Bi-weekly Email Updates

Table of Contents

• Bi-Weekly Email for June 9
  • Being a VMN – Track Your Time for Mid-Year Recognitions
  • Conference Update: Session and Instructor Info Posted
  • Continuing Education Opportunities
    • VMN CE Webinar: The Virginia Household Water Quality Program: empowering Virginia’s well and spring owners through testing and educational resources
    • Project Learning Tree Educator Trainings
    • Blue Ridge PRISM Field Trainings
  • Volunteer Service Opportunities
    • Open Enrollment Period for the VMN Educators Bureau
    • VMN Basic Training Curriculum Objectives Teams: Geology, Weather and Climate
• Bi-weekly Email for May 26
  • Conference Updates – Share Fair at Statewide Conference, anyone can contribute!
  • 2026 Powwow Dates
  • VMN CE Webinars: Recordings and Save the Date
  • Project WET Update and Continuing Education Opportunities
  • CE Opportunity: Building Belonging in Conservation (Recording)
  • Reminder: Outreach Grants from the Virginia Society of Ornithology (VSO)
  • Volunteer Opportunity and Educator Resources: Caterpillars Count!

Bi-Weekly Email for June 9

Being a VMN – Track Your Time for Mid-Year Recognitions

If you’ve gotten behind on entering your VMN service and CE hours for 2026, now’s the time to get caught up. We’ll be using the data entered before June 30 to determine mid-year volunteer recognitions, including service milestones and first-time certifications. Remember to add #WOW to the Description field in your hours entries for any service that is water related as part of our Wonderful Water 2026 service theme.

Conference Update: Session and Instructor Info Posted

Our conference sessions and instructors for the 2026 VMN Statewide Conference are now available on the conference webpage. A few highlights include:

• Saturday morning plenary session with Lydia Lawrence, Conservation Director for Nature Forward, “Expanding Your EcoSystem to a More Inclusive World.”
• Hands-on classroom learning on topics such as identifying native bees
• Field sessions at ten different locations. Learn about the native plant garden at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, the intersection of cultural and natural history at Sweet Run State Park, management of urban forests at Conway Robinson State Forest, and more!
• The Chapter Share Fair, a great opportunity to learn about impactful projects that other chapters are doing.

The conference will take place September 18-20, 2026 in Herndon at the Westin Washington Dulles Airport Hotel. Registration types and fees will be in the next Biweekly email.

Continuing Education Opportunities

VMN CE Webinar: The Virginia Household Water Quality Program: empowering Virginia’s well and spring owners through testing and educational resources

Date: Tuesday, June 23, 12:00 – 1:00 pm
Description: Join Erin Ling and Meredith Snyder for an overview of the Virginia Household Water Quality Program, drinking water clinics, water quality trends and contaminants of concern, applied research collaborations and available resources. We will provide a tour of a new StoryMap tool to help Virginians understand common water quality issues associated with private water supplies in their localities.

Presenters: Erin Ling is a senior extension specialist in Biological Systems Engineering at Virginia Tech and coordinator of the Virginia Household Water Quality Program, an extension effort that offers water testing and education to Virginia’s 1.7 million people reliant on private wells and springs for their household water.

Meredith Snyder is a research associate in Biological Systems Engineering at Virginia Tech and handles most of the water quality analysis and data management for the Virginia Household Water Quality Program. She recently created an ArcGIS StoryMap to illustrate and contextualize VAHWQP water quality data in an accessible format for Virginians.
Registration: Pre-registration required.
Recording: This webinar will be recorded and posted on the VMN Continuing Education Webinar page.

Project Learning Tree Educator Trainings

• June 18: Explore Your Environment at Twin Lakes State Park. This training is part of a week-long series of environmental education capacity-building trainings hosted at Twin Lakes & coordinated by one of their volunteers.
• June 26: Explore Your Environment at James Madison Middle School in Roanoke. This training is being co-hosted by the Region 6 Virginia Environmental Literacy Hub (VEN 6) & will be an especially rich networking day for connecting with EE professionals in & around Roanoke.

Blue Ridge PRISM Field Trainings

Join Natali Walker and Jacob Edel, Invasive Management Specialists at Blue Ridge PRISM, for FREE field trainings where you’ll learn how to identify invasive plants during walks and remove them on workdays to preserve the health and enjoyment of these beautiful natural areas. See the PRISM event calendar for more details and registration for each event.

