Virginia Master Naturalist Golden Circle Volunteers

VMN volunteers who complete 5,000 hours of volunteer service become part of the Virginia Master Naturalist program’s Golden Circle.  Golden Circle volunteers have demonstrated incredible dedication to service that benefit’s Virginia’s natural resources and to the VMN program as a whole.

Volunteers in the Golden Circle are: 

• given a gold base pin to use with milestone rocker bars;
• invited to attend the VMN Statewide Conference for a discounted fee;
• listed and recognized here on the Golden Circle page of the VMN website;
• invited, when opportunities arise, to provide input on some decisions and initiatives of the VMN state program office.

We thank this extraordinary group of volunteers for all of their work as natural resource educators, citizen scientists, and stewards.  Most of these individuals also have served in leadership positions in their chapters, thus also giving their time to keeping the VMN program thriving in their local communities.  Each volunteer is listed below, along with some highlights of their volunteer service activities.  These highlights are just a small selection of their hours; each of them has contributed to more projects than can be listed here!
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Virginia Master Naturalist Golden Circle Volunteers

• Bill Blair (Middle Peninsula Chapter)
  Bill is a renaissance volunteer, contributing time to a wide variety of projects, such as weather monitoring, bird counts, leading nature walks, and assisting with schoolyard habitat projects.  He is all about educating others and has played an important role in coordinating the basic training course for both the Middle Peninsula and Northern Neck chapters.  
• Steven Bridges (New River Valley Chapter)
  Steven loves observing wildlife and participates in wildlife-related citizen science.  He also regularly monitors precipitation for the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network project.
  
• Margaret Chatham (Arlington Regional Chapter)
  Margaret has a passion for native plants, and her volunteer service has involved sharing that passion through nature walks and other educational programs.  She also has devoted many hours to stewardship activities at The Nature Conservancy's Fraser Preserve. 
  
• Marian Childress (deceased, formerly of Tidewater Chapter)
  Marian dedicated thousands of hours over many years to monitoring sea turtle nests and helping the Virginia Aquarium's Stranding Team respond to marine mammal and sea turtle strandings in the Virginia Beach area.
• Shirley Devan (Historic Rivers Chapter)
  Shirley has been a dedicated board member of her chapter for many years, while also leading and participating in a wide array of bird and butterfly monitoring projects.
• Gary Driscole (Historic Rivers Chapter)
  Gary contributes to all sorts of bird and butterfly citizen science projects, such as monitoring prothonotary warbler nest boxes and conducting butterfly counts.   
  
• Ike Eisenhauer (Shenandoah Chapter) 
  Ike devotes much of his VMN volunteer time to habitat projects at the Blue Ridge Wildlife Center.  He also helped his chapter construct the Sensory Trail at Sky Meadows State Park.
• Kathy Fell (Southwestern Piedmont Chapter)
  Kathy teaches others about creating wildlife habitats, monitors water quality in local streams, and volunteers regularly in the Research and Collections department of the Virginia Museum of Natural History.  She also has been a significant leader in her chapter.
• John Ford (New River Valley Chapter)
  John volunteered weekly at the Massey Herbarium at Virginia Tech for years, and he has helped coordinate the continuing education and volunteer projects committees of his chapter.
• Caroline Haynes (Arlington Regional Chapter)
  Caroline has made tremendous contributions to natural resource education and stewardship in Arlington, where she has done Audubon at Home site visits, promoted the Biophilic City concept, educated the public about invasive species, and participated in the City Nature Challenge.  She is a long-time leader in the chapter and has helped many new trainees become VMN volunteers.
• Daina Henry (Peninsula Chapter)
  Daina spearheaded her chapter's Water Quality Testing Project, participates in stream cleanups and trail maintenance, and conducts education and outreach programs.  She has served on many chapter committees and in various leadership roles. ​
• Jim Hurley (Arlington Regional Chapter)
  Jim has a passion for eradicating invasive species and educating others about them.  He has done surveys for wavyleaf basketgrass and other invasive plants, given educational presentations about invasives, and helped assess plants for the state's noxious weed list.
• Cheryl Jacobson (Historic Rivers Chapter)
  Cheryl has been a dedicated Wildlife Mapper for years.  She also participates in all kinds of bird projects, include OspreyWatch, bluebird monitoring, and Project FeederWatch.
• Judy Jones (Historic Rivers Chapter)
  Judy does it all, from bluebird box monitoring to litter cleanup events to conducting outreach programs and serving in chapter leadership roles, too.  
  
• Les Lawrence (Historic Rivers Chapter)
  Les monitors precipitation for the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network, contributes to the WildlifeMapping project, and has provided environmental education for youth in James City County. 
• Jan Lockwood (Historic Rivers Chapter)
  Jan is a dedicated bird and butterfly monitor, regularly contributing to projects such as FeederWatch, Wildlife Mapping, bluebird box monitoring, and many local wildlife surveys.  She also trains and leads others in these efforts.
• Alex Newhart (Shenandoah Chapter)
  Alex loves pollinator projects, like studies of mason bees, and he also shares his knowledge through educational programs.  He has contributed thousands of hours to chapter administration to help the Shenandoah Chapter thrive.
  
• Susan Powell (Historic Rivers Chapter)
  Susan monitors bats, butterflies, and birds.  She also teaches others about birds and bird identification, and has helped promote and safety and create risk management procedures in her chapter.
• Jack Price (Old Rag Chapter)
  Jack helps provide education and information to Shenandoah National Park visitors.  He teaches others about trees, birds, native plants, and more.  
• Jim Scibek (Central Rappahannock Chapter)
  Jim has been an invaluable leader in his chapter and has helped coordinate basic training for hundreds of new VMN volunteers.  He also has provided environmental education for youth at Earth Day and Farm Field Day events.
• Ida Swenson (Rivanna Chapter)
  Ida has taught hundreds of youth and adults about watersheds, wildlife, and other nature topics.  She also monitors her local waters with StreamWatch, coordinates outreach activities for her chapter, and helps organize the basic training course for new volunteers.
• Robert Toner (Eastern Shore Chapter)
  Bob monitors bird populations through a variety of citizen science projects and provides stewardship at Nature Conservancy and National Wildlife Refuge sites on the Eastern Shore.
• David Youker (Historic Rivers Chapter)
  David does a variety of citizen science projects focused on birds, including monitoring prothonotary warbler nest boxes, conducting bird surveys for Important Bird Areas, and participating in the Christmas Bird Count.
  

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