[{"id":15256,"date":"2026-05-04T16:01:50","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T21:01:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/?p=15256"},"modified":"2026-05-04T16:10:36","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T21:10:36","slug":"bats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/2026\/05\/04\/bats\/","title":{"rendered":"Bats"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-8f761849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:100%\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile\" style=\"grid-template-columns:33% auto\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"833\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2026\/05\/Sam-Leivers-1024x833.jpg?resize=1024%2C833\" alt=\"Photo of Sam Leivers\" class=\"wp-image-15259 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2026\/05\/Sam-Leivers.jpg?resize=1024%2C833&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2026\/05\/Sam-Leivers.jpg?resize=300%2C244&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2026\/05\/Sam-Leivers.jpg?resize=768%2C625&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2026\/05\/Sam-Leivers.jpg?w=1200&amp;ssl=1 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Samantha Leivers, Ph.D.<\/h3><p>State Bat Specialist<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dr. Leivers has been working with bats in Texas since 2018 and currently holds the position of State Bat Specialist with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Dr. Leivers determines research and conservation priorities for bats in Texas and works with bat scientists from across the county to better understand and conserve bats both in Texas and beyond. Originally from the UK, Dr. Leivers completed her PhD in Evolutionary Biology at the University of Western Australia and has been working in wildlife research and conservation in the US for the past decade.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Samantha Leivers, Ph.D. State Bat Specialist Dr. Leivers has been working with bats in Texas since 2018 and currently holds the position of State Bat Specialist with the Texas Parks&#8230; <span class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/2026\/05\/04\/bats\/\">Read More &rarr;<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1521,"featured_media":15259,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[17601],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-speakers","entry"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2026\/05\/Sam-Leivers.jpg?fit=1200%2C976&ssl=1","uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2026\/05\/Sam-Leivers.jpg?fit=1200%2C976&ssl=1",1200,976,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2026\/05\/Sam-Leivers.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2026\/05\/Sam-Leivers.jpg?fit=300%2C244&ssl=1",300,244,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2026\/05\/Sam-Leivers.jpg?fit=768%2C625&ssl=1",768,625,true],"large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2026\/05\/Sam-Leivers.jpg?fit=1024%2C833&ssl=1",1024,833,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2026\/05\/Sam-Leivers.jpg?fit=1200%2C976&ssl=1",1200,976,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2026\/05\/Sam-Leivers.jpg?fit=1200%2C976&ssl=1",1200,976,true],"archive":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2026\/05\/Sam-Leivers.jpg?resize=400%2C225&ssl=1",400,225,true],"gform-image-choice-sm":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2026\/05\/Sam-Leivers.jpg?resize=300%2C300&ssl=1",300,300,true],"gform-image-choice-md":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2026\/05\/Sam-Leivers.jpg?resize=400%2C400&ssl=1",400,400,true],"gform-image-choice-lg":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2026\/05\/Sam-Leivers.jpg?resize=600%2C600&ssl=1",600,600,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"kellieclelland","author_link":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/author\/kellieclelland\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Samantha Leivers, Ph.D. State Bat Specialist Dr. Leivers has been working with bats in Texas since 2018 and currently holds the position of State Bat Specialist with the Texas Parks... Read More &rarr;","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s5WTKM-bats","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1521"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15256\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":15166,"date":"2026-02-20T05:33:45","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T11:33:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/?p=15166"},"modified":"2026-05-04T16:06:42","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T21:06:42","slug":"still-stitching-by-krin-van-tatenhove","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/2026\/02\/20\/still-stitching-by-krin-van-tatenhove\/","title":{"rendered":"Still Stitching, by Krin Van Tatenhove"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On a recent morning, I sat near the precipice of the South Rim Viewpoint, Big Bend National Park. Its 2,000 foot plunge gave me more than a tinge of vertigo. I took deep breaths and swept my gaze over the stunning panorama\u2014from the Chisos, across the Chihuahuan Desert floor, over the Rio Grande, to the Sierra del Carmen mountain range of Mexico.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I\u2019ve spent countless hours hiking in backcountries across America, seeking not only the tonic of solitude, but the thrill of views such as this one. If you had been standing near me, you would have heard me exclaim \u201cAhhhh\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A naturalist once told me that her forays into the wild are what \u201cstitch her into the fabric of Creation.\u201d I love that! It resonates with me, especially because my day-to-day schedule can too easily consume me, diverting my attention from the beauty that surrounds all of us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sitting there amidst the splendor of Big Bend, I thought of other places in my adopted homeland of Texas that have woven me into the natural world. They exist in the present tense in my mind, no matter how long ago I experienced them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Hiking through Palo Duro Canyon, admiring the variegated colors of its geologic formations.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Closely examining the splendid crystals deep within Sonora Caverns.