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

• Volunteer of the Year 
• Project of the Year (with four subcategories)
• Advisor of the Year 

These awards will be judged by the VMN statewide office team and one or more VMN Steering Committee members.  We will announce and distribute the awards at our annual conference, Friday evening, September 20, 2019.  To submit a nomination, please send the information requested for that particular award to Michelle Prysby.  Nominations are due by August 12, 2019 at 5 pm.  (Note: We extended the deadline from August 9!)

You can find this year’s award nomination information below or on our website.  You also can read about our 2018 winners on the web!

Volunteer of the Year
This award is intended to recognize a volunteer who has made outstanding contributions to natural resource education, citizen science, stewardship, and/or chapter administration.  Criteria we consider include the impacts the volunteer has made on natural resource conservation and education, demonstrated leadership by the volunteer, and impacts the volunteer has made on the local chapter and its volunteers.  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.

Project of the Year
Subcategories: Education/Outreach, Citizen Science, Stewardship, Administrative
This award is intended to recognize a project that has made significant and noteworthy positive impacts for natural resource education, citizen science, stewardship, and/or chapter administration within the last 1-2 years.  Our focus is on projects for which the VMN chapter played a significant, unique role in creation, implementation, and leadership.  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.  We will give awards in each of four subcategories:

• Education/Outreach – Volunteer service in which VMN volunteers educate the public, such as interpretive programs at parks
• Citizen Science – Service projects involving data collection, monitoring, biological inventories, etc.
• Stewardship – Service projects to improve habitat or improve the ability of the public to access natural resources through trails, etc.
• Administrative – Projects to improve the functioning of a VMN chapter, such as re-vamping of the basic training course, mentorship programs, efforts to streamline chapter processes, etc.

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 the primary VMN volunteer contact for the project
• The primary award subcategory for which you are nominating the project: Education/Outreach, Citizen Science, Stewardship, or Administrative.  The project may include aspects of multiple subcategories and you may describe these aspects in your nomination statement, but you should indicate the primary subcategory under which you want to nominate 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. 

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.

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

By Rich Brager, VMN-Blue Ridge Foothills & Lakes Chapter

On a rather pleasant February 8th winter day, a group of Blue Ridge, Foothills and Lakes (BRFAL) Virginia Master Naturalists met with met Mr. Ryan Klopf, Mountain Region Steward, Department of Conservation & Recreation (DCR), Division of Natural Heritage and his two henchmen, Wes and Jonathon at Bald Knob Natural Area Preserve (NAP) in order to remove as many privet shrubs as possible.  

But first, a little background about Bald Knob NAP.  It is the newest NAP in Virginia.  The site is called a Piedmont mafic barren where exposed rocks resist weathering and have unusual chemical properties, making them and their derived soils different from typical Piedmont sites.  Due to the soil make-up, the NAP is home to the very rare Piedmont fameflower (Phemeranthus piedmontanus) and has only been documented at a handful of sites in the world.  Ryan explained that the mafic rock in Rocky Mount was originally formed due to volcanic activity.  The original lava was then compressed into a very hard rock that erodes very slowly.  The rock is estimated to be about a billion years old and was formed when the Atlantic Ocean was forming for the first time. Bald Knob is one of the most significant conservation sites in the Piedmont.

So what are privet shrubs and why are they considered invasive?  The following is an excerpt from Wikipedia on the subject:
“Privet refers to any of a number of shrubs or trees in the genus Ligustrum. The genus contains about 50 species native to the Old World and Australasia. Many members of the genus are grown as ornamental plants in parts of the world, including the United States.

Several species of privet have become a nuisance in regions outside its range. In these conditions it is most commonly found wherever there is disturbed soil, soil that is physically perturbed from its natural state through fire or mechanical machinery, such as along fencerows, old fields, ditches, and forest margins. Privet grows particularly well in riparian forests, which are found throughout the southeastern United States. Although tolerant of varying soil and light conditions, including a tolerance for shade, privet survives best in mesic soil with abundant sunlight.”

As you may surmise, the privet plant can out compete the very valuable and rare Piedmont fameflower.  So armed with loppers, pruning saws, a Sawzall and a chainsaw, our team of volunteers attacked the offending invaders with enthusiasm and camaraderie.  After about 4 hours our enthusiasm was tempered with sore muscles and aching joints.  (The median age of our volunteers was well above 60).  Our efforts were highly successful with at least a half dozen brush piles over 6 feet high.  Although we made a big dent in the privet population, there is still more to go.  We shall return!

If you are interested in seeing more of the BRFAL activities or joining our group, please visit our blog at BRFAL.BLOGSPOT.com.

​Guinness World Record for Catch the King
​
Catch the King is a crowd-sourced citizen science project for mapping the highest tides of the year.   The extent of this annual extreme high tide is where regular high tides are expected to be in the future due to gradual sea level rise.  Data collected by citizen scientists is used to validate and improve a VIMS tidal flooding forecasting model.  Thanks to the efforts of 722 volunteers in 2017, including many Virginia Master Naturalists, a Guinness World Record was recently awarded to the first Catch the King flood mapping event.  A record-setting number of 59,718 survey samples were collected making it the ‘most contributions to an environmental survey’ under Guinness rules.  The previous record was 10,000.  Last year’s event in 2018 had fewer participants, which is why the first year’s event was the record breaker.  Read more about the world record in this VIMS story.   The third annual Catch the King mapping event is scheduled to take place this year on Sunday, October 27, 2019.   More information and training sessions will be posted at the WHRO King Tide web site.  Undoubtedly, Virginia Master Naturalists will once again help Catch the King Tide in coastal Virginia.   

Digital photography is a skill used in many citizen science projects, such as Wildlife Mapping with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, Bumble Bee Watch, and the City Nature Challenge.  To encourage development of photography skills in our VMN volunteers, each year we hold a statewide photo contest.  Each VMN chapter may submit just one photo in each category, so chapters often hold local contests to choose their submissions from those submitted locally by their volunteers.  

The contest is organized by a different volunteer each year, in cojunction with our VMN Statewide Conference and Volunteer Training.  Debbie Pugh, a volunteer in the VMN-Headwaters Chapter, is this year’s coordinator.  She has defined the categories and rules for this year’s contest.  If you or your VMN chapter have not participated in the past, please consider being part of the fun this year!

This year’s contest categories include: 

• Virginia Native Wildlife: This category includes photographs of birds, insects, mammals, amphibians and reptiles. A native Virginia animal, bird, reptile, etc. must be the main subject in the photographs in this category. Non- native species may be in the background only.
• Virginia Native Plant and Fungi World:  This category includes photographs of plants and fungi in their environments. Native Virginia plants or fungi must be the main subject in the photographs in this category. Non-native species may be in the background only.
• Virginia Native Landscapes:  Photographs in this category feature Virginia landscapes as the main subject: natural landscapes, seascapes, the sky (sunsets, sunrises, clouds, etc.), or underwater images.
• Virginia Native Macro and Night Photography:  Submissions to this category include the genres of macro and night photography. Macro photography is defined as creating extreme close-ups of subjects that are very small in real life and the resulting image allows the viewer to see details that are normally hidden from the human eye.  Night photography is defined as capturing photographs outdoors after sunset and before sunrise.
• Virginia Master Naturalists in Action: Photographs that show activities of Virginia Master Naturalists like wildflower walks, training activities, volunteer work, citizen science, stewardship, etc. Photographs for this category must include the VMN volunteer as the main subject doing the activity.

For more description of the contest categories and the complete contest rules, see the 2019 Photo Contest Rules document and the 2019 entry form.