October 2023

​The Virginia Master Naturalist program’s state office is now accepting nominations for six statewide awards.  

• Chapter Leader of the Year
• Volunteer of the Year
• New VMN Volunteer
• Most Impactful Project
• Chapter Advisor of the Year
• Diversity & Inclusion Award.

These awards will be judged by the VMN statewide office team and one or more VMN sponsoring agency representatives. We will announce the winners in either late December or January. To submit a nomination, please send the information requested for that particular award to Michelle Prysby. Nominations are due by December 4 at 5:00 pm. You can find this year’s award nomination information below. You also can learn about our 2022 award winners!

Chapter Leader of the Year
This award is intended to recognize a volunteer for extraordinary service as a leader in their chapter. The person could be a board member, committee chair or committee member, or any other type of leader in the chapter, so long as their work involved chapter administration of some sort and demonstrated leadership.  

In your nominations, please include the following:

• Name, email address, and VMN chapter affiliation of the nominator
• Name, email address, VMN chapter affiliation, and leadership role(s) for the nominee
• Description of why the volunteer should receive the award, limited to 400 words. Please include a description of the volunteer’s contributions this year and why they stood out to you.
• One photo that illustrates the nominee and their service. Please attach the photo as a separate file (not embedded in a document), include photo credits, and make sure we have the photographer’s permission to use the photo.

Volunteer of the Year
This award is intended to recognize a volunteer who has made outstanding contributions to natural resource education, citizen science, and/or stewardship. Criteria we consider include the impacts the volunteer has made on natural resource conservation and education, ways the volunteer has impacted or influenced other volunteers, and impacts the volunteer has had on their community, all in the context of the volunteer’s VMN service. There is no minimum requirement for amount of hours or length of service for a volunteer to receive this award. Our focus is on the last one to two years of service.

In your nominations, please include the following:

• Name, email address, and VMN chapter affiliation of nominator
• Name, email address, and VMN chapter affiliation of the nominee
• Description of why the nominee should receive the award, limited to 400 words. You may choose to include a description of the individual’s service, specific examples of positive impacts made, aspects that make the individual stand out from other volunteers, and quotes from other volunteers or local partners. Please place your primary focus on the last 1-2 years of the volunteer’s service.  
• One photo that illustrates the nominee and their service. Please attach the photo as a separate file (not embedded in a document), include photo credits, and make sure we have the photographer’s permission to use the photo.

New VMN Volunteer
This award is intended to recognize a new volunteer who completed or will complete basic training in 2023 and has been highly engaged during and after the training. The volunteer may have completed many volunteer hours, started a new project, helped on a chapter committee, or been engaged in other ways. In your nominations, please include the following:

• Name, email address, and VMN chapter affiliation of the nominator
• Name, email address, VMN chapter affiliation, and basic training graduation date of the new volunteer
• Description of why the volunteer should receive the award, limited to 400 words. Please include a description the volunteer’s activities and contributions this year and why they stood out to you.
• One photo that illustrates the nominee and their service. Please attach the photo as a separate file (not embedded in a document), include photo credits, and make sure we have the photographer’s permission to use the photo.

Chapter Advisor of the Year
This award is intended to recognize a chapter advisor who has made significant and noteworthy contributions to a VMN chapter within the last 1-2 years.  In your nominations, please include the following:

• Name, email address, and VMN chapter affiliation of the nominator
• Name, email address, and VMN chapter affiliation of the chapter advisor
• Description of why the chapter advisor should receive the award, limited to 400 words.  Please include specific examples of how the chapter advisor has helped the chapter run effectively, make positive impacts in the community, or otherwise achieve its goals.
• One photo that illustrates the chapter advisor and their service. Please attach the photo as a separate file (not embedded in a document), include photo credits, and make sure we have the photographer’s permission to use the photo.

Most Impactful Project
This award is intended to recognize a project that has made significant and noteworthy positive impacts for natural resource education, citizen science, and/or stewardship this year. Our focus is on projects for which the VMN chapter played a significant, unique role in creation, implementation, and leadership (rather than projects that were created and run by another organization.) These awards go to the chapter, not to an individual, so the expectation is that multiple members of the chapter be involved in the project. The project need not have started this year, but it should have had significant impacts this year.

In your nominations, please include the following:

• Name, email address, and VMN chapter affiliation of the nominator
• Name, email address, and VMN chapter affiliation for any primary VMN volunteer contacts for the project
• Description of why the project should receive the award, limited to 400 words. Please include a description of the project goals, activities completed, and impacts and outcomes for natural resources in your community and/or for your chapter. Include the roles and contributions of VMN volunteers to the project. Identify any significant partners for the project. 
• One photo that illustrates the project. Please attach the photo as a separate file (not embedded in a document), include photo credits, and make sure we have the photographer’s permission to use the photo.

