At-Home Activities and Projects
This is a list of potential projects that a Virginia Master Naturalist might do from their own home or yard. Some projects listed might require a specific habitat or feature on the property, such as milkweed plants, oak trees, or a pond. This list is not comprehensive; there may be other projects, especially local projects, that a VMN could do from home.
Please note: These projects or activities must be approved by your local chapter before you may begin participating as a VMN volunteer and accrue volunteer service hours. We are simply listing them here so that home-bound Virginia Master Naturalist volunteers may get ideas for projects that are of interest to them. If you want to participate in one of these projects and it is not already approved in your chapter, please contact your chapter’s Projects Chair or Volunteer Service Chair to find out how to get it as an approved activity.
Education
- Education/outreach done remotely (e.g., being an instructor for a webinar on a natural resource topic for a local community group)
- Developing educational materials such as brochures or fact sheets for a specific purpose or partner
Stewardship
- Acorn/seed collection for VDOF (limited to fall season)
Administrative
- Serving as a mentor for new VMN trainees if your chapter has a mentoring program
- Contributing to a VMN chapter newsletter, managing chapter website, or other contributions to chapter communications
- Serving on a VMN chapter committee
- Serving on a VMN chapter board, attending teleconference board meetings, taking care of board business via email
Citizen Science
- CoCoRaHS (Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, & Snow Network) https://www.cocorahs.org
- Nature’s Notebook https://www.usanpn.org/natures_notebook
- Project Budburst http://budburst.org
- Digitizing Virginia’s Herbaria project within Notes from Nature – https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/md68135/notes-from-nature-southeastern-us-biodiversity The current Virginia “expedition” is called Field and Forest Plants of Virginia III. There may be additional opportunities in the future. The other “expeditions” listed are not necessarily Virginia-based and so would not qualify as VMN service.
- Project FeederWatch (season is only mid-November through early April) https://feederwatch.org
- Great Backyard Bird Count (mid-February only) https://gbbc.birdcount.org
- NestWatch https://nestwatch.org
- Hummingbirds at Home (Audubon) – https://www.audubon.org/content/hummingbirds-home
- Monarch Larva Monitoring Project https://monarchjointventure.org/mlmp
- Spotted Lanternfly monitoring (contact your chapter’s Project Chair for information)
- Firefly Watch https://www.massaudubon.org/get-involved/citizen-science/firefly-watch
- Bumblebee Watch – https://www.bumblebeewatch.org
- Migratory Dragonfly Partnership http://www.migratorydragonflypartnership.org/index/welcome
- Lost Ladybug http://www.lostladybug.org
- FrogWatch http://www.frogwatch.org/
- City Nature Challenge (limited to participating locations and specific dates) https://citynaturechallenge.org
- World Bee Count – https://beescount.org