds will be distributed to small farms by Virginia State University to grow plants to support the native plant industry for pollinator habitat restoration projects. Interested volunteers must sign up at this link by May 1. Before signing up, please read the following information to make sure it is the right opportunity for you.

If you have questions about the project, please contact the coordinator Isaac Matlock at imatlock@cliftoninstitute.org.

All chapter volunteer service/project chairs were sent the information on the Better Impact template for this activity so that they can review and approve it for their chapters if they have volunteers who want to participate.

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Bi-weekly for March 7

3/7/2023

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Hello, VMNs. Lots of Continuing Education opportunities for you this week, many from other organizations. Always something happening in the Bi-weekly email.

This email includes:

S.O.S. From the VMN State Program Office
Volunteer Opportunity
Continuing Education Opportunities

S.O.S. From the VMN State Program Office
Lately, we are receiving an overwhelming number of questions from volunteers on a wide variety of topics. We care about all of you and want to help you find the answers you seek, but answering all your messages does take a significant portion of our limited time. Here we offer some tips that will help you find answers in a timely manner and help us be able to respond to you more effectively.

1) Handy resources for you to consult when you have questions:

Your chapter leaders, including your chapter advisor(s)
Volunteer Policy Handbook - A new version is in the works, but this one still has a lot of answers!
Past Bi-weekly emails - We archive them for a month or two on our website.
VMN Website - There is a search function in the upper right corner to help you find what you are seeking.
Better Impact training resources - Several videos and documents available.

2) When contacting the state office, please always include your chapter name. We often need to point you toward local information, and including your chapter name saves us the time of looking you up in Better Impact.

3) If you do find that you do need to contact the State Office, please note that it might take us 24-48 hours to respond.

Volunteer Opportunity
Osprey Watch Productivity Rate Reporting
OspreyWatch, coordinated by the Center for Conservation Biology at William & Mary, is already an approved activity for many of our chapters near the Chesapeake Bay. A researcher contacted us to request that OspreyWatchers be sure to report on how many nestlings fledge in the nests that you are observing (rather than just reporting that the nest is active.) Here’s a video on why these data are important. And, if you are a chapter near the Bay that does not have OspreyWatch as an approved activity, but would like to add it, please have the chapter’s project/volunteer service chair contact Michelle Prysby to get a completed project proposal form.

Continuing Education Opportunities
VMN CE Webinar - Exploring the Mineral Resources of Virginia
Date: Wednesday, March 15, 2023, 12:00-1:00 pm
Full description and registration link on our CE page. This is also the page where recordings are always posted.

When Green is Not Good: Nuisance and Harmful Algae
Date: Tuesday, March 14, 7 – 8pm
Location: In-person at the Wayne Theatre, 521 W Main Street, Waynesboro, and streamed online on Facebook Live
Presented by: Friends of the Middle River and Friends of the Shenandoah River
Presenters: Tara Wyrick, Water Monitoring and Assessments Manager, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, and Morgan Steffen, Department of Biology, James Madison University
The two speakers will discuss differences and identification clues between “nuisance” algae and “harmful” algae that occur in rivers of the Shenandoah River watershed and how harmful algal blooms (HABs) are hazardous to humans, pets, and livestock. They will also discuss how to report suspected algal blooms to authorities for further investigation.
This event will also be live-streamed on the Wayne Theatre Facebook page and recorded.
More information on the Wayne Theatre website.

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Bi-weekly for February 21

2/21/2023

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Mineral Resources of Virginia, close up of piece of purple gemstone.

Amethyst, 2.2cm., Prince Edward County, Virginia, USA. August Diez Collection. Photo by Connor Williams and used with permission from the Friends of Mineralogy Virginia.

Hello, VMNs. Lots of Continuing Education opportunities for you this week, many from other organizations. Always something happening in the Bi-weekly email.

This email includes:

New VMN name tag design
Naturalist Resources
Continuing Education Opportunities

New VMN name tag design
Now that we have our new logo, we are working on redesigning VMN items and the name tag is one of the first on our list. We have been working with our vendor to add the new logo, make everything more readable, possibly make them a tad larger and to have the option for adding pronouns. We hope to be able to share this new design with you in our next Bi-weekly email as it’s not ready just yet.

Chapters that have placed orders to be filled in March will be getting the new design and their leadership has been notified.

