All enrolled Virginia Master Naturalist volunteers are invited to register now to join us at the Fredericksburg Expo and Conference Center in Fredericksburg, Virginia for our 9th Virginia Master Naturalist Statewide Volunteer Conference and Training. This year's conference is hosted by the Central Rappahannock chapter.

This event is an opportunity for VMN volunteers to share ideas and learn from each other, to participate in high-quality continuing education sessions, and to learn about a region of Virginia that may be different from their home communities. It's a time and place to recognize and reward volunteers and chapters for all their efforts.

Our chapter hosts have done a wonderful job of choosing programming they think you will enjoy. We will have many and varied concurrent sessions on Saturday and Sunday. There will also be opportunities for pre-conference field trips on Friday and field trips on both Saturday and Sunday as part of the conference.

As of August 1, 183 people are registered for the conference, but about two-thirds of the sessions, including some field trips, still have space available.  If a session is full, don't hesitate to sign up for the waiting list.  We are frequently able to accommodate people from the waitlists closer to the conference date.  All but one of the five Sunday field trips are still available, so the Full Conference registration option will give you the most choices for field opportunities. 

Early bird registration ends August 6!  Regular conference registration continues through August 20.

​The Virginia Master Naturalist program’s state office is now accepting nominations for six statewide awards: Volunteer of the Year, Project of the Year (with four subcategories), and Advisor of the Year.  These awards will be judged by the VMN statewide office team and one or more VMN Steering Committee member.  We will announce and distribute the awards at our annual conference, Friday evening, September 7. 
 
To submit a nomination, please send the information requested for that particular award to Michelle Prysby, mprysby@vt.edu.  Nominations are due by August 1 at 5 pm.

Get inspired by our 2017 winners!
 
Volunteer of the Year
This award is intended to recognize a volunteer who has made outstanding contributions to natural resource education, citizen science, stewardship, and/or chapter administration.  Criteria we consider include the impacts the volunteer has made on natural resource conservation and education, demonstrated leadership by the volunteer, and impacts the volunteer has made on the local chapter and its volunteers.  There is no minimum requirement for amount of hours or length of service for a volunteer to receive this award.  Our focus is on the last one to two years of service.
 
In your nominations, please include the following:

• Name, email address, and VMN chapter affiliation of nominator
• Name, email address, and VMN chapter affiliation of the nominee
• Description of why the nominee should receive the award, limited to 400 words.  You may choose to include a description of the individual’s service, specific examples of positive impacts made, aspects that make the individual stand out from other volunteers, and quotes from other volunteers or local partners.  Please place your primary focus on the last 1-2 years of the volunteer’s service.

 
Project of the Year
Subcategories: Education/Outreach, Citizen Science, Stewardship, Administrative
This award is intended to recognize a project that has made significant and noteworthy positive impacts for natural resource education, citizen science, stewardship, and/or chapter administration within the last 1-2 years.  Our focus is on projects for which the VMN chapter played a significant, unique role in creation, implementation, and leadership.  We will give awards in each of four subcategories:

• Education/Outreach – Volunteer service in which VMN volunteers educate the public, such as interpretive programs at parks
• Citizen Science – Service projects involving data collection, monitoring, biological inventories, etc.
• Stewardship – Service projects to improve habitat or improve the ability of the public to access natural resources through trails, etc.
• Administrative – Projects to improve the functioning of a VMN chapter, such as re-vamping of the basic training course, mentorship programs, efforts to streamline chapter processes, etc.

 
In your nominations, please include the following:

• Name, email address, and VMN chapter affiliation of the nominator
• Name, email address, and VMN chapter affiliation for the primary VMN volunteer contact for the project
• The primary award subcategory for which you are nominating the project: Education/Outreach, Citizen Science, Stewardship, or Administrative.  The project may include aspects of multiple subcategories and you may describe these aspects in your nomination statement, but you should indicate the primary subcategory under which you want to nominate the project.
• Description of why the project should receive the award, limited to 400 words.  Please include a description of the project goals, activities completed, and impacts and outcomes for natural resources in your community and/or for your chapter.  Include the roles and contributions of VMN volunteers to the project.  Identify any significant partners for the project. 

