Hello, VMN. Happy Holidays! When you come inside after a brisk winter stroll, you can warm up with some hot cocoa and catch up on the Bi-weekly emails. And don’t forget to Re-enroll!
This email includes:
Reminder about entering hours
It’s that time! This is your friendly reminder to please enter your 2022 volunteer service and continuing education hours into Better Impact before December 31, 2022. We need those hours to be in the system so that your achievements (Certifications, Recerts, Milestones) come up when we run reports.
Regardless of possible certifications and milestones, we want to remind everyone that you are not required to have the Certified Virginia Master Naturalist title in order to stay in the program. You can volunteer a lower number of hours and still be an active, contributing volunteer making a difference. If your personal circumstances mean that you only have 10 or 20 hours to give as a VMN this year, that’s OK, and we are still glad to have you in the program! Just make sure to Re-enroll and enter any hours that you did!
VMN State Office - Winter Break and Staff Retreat closing dates
The VMN office would like to share the following dates of availability with you:
*December 23, 2022 - January 2, 2023 – Closed for the Virginia Tech Winter Break
*January 7-9, 2023 – VMN State Office Staff annual retreat, limited email response
*January 10, 2023 – next Bi-weekly email will be sent out
Re-enrollment is now open!
The Re-enrollment Period for 2023 is now open. We have 1,370 volunteers who have already Re-enrolled! If you are not one of those people, then please take some time to complete the Re-enrollment questions in Better Impact. Reminders with instructions will be sent out on December 15 to those who have not completed the process.
Volunteer Opportunity
Virginia Master Naturalist Educators Bureau
The VMN Educators Bureau is an up-to-date listing of VMN volunteers willing to teach other VMNs, give presentations for community groups, lead nature walks, lead environmental education activities for youth, or do any other form of education related to natural resources. Our goal is to increase VMN engagement in Education & Outreach, help our program reach new audiences, and help us respond better to requests for presenters. We’ve already been able to fill many requests for VMN presenters from outside organizations!
Want to join the Educators Bureau for the first time? If you are a VMN interested and willing to teach others and lead educational programs of any kind on natural resource topics and if you are not already signed up, we invite you to complete our Educators Bureau form between now and December 22. By completing the form, you aren't committing to any specific opportunity at this point but simply indicating your willingness to be contacted if an opportunity arises that fits your particular profile. On the form, we provide more details on how your information will be used and how you can update your information later.
URL for form for NEW signups: https://forms.gle/TaoMGL8FC9CwMDx76
Already signed up for the Educators Bureau? VMN volunteers who signed up for the Educators Bureau in the past should not use the link for new people, as that will result in your being listed twice. If you are already in the database, you instead should have received an email last week with a personalized link to view and edit your own existing listing. If you did not receive the email, first check your Spam/Junk folder. If it isn’t there, you can contact masternaturalist@vt.edu to get the information and individualized link that you need.
For additional information on the VMN Educators Bureau and how to sign up or edit your listing, please see the this document.
Continuing Education Opportunity
Title: Growing Positive Action: An Introduction to Chesapeake Behavior Change
Date/Time/Format: December 14, 12:00-1:00 pm, webinar
Description: Behavior change is a buzzy phrase these days – and with good reason. The importance of social science in the Bay restoration effort is becoming clear, as we realize that the on-the-ground actions of the 18 million residents of the watershed are the key to success. While we all share the same goal of a healthy Bay and watershed, we may be unwittingly creating obstacles to that goal through our actions (or lack of them). One tool that can help us maximize our individual and/or collective impact is the Chesapeake Behavior Change website developed by the Chesapeake Bay Program.
Registration: Free; pre-registration required at http://chesapeake.org/crc-roundtable/. Recordings are posted on that page. This webinar is put on by the Chesapeake Research Consortium, not the Virginia Master Naturalist program, so please direct any questions directly to them.
Information of Interest from Our Sponsors
DEQ has issued its Final 2022 305(b)/303(d) Water Quality Assessment Integrated Report (IR). The IR is a summary of the water quality conditions in Virginia from Jan. 1, 2015, to Dec. 31, 2020, and describes DEQ's extensive efforts to monitor, assess, and improve water quality in the Commonwealth. In 2022, DEQ assessed 100,983 miles of rivers, 117,783 acres of lakes, and 2,843 square miles of estuaries. Bacteria, toxins in fish tissue, and low dissolved oxygen remain the leading causes of impairments in Virginia waters. To date, the agency has completed nearly 1,000 watershed plans.
