Hello, VMNs. Lots of items for you this week. Conferences to Road Shows, City Nature Challenges to webinars. If you can find a spare minute, catch up on the Bi-weekly emails.
This email includes:
Conference Update
The program is coming together and preparations are in full swing for our VMN Statewide Conference in Richmond, September 5-7 at The Westin Richmond. There will be multiple registration types to choose from - you can join us for the whole weekend or just for a day.
For those who plan to join us for multiple days, we have added the lodging information and booking link to the Statewide Conference page of the VMN website. The group rate will be available until August 14.
We hope to see you there!
20th Anniversary Road Show Details
For more details about our four 20th Anniversary Road Show dates and locations, please see this invitation.
Volunteer Opportunities
Project WILD Facilitator
Project WILD is a wildlife-focused environmental education curriculum. The Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources coordinates Project WILD trainings in Virginia and welcomes VMN volunteers to become Project WILD facilitators who then teach other educators how to use the curriculum. More information at https://dwr.virginia.gov/education/project-wild/ and in this activity proposal form.
City Nature Challenge - iNaturalist Identification Period
The City Nature Challenge is an annual bioblitz focused mainly on urban metro areas (though not exclusively) and it is a friendly competition amongst participating areas. April 25-April 28 was the observing period, and April 29-May 4 is the additional time added to identify what was found and posted to iNaturalist. You can help make identifications on iNaturalist for any of the locations below, not just the place you live. As always, please check with your chapter leaders for service activity approvals and directions on how to report in Better Impact. We’ve included the current, unofficial tallies below!
Alleghany and Shenandoah Mountains: Alleghany, Augusta, Bath, Highland, Rockbridge counties and Covington, Buena Vista, Lexington, Waynesboro, and Staunton cities. 590 observations of 331 species by 72 observers.
Charlottesville Region: Albemarle, Nelson, Louisa, Orange, Greene, Fluvanna Counties and Charlottesville City. 4,003 observations of 1,126 species by 241 observers.
Eastern Shore: Accomack and Northampton Counties. 1,049 observations of 483 species by 48 observers.
Greater Richmond Metro Area: Richmond City, Petersburg, Charles City, Chesterfield, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico, New Kent, Powhatan Counties. 1,757 observations of 743 species by 331 observers.
Roanoke: Roanoke city and county. 626 observations of 253 species by 24 observers.
Southwest Piedmont: Danville city, Martinsville city, Franklin, Henry, Patrick, and Pittsylvania counties. 940 observations of 453 species by 41 observers.
Southwest Virginia: Bristol city, Norton city, Buchanan, Dickenson, Lee, Russell, Scott, Smyth, Tazewell, Washington, Wise counties. 1,371 observations of 592 species by 87 observers.
Virginia Pinelands: Franklin, Hopewell, Emporia, Williamsburg cities, Greensville, Isle of Wight, James City, Prince George, Southampton, Suffolk, Surry, Sussex counties. 1,417 observations of 691 species by 104 observers.
Washington D.C. Metro Area: View the full map of areas included at the link. Includes part or all of where our Fairfax, Arlington Regional, Merrimac Farm, Central Rappahannock, Old Rag, Shenandoah, and Banshee Reeks are active. 45,408 observations of 3,312 species by 2,186 observers.
Continuing Education Opportunities
Reminder:
May VMN Continuing Education Webinar: Butterfly population trends in America north of Mexico and their most likely drivers
Date: May 5, 12:00-1:00
Description: Mounting evidence shows that insects are declining world-wide, leading to the so-called "insect apocalypse". Unfortunately, this is also true for butterflies in America and Canada. Leslie Ries will present the evidence showing patterns and trajectories of butterfly declines here in American north of Mexico. She will also summarize a recent study examining the most likely drivers. This story is complicated, but she’ll show that in the 10 years following the 2003 release of seed-coated neonicotinoids, that class of pesticides appears to have the biggest impact on butterfly population declines. She will also be emphasizing an often untold part of this story which is that the only reason scientists can do this research is the efforts of thousands of on-the-ground volunteers who participate in monitoring programs like the North American Butterfly Association's count program and regional networks that do more intensive surveys, including new programs in the Carolinas and Blue Ridge Mountains. With the efforts of community scientists, we will be able to continue to amass the evidence we need on declines and causes that will hopefully allow us to turn the tide on this tragic loss of biodiversity.