 
Chapter Advisor of the Year
This award is intended to recognize a chapter advisor who has made significant and noteworthy contributions to a VMN chapter within the last 1-2 years. 

​In your nominations, please include the following:

• Name, email address, and VMN chapter affiliation of the nominator
• Name, email address, and VMN chapter affiliation of the chapter advisor
• Description of why the chapter advisor should receive the award, limited to 400 words.  Please include specific examples of how the chapter advisor has helped the chapter run effectively, make positive impacts in the community, or otherwise achieve its goals.

​Please help us recognize the outstanding people and work of your chapters!

--By Marie Majarov, VMN-Shenandoah Chapter

Editor's Note: The subject of this article is unusual for The Pollinator, but I wanted to include it because safety is such an important consideration for VMN volunteers. Marie is thoughtful in sharing her personal story so that her fellow VMN volunteers (and others) may learn from her experience. If other VMN volunteers have personal stories to share related to safety during VMN activities (e.g., experiences with tick-borne diseases, heat-related illnesses, etc.), please send them. I hope to make these safety stories a semi-regular feature. --MDP

As a naturalist with great respect for the sun and the natural world, an outdoor & nature photographer, a retired clinical psychologist with some medical savvy, and as a septuagenarian I had no idea! And neither have most people I’ve talked to since my recent, eye-opening experience with eyelid cancer.
            I want you to know!  As Virginia Master Naturalists I believe we need to be well informed as we are frequently out working, observing and serving in glorious sunshine. We also have a responsibility to set good examples with our self-care in the sun and to be able to educate those with whom we work.
            I thought I had a sty on my left lower eyelid, no big deal. I used warm compresses, standard treatment, but in a few days when it did not go away -- actually it got quite a bit bigger, baby lima bean size and really  irritating to my eye -- I went to see my eye doctor.  “A chalazion” he said, a cyst-like nodule in or on the eyelid often developing after a sty or resulting from obstruction of an oil gland within the eyelid. “I’ll lance it, you will feel much better by tonight, and it should heal right up.”  
            Lancing however revealed no obstruction, inflammation, or infection; it was a hard growth, and not likely a standard chalazion. My doctor carefully removed a piece of it and sent it off to the lab and explained that there was a possibility that it could be cancer, skin cancer actually.  “We’ll see what the lab report says, one step at a time…”
            It was cancer, basal cell carcinoma. My doctor told my husband and me that he was not surprised, that he was fairly sure of a cancer diagnosis as soon as he cut into the growth, just not sure what kind. He was fearful it could be squamous cell carcinoma or worse, melanoma.  I was lucky.  
            Four days after the diagnosis I was in the office of an outstanding ophthalmic plastic and reconstruction surgeon in northern Virginia.  A whole new chapter of learning opened up before me. Surgery was scheduled for 10 days hence to remove the growth, and probably about a third of my eyelid with an inch of tissue below the lid aiming for clean margins, and followed by eyelid reconstruction.  
            This was MY EYE!!!! Eyes are so incredibly important to us all, and I am a photographer you know!  Reading and having my surgeon explain and show me pictures of all that was involved in the hour and 45 minute procedure to be carried out so very close to my eyeball, both helped and made me even more anxious!  The reconstruction pictures he showed me were amazing, but getting there made me apprehensive. To be honest, I was really a nervous wreck! 
            The surgery went beautifully and was not as onerous to me as the visions that swirled in my head leading up to it. The surgeon, with a pathologist present to evaluate the removed tissue, was able to get clean margins, the best of news to all cancer patients!  Anesthesia today is amazing; and incredibly I had minimal pain afterwards!  I had 48 hours of wet dressings, ointments on my raft of stitches for 2 weeks, and I had to keep my head upright even while sleeping, then just healing time….not bad at all.  The results looked amazing from the beginning. It was hard to believe the surgeon had removed as much of my eyelid and tissue as he did and then was able to put things back together so smoothly. There will be little visible evidence of the surgery and most importantly my eye will work normally.  Again, I was so very lucky!
