VMN Program Recognizes Outstanding Volunteers and Impacts with Statewide Program Awards
Longleaf pine plot at Windsor Castle Park in Smithfield, VA. Outstanding New Volunteer Stanley Barlow (VMN Historic Southside Chapter) contributed many hours of service in 2020 to maintaining the plot. Photo by Michelle Prysby.
This award recognizes a new volunteer who completed basic training in 2020 and has been highly engaged, despite the difficult circumstances of the year. Stanley started the basic training course with the Historic Southside Chapter in January 2020. Stanley focused his volunteer service at Windsor Castle Park, a public part in Smithfield, VA. Among his activities was maintaining a newly planted longleaf pine demonstration plot at the park, providing extensive labor and materials to protect the trees from deer and weeds. In total, Stanley contributed more than 150 hours of service in 2020, even though it was just his first year of being a VMN volunteer. He also completed 9 hours of continuing education, and therefore achieved recognition as a Certified Virginia Master Naturalist volunteer.
Joe Ferdinandsen, Chapter Advisor for the VMN Merrimac Farm Chapter, a Wildlife Management Area Supervisor with the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources, and recipient of the VMN Chapter Advisor Award.
This award recognizes a Chapter Advisor who has made significant and noteworthy contributions to a VMN chapter. Joe is a Wildlife Management Area (WMA) Supervisor for the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources, overseeing five WMAs, including his chapter’s home base of Merrimac Farm WMA. Joe keeps the chapter informed about activities at Merrimac Farm and provides guidance on the projects the volunteers do there, and provides advice on the chapter’s basic training curriculum. His chapter describes him as “just plain easy to work with, and a real tribute to the professionalism of Virginia’s Department of Wildlife Resources.”
VMN volunteers in the Holston Rivers Chapter and Hungry Mother State Park staff teamed up for a 6-week program for kids called Habitat Heroes. “We met at Shelter One…and I took a picture of this table every week,” wrote Monica Hoel, volunteer and photographer for this photo. “It was fun to watch the season progress over that month and a half.”
This award recognizes a project that has made significant and noteworthy positive impacts for natural resource education, citizen science, and/or stewardship this year, particularly in light of the pandemic. Our focus is on projects for which the VMN chapter played a significant, unique role in creation, implementation, and leadership.
With Smyth County Schools not in session on Wednesdays due to the pandemic, there was an opportunity to provide an environmental education opportunity for area youth. “Habitat Heroes” met weekly for six weeks at Hungry Mother State Park. Each week was a different nature theme, with hands-on experiences, journaling, crafts, presentations, and exploration. The overarching theme revolved around reminding kids that the wonders of nature are in peril because of a loss of habitat: but we have the power to be habitat heroes by creating and protecting natural habitat areas. The Holston Rivers Chapter of VMN partnered with Hungry Mother State Park, and VMN volunteers assisted with teaching, supervision, preparation of slide shows, organization, creation of educational games, and general interaction. The program was open to the unexpected joys and lessons of being outside – and away from computers – for a while. Every week, all the kids and adults struck a hero’s pose and shouted “Habitat Heroooooes!” And after 6 weeks, it’s fair to say that the adults agreed with the kids that it was sad for their time together to come to an end.
The Old Rag Chapter found many new ways to keep both their existing members and new trainees connected in 2020. Here, trainees participate in a field learning session to practice monitoring monarch butterflies. Photo by Charlene Uhl.
mmunication Award: Old Rag Chapter
This award recognizes a chapter that worked hard to successfully keep chapter members connected this year.
The Old Rag Master Naturalist Chapter expanded outreach to both members and the community through a variety efforts, notably a substantial renovation of their website, a revised and updated newsletter emailed to members and non-members, Zoom meetings, promotion of projects that comply with pandemic constraints, and revision of its Basic Training program. Their expanded communications included weekly nature quizzes, a new website column about the chapter’s sponsors and partners, monthly interviews with members making noteworthy contributions to the the VMN mission, and more.
The Rivanna Master Naturalist Chapter’s first virtual class.
This award recognizes a chapter that worked hard to successfully adapt their 2020 basic training course to the changing COVID circumstances while still meeting VMN training guidelines.
The Rivanna Chapter had already held six sessions of their basic training course when they had to stop meeting in person. Without missing a week, they seamlessly transitioned to Zoom-based classes and self-guided field experiences with written reflections by the trainees. The training committee composed and reviewed many extra questionaires and assessments for the trainees. They held tutorials to get instructors, trainees, and other chapter members up to speed on hosting and participating in Zoom meetings. Creativity, flexibility, and responsiveness characterized the collaboration that resulted in the graduation of 23 trainees, despite the challenges. Based on evaluation feedback from the trainees, the training committee felt confident in planning a 2021 basic training course with online classroom sessions and in-person field opportunities in small groups.
Robin Duska, VMN Fairfax Chapter and the VMN Volunteer of the Year, 2020.
This award recognizes 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, with a focus on the last 1-2 years of service.