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Wandering over a boardwalk through the Big Thicket, marveling at carnivorous pitcher plants, sundews, and bladderworts.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Kayaking through the labyrinth of bald cypresses draped in Spanish moss at Caddo Lake State Park.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Strolling along the edge of Aransas Bay near dawn, seabirds squawking around me, a squadron of pelicans passing in silhouette. Light from the rising sun playing over the gulf waters in lava lamp swirls of red and orange.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Touring Spring Lake at the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment, peering through our glass bottom boat at the ancient artesian springs that feed the San Marcos River, alligator gars passing beneath us.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Lifting my arms in joy at the top of Guadalupe Peak!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And then there\u2019s the wildlife I\u2019ve encountered, our native brothers and sisters of so many species!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Coming upon a red-shouldered hawk taking a bath in a stream at McKinney State Park.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Focusing my camera on a baby alligator sitting atop its mother\u2019s head at Brazos Bend State Park.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Thrilling to the vibrant color of a rough green snake as it slithers across a trail at Phil Hardberger Park.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Quietly observing a two-tailed swallowtail as it alights on a thistle bloom in Government Canyon State Natural Area, a perfect contrast of purple and yellow.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sneaking up on a nine-banded armadillo at Colorado Bend State Park, surreptitiously watching it snort, chuff, and dig for grubs.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Vermillion flycatchers, painted buntings, green jays!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On another trip to Big Bend, I hiked into Santa Elena Canyon for the third time, escorting a friend who had never been there. It was early morning. We sat on a rock and watched sunlight dapple the surface of the Rio Grande like liquid amber. It was mesmerizing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">My friend turned to me and was about to say something. Instead, she glanced back at the golden ripples on the river, then up the steep cliff walls. We heard the melodic call of a black-throated sparrow echoing through the canyon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">My friend turned once again to face me. Our eyes met, we nodded, then each of us took a deep breath of crisp desert air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We were stitching!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Krin Van Tatenhoe graduated with AAMN Class 45. He wrote a book about the history of our chapter which you can access on his website <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/krinvan.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/texas-naturally-the-rise-of-the-texas-master-naturalist-movement.pdf\"><strong><em>here<\/em><\/strong><\/a><strong><em>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"478\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2026\/02\/Use-1024x478.jpg?resize=1024%2C478&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-15167\" style=\"width:762px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2026\/02\/Use-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C478&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2026\/02\/Use-scaled.jpg?resize=300%2C140&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2026\/02\/Use-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C359&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2026\/02\/Use-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C717&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2026\/02\/Use-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C956&amp;ssl=1 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On a recent morning, I sat near the precipice of the South Rim Viewpoint, Big Bend National Park. Its 2,000 foot plunge gave me more than a tinge of vertigo&#8230;. <span class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/2026\/02\/20\/still-stitching-by-krin-van-tatenhove\/\">Read More &rarr;<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1384,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[48113],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-evergreen-reflections","entry","has-post-thumbnail"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false,"archive":false,"gform-image-choice-sm":false,"gform-image-choice-md":false,"gform-image-choice-lg":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"krinvan","author_link":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/author\/krinvan\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"On a recent morning, I sat near the precipice of the South Rim Viewpoint, Big Bend National Park. Its 2,000 foot plunge gave me more than a tinge of vertigo.... Read More &rarr;","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5WTKM-3WC","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1384"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15166"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15166\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":15103,"date":"2026-01-26T07:44:41","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T13:44:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/?p=15103"},"modified":"2026-01-26T07:44:43","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T13:44:43","slug":"my-naturalist-origin-story-by-amy-dawn-curtis-class-47","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/2026\/01\/26\/my-naturalist-origin-story-by-amy-dawn-curtis-class-47\/","title":{"rendered":"My Naturalist Origin Story, by Amy Dawn Curtis, Class 47"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">My naturalist origin story starts with a painting. I lived in Tennessee and was new to my home educator career with my 3-year-old son.\u00a0 We were looking at a picture that showed a mother and small child in a sweeping field of blueberries.