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Bi-weekly for November 28

11/28/2023

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 Hello, VMNs. We hope everyone had an enjoyable Thanksgiving holiday! As you’re working your way through turkey leftovers, be sure to catch up on past Bi-weekly emails.

This email includes:
  1. 2024 Re-enrollment - opens on Friday
  2. Continuing Education Opportunities
  3. Volunteer Opportunity
  4. Volunteer Policy Reminders

Re-enrollment Period for 2024 opens on Friday
On Friday, all VMNs will receive an email with information and/or instructions on what they need to do to complete 2024 Re-enrollment. 

For our newest volunteers who enrolled in 2024, they will receive information but won’t need to do anything.

Our returning VMNs will receive an email with instructions and a badge in Better Impact showing that they need to Re-enroll. Once their Re-enrollment is complete, the VMN State Office will update the badge to say “Complete!” It might take a few days for that to happen since we have to do it manually but we will get to it as soon as we can!

Continuing Education Opportunities

Reminder: December VMN Continuing Education Webinar
Title:  Emerged, Emerging and Potential Infectious Diseases of Virginia Wildlife
Date/Time: Thursday, December 7, 12:00-1:00 pm
Registration: Pre-registration required.
Presenter: Robert “Bob” Dunstan, veterinary pathologist and VMN volunteer
Full description and presenter information on the VMN website. The recording will be available on that site, along with the recordings of all eight of the other sessions we’ve held this year. If you are lacking any CE hours towards re-certification, those webinars are a great resource!

2024 Winter Wildlife Festival
The annual Winter Wildlife Festival is coming up! This event has a variety of lectures and field excursions.  
Dates: January 27-February 4, 2024
Locations: Various locations in and around Virginia Beach
See https://parks.virginiabeach.gov/events-information/special-events/winter-wildlife-festival for details, pricing, and registration information. 

Volunteer Opportunity: Christmas Bird Count
Audubon’s 124th Christmas Bird Count takes place December 14, 2023 - January 5, 2024. There are more than 50 count circles in Virginia. Each are organized by different leaders, so see https://www.audubon.org/conservation/join-christmas-bird-count to find out more information on participating. In 2022-2023 (the 123rd count), nearly 200 VMN volunteers from 27 different chapters participated in the count, and a handful of volunteers served as count organizers, too! 

Volunteer Policy Reminders
Thank you to the 2,456 VMN volunteers who have entered their volunteer service hours so far this year! Everyone, please remember that volunteer service must be only on approved activities.
  • Volunteer service that takes place outside of Virginia is not approved, with some very rare exceptions. Please see the Volunteer Policy Handbook page 16 for details. 
  • Administrative work for other organizations such as organizing fundraisers and recruiting members is not approved for VMN volunteer service. Please see the Volunteer Policy Handbook page 16 for details.
  • VMN volunteers should only report volunteer hours for which they were acting in their VMN role. Please see the Volunteer Policy Handbook page 15 for details. 
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Bi-weekly Email for November 14

11/14/2023

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Photo montage with a spotted salamander on a rock, a bag hanging from a wooden deck, and a male deer in a yard.

Hello, VMNs. Thanksgiving is next week! As you plan your feasts of turkeys and all the fixin’s, take a few minutes to read the latest edition of The Pollinator and catch up on past Bi-weekly emails.

This email includes:
  1. Re-enrollment Updates
  2. VMN Continuing Education Webinar

Re-enrollment Updates
The 2024 Re-enrollment Period will open on December 1, 2023. All VMNs will receive an email with information about whether they need to Re-enroll and if so, instructions for how to complete it. Re-enrollment will be done in Better Impact but those without access to the internet and/or a computer, tablet or phone may request a paper form. 

Here is how the process works - Each returning VMN will need to answer the six Re-enrollment questions in Better Impact. The VMN State Office will review those answers and either award the Re-enrollment badge in Better Impact (not automatic!) or follow up with the individual if needed.

If you joined VMN in 2023 (Welcome!), you do not need to complete Re-enrollment for 2024. An email will be sent to you indicating this.

VMN Continuing Education Webinar
It is our final installment of the VMN CE Webinar Series for 2023!













Title:  Emerged, Emerging and Potential Infectious Diseases of Virginia Wildlife
Date/Time: Thursday, December 7, 12:00-1:00 pm
Registration: Pre-registration required
​Description: As Virginians, we live in a unique, diverse but fragile ecosystem comparable to any area on earth. A realization of this is made obvious when one considers the havoc that an introduced infectious disease can have on a wildlife population. In this presentation, the biology and impact of three different infectious diseases will be presented and the roles Master Naturalists could play in recognizing and controlling these diseases. The first is an infectious disease that has emerged: white nose syndrome of bats that is devastating the bat population in our state. The second, chronic wasting disease of deer, an emerging disease that is slowly spreading through the deer population of Virginia with potential public health implications. The final disease is Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (a.k.a. Bsal) a deadly disease that has recently spread from Asia to Europe and is expected to soon be found in North America. North America has the greatest salamander diversity in the world with much of this diversity occurring along the mid-Atlantic Appalachians. 

Presenter: Robert “Bob” Dunstan is a veterinary pathologist who has over 100 publications dealing with diseases of animals and humans in their many manifestations.  He was a full professor of pathology at Michigan State University and at Texas A&M University where he specialized in dermatopathology.   In 2004, he was recruited by Pfizer to help develop new treatments for dermatologic diseases in humans.  To do this he started using artificial intelligence to quantify the microscopic effects of emerging topical therapies. Four years later he was recruited as a distinguished investigator by Biogen, where he studied Alzheimer’s disease as well as several autoimmune diseases.  He finished his career working for Abbvie, applying deep learning methods on inflammatory bowel disease.  Retiring this year, Bob became a Master Naturalist in 2012.
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Virginia Master Naturalist Program | 460 Stagecoach Road, Suite E201 | Charlottesville, VA  22902 | Phone: 434-872-4587 | Fax: 434-872-4578

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