            My surgeon says that a “lifetime of sun” is the culprit here. I grew up in a generation where we were encouraged to get as much sunshine as possible. It was “good for us.” There was little known about skin cancer, sun screen products with SPF numbers were not available, and kids were not encouraged to wear sunglasses or hats. On many beach vacations I was quite sunburned and absorbed lots of sun glare from hours of enjoying the ocean and white sandy New Jersey beaches…for fair skinned people such as myself, a recipe for later problems.  As a college student I worked summers as a lifeguard and swim instructor, wearing sunglasses…but I am not sure how good they were at that time. I am sure that it was a perfect situation for glare off the water to bounce up to my eye lids. I didn’t know, no one did, the problems that could lie ahead.
            The Skin Cancer Foundation reports that “the eyelid region is one of the most common sites for nonmelanoma skin cancers. In fact, skin cancers of the eyelid, including basal cell carcinoma (BCC), squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), and melanoma, account for five to 10 percent of all skin cancers. Ninety five percent of these tumors are basal cell or squamous cell carcinomas.” Most being lower eyelid cancer. Absolutely staggering statistics, I had no idea!
            Prompt treatment is crucial to good outcomes. While basal cell carcinomas do not spread/travel to other organs and therefore are not usually life threatening, they do spread in their area of origin. This is particularly tricky around the eyelid where the tissues are thin and if left untreated cancer cells can infiltrate to nearby vital ocular structures and even the perilously close brain. 
            One of the most common presenting symptoms for skin cancer on the eyelids is a growth like mine, which was likely growing under the surface for quite some time, years in fact. Other possible signals reported in the literature include: a change in appearance of the eyelid skin, swelling of the eyelid, thickening of the eyelid, chronic infection of the eyelid, or an ulceration (area where skin is broken) on the eyelid that does not heal. 
            Awareness that eyelid cancer and other skin cancer can happen to those of us exposed to much sunshine over our lifetimes is the first thing I want you to know.  Next are the protective measures we can take and encourage others to take.  Sunscreen is an important preventative measure in all skin cancer. So slather up exposed skin areas when you are in the sun…and don’t forget your ears a delicate area where basal cell carcinoma also takes a significant toll.    
            For the eyelid area however, slathering up with sunscreen is awkward to impossible because of the potential for rubbing it into and causing irritation to the delicate eye. Sunglasses must be your sunblock.  Wear sunglass that block 99-100% of ultraviolet light. This is essential!  Also broad brim hats that have a darker underside to the brim help greatly to decrease glare to your cheeks and eye area. The brim should surround the hat; baseball hats are not as useful because they allow for glare exposure from the side, and as to other skin cancers they leave ears and neck exposed. 
            I have long worn a great UV+45 kaki colored Virginia Wildlifehat (a present from the editor) with a perfect brim, underside forest green. My sunglasses however often get tossed aside or tangled as I struggle with straps around my neck for my camera, a lens viewer, binoculars, glasses etc. while I photograph and observe nature. No longer will this happen; when healed all the way there is a large style pair of prescription transition glasses in my future. In fact I take this so seriously I am even considering wearing black under my eyes like a football player when I garden or am out on the water! 
            Make no mistake, this is very serious. Eyes are precious!  I am indeed very fortunate that my cancer was diagnosed and treated quickly once it became visible. I want you to know, to be aware, and take precautions. ….and please educate others. 

References and Resources:
https://www.cancer.net/cancer-types/eyelid-cancer/overview        
https://eyecancer.com/eye-cancer/conditions/eyelid-tumors/basal-cell-carcinoma-eyelid-cancer/
https://www.skincancer.org/prevention/sun-protection/for-your-eyes/the-eyelids-highly-susceptible-to-skin-cancer

Marie Majarov (mariemilanmajarov@gmail.com) is a Shenandoah Chapter Virginia Master Naturalist and photojournalist whose work is frequently featured in Virginia Wildlife Magazine. 