\u00a0 Their heads were down, examining the bounty they gathered in their baskets. I asked my son if he had ever gone blueberry picking.\u00a0 I knew the answer, of course, so I was surprised to hear him proudly proclaim \u201cyes!\u201d I asked him who he did this with.\u00a0 He said, \u201cDaddy.\u201d Now, my husband is not outdoorsy, and his idea of communing with nature is walking nine holes on a golf course. Certainly not foraging in a field.\u00a0 I had a mystery in front of me that needed solving. So, I asked my son where they went blueberry picking?\u00a0 And he said, \u201cAt the grocery store.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The mystery had turned into a crisis. My child did not know where food came from. This had to be fixed immediately.&nbsp; In that moment, my real work had begun. My child <em>would<\/em> know nature.&nbsp; He <em>would<\/em> be grounded to this earth.&nbsp; But how?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">My first solution was to work with him in a community garden at a farm park. A few times a week, our mornings were filled with working the soil, tending the plants, and feeding chickens and rabbits. We also played in corn and sunflower fields, picked flowers, and watched the animals who visited the park with us. The community of people were so lovely. They were happy to take my child under their wing and teach him what they knew of the wonders of nature.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wanting to build on our beautiful farm park experience, we joined nature exploration classes at the local botanical garden.&nbsp; We also committed time each day to being outside and simply letting nature teach us.&nbsp; I have such beautiful memories of my child running through cherry blossoms being blown by the wind, laughing at the funny behavior of robins bathing in puddles, exploring mole tunnels, and even mourning the loss of a huge, beautiful tree that we watched a neighbor cut down to make way for a swimming pool.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As he got older, and as school lessons became more formal, we joined with some members of the community to form an outdoor education co-op. By now, we were in San Antonio.&nbsp; I volunteered to lead the nature study lessons for the co-op. Remembering the people I worked with at the farm park, I got to return the favor of introducing children to the wonders of nature. I watched them grow excited when they learned to tell what part of a bird a feather came from, what stage of ecological succession a part of a park was in, and how to forecast weather by looking at clouds. I helped them make friends with the plants around them and to know their names. As their curiosity grew, so did mine. I wanted to know so much more. And I found the Texas Master Naturalists.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I was excited to be accepted into class 47. Believing my curiosity would be satisfied by the program, I realized quite the opposite. I walked with people who could tell me the story of the land just by looking at it. Others could list birds that surrounded us (were there birds there?&nbsp; I had no idea). I was connected to pre-colonization cultures by hearing how I was walking through their grocery and supply stores. I knew I was in deep when a class on dirt was the most interesting thing I&#8217;d heard in ages.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So, my nature walks with the kids got more interesting. Parents began to push their way to the front to listen to me, too. My quest to connect my son to the earth was also leading me to connect my community. I was helping to turn a tide of people seeing the world around them as a resource to be used to seeing a magnificent world of beauty and purpose.&nbsp; From nature being a tool for entertainment to being something to steward.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since that day many years ago when I opened a book to look at a painting with my son, I have taught nature journaling, mentored Junior Master Naturalists, led a forest school community, given away trees, and tabled many educational outreach events. I also get to help AAMN committees with my organizational skills. And I have grown more curious every step of the way. I am simply in awe of this planet.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I&#8217;ll conclude with something that happened at the farm park, about a year after my son and I started volunteering there. I was busy preparing a bed for seeds when my child ran up to me, mouth full and with a smile on his face. Slightly alarmed, I asked him what he was eating. His mouth too full to talk so he reached into his pocket. He pulled his little hand out, opened his fingers one by one, and revealed a handful of fresh blueberries he had just picked in the orchard.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"771\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2026\/01\/1000014183-1024x771.jpg?resize=1024%2C771&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-15104\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.3281616720606764;width:507px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2026\/01\/1000014183-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C771&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2026\/01\/1000014183-scaled.jpg?resize=300%2C226&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2026\/01\/1000014183-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C578&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2026\/01\/1000014183-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1156&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2026\/01\/1000014183-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1541&amp;ssl=1 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\">AAMN members Mary Jean Martinez (left) and Amy Dawn Curtis<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>My naturalist origin story starts with a painting. I lived in Tennessee and was new to my home educator career with my 3-year-old son.\u00a0 We were looking at a picture&#8230; <span class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/2026\/01\/26\/my-naturalist-origin-story-by-amy-dawn-curtis-class-47\/\">Read More &rarr;<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1384,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[26468],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-class-notes","entry","has-post-thumbnail"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false,"archive":false,"gform-image-choice-sm":false,"gform-image-choice-md":false,"gform-image-choice-lg":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"krinvan","author_link":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/author\/krinvan\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"My naturalist origin story starts with a painting. I lived in Tennessee and was new to my home educator career with my 3-year-old son.