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Three Efforts to Help Virginia’s Waterways and Aquatic Fauna:
​News from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
By Ann Regn, VDEQ

Balloons, not Plastic Straws, are Target of Virginia’s Plastic Reduction Campaign
Virginia is the first state on the east coast to have a marine debris reduction plan.  In that plan, balloons were identified as primary threat to Virginia’s coastal resources, including marine mammals.  Data from a recent survey of Virginia’s beaches is now available, as well as a report on a new campaign, Joyful Send-Off, that encourages brides and others to celebrate with alternatives to releasing balloons. 

DEQ Releases 2017 Fish Tissue Monitoring Data
The data from DEQ’s 2017 monitoring of fish and sediments are now available.  The samples were analyzed for PCBs and a suite of metals including arsenic, mercury and lead. These results will be evaluated by the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) and could result in the lifting of current fish consumption advisories or in the issuing of new ones. This marks the first year since 2008 that new data was collected in multiple basins across the state. For more information, see the news release. VDH maintains an interactive map from shows areas where fish consumption advisories are posted.

Better Salt Management Strategies Sought for Northern VA
Some ecologists wonder if road salt will be the next major freshwater pollutant, like phosphorus was.  DEQ is tackling the issue by gathering stakeholders to develop best practices for salting roads and alternative deicers that will protect public safety and water quality.  Input from property/building managers and winter service providers is sought.

Catch the King Tide Returns: 2018 citizen science flood mapping event
by Karen Duhring, Virginia Institute of Marine Science
​
King tides are the very highest tides predicted to occur each year based on the positions of the earth, sun and moon and their gravitational effects.  Coastal communities around the nation are discovering how crowdsourced citizen science data collection during extreme high tide events like the king tide helps to better understand where flooding is occurring.  Mapping the extent of these high tides over a large geographic area helps validate and improve predictive model forecasts that are vital tools for emergency managers, businesses and residents in coastal areas.

Virginia’s first organized “Catch the King Tide” event was held last year as a collaborative effort between multiple partners, media organizations, and academic institutions such as VIMS, Old Dominion University, and William & Mary.  Over 500 citizen science volunteers, including Virginia Master Naturalists, walked along high tide lines in their coastal communities and entered data into a smartphone application.  This first Catch the King Tide event was the largest flood-related crowdsourcing data event in the world at the time.  

Planning is now underway for a second 2018 Catch the King Tide event.   Planned data collection events include: 
(1) Sunday, October 7, 2018: Dress rehearsal during high tide 
(2) Saturday, October 27, 2018: Catch the King Tide event from 9:30 AM (Virginia Beach) – 1:30 PM (York/Poquoson)

Free training sessions will start August 1 and will be offered in multiple locations to prepare for the main event in October.  Volunteers will collect data during a 60-90 minute time frame during each event depending on the time of high tide at their location.   GPS data points will be collected by volunteers as ‘breadcrumbs’ or pins along the water line during peak high tide.  Additional unplanned data collection events may be scheduled between August and December with short notice.  Most of the data collection will be during ‘blue sky’ high tide events, or non-storm conditions.  Volunteers will also be trained and encouraged to map known flooding ‘trouble spots’ at any time.  

Project volunteers can choose between two participation levels: 

1. Individual (basic) – basic participation level that includes registration & instructions for mapping the extent of high tide flooding alone or with a group 
2. Tide Captain (Champion) – advanced level agrees to manage a group of five or more volunteers, also learn how to set up training & data collection events, send messages to group, answer member questions & provide technical support

Prior Experience or Expertise

• Access to a portable smart phone or tablet and the ability to enter data in the field 
• Prior knowledge of crowdsourced citizen science applications is desirable, but not required
• Ability to walk along flooded streets and shorelines during ‘blue sky’ and inclement weather conditions
• Familiarity with tide charts, tidal flooding, and predicting the time of local tide events is highly desirable, but not required.
• Attention to detail
• Access to and ability to use camera phone to take photos
• Tide Capta
  ins should have strong communication skills for organizing local volunteer groups

Registration is required for the 2018 Catch the King Tide event to ensure all volunteers are counted, properly trained, and prepared to collect data before scheduled events.  Last year’s volunteers should have received information about this year’s registration process.  All participants can follow the Catch the King Tide Facebook Page or visit the Catch the King 2018 Registration Page to get started.   After registration, additional information about getting ready and training sessions will be provided by a Volunteer Coordinator.  