ARMN Member Joanne Hutton Receives Bill Thomas Outstanding Park Service Volunteer Award

--Submitted by Kasha Helget, VMN-Arlington Regional Chapter
​
On April 24, 2018, ARMN member, Joanne Hutton, was honored with a Bill Thomas Outstanding Park Service Volunteer Award for her volunteer work in Arlington last year. This award was established to pay tribute to lifelong parks volunteer Bill Thomas and to honor and encourage residents with passionate dedication and support for the county’s dynamic programs, natural resources, and public open spaces.
 
Joanne is also a member of the Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia and trained with ARMN upon retiring from Arlington County’s Parks Division, where for five years she, trained VCE Master Gardeners and oversaw the county’s Community Garden program.
 
Among her ARMN projects, Joanne worked with the Audubon Society of Northern Virginia to establish a native plant demonstration garden at Potomac Overlook Regional Park, and she continues to lead the ongoing maintenance of that garden. She helped form the Audubon at Home (AAH) Ambassadors program for Arlington and Alexandria. AAH volunteers visit individual homeowners to offer guidance on best environmental management practices and increased use of native plants to improve habitat in their yards. Joanne has also worked on the Steering Committee for the Plant NOVA Natives Campaign, helping edit its published guide, Native Plants for Northern Virginia, encouraging property owners to buy and plant locally native plants.
 
She trained in Arlington’s first Tree Steward class and in 2010, assisted in surveying trees on Arlington’s 256-acre Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall to help better manage its tree population. She also has been a community gardener at Arlington’s Barton Park Community Gardens since 1999, and served as Chief Gardener for three years, continuing on its steering committee. Her focus as a Master Gardener remains public and continuing education.
 
Joanne actively participates in citizen science projects, including Christmas bird counts, monitoring bluebird nest boxes at Fort C. F. Smith Park, and assisting the Virginia Breeding Bird Atlas to determine distribution and status of breeding bird populations. She participated in Arlington’s first BioBlitz in 2017, a 24-hour citizen science inventory of plants and wildlife.
 
In her time with ARMN, she has brainstormed ways to attract new members and make them feel welcome, served as a mentor to new members, and created an overall sense of inclusion within the group. As Joanne’s neighbor and fellow ARMN member Bill Browning puts it, “Joanne is a literal force of nature by her knowledge of the natural world, her willingness to share this knowledge, and her desire to make members in the Arlington Regional Master Naturalists feel welcome and have a sense of camaraderie.”
 
Joanne serves a multigenerational cohort to ensure that Arlington residents have the skills and information they need to be good stewards to the environment. Her service has inspired and encouraged others to join the local community of active volunteers. The natural world in Arlington has a true ally in Joanne; the benefits of her volunteer work can be seen throughout the County.
 
-- from Arlington County’s Environment webpage  .

Wild Happenings for VMN-Central Piedmont Chapter Members

--Submitted by Mary Ames, VMN-Central Piedmont Chapter

There’s a lotta wild still to be discovered in the Heart of Virginia, and that’s just what our chapter members intend to do. We recently partnered with Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries to monitor the Heart of the Piedmont Loop of the Virginia Birding and Wildlife Trail Adopt a Trail project.

Team members did not let rain dissuade them from the task at hand, and were able to monitor for birds and other wildlife, record their findings on soggy paper, and return to the park office for a photo op with the staff.

On their initial visit to Prince Edward-Gallion State Forest, another AAT group was exploring a wetland area which appeared to be a possible vernal pool site. As they searched for signs of life, a turtle was found sunning itself on a log. A photo of the turtle (thought to be a Spotted Turtle) was sent to the Virginia Wildlife Mapping Project on iNaturalist. The identification was confirmed, and members and staff learned that this was a first documentation for Prince Edward County for this  species, and the date (February 16, 2018) may be one of the earliest observation dates on record for Virginia. The spotted turtle is listed as a species of "high conservation concern" in the Virginia Wildlife Action Plan.

Only one day later, another chapter member rediscovered a Loggerhead Shrike while on his way to our annual Bluebird Building Workshop, a collaboration between our chapter and Bear Creek Lake State Park.

