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Bi-weekly Email Updates

Table of Contents

Bi-weekly Email for August 18

Hello, VMNs. It’s hot out there! Make sure you’re staying hydrated and taking precautions so you don’t get too much sun. When you need a cool down activity, you catch up on the Bi-weekly emails.

This email includes:

  1. Conference Update – Registration Open!
  2. Continuing Education Opportunities
  3. Volunteer Opportunities
  4. Recertification Pin Artwork Contest

Conference Update – Registration Open!

Registration

The 2026 Virginia Master Naturalist Statewide Conference is September 18-20 in Herndon and registration is open for just two more weeks, so now’s the time to get in on the action! There is still a wide variety of classroom and field sessions with space. The great team of conference volunteers have also planned several ‘extras’ to make the weekend special, including a screening of the film “The Extraordinary Caterpillar”, a nature-themed bingo night with prizes, and a photo booth. Come join us, make some new VMN friends, and improve your naturalist knowledge and skills! 

Share Fair – Deadline Extended!

We invite all 30 VMN chapters to participate in the Chapter Share Fair at our 2026 Statewide Conference and Training. So far, we’ve only heard from a small number of chapters and we would very much like to make a good showing. Many of our sponsoring agency representatives really appreciate the opportunity to learn about the volunteer projects you all are doing, and volunteers also gained a lot from visiting other chapters’ tables. 

Our goal is to have each chapter share information about one meaningful project they have accomplished. This is not meant to be a general outreach table like you would use with the public. The audience in this case is other VMN volunteers and representatives of the VMN sponsoring agencies. 

We have space for one display per chapter, but anyone in the chapter may be involved in creating it. We will recognize the top displays with awards. Additional details can be found in the Share Fair section of the conference webpage. 

Please let Tiffany Brown know if your chapter would like a table by August 29.

Lodging

We have a room block at the conference hotel that lets attendees book a room for a discounted rate. See the conference webpage for details. The deadline to book a room on this block is September 7, 2026. To get the group rate, you must book your room on or before this date!  If you try to book a room before September 7 and are not able to, please reach out to Tiffany at tiffany.brown@vt.edu. 

Continuing Education Opportunities

VMN Continuing Education Webinar – Beyond Debate: Navigating divisive issues in outreach conversations

Date: August 19, 12:00 – 1:00 pm 

Description: Ever felt the heat when discussing wildlife management or water quality? Conversations about environmental topics can raise controversies that often make participants feel distressed and confused. But sidestepping these tough topics means missing a vital chance to foster informed public engagement. Join this dynamic webinar to discover how to prepare for and address divisive subjects across various outreach settings. We will discuss proactive strategies to prevent friction before it starts and practical techniques to defuse tension when it arises. Participants will gain fresh perspectives on controversial issues, reflect on personal biases, and come away with practical methods for navigating controversies with confidence.

Presenter: Andrea Lorek Strauss from the University of Minnesota Extension and Minnesota Master Naturalist program

Registration: Pre-register for the Beyond Debate webinar.

Wetlands Watch Webinar: Catch the King and Measure the Muck 101

Date: August 28, 12:00 – 1:00 pm

Description: With extreme rainfall, heatwaves, and drought already at play, it’s hard to imagine another stressor like sea level rise. To help our state and localities prepare for a future with sea level rise, Wetlands Watch has been mobilizing volunteer mappers since 2017 through the Catch the King community science program. Are you ready to help your community adapt to climate change and stay safe from flooding? Time to get prepared to map on October 9-11th and help Catch the King (tide)! This month’s Lunch and Learn will provide background on this Guinness World Record-Holding community science program and how you can get involved this year. We will also hear from special guests Dr. Derek Loftis (Virginia Institute of Marine Science) about how data is used, and Dr. Margie Mulholland (Old Dominion University’s Measure the Muck) about flood water quality and more ways to get involved.

Registration: Free, pre-registration required

Note: See the Volunteer Opportunities section below for more information on participating in the Catch the King service activity.

Reminder: Fall Forestry and Wildlife Field Tours, October 20-23

This October, come help celebrate the longest running field tour series in Virginia!

Started in 1976 to promote sustainable forest and wildlife management practices, the Fall Forestry & Wildlife Field Tours have become one of the premier landowner education programs in the commonwealth! To celebrate, we will explore sustainable forestry and wildlife management practices across 4 counties over 4 days (October 20-23). Tours visit private, public, and industry-owned lands and manufacturing facilities. Join for 1, 2, 3, or all 4 days.

Agendas, registration, and other information on the Virginia Forest Landowner Education Website. 

Volunteer Opportunities

Catch the King and Measure the Muck

Catch the King (CTK) is a community science program that mobilizes volunteers to map the extent of tides and flooding during the fall season of perigean spring tides, commonly known as “king tides,” in Virginia. During the king tide, participants use a mobile app to collect location-based data points along the water’s edge at peak high tide. ‘Measure the Muck’ is an add-on activity in some locations where volunteers collect water samples from the flood waters.