Diversity & Inclusion Award
This award is intended to recognize efforts to engage underrepresented audiences and efforts to increase diversity and inclusion throughout the VMN program and the educational programs volunteers provide in their communities. It could be a particular service project that the chapter did that successfully engaged new audiences, work done by a chapter committee to create new partnerships, work done by chapter leaders to make all members feel more welcome and included in the program, or many other possible efforts. This award will go to the chapter, not to an individual, though we can highlight particular individuals who played a significant role in our awards announcement.

In your nominations, please include the following:

• Name, email address, and VMN chapter affiliation of the nominato
  r
• Name, email address, and VMN chapter affiliation for any primary VMN volunteer contacts for the diversity and inclusion efforts being nominated
• Description of what the effort or activity was and how it successfully engaged underrepresented audiences or increased inclusion within the VMN program and/or educational programming by VMN volunteers. Identify any significant partners involved in the work. 
• One photo that illustrates the effort or activity. Please attach the photo as a separate file (not embedded in a document), include photo credits, and make sure we have the photographer’s permission to use the photo.

Please help us recognize the outstanding people and work of your chapters!

​By Linda Hughes, Central Blue Ridge Chapter
 
Several community members pitched in to do battle with invasive plants at Rockfish Valley Foundation’s Camille Trailhead September 14.
 
The Invasive workday is a part of a multi-year invasive plant management and education endeavor spearheaded by two Virginia Master Naturalist volunteers, Mary Voorhees with the Rivanna Chapter and Linda Hughes with the Central Blue Ridge Chapter, along with Peter Agelasto, Rockfish Valley Foundation program director, and the Virginia Department of Forestry (DOF).
 
Utilizing guidance from Blue Ridge PRISM, nearly 20 people got to work pulling stiltgrass (Microstegium vimineum), Oriental lady’s thumb (Persicaria longiseta), and Japanese Honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica). Volunteers also used string trimmers to scalp larger stiltgrass infestations. Volunteers then moved piles of stiltgrass off trail for the sun to degrade since it didn’t have seedheads yet. 
 
Dauntless volunteers risked thorny nicks and cut back multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora) while teams of Virginia Master Naturalists helped licensed pesticide applicators from the DOF paint the stumps. By hacking & squirting herbicides, the tag teams also tackled several Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima), Amur Cork tree (Phellodendron amurense), a Persian Silt Tree (Albizia julibrissin), Asiatic Bittersweet Vine (Celastrus orbiculatus), and Privet (Ligustrum). 
 
A “grove” of Bradford Pears (Pyrus calleryana) and Amur Cork (Phellodendron amurense) trees downstream will need to be confronted this fall/winter by cutting and treating stumps.
 
Kudos to workday partners DOF’s Deya Ramsden, Middle River Watershed coordinator, who installed a riparian buffer at RVF, and Justin Barnes, Deputy Regional Forester and Central Blue Ridge chapter advisor. Both served as the workday’s licensed herbicide applicators.
 
With the invasive clearing, volunteers revealed some beautiful Blue lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica), a White Turtle head (Chelone glabra), a Woodland Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina Carolina), and a Saddleback Caterpillar (Sibine stimulea).
 
Many thanks to all the volunteers: 
 
Central Blue Ridge Chapter VMN — Kathy Kelly, Lena Kroll, Judy Oglethorpe, Phyllis Savides and Debbie Harkrader
Rivanna Chapter VMN — Monica Newby
Rockfish Valley Foundation — Tina Thomas, Terry Thomas, Bill West and Gene Hughes
Community partners — Kim Kroll, Liz Dunkle and Mike Craig
 
Keeping the momentum up, quarterly workdays are planned with the first one slated for November 15.

In Memoriam

​We remember two excellent naturalists and volunteers who have passed away this fall and will be very much missed.

 Guy Buford helped start VMN’s Blue Ridge Foothills and Lakes Chapter in 2007 and was a beloved, active member of and instructor for the chapter for more than a decade. Among his many lifelong accomplishments was helping to build some segments of the Appalachian Trail in the 1950s. Guy was still contributing VMN volunteer service in his late 80s, monitoring water quality at Booker T. Washington National Monument and tracking precipitation for the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network. Read more about Guy’s life in this obituary. 

Thank you to Rich Brager for sharing photos and stories about Guy!

Corporate Volunteering at Sensory Explorers’ Trail

–By Sue Bailey, VMN Shenandoah Chapter
Originally appeared in the Shenandoah Chapter’s newsletter, the Shenandoah Saw-whet
One of our chapter’s remarkable initiatives is the Sensory Explorers’ Trail (SET) at Sky Meadows State Park. 
 