Naturalist Resources
Urban and community forestry is a focus area for Virginia Master Naturalists, so we wanted to share a resource from the Tree Stewards of Arlington and Alexandria. They have training videos online on a variety of community forestry topics, from soils to tree ID to maintaining street trees.

Need a nature break while at your computer? The Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources has added a new live cam - the Marsh Cam, where you can watch a tidal marsh habitat at Hog Island Wildlife Management Area 24/7. They have also created some nifty educator resources to go with it.

Upcoming Continuing Education Opportunities

VMN Continuing Education Webinar: Exploring the Mineral Resources of Virginia

Date: Wednesday, March 15, 2023, 12:00-1:00 pm
Location: Online (Zoom)
Registration: Free! Pre-registration required.

Description: With over 430 unique mineral species, Virginia hosts a wide variety of unique mineral deposits. In this presentation you will learn more about Virginia's unique geologic provinces and the various mineral resources and famous ore deposits found within them. Many of these historical sites were the backbone of Virginia's economic prosperity and for decades provided mineral collectors and scientists with stunning specimens which told a story about Virginia's geologic past. The presentation will also explore a brief history of Virginia's key mining developments dating back hundreds of years ago to stone-tool manufacturing and all the way to modern discussions about critical minerals and the future of the state's extractive industry. An additional goal of this presentation is to provide VMN members and leaders with the best resources and literature available about Virginia's geology and mineral resources to aid in discussions about why minerals are essential in everyday life and global discussions on energy transitions and climate change mitigation. No presentation on Virginia's mineral resources could be complete without an array of beautifully photographed images of some incredible mineral specimens collected here in the Commonwealth!

Presenter: Thomas Hale is the president of the Friends of Mineralogy Virginia Chapter Inc., a non-profit organization established in 2020 dedicated to promoting the state's mineral resources and working with industry and teacher associations, along with academic institutions and museums, to increase awareness around minerals in our everday life. Thomas Hale is currently a PhD student at the University of Delaware, in the Department of Geography and Spatial Sciences focusing on the nexus between the extractive sector and national security. His expertise in mineral diplomacy focuses on using minerals and materials as a method of exploring global challenges facing society. His research areas span the globe, with studies on Afghanistan, Central Africa, and recent work focused on legacy mining operations in Greenland.

Mapping With Drones workshops
We have a couple of VMN volunteers who have been involved in using drones for conservation projects, so we wanted to share this training opportunity.

Description: This 2-day virtual workshop will prepare participants with the knowledge necessary to take the FAA Remote Knowledge Aircraft Test (aka Part 107). All workshop materials are provided to participants (via snail-mail) prior to the workshop. More info at https://virginiaview.cnre.vt.edu/workshops-events/. The workshop has been well received by educators (high school, 2-year, 4-year), state & federal agency employees, the private sector (ranging from engineers to realtors), Cooperative Extension, and a slew of folks from various NGO’s. This workshop is a great place to start for individuals who are considering using drones to support business applications, or managers who want to make solid decisions regarding drone issues moving forward. There are a limited number of discounted registrations available for VCE personnel, and fulltime high school teachers.

Workshop options include (and these workshops are the same, just choose the date that best works for you!).
Workshop #1: registration is closed!
Workshop #2: May 31 – June 1, 2023
Workshop #3: August 14 – 15, 2023
Workshop #4: December 14 – 15, 2023
Workshop #5: January 4-5, 2024

Registration: $250
Questions: This event is being put on by VAView, not VMN. More information about the workshop and online registration is available from: https://virginiaview.cnre.vt.edu/workshops-events/

36th Annual Lahr Native Plants Symposium, U.S. National Arboretum
Date: March 25, 2023, 9:30 am - 3:45 pm
Location: Administration Building Auditorium, U.S. National Arboretum
Description: Learn from our line-up of native plant professionals about efforts to reestablish beautiful and unusual habitats and how we can successfully manage and design our cultivated landscapes. The 36th Lahr Native Plant Symposium provides inspiration from the wild and practical advice for our gardens. Registrants attend all plenary sessions and one concurrent session of their choice. Registration is required and includes all sessions, morning coffee and refreshments, and box lunch.
Registration: $100 (FONA members $80). More information and registration on the U.S. National Arboretum website.
Questions: This event is being put on by the USDA, not by VMN. Please send questions to programs.usna@usda.gov.