Here are the dates for this year:

Sept 11 – 13: Wet Run (practice & data collection)

Sept 12: Measure the Muck

Sept 26 – Oct 1: Sept Full Moon Mapping

Oct 9 – 11: Official Catch the King Event!!!

Oct 10: Measure the Muck

Oct 25 – 30: Oct Full Moon Mapping

Please visit https://www.wetlandswatch.org/catchtheking for signup links and more information.

If your chapter is interested in co-hosting a Catch the King training, contact the coordinator Stephanie Letourneau, s.letourneau@wetlandswatch.org. 

The Nature Conservancy

The Nature Conservancy has many volunteer opportunities in various locations across the state. Learn more from their website. You can also use the link on the site to sign up to receive their volunteer announcements.

Reminder: Recertification Pin Artwork Contest

​The 2027 recertification pin, earned by previously certified VMN volunteers who complete at least 40 hours of approved volunteer service and 8 hours of approved continuing education during 2026, will be an image of a native salamander species. We chose salamanders as the theme because we haven’t featured them before, because Virginia is a global hotspot for salamander biodiversity, and because they are charismatic species that draw attention.

Which salamander it will be and the artwork for the pin will be determined through an artwork contest. VMN volunteers are invited to submit their own artwork according to the guidelines below. The winning artwork will be selected by a team of judges that will include the VMN program staff and experts from our sponsoring agencies. All submissions will be recognized in our fall edition of The Pollinator newsletter.

Contest Guidelines

  • The artwork must be original artwork created and submitted by a currently enrolled VMN volunteer.
  • Please limit submissions to one per volunteer.
  • The volunteer may choose which salamander species to illustrate, but it must be a species native to Virginia. We suggest that you choose a salamander species with a color and/or shape that will stand out well on a pin.
  • The artwork may be a drawing, painting, or photograph, but it must be submitted as a digital file, such as a PDF, JPG, PNG, or GIF file. In the past, drawings and paintings have usually been more successful because of greater control over the background.
  • The naming convention of your digital file should be “YourLastNameYourFirstName_SalamanderName” (for example, MouseMinnie_EasternHellbender.gif)
  • We tend to prefer artwork that allows us to create a pin in the shape of the organism, rather than having to be an oval or rectangular pin. Keep this preference in mind when creating your artwork and imagine a pin cut in the shape of the image. Pins cannot easily have very finely detailed edges, so it is helpful if the image outline is a smoother line. 

To Submit Your Artwork for the Contest

If you want to submit your artwork for the contest, please complete the online contest survey no later than 5:00 pm on September 15, 2025. You will be asked to provide your name, email, VMN chapter, and your permission to use the artwork. Have your digital artwork file ready; you will need to upload it within the survey.

Link to contest survey: https://virginiatech.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eEZZ4DojKi60eGy

Bi-weekly Email for August 4

Hello, VMNs. As summer starts to wind down and a new school year begins (next week for some!), we hope you will think about joining us for the 2026 VMN Statewide Conference in Herndon. Registration opens Thursday! See below for more info. Once you’ve decided on your conference sessions, you catch up on the Bi-weekly emails.

This email includes:

  1. Conference Update
  2. Continuing Education Opportunities
  3. 2027 Recert Pin Artwork – call for submissions

Conference Update

Registration

Conference registration opens this Thursday, August 6 at 6pm! For those of you who might be considering attending the VMN Conference for the first time, we wanted to share that you are required to sign up for the sessions you want to attend when you register for the conference. Also, session slots can fill quickly (especially field sessions!) and it is first come, first served. So we offer these Steps to Prep and Five Tips for Success:

Steps to Prep:
  1. Check to see if you already have a VCE account – details on how to do this can be found on the conference web page under Registration
  2. Look over the sessions and note your first and second choices for each time slot
  3. Note about the waitlist process – you must accept the email invite within 72 hours
Five Tips for Success:
  1. Be open to a diversity of topics and sessions. You might find that a topic that you thought was less interesting turns out to be a fantastic, engaging session (we hope they all are!) Yes, some sessions will be more popular than others and those will fill up faster and have longer waiting lists, but, in total, there are more than enough sessions to accommodate the anticipated number of conference participants. Don’t overlook the on-site classroom sessions — especially if you don’t want to spend your conference time traveling back and forth to the field session sites.
  2. Thoroughly read the session information on our website before registration. Pay particular attention to the transportation information for the field sessions. Some of our field sessions are quite far away. Some field sessions require participants to get themselves there, while others require participants to travel in a van or bus. For some, you must depart from the conference hotel with the group, and for others, you just meet at the field session location. If these details affect your decision-making about a session, we recommend you read them ahead of time.
  3. Be aware that we have a keynote, plenary presentation first thing Saturday morning, followed by on-site concurrent sessions in the later morning. Participants aren’t required to attend the keynote session, but it is the only session available for that time block.
  4. If you are able, plan on registering for the Full Conference. This gives you the best chance for getting into at least one field session.
  5. We use the VCE registration system. This means that the system is maintained and supported by Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE) rather than VMN. Yes, it is yet another set of login credentials that you have to keep track of. But! It is the most cost-effective option for us and for you. Please be kind to those who are trying to help and we will do our best to make sure everyone gets registered!

