Hello, VMNs. We have lots of good stuff for you this week including some attachments so be sure to look it all over carefully. As always, you can find the info on our Bi-weekly Email page on the VMN website, which you've just found!
Included in this email:
Continuing Education Opportunities
VMN Brown Bag Field Days
As promised, we have the information for the first of our new VMN Brown Bag Field Days!
*Freshwater Mussels - Blacksburg on July 30
*Freshwater Mussels - Charles City on August 13
REMEMBER! There are very limited slots available for each date and registration is first come, first serve.
Please see the attached documents for details and registration information for each Field Day.
NOTE: Each document has a registration link unique to that event.
*VMN Field Day Info_Mussels in Blacksburg
*VMN Field Day Info_Mussels in Charles City
Complete Monarch Essentials Course and Webinars from Monarch Joint Venture
Dates & Time: Wednesdays, June 29 - August 3, 6:30-8:00pm Central Time
Description: The Complete Monarch Essentials is a multi-week online course put on by Monarch Joint Venture that provides foundational knowledge of monarch butterfly ecology, threats, and the effective conservation actions that everyone can take to help protect this valuable species and support thriving pollinator ecosystems more broadly. The next Complete Monarch Essentials is a six-week-long virtual course meeting weekly between June 29th and August 3rd. The course will be live (online) but sessions are recorded for later viewing. All participants receive digital copies of class resources.
Cost: $200 (if cost is a barrier, they offer some financial assistance)
For more information and registration: https://monarchjointventure.org/mjvprograms/education/monarch-classes-and-training
For free webinars related to monarchs, also from Monarch Joint Venture, see https://monarchjointventure.org/events. The next webinar is June 28 and focuses on the latest monarch and pollinator research.
Trees to Products Program
Dates: July 11-14, 2022
Location: In-person, based out of Wise, Virginia
Description: The Trees to Products teacher’s program is designed to provide teachers with factual and credible information about Virginia’s hardwood forests. We link these concepts to the Virginia Standards of Learning and provide training in Project Learning Tree activities. A variety of hardwood forest management techniques and forest product industries will be examined in detail. Teachers will see and learn about the sustainable and renewable resource of trees and how trees are converted into a variety of everyday products. This program offers 30 hours of professional development credit, including Project Learning Tree certification, upon completion. Note: Although teachers are the primary audience, VMN volunteers, especially those involved in youth education, are invited as well. VMN volunteers have attended in past years and given very positive feedback about their learning experience.
Cost: Participants pay a $25 registration fee for the four-day conference. The costs of all meals, transportation, and lodging are provided by the sponsors, with the exception of transportation to the conference headquarters at the Best Western in Wise, Va.
Registration: https://tinyurl.com/yc6psnwx
For more information: Contact Bill Worrell at (276) 889-8056 or bworrell@vt.edu.
Volunteer Opportunities
VMN 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 did not sign up for the bureau last fall, we invite you to complete our Educators Bureau form between now and June 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.
Included in this email:
- Continuing Education Opportunities - Mussels, Monarchs and Trees, oh my!
- Volunteer Opportunities - VMN Educators Bureau, updates and additions
Continuing Education Opportunities
VMN Brown Bag Field Days
As promised, we have the information for the first of our new VMN Brown Bag Field Days!
*Freshwater Mussels - Blacksburg on July 30
*Freshwater Mussels - Charles City on August 13
REMEMBER! There are very limited slots available for each date and registration is first come, first serve.
Please see the attached documents for details and registration information for each Field Day.
NOTE: Each document has a registration link unique to that event.
*VMN Field Day Info_Mussels in Blacksburg
*VMN Field Day Info_Mussels in Charles City
Complete Monarch Essentials Course and Webinars from Monarch Joint Venture
Dates & Time: Wednesdays, June 29 - August 3, 6:30-8:00pm Central Time
Description: The Complete Monarch Essentials is a multi-week online course put on by Monarch Joint Venture that provides foundational knowledge of monarch butterfly ecology, threats, and the effective conservation actions that everyone can take to help protect this valuable species and support thriving pollinator ecosystems more broadly. The next Complete Monarch Essentials is a six-week-long virtual course meeting weekly between June 29th and August 3rd. The course will be live (online) but sessions are recorded for later viewing. All participants receive digital copies of class resources.
Cost: $200 (if cost is a barrier, they offer some financial assistance)
For more information and registration: https://monarchjointventure.org/mjvprograms/education/monarch-classes-and-training
For free webinars related to monarchs, also from Monarch Joint Venture, see https://monarchjointventure.org/events. The next webinar is June 28 and focuses on the latest monarch and pollinator research.
Trees to Products Program
Dates: July 11-14, 2022
Location: In-person, based out of Wise, Virginia
Description: The Trees to Products teacher’s program is designed to provide teachers with factual and credible information about Virginia’s hardwood forests. We link these concepts to the Virginia Standards of Learning and provide training in Project Learning Tree activities. A variety of hardwood forest management techniques and forest product industries will be examined in detail. Teachers will see and learn about the sustainable and renewable resource of trees and how trees are converted into a variety of everyday products. This program offers 30 hours of professional development credit, including Project Learning Tree certification, upon completion. Note: Although teachers are the primary audience, VMN volunteers, especially those involved in youth education, are invited as well. VMN volunteers have attended in past years and given very positive feedback about their learning experience.
Cost: Participants pay a $25 registration fee for the four-day conference. The costs of all meals, transportation, and lodging are provided by the sponsors, with the exception of transportation to the conference headquarters at the Best Western in Wise, Va.
Registration: https://tinyurl.com/yc6psnwx
For more information: Contact Bill Worrell at (276) 889-8056 or bworrell@vt.edu.
Volunteer Opportunities
VMN 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 did not sign up for the bureau last fall, we invite you to complete our Educators Bureau form between now and June 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.
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