Presenter: Leslie Ries is an associate professor at Georgetown University studying how global change impacts biodiversity with a focus on butterflies in America north of Mexico. In addition to carrying out lab, field, and "big data" research on butterflies, she is the co-director of the North American Butterfly Monitoring Network, which provides data management support for the vast majority of groups that run programs where volunteers collect structured survey data. She is also excited to be a new board member of the North American Butterfly Association. Leslie is a native of the DMV, growing up and now living in suburban Maryland.
Leslie Ries is a co-author of the recent study you may have seen in the news showing widespread butterfly declines in the United States using volunteer-collected data sets–including butterfly counts that many of our VMNs have contributed to!
Registration: Pre-registration required to participate in the live Zoom. As with all our VMN CE Webinars, the recording will be available to anyone on our website within a few days of the event.
Virginia 4-H Volunteer Training Series
The 4-H program is offering some generalized online trainings for volunteers. These sessions are open to everyone! There is no requirement that you need to be a 4-H volunteer. All sessions will be offered live via Zoom, and then recorded so that anyone may watch them at a later time. Pre-registration required for the live Zoom.
Full descriptions, dates, times, and the registration links are available on this site – which is also where the recordings will be housed:
https://sites.google.com/vt.edu/volunteertraining/home
The schedule of sessions includes:
Other Fun Stuff: Poetry on the Trail Seeks Submissions
Poetry on the Trail, a project by a Virginia Master Naturalist volunteer in partnership with several other organizations, seeks submissions of nature poetry for two Poetry on the Trail sites. Deadline June 1. Please see https://poetryonthetrail.org/call-for-poetry-submissions/ for the full description of what is needed.
This email includes:
- Conference Update
- 20th Anniversary - Road Show Details
- Volunteer Opportunities
- Continuing Education Opportunities
- Other Fun Stuff
Conference Update
The program is coming together and preparations are in full swing for our VMN Statewide Conference in Richmond, September 5-7 at The Westin Richmond. There will be multiple registration types to choose from - you can join us for the whole weekend or just for a day.
For those who plan to join us for multiple days, we have added the lodging information and booking link to the Statewide Conference page of the VMN website. The group rate will be available until August 14.
We hope to see you there!
20th Anniversary Road Show Details
For more details about our four 20th Anniversary Road Show dates and locations, please see this invitation.
Volunteer Opportunities
Project WILD Facilitator
Project WILD is a wildlife-focused environmental education curriculum. The Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources coordinates Project WILD trainings in Virginia and welcomes VMN volunteers to become Project WILD facilitators who then teach other educators how to use the curriculum. More information at https://dwr.virginia.gov/education/project-wild/ and in this activity proposal form.
City Nature Challenge - iNaturalist Identification Period
The City Nature Challenge is an annual bioblitz focused mainly on urban metro areas (though not exclusively) and it is a friendly competition amongst participating areas. April 25-April 28 was the observing period, and April 29-May 4 is the additional time added to identify what was found and posted to iNaturalist. You can help make identifications on iNaturalist for any of the locations below, not just the place you live. As always, please check with your chapter leaders for service activity approvals and directions on how to report in Better Impact. We’ve included the current, unofficial tallies below!
Alleghany and Shenandoah Mountains: Alleghany, Augusta, Bath, Highland, Rockbridge counties and Covington, Buena Vista, Lexington, Waynesboro, and Staunton cities. 590 observations of 331 species by 72 observers.
Charlottesville Region: Albemarle, Nelson, Louisa, Orange, Greene, Fluvanna Counties and Charlottesville City. 4,003 observations of 1,126 species by 241 observers.
Eastern Shore: Accomack and Northampton Counties. 1,049 observations of 483 species by 48 observers.
Greater Richmond Metro Area: Richmond City, Petersburg, Charles City, Chesterfield, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico, New Kent, Powhatan Counties. 1,757 observations of 743 species by 331 observers.
Roanoke: Roanoke city and county. 626 observations of 253 species by 24 observers.
Southwest Piedmont: Danville city, Martinsville city, Franklin, Henry, Patrick, and Pittsylvania counties. 940 observations of 453 species by 41 observers.
Southwest Virginia: Bristol city, Norton city, Buchanan, Dickenson, Lee, Russell, Scott, Smyth, Tazewell, Washington, Wise counties. 1,371 observations of 592 species by 87 observers.
Virginia Pinelands: Franklin, Hopewell, Emporia, Williamsburg cities, Greensville, Isle of Wight, James City, Prince George, Southampton, Suffolk, Surry, Sussex counties. 1,417 observations of 691 species by 104 observers.