As a reminder, the conference will take place September 18-20, 2026 in Herndon at the Westin Washington Dulles Airport Hotel.

Continuing Education Opportunities

VMN CE Webinars

We would love to have a great turnout for our next webinar with guest presenter from the Minnesota Master Naturalist program and University of Minnesota Extension! 

Beyond Debate: Navigating divisive issues in outreach conversations

Date: August 19, 12:00 – 1:00 pm 

Description: Ever felt the heat when discussing wildlife management or water quality? Conversations about environmental topics can raise controversies that often make participants feel distressed and confused. But sidestepping these tough topics means missing a vital chance to foster informed public engagement. Join this dynamic webinar to discover how to prepare for and address divisive subjects across various outreach settings. We will discuss proactive strategies to prevent friction before it starts and practical techniques to defuse tension when it arises. Participants will gain fresh perspectives on controversial issues, reflect on personal biases, and come away with practical methods for navigating controversies with confidence.

Presenter: Andrea Lorek Strauss from the University of Minnesota Extension and Minnesota Master Naturalist program

Registration: Pre-register for the Beyond Debate webinar.

Recording: Please see the VMN CE Webinar webpage 2-5 days after the event.

VIMS After Hours Lecture Series: “Talkin’ Terrapins” with Randy Chambers

Date: August 20, 6:30 – 8:00 pm

Description: Join us for our August After Hours lecture, where Dr. Chambers will discuss some of the challenges to the conservation of diamondback terrapins in Virginia coastal waters. Diamondback terrapins can live for decades, provided the multiple habitats they use are connected and available. Sometimes, however, resource use by humans conflicts with resources required by turtles. What are the issues that most threaten terrapin populations, and what can we do to promote the conservation of North America’s only fully estuarine turtle? Dr. Chambers will present his tale of the terrapin, with a focus on efforts to protect terrapins from drowning as bycatch in Virginia’s blue crab fishery. 

Location: Live webinar or in-person at Batten School & VIMS – Davis Hall, 7539 Spencer Road. Gloucester Point, VA 23062

Registration required, but the event is free

See the VIMS website for more information and registration 

Fall Forestry and Wildlife Field Tours, October 20-23

This October, come help celebrate the longest running field tour series in Virginia!

Started in 1976 to promote sustainable forest and wildlife management practices, the Fall Forestry & Wildlife Field Tours have become one of the premier landowner education programs in the commonwealth! To celebrate, we will explore sustainable forestry and wildlife management practices across 4 counties over 4 days (October 20-23). Tours visit private, public, and industry-owned lands and manufacturing facilities. Join for 1, 2, 3, or all 4 days.

Agendas, registration, and other information on the Virginia Forest Landowner Education Website. 

VMN Volunteers Invited to Submit Salamander Artwork for the 2027 Recertification Pin

​The 2027 recertification pin, earned by previously certified VMN volunteers who complete at least 40 hours of approved volunteer service and 8 hours of approved continuing education during 2026, will be an image of a native salamander species. We chose salamanders as the theme because we haven’t featured them before, because Virginia is a global hotspot for salamander biodiversity, and because they are charismatic species that draw attention.

Which salamander it will be and the artwork for the pin will be determined through an artwork contest. VMN volunteers are invited to submit their own artwork according to the guidelines below. The winning artwork will be selected by a team of judges that will include the VMN program staff and experts from our sponsoring agencies. All submissions will be recognized in our fall edition of The Pollinator newsletter.

Contest Guidelines

  • The artwork must be original artwork created and submitted by a currently enrolled VMN volunteer.
  • Please limit submissions to one per volunteer.
  • The volunteer may choose which salamander species to illustrate, but it must be a species native to Virginia. We suggest that you choose a salamander species with a color and/or shape that will stand out well on a pin.
  • The artwork may be a drawing, painting, or photograph, but it must be submitted as a digital file, such as a PDF, JPG, PNG, or GIF file. In the past, drawings and paintings have usually been more successful because of greater control over the background.
  • The naming convention of your digital file should be “YourLastNameYourFirstName_SalamanderName” (for example, MouseMinnie_EasternHellbender.gif)
  • We tend to prefer artwork that allows us to create a pin in the shape of the organism, rather than having to be an oval or rectangular pin. Keep this preference in mind when creating your artwork and imagine a pin cut in the shape of the image. Pins cannot easily have very finely detailed edges, so it is helpful if the image outline is a smoother line. 

To Submit Your Artwork for the Contest

If you want to submit your artwork for the contest, please complete the online contest survey no later than 5:00 pm on September 15, 2025. You will be asked to provide your name, email, VMN chapter, and your permission to use the artwork. Have your digital artwork file ready; you will need to upload it within the survey.

Link to contest survey: https://virginiatech.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eEZZ4DojKi60eGy

Connect with Us

For general inquiries about the Virginia Master Naturalist program, please contact:


540-231-0790
Photo Credits: Eastern Screech Owl (Laura Mae, Tidewater chapter)