“The trail provides visitors a way to engage their senses in the exploration of the natural world. In addition, it has special adaptations for the visually, hearing, and mobility impaired visitors. The trail offers .3 miles of discovery with eight stops along the way to guide visitors so that they can enjoy the sights, sounds, smells, and textures of the environment.”   

After volunteering on the SET, a couple of years ago, I wondered if this might be volunteer opportunity for a newly formed group at my employer, Micron Semiconductor. The Micron employee group is called Capable.  Its vision is to foster a workplace where seen and unseen disabilities are embraced. So, I approached Laure Wallace about the Capable team helping with the SET & VMN and she embraced it. In working with Laure, MK Ruffner & Ed Tobias, a plan was developed to have the Micron Capable team assist with the removal of invasive species along the trail in April 2022.  

The 2022 event was such a success that it was held again this past April. The word success does not capture the true essence of this event. Yes, a lot of invasive plants such as garlic mustard, Japanese stiltgrass, and barberry were removed. Yes, the event drew the largest number of volunteers for any Micron Capable team community volunteer event. These are great but, what is most incredible is that the VMN team also created a truly amazing learning event, sparked interest in native plants & the natural world, and fostered a strong desire to be a part of something bigger than us!  

 I can’t begin to explain the number of times that Micron volunteers have expressed their appreciation of the event, Sky Meadows State Park, and the VMN team for their knowledge, their time, and their excitement about the ecosystem. Team members continue to stop me in the hallway to ask questions about nature; to note that they are now researching & planting native plants; to share a cool sighting; to mention they saw a butterfly (which triggered their memory of MK showing them a pawpaw tree & teaching them that the tree is host for the zebra swallowtail butterfly); or, to recall a other memories such as the number of jack-in-the-pulpits or, filling the back of Laure’s car full of “weeds” (garlic mustard). This is inspiring to me, and I want to express my thanks again to Laure, MK, Ed, Bill Moore, Rob Williams, Erin Clark, and Sky Meadows State Park for all their
efforts and for making such a positive difference.   In my mind, this is what being a Virginia Master Naturalist is all about!   

​

Fairfax Master Naturalist Recognized for Environmental Excellence

–Contributed by Jerry Nissley
​​
On September 13th, the Fairfax County Office of Environmental and Energy Coordination (OEEC) announced the recipients of the 2023 Environmental Excellence Awards. This year’s winners include a high school senior working on environmental stewardship, a small business reducing waste, a condo association safeguarding green spaces for its residents, and three county employees advancing sustainability practices. Joe Gorney, VMN volunteer in the Fairfax Chapter, was one of the three winners in the County Employee Category.

Joe’s award profile stated that he is a Planner with the Department of Planning and Development, Environment and Development Review Branch. He works collaboratively with other county agencies on a diverse range of environmental review topics, working to create a sustainable future for residents and employees. He was the staff lead for the Environmental Plan guidance update for the Reston planning study, designating Reston as “biophilic” community.

Joe is a Fairfax Chapter past President and currently teaches the “Personal Stewardship for the Land” module for FMN Basic Training Cohorts. He was part of a team that monitored 36 bluebird boxes at Twin Lakes for several years. He also helped establish the golf course as an Invasive Management Area (IMA) site and has now transitioned to IMA site leadership duties.

In 2023 he has already volunteered over 40 hours in several categories. In addition to the IMA site leadership role at Twin Lakes, he has been busy designing a couple of native plantings at the Fairfax County Government Center (GC). He said, “We’ve already removed invasives around the GC Memorial area, which is an ongoing management process, and planted the area with natives. We’re also investigating planting 48 native trees around the GC Ellipse, which may happen in mid-October. I’m also inventorying landscape invasives around the GC, which are to be removed and replaced with natives, and designing other native tree plantings to the east of the GC. In addition to invasive pulls at the GC Memorial area, I’ve helped organize and participate in invasive pulls at the Herrity Building.” Joe also found time to be active on Audubon Home Ambassador projects and support FMN board with occasional admin duties.

Please join FMN in congratulating Joe on his well earned 2023 Environmental Excellence Award.

Victoria Fortuna – Project Leader Extraordinaire

–Contributed by Charlene Uhl, VMN Old Rag Chapter
​
Victoria Fortuna demonstrates her twin passion for birds and butterflies as coordinator for two of Old Rag’s projects. Each summer since 2011 she has been responsible for ORMN’s participation in the North America Butterfly Association (NABA) butterfly count and each winter she has guided our chapter’s volunteers in collecting data for the Audubon Christmas Bird Count.

If you have not yet coordinated or administered a major project like these two, you may not fully appreciate the time, thought, creativity, commitment and challenges involved.  The butterfly count requires recruitment of volunteers for the all-day event; scheduling experienced counters to train new participants; and establishing collection protocols for prompt reporting to NABA.  This last summer ORMN fielded 52 volunteers to identify butterflies.  Victoria devoted nearly 50 hours of volunteer time on this project to ensure a successful and accurate count. 

