Bi-weekly Email Updates

VMN Bi-Weekly Email to Volunteers for 2 September 2025

Hello, VMNs. Lots going on in VMN, including our annual conference this weekend. If you’re joining us, we’ll see you soon. If you’re doing your own thing, you can spend some time this weekend catching up on the Bi-weekly emails.

This email includes:

1. VMN State Office closed Sept 4-7
2. New VMN Website
3. New VMN Video
4. Send us your Urban and Community Forest Project Stories
5. 2026 Recert Pin Artwork – submit by September 15
6. Continuing Education Opportunities
7. Just for Fun

VMN State Office closed September 4-7, 2025

The VMN State Office staff will be away at the 2025 VMN Conference September 4-7. We will respond to your emails when we return to the office.

New VMN Website

We are excited to report that our new VMN website is finally up and running! You can still find it at virginiamasternaturalist.org, but links to specific pages and documents have changed. Try the search function (upper left corner) if you cannot locate something using the menus. FYI, we do know that the map of chapters is not currently working correctly; it should be fixed soon. Many thanks to our designers and developers at 28Media and to the excellent IT support personnel at Virginia Tech!

New VMN Video

We are equally excited to report that our new VMN video is also published! You can find it on the home page of our website or on the Virginia Tech video site. We also will be publishing it to our social media channels this week so that you can share it widely. In addition, we have four short reels that use additional footage that we’ll be releasing later this fall.

A HUGE thank you to the many VMN volunteers who contributed to these videos by sending in photos and video clips, serving as interviewers, agreeing to be interviewed on camera, and even auditioning and serving as the voiceover artists. We want to especially call out Ana Ka’ahanui (Fairfax), Tom Young (Eastern Shore), Monica Hoel (Holston Rivers), Lindsay Boswell (Middle Peninsula), Melanie La Force (Arlington Regional), and Kathryn Pasternak (Fairfax) for their extraordinary contributions. This was truly a successful crowdsourcing effort, completed in partnership with MiniMatters Video + Marketing.

Send Us Your Urban and Community Forestry Project Stories

We are working on the annual update of our VMN Urban and Community Forestry StoryMap. The StoryMap is an online site where we have presented stories of impactful urban forestry projects by VMN volunteers. If you/your chapter has an impactful urban forestry project to add to the map, please, by September 26, (1) check the StoryMap to see if it is already listed, and if it is not, (2) email both Michelle mprysby@vt.edu and VMN Intern Abi Mountford abim22@vt.edu with a (1) name for the project, (2) the location, (3) a 2-3 paragraph description of what you did and what impacts it had, and (4) a photo or two.

Reminder – Your Fungus Artwork due September 15

The 2026 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 2025, will be an image of a native fungus species. Which fungus 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 fungus species to illustrate, but it must be a species native to Virginia (to the best of your ability to determine.) We suggest that you choose a mushroom 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 than photos because of greater control over the background.
• The naming convention of your digital file should be “YourLastNameYourFirstName_mushroomname” (for example, MouseMinnie_chickenofthewoods.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_3KSv7bLxOIjFQhM 

Continuing Education Opportunities

We have two VMN CE Webinars for you this month!

VMN CE Webinar – Spanish for Naturalists

Tuesday, September 23, 7:00-8:00 pm

We have a fabulous team of Spanish-speaking volunteers who will give you some language basics and talk about tools for learning Spanish that can be applied to your naturalist work.

Pre-registration required

VMN CE Webinar – Chapter Leadership Demystified

We can’t have VMN chapters or a functional statewide program without local volunteer leadership. Every one of our chapters could use additional help in some way, whether on committees, leading projects, or serving on the board. If you haven’t served in a leadership role in your chapter, this session is a great opportunity to learn more about what it entails and ways you can get involved. We’ll even have a panel of chapter leaders to discuss their experiences and tips.

Pre-registration required

As with all of our VMN CE Webinars, both of these sessions will be recorded and made available on the VMN CE Webinar page of our website. There is no need to ask us about whether they will be recorded!

Youth Mental Health First Aid

Virginia Cooperative Extension is offering an upcoming Youth Mental Health First Aid training designed specifically for volunteers working with youth in Extension programs. This training equips participants with the skills to recognize and respond to signs of mental health challenges in young people. VMN volunteers who are working with 4-H clubs and camps or who would like to do so in the future may find this training beneficial.

Training Details:

• Focus: Youth Mental Health First Aid
• Audience: 4-H and VCE Volunteers
• Date: September 29 or September 30- registration closes 9/23 and all prework must be done before 9/25
• Format: Zoom – usually around 6 hours, with lunch and other breaks
• Registration: http://forms.gle/wCuAjtYSf9DAHDqU8

Mental Health First Aid teaches you how to identify, understand, and respond to signs of mental health and substance use challenges. This evidence-based course will help you:

• Recognize common mental health concerns
• Offer initial support to someone experiencing a crisis
• Connect individuals with appropriate professional help

This FREE training will strengthen your ability to create safe, inclusive, and supportive environments for any youth you interact with.

Who Should Attend:

Master Volunteers, 4-H Volunteers, 4-H Camp Volunteers, ELC Members, etc.

Questions? Contact : Christina

Crmurray@vt.edu or 757-303-1487

Fall Forestry and Wildlife Field Tours with the Virginia Forest Landowner Education Program

Fall Forestry & Wildlife Field Tours

Join landowners, natural resource professionals, and other outdoor lovers for day-long tours that explore a variety of sustainable forestry and wildlife management practices. Tours visit private, public, and industry-owned lands. 

Past tours have visited seedling nurseries, timber harvesting operations, sawmills, pine plantations, cooperages, hardwood forests, arboretums, Christmas tree farms, elk habitat, fisheries, hunting plantations, and more. 

• October 2, Henry County 
• October 9, Wise County
• October 16, Virginia Beach
• October 17, Frederick County
• Agenda and register by mail
• Register online

Just for Fun

Check out this new video about Virginia Tech’s research on hellbenders!