Bi-weekly Email Updates

Bi-weekly for October 28

Hello, VMNs. As we fall more deeply into autumn, enjoy the color and sip a hot beverage while you catch up on the Bi-weekly emails.

This email includes:

1. VMN Snapshot
2. Annual Re-enrollment starts in one month
3. VMNs in costume – your photos needed
4. Continuing Education Opportunities

VMN Snapshot

To help communicate and celebrate all that our VMN volunteers are accomplishing, we share occasional summaries of VMN volunteer service. Here are some statistics for July 1-September 30, 2025. 

• Volunteers who reported service for July 1-September 30: 2,182 volunteers (approximately 61% of all currently enrolled volunteers)
• Total service hours reported: hours
• Service Hours by Type:
  • Education/outreach – 12,519 hours by 927 volunteers
  • Citizen science – 15,196 by 1,145 volunteers
  • Stewardship – 15,244 hours by 1,080 volunteers
  • Chapter leadership/administration – 8,041 hours by 885 volunteers

• #Treemendous20th – In the first three quarters of the year, 192 volunteers have reported 2,057 hours of service associated with our 20th anniversary theme of trees/forests. There’s still time for you to contribute to our goal! Just do any tree/forest related service and remember to include “#Treemendous20th” in the description field in Better Impact when you report your hours.
• Direct educational contacts reported: 129,147 contacts
• Continuing education hours reported: 5,409 hours by 1,378 volunteers

A Few Description and Impact Highlights:

• “Educated Refuge visitor regarding changing shoreline and visible birds and other wildlife as well as operation of the Refuge and accessibility”
• “Cleared trail to promote hiker safety and limit erosion.”
• “This put me one step closer to being a qualified water monitor… and on the path to becoming a trainer with water quality monitoring.”
• “There were a lot of acorns and black walnuts to sort through. People talked to me about what we were doing and said they were interested in bringing acorns from their yard. I hope the load I brought will result in many new saplings for Virginia.” (Editor’s note – This entry didn’t have #Treemendous20th, but it certainly could have! Don’t forget to add that for any tree-related service hours in 2025!)

Annual Re-enrollment starts December 1

Yes, VMNs, our annual Re-enrollment Period is approaching and will open in about a month. On December 1, the VMN State Office will send an email to every VMN giving them information and instructions on what they need to do to complete Re-enrollment.

Request for Halloween Costume Photos

Hello VMNs from Abi, the social media intern. As Halloween is quickly approaching, and we have very creative VMN members, I would love to showcase any natural resource costumes members have done! This can be from any year or event you have dressed up for, including tabling for VMN. If you would like to share an image of your costume, and are okay with it ending up on the VMN social media please email an image of your Halloween costume to me at abim22@vt.edu by the morning on this Friday the 31st. I look forward to seeing all of your fun costumes!

Continuing Education Opportunities

VIMS After Hours Lecture Series: A Night at the (Fish) Museum

Date: October 30, 6 – 8 pm

Location: In-person at Batten School & VIMS – Watermen’s Hall, McHugh Auditorium,1375 Greate Road, Gloucester Point, VA 23062 AND available as a live webinar

Description: Join us for a special Halloween-themed After Hours lecture where Dr. Eric Hilton and Dr. Sarah Huber, curator and collections manager of the Batten School & VIMS’ Nunnally Ichthyology (Fish) Collection will highlight particularly interesting specimens housed in our collection: from the unrecognizably odd larval forms of familiar fishes to the creepy, fascinating, glowing creatures of the deep sea! A special reception for lecture guests will begin at 6 PM in the Visitors Center, featuring festive treats and beverages along with preserved specimens from the collection on display. The lecture will begin at 7 PM in the McHugh Auditorium. Costumes are welcome and encouraged! This lecture’s content is designed for adults and families with children aged 12 and up.

Registration: Free. Registration is required for both in-person and webinar attendees. Webinar links will be sent in all registration confirmation emails. At this time, we are expecting a hybrid event, but registrants will be notified in advance if the event moves to a virtual only format.

For Full Details and Registration: https://events.wm.edu/event/view/vims/366920

Potomac River Webinar Series

The Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin is celebrating 85 years of protecting and preserving the Potomac River watershed. Much has happened since ICPRB was authorized by Congress in 1940, so please join us for this webinar series highlighting the past, present, and future of our nation’s river. A recording of the webinar will be posted to ICPRB’s YouTube page after the event.

Dates and topics:

October 30, 11:00 am: Who owns the Potomac?

November 6, 11:00 am: Water Impacts from Data Centers

November 18, 11:00 am: Unsung Heroes of the Potomac River: American Eels

December 2, 11:00 am: Reconsidering Connectivity: A North Branch Potomac Case Study

December 9, 11:00 am: The Future of Water in the DC Metro Area

Please see the ICPRB website for registration and more information.

Bi-weekly Email for October 14

Hello, VMNs. Fall is in the air! As you put out your autumn decor and break out your warmer clothes, make sure to take a moment and catch up on the Bi-weekly emails.

This email includes:

1. VDOF Callery Pear Exchange
2. Volunteer Opportunity
3. Continuing Education Opportunity

Virginia Department of Forestry Callery Pear Exchange

Date: November 8, 2025, 9:00 – 11:00 am
Location: Hickory Hill Community Center, 3000 Belt Blvd., Richmond, VA 23234

Description: The Callery pear (Pyrus calleryana) is a non-native, invasive tree that is threatening ecosystems throughout the eastern and midwestern U.S. DOF’s Callery Pear Exchange program promotes the removal of these invasive trees from the urban landscape to reduce their spread within our natural areas. This program encourages the removal of invasive Callery pear trees by providing Virginia landowners with a replacement native tree. One native tree in a 2-gallon pot will be provided for every Callery pear that has been removed, with a limit of three (3) trees per household. Preregistration is required as a limited number of trees will be available.

Preregistration closes October 31 or whenever the event reaches capacity.

More information and pre-registration link on the DOF website

Volunteer Opportunity

Clean Virginia Waterways Fall Cleanups

Clean Virginia Waterways is organizing for fall cleanup events as part of the Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup. You can join a cleanup, or, for even more impact, be a site captain and organize a cleanup!  

Continuing Education Opportunity

Reminder – VMN October CE Webinar: The ecology and restoration of urban forested natural areas

Date: Wednesday, October 22, 2025, 12:00 – 1:00 pm

Description: Small forests embedded across developed landscapes are susceptible to adjacent and regional anthropogenic activities and are ideal for studying the combined effects of global environmental change on ecosystems. Dr. Trammell will present research conducted on urban forests of the Mid-Atlantic highlighting plant and soil communities and research on adaptive management practices for resilient and sustainable urban forests. The talk will highlight a co-produced research project between urban forest practitioners, university researchers, and US Forest Service scientists with the goal of building resilient urban forests for climate change.

Presenter: Dr. Tara L.E. Trammell is the John Bartram Associate Professor of Urban Forestry in the Plant and Soil Sciences Department at the University of Delaware. She has a Ph.D. and M.S. in Biology and a B.A. in Mathematics. For over 20 years, she has conducted research in the field of urban ecology. She is a co-lead scientist for the Urban Silviculture Network, a long-term urban forest ecology network (the FRAME; FoRest Among Managed Ecosystems), and the American Residential Macrosystem project. 

Registration: Pre-registration required; you’ll receive the link to join after you register.

Recording: As with all VMN Continuing Education Webinars, this webinar will be recorded and posted on the VMN CE Webinar webpage. You do not need to register to be able to access the recording. There’s no need to ask us if it will be recorded!