For the Audubon bird count, Victoria recruited leaders and volunteers; compiled data over multiple locations; and reported to Audubon on the 71 different species observed.  Over 80 hours of Victoria’s volunteer time is testament to her personal investment in the success of this project. 

As Victoria plans to hand off the NABA Butterfly Count responsibilities to another ORMN member, we want to recognize and celebrate all she has done for butterflies, birds, and our Virginia Master Naturalist chapter.

​Unexpected Salvage Find at Litter Pickup Activity

–Contributed by Connie Reitz, VMN Historic Rivers Chapter

Several Historic Rivers Chapter members participated in a litter pickup activity at College Creek Beach on the National Park Service Colonial Parkway on August 23rd. The activity started normally with members enjoying the sun, sand, and a gentle breeze as they worked. Then things changed.

A visitor at the beach shared information regarding a large dead fish farther ahead on the beach. This intrigued the master naturalists and caused them to temporarily become distracted from litter pickup. The carcass of a beautiful Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus) was found. One HRC member knew research was being done on this federally endangered species and needed to be reported. A photo, longitude & latitude coordinates, and detailed directions were sent to Matthew Balazik of the VCU Rice Rivers Center. Sticks were used to secure the fish until it could be retrieved. Then it was time to continue litter pickup.

Later members of HRC discovered the following post on the James River Sturgeon Facebook page.  

“Well, today we salvaged our first James sturgeon that had a telemetry tag. We responded to a carcass and when it was pulled on shore the telemetry tag fell out on the beach. The fish was tagged 10 years ago tomorrow. It’s amazing because the tag battery is supposed to die after 10 years, which is tomorrow. I also remember this fish because someone took a fin ray sample long before we caught him in 2013 so he had a unique nub and still does today. He gave us a lot of great data over the past decade. A MASSIVE THANK YOU to the Historic Rivers Chapter of the Virginia Master Naturalist!! They found the fish while doing a beach cleanup (another great deed) and provided great directions so we could easily get the fish from a hard to reach area.”
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No medals were draped around necks and no certificates were handed out. However, HRC members helped another agency with research. Working together is a win for everyone.

Living With Bears Goes to the Fair

Virginia Master Naturalists continue to educate the public about Living with Black Bears in partnership with the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources. After receiving specialized training, the volunteers give talks and conduct outreach designed to inform community members about bear biology and about behaviors they can adopt that will reduce bear-human conflicts. These include behaviors such as securing trash cans, taking down bird feeders at certain times of year, and not leaving pet food outdoors.

As part of their outreach in this project, Riverine Master Naturalists have been staffing a Living with Black Bears booth at the Virginia State Fair for the last two years. In 2023, they made 7,415 educational contacts at the Fair, one of whom was the current Governor of Virginia! Volunteer Sheila Barnett had the opportunity to tell him about bears and about the Virginia Master Naturalist program. Overall, visitors to the fair are interested to learn about bears. “I was pleasantly surprised that when I asked people if they had ever seen a black bear, people seemed to enjoy talking about their black bear sightings. Nobody was afraid of black bears. They all seemed to think that bears are cool, and want to do the right thing to protect bears,” says Sheila.

Thank you to Becky Kyle, VMN Riverine Chapter, who has been organizing her chapter’s participation in this project!

​Each year, previously certified VMN volunteers who complete another 40 hours of approved volunteer service and 8 hours of approved continuing education earn a unique recertification pin for that year. In many years, we have held a contest to choose the artwork for the pin; we are fortunate to have many VMN volunteers with artistic talent! We decided the 2024 recertification pin would be one of two possible vines – poison ivy or Virginia-creeper, and we invited VMN volunteers to submit their artwork for one or the other of these species. We chose these two species because of their widespread and ubiquitous occurrence across Virginia, because of their high value to wildlife species, and because we have not yet had a pin featuring a vine! The winning artwork was selected based on input from the VMN program staff and plant experts from our sponsoring agencies and partners.

We received a tremendous number of excellent submissions, and here we share all the artwork we received, including the winning Virginia-creeper drawing by Rosalind (Ros) Reilly in the James River Chapter.

Virginia-creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) is common all throughout Virginia. Its tolerance range is considered to be extraordinary; it can be found in open areas to forested areas and wet to very dry areas. It can root in the crevices of rocky outcrops and tolerates deep flooding and salt. Its leaves provide cover for small animals and turn a beautiful red in the fall. Its berries, while not edible by humans, feed songbirds. Virginia-creeper is also the host plant for several species of sphinx moths.

Thank you to all the volunteers who participated! It is wonderful to share in your creativity and excitement for our natural world!