\u00a0 We were looking at a picture... Read More &rarr;","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5WTKM-3VB","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1384"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15103"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15103\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":15093,"date":"2026-01-17T15:55:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T21:55:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/?p=15093"},"modified":"2026-01-17T16:01:50","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T22:01:50","slug":"aamn-community-outreach-director","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/2026\/01\/17\/aamn-community-outreach-director\/","title":{"rendered":"AAMN Community Outreach Director"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>By John Williams<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">People often ask me why I volunteer as a Texas Master Naturalist, and honestly, the answer is simple: it just feels right. After I retired from working in the cut flower industry, I wanted to spend my time doing something meaningful-something that kept me learning, kept me connected, and let me give back to the place I call home. One Saturday I was visiting Confluence Park for a tree giveaway, and I saw an outreach table for Texas Master Naturalists.&nbsp; I spoke with the volunteers and quickly realized this might be something interesting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now, as the Community Outreach Director for our chapter, I\u2019ve discovered numerous reasons why this role inspires me every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>I like taking care of the land that takes care of us.<\/strong> Working with native plants and wildlife gives me a chance to make a difference. Whether I\u2019m out in a pollinator garden or helping with a restoration project, I feel like I\u2019m doing my small part to keep our local ecosystems healthy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>I love talking with people.<\/strong> Some of my favorite moments happen at outreach events. At a pollinator event, a young girl was curious about monarch caterpillars eating some milkweed. When she realized that this tiny striped creature would become a butterfly she saw in her neighborhood, her face lit up. At another event, a father and son were matching leaves in one of our games. When the boy learned that the big shade tree in their yard was a native live oak that supports hundreds of species, he turned to his dad and said, \u201cWe\u2019re helping the animals without even knowing it!\u201d Those little sparks of curiosity make my day. Sharing what I know helps people feel more connected to the natural world around them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>I\u2019m always learning something new. <\/strong>Nature never runs out of surprises. Every project teaches me something: a new plant, a new insect, a new way of looking at the land. On a foggy morning workday at Centennial Garden, I noticed something I\u2019d never seen before. The Skeleton-Leaf Goldeneye was covered in delicate beads of condensation and dozens of spiderwebs were visible on the tips of all the branches with numerous egg sacks. I walk past those shrubs every week and only see a single web, but the fog revealed an entire hidden community living right there beside us. That morning reminded me that nature is always doing more than we realize, and every visit to the garden offers a chance to learn something new.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>It gives me purpose.<\/strong> Being part of the Alamo Area Texas Master Naturalists lets me use the skills I\u2019ve built over a lifetime-communication, outreach, mentoring-in a way that not only helps people and the environment but gives me a strong sense of purpose at this time in my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s meaningful work, and it continues to bring me a lot of joy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"861\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2026\/01\/JPG-John-1-1024x861.jpg?resize=1024%2C861&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-15095\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2026\/01\/JPG-John-1.jpg?resize=1024%2C861&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2026\/01\/JPG-John-1.jpg?resize=300%2C252&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2026\/01\/JPG-John-1.jpg?resize=768%2C646&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2026\/01\/JPG-John-1.jpg?resize=1536%2C1292&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2026\/01\/JPG-John-1.jpg?w=1555&amp;ssl=1 1555w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By John Williams People often ask me why I volunteer as a Texas Master Naturalist, and honestly, the answer is simple: it just feels right. After I retired from working&#8230; <span class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/2026\/01\/17\/aamn-community-outreach-director\/\">Read More &rarr;<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1521,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[26468],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15093","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-class-notes","entry","has-post-thumbnail"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false,"archive":false,"gform-image-choice-sm":false,"gform-image-choice-md":false,"gform-image-choice-lg":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"kellieclelland","author_link":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/author\/kellieclelland\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By John Williams People often ask me why I volunteer as a Texas Master Naturalist, and honestly, the answer is simple: it just feels right. After I retired from working... Read More &rarr;","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5WTKM-3Vr","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15093","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1521"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15093"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15093\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15093"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15093"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15093"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":15056,"date":"2025-12-13T11:27:51","date_gmt":"2025-12-13T17:27:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/?p=15056"},"modified":"2026-05-04T16:04:52","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T21:04:52","slug":"citizen-science-and-inaturalist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/2025\/12\/13\/citizen-science-and-inaturalist\/","title":{"rendered":"Citizen Science and iNaturalist"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Rachel Grotte<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2025\/12\/RachelGrotteOverlook-768x1024.jpeg?resize=768%2C1024\" alt=\"Photo of Rachel Grotte\" class=\"wp-image-15045\" style=\"aspect-ratio:0.7500173358296928;width:206px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2025\/12\/RachelGrotteOverlook-scaled.jpeg?resize=768%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2025\/12\/RachelGrotteOverlook-scaled.jpeg?resize=225%2C300&amp;ssl=1 225w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2025\/12\/RachelGrotteOverlook-scaled.jpeg?resize=1152%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 1152w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2025\/12\/RachelGrotteOverlook-scaled.jpeg?resize=1536%2C2048&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2025\/12\/RachelGrotteOverlook-scaled.jpeg?w=1920&amp;ssl=1 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I graduated from UTSA with a Bachelors of Science in Biology in 2009 and a Masters of Science in Biology in 2012. My favorite class was Desert Ecology. My undergraduate research work was on harvester ant behavior and my masters thesis was regarding fire ant behavior and evolution. I have been a lecturer and lab coordinator, teaching&nbsp; biology, environmental science, ecology and microbiology at NVC, UTSA and TAMUSA. I have also provided informal environmental education at The Science Mill in Johnson City creating programs to get families into the outdoors to learn about ecology together, wrote STEM education content that reaches many teachers in programs, and helped design mobile exhibits about invasive species and aquatic ecosystems for Sul Ross and Tarleton Universities. I also worked as a watershed ecologist at the San Antonio River Authority.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now, I am working for TPWD as a Texas Nature Trackers Biologist with the Nongame and Rare Species team in the Wildlife Division where I can be a technical expert and a community engagement steward, creating a citizen science pipeline to collect quality data around the state about our species of greatest conservation need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"584\" height=\"438\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2025\/12\/image.png?resize=584%2C438&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Photo of a man and woman hiking.\" class=\"wp-image-15058\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2025\/12\/image.png?w=584&amp;ssl=1 584w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2025\/12\/image.png?resize=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"464\" height=\"618\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2025\/12\/image-1.png?resize=464%2C618&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Photo of a woman and two children outdoors.\" class=\"wp-image-15059\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2025\/12\/image-1.png?w=464&amp;ssl=1 464w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2025\/12\/image-1.png?resize=225%2C300&amp;ssl=1 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 464px) 100vw, 464px\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rachel Grotte I graduated from UTSA with a Bachelors of Science in Biology in 2009 and a Masters of Science in Biology in 2012. My favorite class was Desert Ecology&#8230;. <span class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/2025\/12\/13\/citizen-science-and-inaturalist\/\">Read More &rarr;<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1521,"featured_media":15045,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[17601],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15056","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-speakers","entry"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2025\/12\/RachelGrotteOverlook-scaled.jpeg?fit=1920%2C2560&ssl=1","uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2025\/12\/RachelGrotteOverlook-scaled.jpeg?fit=1920%2C2560&ssl=1",1920,2560,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2025\/12\/RachelGrotteOverlook-scaled.jpeg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2025\/12\/RachelGrotteOverlook-scaled.jpeg?fit=225%2C300&ssl=1",225,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2025\/12\/RachelGrotteOverlook-scaled.jpeg?fit=768%2C1024&ssl=1",768,1024,true],"large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2025\/12\/RachelGrotteOverlook-scaled.jpeg?fit=768%2C1024&ssl=1",768,1024,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2025\/12\/RachelGrotteOverlook-scaled.jpeg?fit=1152%2C1536&ssl=1",1152,1536,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2025\/12\/RachelGrotteOverlook-scaled.jpeg?fit=1536%2C2048&ssl=1",1536,2048,true],"archive":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2025\/12\/RachelGrotteOverlook-scaled.jpeg?resize=400%2C225&ssl=1",400,225,true],"gform-image-choice-sm":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2025\/12\/RachelGrotteOverlook-scaled.jpeg?resize=300%2C300&ssl=1",300,300,true],"gform-image-choice-md":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2025\/12\/RachelGrotteOverlook-scaled.jpeg?resize=400%2C400&ssl=1",400,400,true],"gform-image-choice-lg":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2025\/12\/RachelGrotteOverlook-scaled.jpeg?resize=600%2C600&ssl=1",600,600,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"kellieclelland","author_link":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/author\/kellieclelland\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Rachel Grotte I graduated from UTSA with a Bachelors of Science