What is a Texas Master Naturalist?
A Texas Master Naturalist is a volunteer with a desire to give back to the community and a willingness to attend the training.
How do I become a Texas Master Naturalist?
You must complete a 40-hour course on the region’s natural features and the impact that people have on nature. Training is held in the fall of each year and classes average 25-35 students. The course includes presentations by biologists, geologists, naturalists, and others from local, state, and federal agencies and universities.
In addition, you must complete a minimum of 40 hours of volunteer service and 8 hours of advanced training during the first 12 months following completion of the course (before your course graduation anniversary date). Advanced training enables Texas Master Naturalists to learn additional knowledge or a particular skill in order to assist with different volunteer projects. Advanced training activities have involved hands-on instruction, field trips to local natural areas, and lectures on such topics as: Texas bats, Texas insects, Texas aquatic environments, wildscape development, and trail planning.
All your volunteer and advanced training activities must be reported and approved for you to get credit. Once you meet these requirements, you will receive a dragonfly pin and will be a certified Texas Master Naturalist.
The application period for the fall training is in the spring, with a deadline in mid-July. Check the website in the spring for details on the next training.
As a certified Master Naturalist, what would I do?
You would volunteer for projects such as construction and maintenance of interpretive trails; restoration of stream banks, exotic species control; fish, wildlife and plant inventories; songbird nest box trails; natural resource youth camps; school programs; programs to community groups; landowner consultation; outdoor skill instruction; natural resource interpretation at nature and visitor centers; creating and maintaining naturescaping demonstration areas; and more.
What are my responsibilities as a certified Master Naturalist?
Once you are certified, it is your responsibility to maintain your certification. You are expected to stay active in the chapter and attend meetings, take advantage of advanced training opportunities, and keep accurate records of your service hours. As a volunteer, you may not profit from your status or violate the policies, missions and goals of the sponsoring agencies that govern use of the Master Naturalist title.
When and where are the chapter meetings?
Our meetings are generally held on the fourth Monday of the month at 7:00pm at the Upper Guadalupe River Authority auditorium, 125 Lehmann Drive, in Kerrville. Occasionally a meeting may be held at a different location, so be sure to check the web site or the current month’s newsletter for details.
Who administers the program?
The Texas Master Naturalist program is a partnership of the Texas AgriLIFE Extension Service, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and local partners in each community.
How is the program supported?
This is a self-supporting program. Volunteers are expected to cover the cost of their training. Our chapter is supported by training fees, fund raisers, and donations (money or in-kind services such as free meeting space) from local partners. A portion of the training fees is also used to support statewide administration of the program. Our training fees are recommended by the New Class Committee and take into account the state fees.
The Texas Master Naturalist (TMN) program is dedicated to the education of our members and others on the natural resources of Hill Country and to providing service to our communities. This document is intended as a source of information about the State TMN program and our Chapter.
What is the TMN mission?
To develop a corps of well-informed volunteers to provide education, outreach and service, dedicated to the beneficial management of natural resources and natural areas within their communities.
Who are we?
The Texas Master Naturalist – Hill Country Chapter is a group of trained volunteers who live in Bandera, Gillespie, Kendall and Kerr counties. This eastern part of the Edwards Plateau in Central Texas, also known as the Texas Hill Country, offers the widest diversity of plants and animals in Texas. We currently have over 200 members.
Where can I find more information about Chapter meetings and events?
Our Chapter website, http://txmn.org/hillcountry, contains our Chapter newsletters, calendar, information on current nature-related events, and links to other sites of interest on natural resources. If you do not have e-mail, you can request a paper copy of our newsletter from our Newsletter Editor, Kristie Denbow.
Who will answer my questions?
You can always ask your mentor. Also all of our Board members and Committee Chairs are listed in the Member Area of the web site along with their contact information. Their job titles define their responsibilities so that you can tell whom to contact.
How do I find out about volunteer opportunities?
The approved volunteer project list for our chapter, with a coordinator shown for each project, is periodically distributed by e-mail. You can also find this list on our website in the Volunteer Projects area. As new projects occur, you will be notified by e-mails from the Volunteer Projects Director, Reidun Hilleman. These new projects will also be listed in the chapter newsletter.