Washington D.C. Metro Area: View the full map of areas included at the link. Includes part or all of where our Fairfax, Arlington Regional, Merrimac Farm, Central Rappahannock, Old Rag, Shenandoah, and Banshee Reeks are active. 45,408 observations of 3,312 species by 2,186 observers.
Continuing Education Opportunities
Reminder:
May VMN Continuing Education Webinar: Butterfly population trends in America north of Mexico and their most likely drivers
Date: May 5, 12:00-1:00
Description: Mounting evidence shows that insects are declining world-wide, leading to the so-called "insect apocalypse". Unfortunately, this is also true for butterflies in America and Canada. Leslie Ries will present the evidence showing patterns and trajectories of butterfly declines here in American north of Mexico. She will also summarize a recent study examining the most likely drivers. This story is complicated, but she’ll show that in the 10 years following the 2003 release of seed-coated neonicotinoids, that class of pesticides appears to have the biggest impact on butterfly population declines. She will also be emphasizing an often untold part of this story which is that the only reason scientists can do this research is the efforts of thousands of on-the-ground volunteers who participate in monitoring programs like the North American Butterfly Association's count program and regional networks that do more intensive surveys, including new programs in the Carolinas and Blue Ridge Mountains. With the efforts of community scientists, we will be able to continue to amass the evidence we need on declines and causes that will hopefully allow us to turn the tide on this tragic loss of biodiversity.
Presenter: Leslie Ries is an associate professor at Georgetown University studying how global change impacts biodiversity with a focus on butterflies in America north of Mexico. In addition to carrying out lab, field, and "big data" research on butterflies, she is the co-director of the North American Butterfly Monitoring Network, which provides data management support for the vast majority of groups that run programs where volunteers collect structured survey data. She is also excited to be a new board member of the North American Butterfly Association. Leslie is a native of the DMV, growing up and now living in suburban Maryland.
Leslie Ries is a co-author of the recent study you may have seen in the news showing widespread butterfly declines in the United States using volunteer-collected data sets–including butterfly counts that many of our VMNs have contributed to!
Registration: Pre-registration required to participate in the live Zoom. As with all our VMN CE Webinars, the recording will be available to anyone on our website within a few days of the event.
Virginia 4-H Volunteer Training Series
The 4-H program is offering some generalized online trainings for volunteers. These sessions are open to everyone! There is no requirement that you need to be a 4-H volunteer. All sessions will be offered live via Zoom, and then recorded so that anyone may watch them at a later time. Pre-registration required for the live Zoom.
Full descriptions, dates, times, and the registration links are available on this site – which is also where the recordings will be housed:
https://sites.google.com/vt.edu/volunteertraining/home
The schedule of sessions includes:
- April 30, 5:00 pm: Supporting Deaf & Hard of Hearing Youth; Gabe Ringley, 2025 VA 4-H Youth-in-Action Civic Engagement Pillar Winner
- May 1, 10:00 am: Knowing Your Audience; Joseph Cho & Colleagues; University of Maryland – Maryland 4-H
- May 4, 6:00 pm: Mission Possible: Planning Backwards to Reach Your Goals; Christina Galardi, VCE Data Integration Specialist
- May 5, 5:00 pm: Decoding Your True Colors; Mandi Dolan, VCE 4-H Extension Agent
- May 6, 5:00 pm: Connecting with Purpose – Communication Strategies for Volunteer Leaders; Christina Ruszczyk-Murray,
- May 6, 7:00 pm: VCE Volunteer Engagement Specialist; Tools to Implement the 4-H Thriving Model; Amy Lang & Anna Glenn, University of Maryland – Maryland 4-H
- May 7, 7:00 pm: Positive Youth Development: The Heart of Every 4-H Project; Tara Brent & Karen Baker, VCE 4-H Extension Agents
- May 8, 7:00 pm: 4-H Excellence in Action: Unlocking the Principles of Program Quality; Alyssa Walden, Associate Specialist & Deputy State 4-H Leader
- May 13, 7:00 pm: From Club to Career: Your Role in Youth Readiness; Lisa Ingram & Jode Smith, Extension Assistant Professors, West Virginia University
Other Fun Stuff: Poetry on the Trail Seeks Submissions
Poetry on the Trail, a project by a Virginia Master Naturalist volunteer in partnership with several other organizations, seeks submissions of nature poetry for two Poetry on the Trail sites. Deadline June 1. Please see https://poetryonthetrail.org/call-for-poetry-submissions/ for the full description of what is needed.
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