The focus region is southeast Virginia but anyone can download the app and collect data, especially if a training session can be attended.  If you want to participate, but do not see your location listed as one of the general areas for monitoring during registration (required field), select the closest location then clarify your desired area in the next neighborhood field.  VMN volunteers and chapter project coordinators may contact Karen Duhring at VIMS for additional information, to request a chapter training session, and for assistance setting up a chapter project to support VMN volunteer participation in this regional citizen science event.  

All enrolled Virginia Master Naturalist volunteers are invited to register now to join us at the Fredericksburg Expo and Conference Center in Fredericksburg, Virginia for our 9th Virginia Master Naturalist Statewide Volunteer Conference and Training. This year’s conference is hosted by the Central Rappahannock chapter.

This event is an opportunity for VMN volunteers to share ideas and learn from each other, to participate in high-quality continuing education sessions, and to learn about a region of Virginia that may be different from their home communities. It’s a time and place to recognize and reward volunteers and chapters for all their efforts.

Our chapter hosts have done a wonderful job of choosing programming they think you will enjoy. We will have many and varied concurrent sessions on Saturday and Sunday. There will also be opportunities for pre-conference field trips on Friday and field trips on both Saturday and Sunday as part of the conference.

As of August 1, 183 people are registered for the conference, but about two-thirds of the sessions, including some field trips, still have space available.  If a session is full, don’t hesitate to sign up for the waiting list.  We are frequently able to accommodate people from the waitlists closer to the conference date.  All but one of the five Sunday field trips are still available, so the Full Conference registration option will give you the most choices for field opportunities. 

Early bird registration ends August 6!  Regular conference registration continues through August 20.

​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), and Advisor of the Year.  These awards will be judged by the VMN statewide office team and one or more VMN Steering Committee member.  We will announce and distribute the awards at our annual conference, Friday evening, September 7. 
 
To submit a nomination, please send the information requested for that particular award to Michelle Prysby, mprysby@vt.edu.  Nominations are due by August 1 at 5 pm.

Get inspired by our 2017 winners!
 
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.  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 Marie Majarov, VMN-Shenandoah Chapter

Editor’s Note: The subject of this article is unusual for The Pollinator, but I wanted to include it because safety is such an important consideration for VMN volunteers. Marie is thoughtful in sharing her personal story so that her fellow VMN volunteers (and others) may learn from her experience. If other VMN volunteers have personal stories to share related to safety during VMN activities (e.g., experiences with tick-borne diseases, heat-related illnesses, etc.), please send them. I hope to make these safety stories a semi-regular feature. –MDP