Invasive Plant ID Walks

June 11, 10:00 a.m.–noon — Botanical Garden of the Piedmont, Charlottesville
June 23, 9:00–11:00 a.m. — Piney River Trailhead (Blue Ridge Railway), Piney River

Conservation Stewards Workdays

June 10, 8:00–10:00 a.m. — Ridgeview Park, Waynesboro
June 11, 12:30–2:00 p.m. — Crockett Park, Midland (demonstration only)
June 18, 10:00 a.m.–noon — Carrier Arboretum, Harrisonburg
June 19, 9:00–11:00 a.m. — Greene Community Park, Ruckersville
June 20, 9:00–11:00 a.m. — Hoover Ridge Park, Madison
June 25, 9:00–11:00 a.m. — Botanical Garden of the Piedmont, Charlottesville
June 29, 12:30–2:00 p.m. — Eastham Park, Front Royal
June 30, 10:00–11:30 a.m. — Blandy Experimental Farm/State Arboretum, Boyce
June 30, 9:00–11:00 a.m. — Piney River Trailhead (Blue Ridge Railway), Piney River

Volunteer Service Opportunities

Open Enrollment Period for the VMN Educators Bureau

Each year in June and December, we open the opportunity for additional volunteers to sign up for our VMN Educators Bureau. If you are willing and able to teach others, please read on and sign up!

The VMN Educators Bureau is an up-to-date listing of VMN volunteers willing to teach other VMNs, give presentations for community groups, lead nature walks, lead environmental education activities for youth, or do any other form of education related to natural resources. Our goal is to increase VMN engagement in Education & Outreach, help our program reach new audiences, and help us respond better to requests for presenters.

Want to join the Educators Bureau for the first time?

If you are a VMN interested and willing to teach others and lead educational programs of any kind on natural resource topics and if you are not already signed up, we invite you to complete our Educators Bureau form between now and June 26. By completing the form, you aren’t committing to any specific opportunity at this point but simply indicating your willingness to be contacted if an opportunity arises that fits your particular profile. On the form, we provide more details on how your information will be used and how you can update your information later.
URL for form for NEW signups: https://forms.gle/TaoMGL8FC9CwMDx76

Already signed up for the Educators Bureau?

VMN volunteers who signed up for the Educators Bureau in the past should not use the link for new people, as that will result in duplicate listings. If you are already in the database, you instead should have received an email last week with a personalized link to view and edit your own existing listing. If you did not receive the email, first check your Spam/Junk folder. If it isn’t there, you can contact masternaturalist@vt.edu to get the information and individualized link that you need.
Kudos to all our Educators Bureau members, new and seasoned! We have been able to fill a wide diversity of presenter requests, thanks to you! Our next ‘open enrollment period’ for the Educators Bureau will be in December.

VMN Basic Training Curriculum Objectives Teams: Geology, Weather and Climate

We are updating learning objectives for some of our VMN basic training curriculum topics and are looking for VMN volunteers to assist. Right now, we seek VMN volunteers with experience as earth science teachers or who have scientific expertise in geology, weather, or climate. As a member of the team, you will:

• Communicate with other volunteers on the team through email or Zoom
• Review the existing objectives for your topic (either Geology or Weather and Climate) and suggest additions, deletions, and changes.
• As a team, provide a final draft of the objectives for your topic by July 31.

If you are interested and feel that you are the right fit, please contact Michelle Prysby by June 19 at mprysby@vt.edu.

Bi-weekly Email for May 26

Conference Updates – Share Fair at Statewide Conference, anyone can contribute!

We invite all 30 VMN chapters to participate in the Chapter Share Fair at our 2026 Statewide Conference and Training. 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.

2026 Powwow Dates

Get to know Virginia’s tribes at their powwow events in 2026!
List of 2026 powwow dates in Virginia 

VMN CE Webinars: Recordings and Save the Date

In case you missed the May webinars, the recordings are now posted on our website. 

And, save the date for our next webinar on Tuesday, June 23 at 12:00 pm: The Virginia Household Water Quality Program: empowering Virginia’s well and spring owners through testing and educational resources. We’re including this one in our lineup in recognition of our Wonderful Water service theme for 2026! Registration link and further details will be available in early June.