This email includes:
- Reminder about entering hours
- VMN State Office to close for Winter Break
- Re-enrollment - Open now!
- Volunteer Opportunities - VMN Educator’s Bureau
- Continuing Education Opportunities
- Information of Interest from our Sponsors - DEQ Water Quality Report
Reminder about entering hours
It’s that time! This is your friendly reminder to please enter your 2022 volunteer service and continuing education hours into Better Impact before December 31, 2022. We need those hours to be in the system so that your achievements (Certifications, Recerts, Milestones) come up when we run reports.
Regardless of possible certifications and milestones, we want to remind everyone that you are not required to have the Certified Virginia Master Naturalist title in order to stay in the program. You can volunteer a lower number of hours and still be an active, contributing volunteer making a difference. If your personal circumstances mean that you only have 10 or 20 hours to give as a VMN this year, that’s OK, and we are still glad to have you in the program! Just make sure to Re-enroll and enter any hours that you did!
VMN State Office - Winter Break and Staff Retreat closing dates
The VMN office would like to share the following dates of availability with you:
*December 23, 2022 - January 2, 2023 – Closed for the Virginia Tech Winter Break
*January 7-9, 2023 – VMN State Office Staff annual retreat, limited email response
*January 10, 2023 – next Bi-weekly email will be sent out
Re-enrollment is now open!
The Re-enrollment Period for 2023 is now open. We have 1,370 volunteers who have already Re-enrolled! If you are not one of those people, then please take some time to complete the Re-enrollment questions in Better Impact. Reminders with instructions will be sent out on December 15 to those who have not completed the process.
Volunteer Opportunity
Virginia Master Naturalist Educators Bureau
The VMN Educators Bureau is an up-to-date listing of VMN volunteers willing to teach other VMNs, give presentations for community groups, lead nature walks, lead environmental education activities for youth, or do any other form of education related to natural resources. Our goal is to increase VMN engagement in Education & Outreach, help our program reach new audiences, and help us respond better to requests for presenters. We’ve already been able to fill many requests for VMN presenters from outside organizations!
Want to join the Educators Bureau for the first time? If you are a VMN interested and willing to teach others and lead educational programs of any kind on natural resource topics and if you are not already signed up, we invite you to complete our Educators Bureau form between now and December 22. By completing the form, you aren't committing to any specific opportunity at this point but simply indicating your willingness to be contacted if an opportunity arises that fits your particular profile. On the form, we provide more details on how your information will be used and how you can update your information later.
URL for form for NEW signups: https://forms.gle/TaoMGL8FC9CwMDx76
Already signed up for the Educators Bureau? VMN volunteers who signed up for the Educators Bureau in the past should not use the link for new people, as that will result in your being listed twice. If you are already in the database, you instead should have received an email last week with a personalized link to view and edit your own existing listing. If you did not receive the email, first check your Spam/Junk folder. If it isn’t there, you can contact masternaturalist@vt.edu to get the information and individualized link that you need.
For additional information on the VMN Educators Bureau and how to sign up or edit your listing, please see the this document.
Continuing Education Opportunity
Title: Growing Positive Action: An Introduction to Chesapeake Behavior Change
Date/Time/Format: December 14, 12:00-1:00 pm, webinar
Description: Behavior change is a buzzy phrase these days – and with good reason. The importance of social science in the Bay restoration effort is becoming clear, as we realize that the on-the-ground actions of the 18 million residents of the watershed are the key to success. While we all share the same goal of a healthy Bay and watershed, we may be unwittingly creating obstacles to that goal through our actions (or lack of them). One tool that can help us maximize our individual and/or collective impact is the Chesapeake Behavior Change website developed by the Chesapeake Bay Program.
Registration: Free; pre-registration required at http://chesapeake.org/crc-roundtable/. Recordings are posted on that page. This webinar is put on by the Chesapeake Research Consortium, not the Virginia Master Naturalist program, so please direct any questions directly to them.
Information of Interest from Our Sponsors
DEQ has issued its Final 2022 305(b)/303(d) Water Quality Assessment Integrated Report (IR). The IR is a summary of the water quality conditions in Virginia from Jan. 1, 2015, to Dec. 31, 2020, and describes DEQ's extensive efforts to monitor, assess, and improve water quality in the Commonwealth. In 2022, DEQ assessed 100,983 miles of rivers, 117,783 acres of lakes, and 2,843 square miles of estuaries. Bacteria, toxins in fish tissue, and low dissolved oxygen remain the leading causes of impairments in Virginia waters. To date, the agency has completed nearly 1,000 watershed plans.
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