Central Virginia Chapter Awards the Acorn
​ 
--Submitted by Shelly Evans, VMN-Central Virginia Chapter

The Acorn Award is intended to be the highest honor the Central Virginia Master Naturalists bestows on a member. Just as a mighty oak starts as a small acorn and grows into one of the largest and most majestic trees in the forest, the Acorn Award is bestowed to those who start as a trainee, and through extraordinary work, over a period of time, grow into a Master Naturalist who makes significant contributions to the chapter and/or community.

This year the Acorn Award was presented to Bonnie Miles. Bonnie has recorded over 460 hours rehabilitating injured or orphaned bats in Virginia! She has worked actively as an invited speaker on the topic of bat conservation as well as maintaining a Category IIA Permit from the VA Dept of Game and Inland Fisheries to rehabilitate bats and return them to the wild.

A Noteworthy Educator in the High Knob Chapter

--Submitted by Phil Meeks, Chapter Advisor, High Knob Chapter
​
April Addington, VMN-High Knob Chapter, earned the Upper Tennessee River Roundtable's Educator of the Year award for her work teaching youth about the environment and involving them in local natural resource projects in her "day job" as a science teacher at Twin Springs High School in Scott County.

Historic Southside Volunteer Recognized for Citizen Science Contributions

John Bunch, VMN-Historic Southside Chapter, was profiled by CitSci.org for his contributions to the Virginia Vernal Pools Collaborative project. John has been collecting and reporting data for that project since 2014!

Holston Rivers Master Naturalists Recognized by Emory and Henry College

​Congratulations to our Virginia Master Naturalist- Holston Rivers Chapter (Abingdon) for being awarded the Hope Award from Emory and Henry College! Here's a quote from the award: "The 2018 Hope Awards is, in part, a celebration of the work of civic leaders and organizations toward a greater stewardship of the natural environment. The 2018 award for a civic organization recognizes the Holston Rivers Chapter’s education about and advocacy for the diverse and vibrant natural environment of the Holston watershed. By their learning, through their teaching of others, by means of their volunteer service, the Master Naturalists bear witness to a stewardship that joins head, heart, and hands in service to creation and the common good. The work of your organization makes clear the precept that in order for it to be dynamic and democratic, the civic life in a place must take into full account the natural environment of that place, and that the health of the environment in one place is profoundly joined to the health of the environment in all places. In so doing, the Holston Rivers Chapter is making this beautiful watershed a better, healthier, stronger, and more humane place for all people. Emory & Henry College and the Appalachian Center for Civic Life are founded in part on the principle that all people have within them the talents and abilities to make a difference in the world and in the lives of their neighbors. In the case of the Holston Rivers Chapter of the Virginia Master Naturalists, this is also true of organizations. In the long work of stewardship in this good place, you are our teacher."

Merrimac Farm Chapter Volunteers Make Impacts This Spring

--Submitted by Lisa Matthews, VMN-Merrimac Farm Chapter

We had 15+ members participating as guides and staffing our table this year in the Bluebell Festival at Merrimac Farm.  We did a demonstration called the "Rarity of Blue".  In animals and most plants, the blue pigment is exceedingly rare.  We showed how "blue" feathers are not really blue but brown and how structures in the feathers and skins of animals and the cell structure and the use of pH and other pigments in blue reflect the color blue rather than actually being blue.  We hope to expand on this for future Bluebell Festivals with more hands on activities.

Also this spring, we cleaned a locked retaining pond in Lake Ridge, VA that feeds into the Occoquan River.  It was filled with mostly plastic bottles.  We estimate that we pulled out approximately 800 plastic bottles. 

New River Valley Trainees Go Above and Beyond

--Submitted by Dianna Bridges, VMN-New River Valley Chapter

The VMN-New River Valley Chapter graduated another cohort of new VMN volunteers in December. What made their graduation especially noteworthy, however, was that nearly half of the eighteen graduates were also recognized as Certified Virginia Master Naturalists.  On top of completing all the training requirements, these eight volunteers also completed 40 hours of volunteer service and 8 hours of continuing education before the end of the training course!  Congratulations to Autumn Benni, Justin Ciallella, Natalie Edison-Wallace, Marsha Hertel, Maria Moll, Woody Nackley, Trish Porter, and Rebecca Sears.