Robin Duska is a leader in promoting the creation and conservation of wildlife habitat and in educating the community about the importance of habitat. She served as co-director of the Audubon at Home program, and as an AAH ambassador, certified 400 acres of Reston, VA’s natural areas as Audubon at Home Wildlife Sanctuaries. She has co-edited the Reston Association State of the Environment Report since its inception and helped create the Reston Biophilic Pledge. Her educational activities have also included leading bird walks, creating educational materials about habitat and threats to birds, and organizing webinars on topics such as preventing bird-window collisions.
Thank you to all who took the time to nominate these outstanding volunteers, and thank you to all of the nominees for the great work that they do! Reading through the nominations, it was clear that these volunteers have made a conservation difference, but also touched the lives of many individuals in a positive way.
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Name
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VMN Chapter
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Nomination Highlight
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Jennifer Ambs
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Pocahontas Chapter
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“Jennifer Ambs has a passion for life, the natural world and will go to the ends of the earth to do her part for conservation, especially butterflies.”
”Jennifer has not only led the group of garden and count volunteers, she has inspired us to be better – better conservationist, better humans.” |
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John Bunch
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Historic Southside Chapter
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“During the pandemic, John has kept busy searching the surrounding counties for bryophytes to add to occurrence records…So far this year John is responsible for 73 new county records.”
“John’s untiring enthusiasm for, and curiosity about, the natural world are contagious, particularly because he is willing to share his broad range of knowledge. This was especially helpful to me during my tenure as president of the chapter.” |
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Bill Browning
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Arlington Regional Chapter
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“Bill, a 7-year ARMN member, has spearheaded a campaign in Arlington and Alexandria to broadly educate the public, local government employees, and elected officials about the detrimental effects of excessive deer browse on the local natural resources, due to the over-population of white-tailed deer.”
“Bill has also led the restoration work in one of Arlington’s newest parks, Powhatan Springs, for which he has taken responsibility under the Park Stewards program. Bill assisted the County in planning the natural areas in the park and has continued to lead invasive removal efforts and native plant installation and upkeep, while organizing volunteers under the local COVID guidelines.” |
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Kathy Fell
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Southwestern Piedmont Chapter
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“Before the pandemic, Kathy worked hard to keep the chapter vibrant. She never missed an opportunity to harangue us into action! She made the activities fun, educational, and productive. When finished with an event, we always felt like we had accomplished something worthwhile.”
“Kathy has been phenomenal with keeping our chapter alive during the pandemic. Kathy uses the technology to make us feel present and still part of the organization. Kathy is the reason that our chapter is still strong and providing service to the community.” |
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Camille Grabb
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Northern Neck Chapter
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“Camille has been working diligently to take over the reins and to ensure that the Basic Training Course is done well and responsibly in a virtual environment. This has meant planning and frequent meetings with past committee heads, outreach to others to enlist them in her efforts, and a positive attitude about what is needed to get the chapter through this obstacle. When we met recently to plan for the training course, Camille shared that Master Naturalists are worried that a virtual course won’t work. But she said, ‘I just can’t imagine people having to wait until 2022 to get certified. And we want volunteers in the field. We have to try!'”
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Charlie Grymes
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Merrimac Farm Chapter
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“Charlie has been a core Chapter Member for over a decade, and a key builder in the foundation of our current success.”
“Charlie consistently performs and leads service work at our home base, the Merrimac Farm Wildlife Management Area. His work includes Cedar Run cleanups, invasive plant removal, and leading nature hikes at the Bluebell Festival, which had almost 900 visitors in 2019. He co-leads an exciting new project, which is maintaining a wetlands learning lab at a local high school which instructs future naturalists.” |
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Debbi Hale
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High Knob Chapter
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“Debbi has a vision for Southwest Virginia that is larger than any one town, and works hard to bring her ideas to fruition. With Debbi’s leadership and hard work, the Pine Mountain Naturalist Rally was born, and has been a wonderful event to draw folks to the area, or, back home in many cases.”
“Most of Debbi’s volunteer work is centered around the community of Pound, Virginia. Debbi loves this beautiful but somewhat neglected region of our commonwealth. She spends many hours clearing trails and removing invasive plants, especially along the Red Fox Trail and the old C & O Railroad area. She played a key role in promoting and securing Scenic River designation for the Pound River.” |
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Tom Ligon
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Merrimac Farm Chapter
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“Because I cannot drive due to my handicap, [Tom] drives me around to water locations so we can complete citizen science volunteering together.”
“He engineered and designed a way for me to look into binoculars for birding expeditions, because the binoculars were too heavy for me to lift….Then, he made my wheelchair a special holder for a video camera so he and I could work on shooting promotional videos for the Merrimac chapter (a project still in progress).” “Tom makes this organization, VMN, possible for me: one small human who just wanted to be a Master Naturalist. He brings the earth to me and brings me to the earth.” |
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Katharine Snavely
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Riverine Chapter
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“Katharine is an extraordinary woman who devoted numerous hours to the Master Naturalist working at Pocahontas State Park and the Virginia Science Museum. A true and enthusiastic educator.”
“As a retired educator, Katharine had many “make learning fun” tricks up her sleeve, like creating games and puzzles, and used them during field trips and when staffing the Visitor Center. She connected with guests, no matter if they were three or 33.” |
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