Bi-weekly Email Updates

Bi-weekly Email for September 29

Hello, VMNs. The leaves are changing, the temperature is dropping, and some of us have had to turn on our heaters. We must be falling into autumn! As you adjust to the shortening days, you can use your evenings to catch up on the Bi-weekly emails.

This email includes:

1. Continuing Education Opportunities
2. VMN Snapshot – Quarter 3
3. Other News

Continuing Education Opportunities

Monarch Joint Venture Fall Online Courses

The monarch fall migration has begun, so you might be in the mood for some continuing education about monarchs! Monarch Joint Venture has several fall online courses available. For all the details, visit https://learn.monarchjointventure.org/. 

• North American Monarch Institute (October 12 – November 8)
• Insect ID and Their Role in the Ecosystems (October 19)

Reminder – October VMN CE Webinar: Heated Topics, Warm Approaches: Navigating Tough Conversations About Natural Resources

Date: October 7, 12:00 – 1:00 pm

Registration Note: We have a new registration system we are using for this session. You will register through our centralized Virginia Cooperative Extension registration. This will help streamline the documentation and reporting we do for program activities. When you complete registration, you will receive a confirmation email with the Zoom link to join. Head over to the registration page to try it out!

Bonus 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.

Date: Tuesday, October 13, 7:00 – 8:00 pm

Pre-registration required

Save the Date: November VMN CE Webinar: “Other Than Oak: What’s so great about Oak and are there other trees in Virginia that are as awesome?”

Presented by Adam Downing, Extension Forester, Virginia Cooperative Extension Northwest District,  November 9, 12:00 – 1:00 pm. Registration will be available by mid-October.

As with all of our VMN CE Webinars, all 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!

VMN EmpowerU Course Offering – October 9 – November 13, 2026

Have you been working on natural resource issues but feel compelled to do more? Taking part in the EmpowerU Training will move your natural resource work to the next level! In this 4-6 week course using an award-winning curriculum, participants can grow their skills to meaningfully engage decision makers about natural resource issues. Note that this training is not focused specifically on lobbying elected officials or getting legislation passed, but rather on engaging the right decision-maker for the change you hope to make.The course includes eight self-paced online modules and three live Zoom sessions. Registration is limited to 30 people, accepted on a first come-first served basis, and registration will close no later than October 8. Please only register if you can commit to completing the online coursework and attending the three Zoom sessions!

Full EmpowerU course details, including the Zoom session dates and the course registration link

VMN Snapshot – Quarter 3

To help communicate and celebrate all that our VMN volunteers are accomplishing, we share quarterly summaries of VMN volunteer service. Here are some statistics for July 1 – September 29 and an update on our 2026 service theme of Wonderful Water (#WOW).

Outputs

• Volunteers who have reported service hours for July – September 2026: 2,144 volunteers, which is 55% of all currently enrolled volunteers. 75% of all currently enrolled volunteers have reported service since January 1, 2026.
• Chapter Administration 7,181 hours by 837 volunteers
• Citizen Science 13,945 hours by 1,121 volunteers
• Education and Outreach 9,359 hours by 794 volunteers
• Stewardship 12,907 hours by 1,022 volunteers
• Total service hours reported: 43,392 hours
• Continuing Education 5,419 hours by 1,298 volunteers

2026 Service Theme: Wonderful Water (#WOW)

This year, we are celebrating Virginia’s water resources with a volunteer service theme of Wonderful Water! We’re asking all VMN volunteers to try to do at least one service activity directly related to water. Remember to include #WOW (just like that!) in the Description field when you enter your hours on Better Impact for any service that is directly related to water resources, such as water quality monitoring, shoreline cleanups, and Project Wet.

In Quarter 3 of 2026, there were 409 entries of #WOW volunteer service made by 89 volunteers, for a total of 897 hours. This year, volunteers in 26 chapters have reported #WOW service. Let’s see if we can get all 30 on the list before the year ends!

Some #WOW service impact highlights for this quarter included:

• VMN volunteers in the Arlington Regional Chapter replaced dozens of damaged or missing storm drain signs. “Marking storm drains is one of the most visible and direct ways to educate residents and stop stream pollution at the source.”
• While doing sea turtle nest patrols this summer, a Tidewater Chapter volunteer removed a total of 57(!) balloons from the surf/sand at Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge and False Cape State Park.
• Peninsula Master Naturalists assisted with kayak education programs at the Mariners’ Museum, helping more than 600 youth gain an appreciation for the lake and have a positive outdoor experience.

Other News

This is just a news item, most relevant to the chapters whose service areas touch Lake Anna. The first Community Engagement meeting for the Lake Anna Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) Study/Watershed Protection Plan will take place October 22^nd, 2026 from 2:00p.m. – 4:00p.m., at Louisa County Library (881 Davis Hwy, Mineral VA 23117). 

