Chapter Membership Summary

Our chapter was started in 2007, and was formally chartered with the completion of our first class in the June of 2008.  Additional classes graduated in May 2009 and November 2010.  A total of 58 people have gone through our training and become Texas Master Naturalists in our Chapter.

As of May 2011, we currently have 46 active members, who have logged a total of 20,000 volunteer hours, 2900 class hours and 2700 Advanced Training hours  since we were first organized.  The number of volunteers achieving lifetime accumulated volunteer hours as Milestone Level Achievements are:

>2500 hours:  1
>1000 hours: 6
> 500 hours: 12
>250 hours: 21


Membership, Certification and Milestone Summary of Requirements

These Requirements are based upon those contained in the “Chapter Management Guidelines” of the Texas Master Naturalist Program, with minor clarifications or modifications for Chapter use.

  • Membership requirements- A “Texas Master Naturalist” volunteer
    • Becoming a Texas Master Naturalist volunteer requires: a membership application, passing a background check, paying the class  enrollment fee, and completing 40 hours of classes and field trips (including make-ups as needed). Following successful class completion, there is a graduation ceremony where a Certificate is presented – and you are now a “Texas Master Naturalist”.
    • A volunteer remains a Texas Master Naturalist and a member of the Chapter as long as annual dues are paid or a desire to remain a member is stated (see our Chapter Operating Handbook). This Texas Master Naturalist status continues no matter how little or how much volunteer service is provided to the chapter within any given year. It is generally expected that Texas Master Naturalist volunteers are either “Certified” or working towards certification in any given year, but that is up to each person.
  • Certification requirements- A “Certified Texas Master Naturalist” volunteer
    • Initial Certification: When a volunteer completes 40 hours of approved volunteer work and 8 hours of approved Advanced Training, within 15 months of the last class day, then a Certificate and a white winged Dragonfly pin (same design pin for all new members) is awarded in recognition of becoming a Certified Texas Master Naturalist. Should initial certification not be completed within these 15 months, then the volunteer would start over again in the next calendar year with zero earned volunteer and advanced training hours towards initial certification.
    • Annual re-certification: If during that first calendar year a volunteer also completes an additional 40 hours of volunteer work and 8 hours of Advanced Training, for a total of 80 hours volunteer work and 16 hours Advanced Training, then a yearly re-certification pin in recognition of that is awarded.For annual re-certification in any succeeding calendar year, 40 hours of approved volunteer work and 8 hours of Advanced Training must be completed during that year, and a unique annual re-certification pin for that year is awarded. Once certification or annual re-certification is achieved, that certification remains through the end of the calendar year of certification, and throughout the following year while working towards that following year’s annual re-certification. If re-certification does not occur by the end of that following year, then the “Certified” title should not be used until such time as an annual re-certification does occur. Annual re-certification pins are slightly different each year. Any hours used for one certification cannot be used for a re-certification. For example, those in the 1st part of 2009 that may have been used for the initial 2008 certification cannot be used for the 2009 re-certification. Annual re-certification hours reset to zero at the beginning of each calendar year, so any hours completed in one year, whether you achieved certification or not, cannot be counted for the next year’s re-certification. Volunteers may or may not achieve annual re-certification in consecutive years.
    • Logging hours: Advanced training hours are tracked separately from volunteer hours, and are not included in volunteer hours or in milestone achievements (see below). For organized group activities such as volunteer projects, committee meetings and advanced training, the leader will have a log sheet for everyone to sign and that will be used to record volunteer or training hours for everyone participating. For individual work on approved projects or committee activities, the reporting form on the web site should be submitted per its instructions. Travel time of 30 minutes each way can be included on volunteer efforts, but not advanced training. General membership meetings do not count as volunteer hours.
  • Milestone requirements
    • Lifetime accumulated volunteer hours are used to recognize different lifetime achievement levels, at 250, 500, 1000, 2500, and 5000 hours – with different designs of the Dragonfly pin.
    • It is important to always record and submit all volunteer project hours, even after the annual 40 needed for re-certifications.
  • And what pins to we get for what?
    • The new re-certification pin for 2011 in the Horned Lizard, our Texas State Reptile.
    • Here are all the current pins – past and present.