in Biology in 2009 and a Masters of Science in Biology in 2012. My favorite class was Desert Ecology.... Read More &rarr;","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5WTKM-3UQ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15056","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1521"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15056"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15056\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":14867,"date":"2025-06-17T15:11:56","date_gmt":"2025-06-17T20:11:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/?p=14867"},"modified":"2025-06-17T15:13:59","modified_gmt":"2025-06-17T20:13:59","slug":"soils-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/2025\/06\/17\/soils-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Soils"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">William (Bill)\u00a0Swantner<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-8f761849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text has-media-on-the-right is-stacked-on-mobile\" style=\"grid-template-columns:auto 25%\"><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As a Bexar County Master Gardener, Bill has led presentations and written articles for\u00a0 and is the author of one of our Chapter&#8217;s Talking Points on soils.\u00a0 A humble\u00a0man, but recognized by many in Bexar county for his depth of knowledge and expertise, willingness to share it, and his hands-on experience with both soil and trees.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"175\" height=\"234\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2025\/06\/Bill-Swantner-1.jpeg?resize=175%2C234&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-14868 size-full\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-alamo-area-chapter wp-block-embed-alamo-area-chapter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"5AgLyYboV9\"><a href=\"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/area-resources\/natural-areas-and-linear-creekways-guide\/bexar-county-soils\/\">Bexar County Soils<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;Bexar County Soils&#8221; &#8212; Alamo Area Chapter\" src=\"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/area-resources\/natural-areas-and-linear-creekways-guide\/bexar-county-soils\/embed\/#?secret=qPVwARxYR2#?secret=5AgLyYboV9&#038;\" data-secret=\"5AgLyYboV9\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>William (Bill)\u00a0Swantner As a Bexar County Master Gardener, Bill has led presentations and written articles for\u00a0 and is the author of one of our Chapter&#8217;s Talking Points on soils.\u00a0 A&#8230; <span class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/2025\/06\/17\/soils-2\/\">Read More &rarr;<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1521,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[17601],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-speakers","entry","has-post-thumbnail"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false,"archive":false,"gform-image-choice-sm":false,"gform-image-choice-md":false,"gform-image-choice-lg":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"kellieclelland","author_link":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/author\/kellieclelland\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"William (Bill)\u00a0Swantner As a Bexar County Master Gardener, Bill has led presentations and written articles for\u00a0 and is the author of one of our Chapter&#8217;s Talking Points on soils.\u00a0 A... Read More &rarr;","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5WTKM-3RN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1521"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14867"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14867\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":14811,"date":"2025-06-13T10:26:09","date_gmt":"2025-06-13T15:26:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/?p=14811"},"modified":"2026-05-04T15:30:50","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T20:30:50","slug":"wildscaping-urban-systems-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/2025\/06\/13\/wildscaping-urban-systems-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Wildscaping &amp; Urban Systems"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Anne Kurtin <\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full is-resized\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"660\" height=\"879\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2025\/06\/Anna-Kurtin-pic.jpg?resize=660%2C879\" alt=\"Photo of Anna Kurtin\" class=\"wp-image-15024\" style=\"aspect-ratio:0.7508626639061422;width:295px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2025\/06\/Anna-Kurtin-pic.jpg?w=660&amp;ssl=1 660w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2025\/06\/Anna-Kurtin-pic.jpg?resize=225%2C300&amp;ssl=1 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Anna Kurtin is an Urban Wildlife Biologist with Texas Parks and Wildlife in San Antonio. She grew up hiking, biking, and exploring the outdoors in Georgetown, Texas and attended the University of Texas at Austin for her undergraduate and the University of Montana for her master\u2019s in Wildlife Biology, where she was also a Smithsonian Fellow. Much of her work has been focused on rare and threatened species, including time as a resource management assistant with the National Park Service and as a data manager with the TPWD Texas Natural Diversity Database. She is passionate about sharing knowledge and tools to protect nature with local communities and can\u2019t wait to work with the Texas Master Naturalists to support their incredible work!