 This meeting will begin stakeholder collaboration for the Watershed Protection Plan to address elevated risk of HABs in the Upper Lake Anna watershed. The meeting will summarize the project and pollutant drivers identified, outline the structure of the Watershed Protection Plan, provide an overview of the watershed modeling that will inform the Watershed Protection Plan, and discuss potential future working sessions and management strategies.

On the DEQ webpage (Implementation Plans Under Development), you can download the presentation from the first Public Meeting and find continued project updates. The announcement should also soon post to the VA Town Hall website and the DEQ Events Calendar.

DEQ says to please feel free to forward this announcement and/or the webpages to anyone who would be interested in stakeholder participation for the plan. 

Bi-weekly Email for September 16

Hello, VMNs. As the first day of autumn approaches next week, some of us are celebrating by attending the 2026 VMN Statewide Conference. It should be a good time! If you have other plans, one of them can be to catch up on the Bi-weekly emails.

This email includes:

1. VMN State Office closure
2. Volunteer Opportunities
3. Continuing Education Opportunities

VMN State Office closed for Conference

The VMN State Office will be closed September 17-20. We will be out of the office hosting the VMN Statewide Conference in Herndon. For those who will be joining us, we will see you soon! If we don’t see you at the conference, we will get back to you when we return to the office on September 21. 

Volunteer Opportunities

Gather Those Acorns (and Walnuts and Chestnuts)

It is acorn and nut collecting time at the Virginia Department of Forestry and a great opportunity for VMN volunteers to help contribute to one of our sponsoring agencies and to reforestation projects across Virginia. A change for 2026: Starting this year, seeds will only be accepted at designated drop-off sites. Please review all the acorn and nut collection information on the DOF website for details, including the list of drop-off sites, the list of species, and collection procedures. The drop-off deadline is October 11. Last year, VMN volunteers contributed 600 hours of service collecting seeds for the DOF nurseries. Can we top that this year? As usual, please check with your chapter leaders to be sure this activity is approved and to find out how to correctly report your hours to it.

VMN Basic Training Curriculum Objectives Teams: American Naturalists and Nature of Naming

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 related to our “American Naturalists” and/or “Nature of Naming” curriculum topics. 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 and suggest additions, deletions, and changes.
• As a team, provide a final draft of the objectives for your topic by November 15.

If you are interested and feel that you are the right fit, please contact Michelle Prysby by September 30 at mprysby@vt.edu.

Continuing Education Opportunities

October VMN CE Webinar: Heated Topics, Warm Approaches: Navigating Tough Conversations About Natural Resources

Date: October 7, 12:00 – 1:00 pm

Description: Learn practical, research-based communication strategies for navigating controversial natural resource conversations, from deer management to climate change to feral cats, with confidence. We will explore how “warmth,” conveyed through active listening, empathy, curiosity, and open dialogue, can build trust, reduce defensiveness, and keep conversations productive, even when people disagree.

Presenter: Ginger Orton is an assistant professor and Extension specialist of natural resources science communication in the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources at the University of Georgia. Her research and outreach focus on the adoption of climate-smart land management practices with an emphasis on audience analysis, evidence-based outreach, and fostering trust between scientists and decision makers.

Registration Note: We have a new registration system we are using for this session. You will register through our centralized Virginia Cooperative Extension registration. This will help streamline the documentation and reporting we do for program activities. When you complete registration, you will receive a confirmation email with the Zoom link to join. Head over to the registration page to try it out!

…and save the date for our November webinar, “Other Than Oak: What’s so great about Oak and are there other trees in Virginia that are as awesome?” with Adam Downing, Extension Forester, Virginia Cooperative Extension Northwest District,  November 9, 12:00 – 1:00 pm. Registration will be available by mid-October.

Bonus 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.

Date: Tuesday, October 13, 7:00 – 8:00 pm

Pre-registration required

As with all of our VMN CE Webinars, all 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!

VMN EmpowerU Course Offering – October 9 – November 13, 2026

Have you been working on natural resource issues but feel compelled to do more? Taking part in the EmpowerU Training will move your natural resource work to the next level! In this 4-6 week course using an award-winning curriculum, participants can grow their skills to meaningfully engage decision makers about natural resource issues. Note that this training is not focused specifically on lobbying elected officials or getting legislation passed, but rather on engaging the right decision-maker for the change you hope to make.The course includes eight self-paced online modules and three live Zoom sessions. Registration is limited to 30 people, accepted on a first come-first served basis, and registration will close no later than October 8. Please only register if you can commit to completing the online coursework and attending the three Zoom sessions!

Full EmpowerU course details, including the Zoom session dates and the course registration link

Virginia Association for Environmental Education (VAEE) Conference

• Save the date! The VAEE annual conference will be held February 25 – 27, 2027 in Fairfax, VA. 
• Call for Presenters! VAEE is seeking proposals for conference sessions that engage, educate, and move attendees with the goals of making our collective EE practice in Virginia stronger and more resilient. Consider presenting and submit your presentation proposal by October 16.