Peninsula Chapter Recognizes Special Volunteer Accomplishments

--Submitted by Daina Henry, VMN-Peninsula Chapter

In a great example of recognizing volunteers for their unique contributions, the VMN-Peninsula Chapter gave out some special awards to their members. 

• The Rock Award – to members who have been the foundation of the chapter and have served as officers: Brad Halcums and Pam Courtney
• Perpetual Award – the member who has been around the longest and contributing (a model of Newtons Cradle): Sandy Graham
• Quill Pen Award – our newsletter editor who has been doing this forever ( a quill pen): Susan Walton
• Moving into the 20th Century Award or the Abacus Award – to the treasurer for moving us from paper to digital XL for budgets and payments: Bill Boeh
• Smile Award – the member who never stops smiling and giving encouragement ( smiley cup): Loye Spencer
• Frogman Award – the member who spent a lot of time with frogs. (stuffed frog): Larry Lewis
• Wet Feet Award – the member who spent a lot of time cleaning water ways. (waterproof gloves): Bev Nunnally
• Mourning Dove Award – the two members who like doves are always together, and birdwatching (two stuffed birds): John and Marilyn Adair
• Behind the Table Award ( a seat cushion) to the member who spent the most time behind the outreach table: Chris Gwaltney
• Get a Life Award – to the member who accumulated in one calendar year 606 volunteer hours and 60 continuring education hours (tickets to the movies): Troy Bonavita
• Friend to Nature Award for the Trex Recycling Program – to the member who coordinated the collection of 1000 punds of plastic (wonder woman tiara): Diane Peters

They also recognized Dynamic Duos, couples who support and encourage each other to volunteer.
John and Marilyn Adair
Dawn and Troy Bonavita
Charlotte and Denis Boudreau
John and Shirley Chirch
Rhonda Graves and Ellen Coleman
Brad Halcums and Pam Courtney
Yukari and Lee Hughes
Phyllis and Fred Kohlman
Susan and Lee Morris
David and Maria Nissen
Dave and Phyllis Singletary
Jeanette and Ray Yoh

Pollinator Waystation and Herbarium Transcriptions with the Shenandoah Chapter

​An article titled "Pollinator Waystation", with story and photos by Shenandoah Chapter member Marie Majarov, was published in the March/April Virginia Wildlife Magazine!  Read all about the chapter's participation and partnering with VDOT, Blandy Experimental Farm, Virginia Native Plant Society, Loudoun Valley High School, Piedmont Environmental Council, Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy, and Clarke County's Natural Resources Planner to install a 15,900-square-foot pollinator plot at the Rt. 50 Waterloo Park and Ride.
​
Kudos to Shenandoah Chapter member Jane Colgan for her data entry contributions to Zooniverse: Notes from Nature.  Jane made over 4400 entries to digitize herbaria for Virginia wetlands, and also a large portion of the Virginia pollinators!  Jane shares her Zooniverse adventure here:
    "I dove into Zooniverse: Notes from Nature, starting with "Pollinator Plants of Virginia I".  The entries were not difficult and many of the sites in Northern Virginia were close to where we used to live. I limited the data entry to one hour sessions.  As time went on the names of the investigators, as well as their entries, became more familiar and I googled many of them.  My interest grew when I had to decipher some of the handwritten pieces.  To be sure I spelled places correctly I looked them up and, although I have lived in Virginia most of my life, I was not acquainted with many of the counties.  More questions arose.  Why is Lee County stuck in the far southwestern part of the state?  What does Botetourt mean? I printed out a map of the state and referred to it often so that I could learn the locations.  Then there were more questions.  Why so many Kings, Queens and Prince names?  That was another search.  And so on.  (The earliest entry I saw had been collected in 1948 by Bernard Mikula;  but alas I could not track him down.)
    When "Pollinator II" was finished I missed the experience.  Luckily Wetland Specialist Plants I and II came along, and I entered all of them. (I would love to meet Gary Fleming but he might think I was a plant groupie!)​"