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-8f761849 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-8f761849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Anne Kurtin Anna Kurtin is an Urban Wildlife Biologist with Texas Parks and Wildlife in San Antonio. She grew up hiking, biking, and exploring the outdoors in Georgetown, Texas and&#8230; <span class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/2025\/06\/13\/wildscaping-urban-systems-2\/\">Read More &rarr;<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1521,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"content-sidebar","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[17601],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14811","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-speakers","entry","has-post-thumbnail"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false,"archive":false,"gform-image-choice-sm":false,"gform-image-choice-md":false,"gform-image-choice-lg":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"kellieclelland","author_link":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/author\/kellieclelland\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Anne Kurtin Anna Kurtin is an Urban Wildlife Biologist with Texas Parks and Wildlife in San Antonio. She grew up hiking, biking, and exploring the outdoors in Georgetown, Texas and... Read More &rarr;","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5WTKM-3QT","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14811","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1521"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14811"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14811\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":9003,"date":"2025-06-13T08:18:17","date_gmt":"2025-06-13T13:18:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/?p=9003"},"modified":"2026-05-04T15:40:03","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T20:40:03","slug":"wendy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/2025\/06\/13\/wendy\/","title":{"rendered":"Citizen Science and iNaturalist"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-medium is-resized\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"265\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2025\/10\/Wendy-Anderson-2-265x300.jpeg?resize=265%2C300&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-14805\" style=\"width:300px;height:undefinedpx\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2025\/10\/Wendy-Anderson-2.jpeg?resize=265%2C300&amp;ssl=1 265w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2025\/10\/Wendy-Anderson-2.jpeg?resize=906%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 906w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2025\/10\/Wendy-Anderson-2.jpeg?resize=768%2C868&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2025\/10\/Wendy-Anderson-2.jpeg?w=1080&amp;ssl=1 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 265px) 100vw, 265px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-left\">Wendy Anderson<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wendy Anderson is a Nature Tracker Biologist with Texas Parks and Wildlife. She has a passion for conservation and has focused her career on GIS, endangered species conservation, and flora and fauna surveys. She studied biology, Spanish, environmental science, and public affairs at Indiana University. A Master Naturalist herself in the Capital Area MN chapter, Wendy is excited to work with Master Naturalists on surveying and monitoring species in Texas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Wendy Anderson Wendy Anderson is a Nature Tracker Biologist with Texas Parks and Wildlife. She has a passion for conservation and has focused her career on GIS, endangered species conservation,&#8230; <span class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/2025\/06\/13\/wendy\/\">Read More &rarr;<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1521,"featured_media":14805,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[17601],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-speakers","entry"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2025\/10\/Wendy-Anderson-2.jpeg?fit=1080%2C1221&ssl=1","uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2025\/10\/Wendy-Anderson-2.jpeg?fit=1080%2C1221&ssl=1",1080,1221,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2025\/10\/Wendy-Anderson-2.jpeg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2025\/10\/Wendy-Anderson-2.jpeg?fit=265%2C300&ssl=1",265,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2025\/10\/Wendy-Anderson-2.jpeg?fit=768%2C868&ssl=1",768,868,true],"large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2025\/10\/Wendy-Anderson-2.jpeg?fit=906%2C1024&ssl=1",906,1024,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2025\/10\/Wendy-Anderson-2.jpeg?fit=1080%2C1221&ssl=1",1080,1221,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2025\/10\/Wendy-Anderson-2.jpeg?fit=1080%2C1221&ssl=1",1080,1221,true],"archive":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2025\/10\/Wendy-Anderson-2.jpeg?resize=400%2C225&ssl=1",400,225,true],"gform-image-choice-sm":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2025\/10\/Wendy-Anderson-2.jpeg?resize=300%2C300&ssl=1",300,300,true],"gform-image-choice-md":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2025\/10\/Wendy-Anderson-2.jpeg?resize=400%2C400&ssl=1",400,400,true],"gform-image-choice-lg":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2025\/10\/Wendy-Anderson-2.jpeg?resize=600%2C600&ssl=1",600,600,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"kellieclelland","author_link":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/author\/kellieclelland\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Wendy Anderson Wendy Anderson is a Nature Tracker Biologist with Texas Parks and Wildlife. She has a passion for conservation and has focused her career on GIS, endangered species conservation,... Read More &rarr;","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s5WTKM-wendy","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1521"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9003"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9003\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":14305,"date":"2024-10-29T10:01:17","date_gmt":"2024-10-29T15:01:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/?p=14305"},"modified":"2024-10-29T10:03:29","modified_gmt":"2024-10-29T15:03:29","slug":"a-lifelong-passion-for-giving-back-by-karen-wilson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/2024\/10\/29\/a-lifelong-passion-for-giving-back-by-karen-wilson\/","title":{"rendered":"A Lifelong Passion for Giving Back by Karen Wilson"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>By Karen Wilson<\/em>, <em>AAMN Class 47<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hi, I\u2019m Karen Wilson. My love for nature began when I was a child, exploring the outdoors through the Girl Scouts and family RV trips. Those early experiences sparked a lifelong appreciation for the natural world, and that connection only deepened as I grew older. Later, I became a Girl Scout troop leader for my daughters, and volunteering gave me great opportunities to get outdoors with family, friends, and children for 15 years. Balancing volunteering with a demanding career wasn\u2019t always easy, but it was very rewarding. Now that I\u2019m retired, I\u2019ve been able to dedicate more time to causes that combine my love of nature with my passion for giving back\u2014and that\u2019s what led me to the Alamo Area Master Naturalists (AAMN).