Our Chapter has over 50 approved projects, with a broad range of opportunities, so there should be projects that appeal to each member. The projects are grouped in six sections showing projects that are sponsored by our Chapter (with an “HC” prefix for Hill Country), those that are sponsored by various agencies, universities or schools which may occur in any of our four counties (with a “CC” prefix for Cross-County), and lastly the projects that occur in a single county (“BD” for Bandera, “GL” for Gillespie, “KL” for Kendall and “KR” for Kerr). The projects are grouped by county for your convenience to help you find projects in your county. You are, however, free to volunteer on any approved project in any of our four counties. You can volunteer on as many or as few projects as you choose. You can change projects as often as you wish. Each volunteer project has a code to facilitate accurate entry into our chapter database so we can let organizations know how much service we have provided to them.
How do I find out about Advanced Training opportunities?
New advanced training (AT) opportunities are announced every month in our newsletter. Our Advanced Training Director, Steve Clyburn, sends out new AT opportunities by e-mail as they are approved. If you find a course that you think might qualify, send it to Steve to see if it meets the criteria for AT. Many of our monthly Chapter meetings are approved as AT. Our AT codes facilitate accurate entry into the chapter database.
How do I report my volunteer and advanced training hours?
There is a form available on our website (in the ‘Volunteer Projects’ area) showing the information needed and the format necessary for having the data entered in our Chapter database. Most members keep their hours in an electronic format such as Excel or Word. As long as the columns are in the same order and give the same information as the paper form, data can be e-mailed to our Database Manager, Sandy Leyendecker. If you use paper forms, these can be mailed to Sandy at 510 Twin Springs Road N, Kerrville TX 78028. We encourage you to keep copies of your data and your cumulative hours for your records.
As a reminder, for volunteer hours, you report the date, project code (from the approved project list), the name of the project, and the number of hours that you volunteered (including your travel time to and from the project). These are the column headings across the top of the page.
Travel time is not counted for Advanced Training under State TMN rules.
For advanced training (AT), report the date, AT code, the course name, the instructor and sponsor, and the number of hours spent in the training.
Why should I report my Volunteer hours and Advanced Training?
Both volunteer hours and advanced training are needed for annual certification as a Texas Master Naturalist. We are required to complete a minimum of 40 hours of volunteer work and 8 hours of advanced training each year to retain our certification. Each Chapter reports its annual total for all members’ volunteer hours and advanced training to the State TMN office, which is partially funded by grants. The State TMN office credits our volunteer hours at a value of $20.25/hour for matching funds for the grants that it receives.
How do I make up missed initial classes?
If you miss a class, you can wait until our Chapter’s training the following fall to make it up. You can earn volunteer hours and AT while waiting to make up your classes. Once you make up your missed classes, you will receive all the awards that you have earned in the interim. Alternatively, you can find the same or a similar class in a nearby TMN chapter, such as the Highland Lakes Chapter which meets in Burnet. The Highland Lakes Chapter usually has a spring class, which offers an earlier opportunity to make up classes. The State TMN website http://txmn.org indicates when a chapter gives its training and has a contact person for each chapter. A third option is to substitute a non-Master Naturalist course or presentation. We recommend that you seek advance approval from the Director of the New Class to be certain that the content is equivalent.
Please note that if you miss one day of training, you will miss two or three different class topics. These topics might not be given on the same day next year due to instructor availability, etc. Thus, you might need to attend class on up to three different days next year to make up the missed training.
Use the MakeUp Form to report make-up classes.
How can I get more involved in Chapter activities?
Attend our Chapter meetings and meet other members. We are always looking for people to participate in activities and almost all have volunteer hours available. When you volunteer in different areas and on various projects, you learn new skills and meet even more new people. Volunteering helps you to get certified or re-certified, it helps our chapter, and it certainly helps our communities.
Some volunteer projects, such as at nature centers, preserves and parks, work mainly on a specific day in groups so that you can meet and work with other TMNs. For example, Riverside Nature Center in Kerrville has gardening groups that meet on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. You can learn about native plants and their care as you work along with more experienced members. Cibolo Nature Center in Boerne has spring and fall Field Research days where you can volunteer in a group and learn more about birds, small mammals, water snakes, riparian habitat, prairie vegetation, or insects. Fredericksburg Nature Center has similar activities. All three nature centers have Nature Guide projects to lead educational visits for school children. Riverside and Cibolo need help with their summer camps.
Remember, no matter what your question is, there are folks in our Chapter who will be happy to help you. You can start with the list of this year’s Board members in the Member Area of our web site. We encourage you to be an active MN in our Chapter who can join us in sharing nature information with our communities.