As a naturalist with great respect for the sun and the natural world, an outdoor & nature photographer, a retired clinical psychologist with some medical savvy, and as a septuagenarian I had no idea! And neither have most people I’ve talked to since my recent, eye-opening experience with eyelid cancer.
            I want you to know!  As Virginia Master Naturalists I believe we need to be well informed as we are frequently out working, observing and serving in glorious sunshine. We also have a responsibility to set good examples with our self-care in the sun and to be able to educate those with whom we work.
            I thought I had a sty on my left lower eyelid, no big deal. I used warm compresses, standard treatment, but in a few days when it did not go away — actually it got quite a bit bigger, baby lima bean size and really  irritating to my eye — I went to see my eye doctor.  “A chalazion” he said, a cyst-like nodule in or on the eyelid often developing after a sty or resulting from obstruction of an oil gland within the eyelid. “I’ll lance it, you will feel much better by tonight, and it should heal right up.”  
            Lancing however revealed no obstruction, inflammation, or infection; it was a hard growth, and not likely a standard chalazion. My doctor carefully removed a piece of it and sent it off to the lab and explained that there was a possibility that it could be cancer, skin cancer actually.  “We’ll see what the lab report says, one step at a time…”
            It was cancer, basal cell carcinoma. My doctor told my husband and me that he was not surprised, that he was fairly sure of a cancer diagnosis as soon as he cut into the growth, just not sure what kind. He was fearful it could be squamous cell carcinoma or worse, melanoma.  I was lucky.  
            Four days after the diagnosis I was in the office of an outstanding ophthalmic plastic and reconstruction surgeon in northern Virginia.  A whole new chapter of learning opened up before me. Surgery was scheduled for 10 days hence to remove the growth, and probably about a third of my eyelid with an inch of tissue below the lid aiming for clean margins, and followed by eyelid reconstruction.  
            This was MY EYE!!!! Eyes are so incredibly important to us all, and I am a photographer you know!  Reading and having my surgeon explain and show me pictures of all that was involved in the hour and 45 minute procedure to be carried out so very close to my eyeball, both helped and made me even more anxious!  The reconstruction pictures he showed me were amazing, but getting there made me apprehensive. To be honest, I was really a nervous wreck! 
            The surgery went beautifully and was not as onerous to me as the visions that swirled in my head leading up to it. The surgeon, with a pathologist present to evaluate the removed tissue, was able to get clean margins, the best of news to all cancer patients!  Anesthesia today is amazing; and incredibly I had minimal pain afterwards!  I had 48 hours of wet dressings, ointments on my raft of stitches for 2 weeks, and I had to keep my head upright even while sleeping, then just healing time….not bad at all.  The results looked amazing from the beginning. It was hard to believe the surgeon had removed as much of my eyelid and tissue as he did and then was able to put things back together so smoothly. There will be little visible evidence of the surgery and most importantly my eye will work normally.  Again, I was so very lucky!
            My surgeon says that a “lifetime of sun” is the culprit here. I grew up in a generation where we were encouraged to get as much sunshine as possible. It was “good for us.” There was little known about skin cancer, sun screen products with SPF numbers were not available, and kids were not encouraged to wear sunglasses or hats. On many beach vacations I was quite sunburned and absorbed lots of sun glare from hours of enjoying the ocean and white sandy New Jersey beaches…for fair skinned people such as myself, a recipe for later problems.  As a college student I worked summers as a lifeguard and swim instructor, wearing sunglasses…but I am not sure how good they were at that time. I am sure that it was a perfect situation for glare off the water to bounce up to my eye lids. I didn’t know, no one did, the problems that could lie ahead.
            The Skin Cancer Foundation reports that “the eyelid region is one of the most common sites for nonmelanoma skin cancers. In fact, skin cancers of the eyelid, including basal cell carcinoma (BCC), squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), and melanoma, account for five to 10 percent of all skin cancers. Ninety five percent of these tumors are basal cell or squamous cell carcinomas.” Most being lower eyelid cancer. Absolutely staggering statistics, I had no idea!
            Prompt treatment is crucial to good outcomes. While basal cell carcinomas do not spread/travel to other organs and therefore are not usually life threatening, they do spread in their area of origin. This is particularly tricky around the eyelid where the tissues are thin and if left untreated cancer cells can infiltrate to nearby vital ocular structures and even the perilously close brain. 
            One of the most common presenting symptoms for skin cancer on the eyelids is a growth like mine, which was likely growing under the surface for quite some time, years in fact. Other possible signals reported in the literature include: a change in appearance of the eyelid skin, swelling of the eyelid, thickening of the eyelid, chronic infection of the eyelid, or an ulceration (area where skin is broken) on the eyelid that does not heal. 
            Awareness that eyelid cancer and other skin cancer can happen to those of us exposed to much sunshine over our lifetimes is the first thing I want you to know.  Next are the protective measures we can take and encourage others to take.  Sunscreen is an important preventative measure in all skin cancer. So slather up exposed skin areas when you are in the sun…and don’t forget your ears a delicate area where basal cell carcinoma also takes a significant toll.    
            For the eyelid area however, slathering up with sunscreen is awkward to impossible because of the potential for rubbing it into and causing irritation to the delicate eye. Sunglasses must be your sunblock.  Wear sunglass that blo
ck 99-100% of ultraviolet light. This is essential!  Also broad brim hats that have a darker underside to the brim help greatly to decrease glare to your cheeks and eye area. The brim should surround the hat; baseball hats are not as useful because they allow for glare exposure from the side, and as to other skin cancers they leave ears and neck exposed. 
            I have long worn a great UV+45 kaki colored Virginia Wildlifehat (a present from the editor) with a perfect brim, underside forest green. My sunglasses however often get tossed aside or tangled as I struggle with straps around my neck for my camera, a lens viewer, binoculars, glasses etc. while I photograph and observe nature. No longer will this happen; when healed all the way there is a large style pair of prescription transition glasses in my future. In fact I take this so seriously I am even considering wearing black under my eyes like a football player when I garden or am out on the water! 
            Make no mistake, this is very serious. Eyes are precious!  I am indeed very fortunate that my cancer was diagnosed and treated quickly once it became visible. I want you to know, to be aware, and take precautions. ….and please educate others. 

References and Resources:
https://www.cancer.net/cancer-types/eyelid-cancer/overview        
https://eyecancer.com/eye-cancer/conditions/eyelid-tumors/basal-cell-carcinoma-eyelid-cancer/
https://www.skincancer.org/prevention/sun-protection/for-your-eyes/the-eyelids-highly-susceptible-to-skin-cancer

Marie Majarov (mariemilanmajarov@gmail.com) is a Shenandoah Chapter Virginia Master Naturalist and photojournalist whose work is frequently featured in Virginia Wildlife Magazine.