Laurels – Fall 2015

The Virginia Master Naturalist program won the 2015 award for “Outstanding Educational Materials” from the Alliance of Natural Resource Outreach and Service Programs (ANROSP.)  ANROSP is a national alliance of Master Naturalist-type programs with member programs from more than two dozen states.  The award is specifically for our new curriculum materials for the “Urban and Developed Systems Ecology and Management” section of the VMN basic training curriculum.  These materials include videos, Powerpoint presentations and scripts, lesson plans for hands-on activities, assessment questions, and evaluation resources.  Development of these materials was funded by an Urban and Community Forestry grant from the Virginia Department of Forestry.  We are honored to be recognized by our peer programs!  

The VMN sponsoring agencies would like to thank all the 75+ volunteers who assisted with the State Fair exhibit!  “I think the VMN volunteers had a good time and provided a wonderful service for our agencies,” says Ann Regn, director of Public Information and Outreach for the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VDEQ.)
​Volunteers signed up to provide education and outreach at the 3-building exhibit, “Living on the Water: The Chesapeake Bay.”   VMN volunteers received training from VDEQ to prepare them for their work, and then they worked alongside state agency staff to engage visitors in learning about live native animals such as horseshoe crabs and turtles, as well as about what Virginia is doing to improve the health of the Bay.  “I had a blast, and the most fun in months! I’ll definitely volunteer next year,” wrote Nick Koreisha (VMN volunteer, Fairfax Chapter.)  ​

​Colonial National Historical Park requested assistance from VMN Historic Rivers Chapter volunteers to conduct the Park’s first BioBlitz/Butterfly Survey. 

Ten Chapter volunteers along with 12 other Park volunteers gathered Saturday, September 12 to form three teams to survey Yorktown Battlefields, Colonial Parkway, and Jamestown Island. This survey was a true community effort.

The survey was planned and coordinated by Dorothy Geyer, Natural Resource Specialist, and Peggy Whitney, BioTech Assistant, of the Colonial National Historical Park of the National Park Service. Volunteers spent 7-8 hours in the field on the day of the count and recorded over 70 volunteer hours.

The three teams tallied 42 butterfly species and 740 individuals. A new park record was a Great Purple Hairstreak found by the Yorktown team.  

• The Yorktown group observed 22 species, including a high count of 82 Common Buckeyes.
• At Jamestown 28 species were identified, the highest number of the three sections. The most numerous species was the Least Skipper with 34 individuals.
• Along the Parkway, 25 species were observed with a high count of 89 Common Buckeyes.
• All three teams spotted Monarch butterflies and a total of 12 individuals.

Per Peggy Whitney: “It was a great success and we couldn’t have done it without all of you.”

River Rats – that is what James River Association calls the volunteers who paddle the James River making observations, reporting problems, or doing water quality testing.  This October, VMN Volunteer Daina Henry (Peninsula Chapter) was recognized as the “Outstanding Volunteer for the Lower James River”.  She was commended on her dedication to water quality testing, pursuit of a grant from DEQ to maintain testing, and her involvement in two action projects – a training session for new River Ra
ts, and twice-a-year cleanups of Lucas Creek.

VMN volunteer Don Hearl (Old Rag Chapter) has been chosen as Educator of the Year by the Culpeper Soil and Water Conservation district.  Don has logged more than 500 hours with the VMN program, and he was one of the leaders of the Town of Washington project, which was our VMN Project of the Year in 2014.  His volunteer work with the Culpeper Soil and Water Conservation District has included giving presentations for K-12 students on environmental topics, leading activities for Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences, judging the Envirothon, and leading other educational programs.