Project WET Update and Continuing Education Opportunities

Project WET is an environmental education curriculum for youth and intended for use by all kinds of educators (including VMN volunteers.) In Virginia, Project Wet is administered by the Virginia section of the American Water Works Association. Visit Virginia’s Project Wet page to read their latest newsletter and learn more about how you can be trained as a Project Wet educator or facilitator. 

Upcoming opportunities with Project WET
Project WET (Climate, Water, & Resilience) & Project Learning Tree (Forest, Water, and People): This dual-curriculum workshop integrates Project WET’s Climate, Water, and Resilience and Project Learning Tree’s (PLT) Forest, Water, and People. Participants will explore the vital connections between healthy forest ecosystems, water security, and climate adaptation. By the end of the session, you will be equipped with field-tested activities and local data-driven strategies to engage students in meaningful environmental action.

6/3/26 Milford, VA by Friends of the Rappahannock (FOR)

7/16/26, 9-4, Westmoreland, VA by Friends of the Rappahannock (FOR) and the Northern Neck Soil and Water Conservation District (NNSWCD)

Exploring Trees, Wildlife, and Water with our Youngest Learners: This session brings together the “Early Childhood Trilogy” of environmental education: Project Learning Tree’s Trees & Me, Project WILD’s Growing Up WILD, and Project WET’s Getting Little Feet Wet to ignite a sense of wonder and discovery in children ages 3–7.

7/21/2026, 9-4, Warsaw, VA by Friends of the Rappahannock (FOR) and the Northern Neck Soil and Water Conservation District (NNSWCD)

Questions about Project WET? Ask the coordinator, Cynthia Barnes. Cynthia.barnes@vaawwa.org.

CE Opportunity: Building Belonging in Conservation (Recording)

A VMN volunteer recommends this recently recorded webinar: Building Belonging in Conservation. Conservation spaces haven’t always felt welcoming to everyone. But what if inclusion was not an afterthought, but the foundation? In this engaging, story-driven presentation, Dexter Patterson (@wiscobirder) shares how the BIPOC Birding Club of Wisconsin is reimagining what conservation culture can look like. Through the lens of community birding, Dexter explores how joy, accessibility, and intentional design can break down barriers and invite more people outdoors. Grounded in real-world experiences, this talk highlights practical strategies that organizations can implement immediately, including creating no-judgment learning environments, designing family-friendly and accessible programs, building meaningful partnerships, and prioritizing representation in outdoor spaces. From “Spark Bird” moments to large-scale community impact, this session offers a compelling case study of how an inclusive culture not only strengthens communities but also leads to better conservation outcomes. Participants will leave with practical tools, a new perspective, and a renewed understanding that when more people feel they belong in nature, both humans and wildlife benefit.

Access the Building Belonging in Conservation recording.

Reminder: Outreach Grants from the Virginia Society of Ornithology (VSO)

The VSO is again offering Outreach Grants for 2026. These grants, up to $1,000 each, aim at engaging historically under-served groups in birding activities, including, but not limited to Minorities, Tribes, LGBTQ, and Disability groups. The ultimate goals are to increase access to the joy of connecting with nature through birds, and to bring all voices together for nature conservation that benefits all. Guidelines for application and information about previous grants are available at the Outreach Grant section at https://www.virginiabirds.org/scholarships-grants. 

Deadline: September 1, 2026

Volunteer Opportunity and Educator Resources: Caterpillars Count!

The Caterpillars Count! citizen science project aims to understand:

• insect declines (and hence bird declines)
• shifts in seasonal insect activity
• impacts of climate change and urbanization
• importance of insect-host plant relationships.

Participants conduct surveys on the branches of trees and shrubs to monitor seasonal variation and abundance of arthropods like caterpillars, beetles, and spiders, and to establish critical baseline data for evaluating long term trends. The project can be easily carried out ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD (or, anywhere in Virginia, in the case of VMN) with woody vegetation, especially:

• Nature and environmental education centers
• Parks and botanical gardens
• School campuses (used at 14 colleges and universities)
• Private backyards

In addition to the citizen science opportunities, Caterpillar Counts! has Maps and Graphs that allow anyone to fully explore the dataset and a variety of lesson plans and learning activities for educators to use.

You can reach the team by emailing caterpillarscount@gmail.com.