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Bi-weekly Email for February 7

2/7/2023

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New VMN logo.

Hello, VMNs. Big news for you this week - our new logo is below! We are very excited to share it with you. Feel free to keep scrolling and check out all the other great stuff in this Bi-weekly email.

This email includes:

New VMN logo announcement
Giving Day
Conservation Management Institute Survey - add your input
Continuing Education Opportunities

A New Look for Virginia Master Naturalists!

We are excited to introduce our new Virginia Master Naturalist program logo! This new logo is the result of a multi-program process in Virginia Cooperative Extension aimed at developing new, more modern logos for all of our Master Volunteer programs that help tie our programs together and tie them back to VCE as our lead sponsor. The consulting firm that developed the new logo gathered feedback at several stages from VMN volunteers and other program stakeholders, and we are happy with the results.

As you can see, a butterfly with a silhouette suggestive of the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail still features prominently–we heard loud and clear from our stakeholders that they wanted to keep that connection to our state butterfly. But, this more streamlined logo will be much easier to use in a consistent way on a variety of media. We will be working over the next several weeks to update the logo on our various communication tools. VMN volunteers, if you need to use the VMN program logo for some purpose, please contact your chapter leaders to get the correct file format and logo usage guidelines. Chapter leaders - we will be sending you links to access the files this week!

Giving Day Feb 15-16 noon to noon. Save the date.

Giving Day

Giving Day, a 24-hour celebration of philanthropy at Virginia Tech (including the Virginia Master Naturalist program), is coming up soon, from noon on February 15 to noon on February 16! Giving Day has been a great way to promote Virginia Master Naturalists in past years. We hope that you will join us in making a gift to the Virginia Master Naturalist program this year. If 100 people make a gift to our program, a gift of $2500 will be unlocked! And, another generous donor has offered to match your gifts to have double the impact! Gifts can be made any time during Giving Day, and there are additional special challenges throughout the day. Gifts also can be made early, at this link. Your gifts help us continue to grow the Virginia Master Naturalist program and sustain our statewide efforts!

Share Your Perspectives on Volunteering
From the Virginia Service Commission: An exciting research study is happening across the state called the Virginia Community Engagement Index. This study, being conducted throughout the month of February on behalf of the Virginia Service Commission, will measure:

How and why Virginians give back to their communities through service, volunteerism, and even those often-uncounted everyday acts of kindness;
How these actions benefit our communities;
What challenges our communities face;
How Virginians feel we should meet those challenges;
How Virginians expect their employers to engage in their communities; and
Much more!

If you’re interested in helping to make it easier, more rewarding, and more effective to give of your time, talents, and treasure, take a few minutes to complete this survey and let your voice be heard!
Click here to learn more and take the survey before it closes on February 25th!

Continuing Education Opportunities
Next up in our VMN Continuing Education Webinar Series is “Life is short but snakes are long: diversity and natural history of Virginia's snakes”
Presenter: Arianna Kuhn, Assistant Curator of Herpetology at the Virginia Museum of Natural History
Date: February 21, 12:00-1:00 pm
Pre-registration required

Monarch Larva Monitoring Project Training Workshop
Monarch Joint Venture is offering a virtual training session to prepare volunteers to collect data for the Monarch Larva Monitoring Project. Participants will learn about monarch biology, monitoring procedures, and data entry protocols.
Date: February 25, 11:00 am - 4:00 pm Eastern Time
Cost: $45
Site for registration and more information.

Spotted Lanternfly Egg Mass Survey Webinar
The spotted lanternfly is an invasive insect that was discovered in Virginia in 2018, and has the potential to cause significant economic and ecological impacts. Help us monitor its spread by looking for egg masses in high-risk areas. This training will cover the biology and identification of the spotted lanternfly, its current distribution, how and where to conduct egg mass surveys, and how to record data. Presentations will be given by Lori Chamberlin and Katlin DeWitt from the Virginia Department of Forestry.
Date: February 21, 12:00-1:00 pm
Cost: Free. Pre-registration is required.
This webinar is being offered by the Blue Ridge PRISM. Please contact them directly if you have questions about this event.

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Bi-weekly Email for March 21

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