<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2024\/10\/IMG_0820-rotated.jpeg?ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-14308\" style=\"object-fit:cover\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Finding My Passion in San Antonio<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I first discovered AAMN after participating in a Basura Bash to clean up Salado Creek Greenway. I had come to love the Greenway during COVID as a place to hike and bike. After the cleanup, one of the leaders recognized my enthusiasm and suggested I join AAMN. It was perfect timing\u2014I had recently moved to San Antonio and had just retired, so I was ready for something new. Since then, my passion for volunteering has only grown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">San Antonio itself has become a meaningful place for me. My husband and I moved here three years ago to be close to a dear friend during his final years, and he shared his love for the city with us. After spending 40 years in Austin, we now have a new home base that\u2019s still close to our son in Austin and also allows us to easily visit our two daughters, both of whom live in Scotland. Volunteering with AAMN has deepened my connection to this city, making it feel even more like home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How Volunteering Enriches My Life<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Volunteering gives me the chance to grow and learn new things.<\/strong> I\u2019ve always enjoyed learning, and by joining AAMN, I\u2019ve been able to expand my knowledge about conservation and how to care for Texas\u2019s natural resources. Whether it\u2019s through specific training or hands-on activities like water quality testing or using iNaturalist, I\u2019m always learning something new.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Volunteering lets me be outside and active.<\/strong> I\u2019ve always enjoyed being outside, from my time in the Girl Scouts to years of camping, hiking, and leading my daughters\u2019 troops. Volunteering allows me to continue this. I spend at least 4\u20135 days a week outside, whether I\u2019m helping with a project or leading a hike. I love visiting these places and get a kick out of knowing that my work helps others enjoy them too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Volunteering offers variety.<\/strong> I love doing different things every day\u2014it keeps me from getting bored and lets me connect ideas, places, and people. Whether I\u2019m helping with a litter cleanup, leading a hike, or contributing to citizen science, each activity has its own unique purpose. It\u2019s also fun to bring in the leadership skills I developed during my career and apply them in a way that helps others find their own passion for conservation. Plus, I get to enjoy both physical and mental activities, which makes it even more rewarding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Where I Volunteer<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here are just a few of the places I volunteer and what I love about each one:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>San Antonio River Authority (SARA)<\/strong>: I test water quality, collect fishing line, and participate in litter cleanups. I also help with youth education events and love engaging with the public to inspire them to take care of these spaces.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Bracken Cave<\/strong>: As a docent, I get to share the magic of bats with visitors and educate them on the importance of protecting these animals and their habitat.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>iNaturalist and Birding with Bexar Audubon<\/strong>:\u00a0 I love being able to consider myself a \u201ccitizen scientist,\u201d contributing to research and conservation. My husband and I both enjoy birding, and volunteering with Bexar Audubon lets us spend time together while contributing to important conservation efforts.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>AAMN Training<\/strong>: I lead the Initial Training program for our chapter, which means I get to help train and certify new Texas Master Naturalists. This allows me to pass on my passion for conservation and help others discover theirs. It\u2019s so rewarding to see people get excited about volunteering and conservation work.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Volunteering has enriched my life in so many ways\u2014through learning, staying active, and connecting with my community. I&#8217;m so thankful to have found AAMN and look forward to volunteering for many many years to come!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Karen Wilson, AAMN Class 47 Hi, I\u2019m Karen Wilson. My love for nature began when I was a child, exploring the outdoors through the Girl Scouts and family RV&#8230; <span class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/2024\/10\/29\/a-lifelong-passion-for-giving-back-by-karen-wilson\/\">Read More &rarr;<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1506,"featured_media":14308,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[26468],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-class-notes","entry"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2024\/10\/IMG_0820-rotated-e1730214168854.jpeg?fit=480%2C298&ssl=1","uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2024\/10\/IMG_0820-rotated-e1730214168854.jpeg?fit=480%2C298&ssl=1",480,298,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2024\/10\/IMG_0820-rotated-e1730214168854.jpeg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2024\/10\/IMG_0820-rotated-e1730214168854.jpeg?fit=300%2C186&ssl=1",300,186,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2024\/10\/IMG_0820-rotated-e1730214168854.jpeg?fit=480%2C298&ssl=1",480,298,true],"large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2024\/10\/IMG_0820-rotated-e1730214168854.jpeg?fit=480%2C298&ssl=1",480,298,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2024\/10\/IMG_0820-rotated-e1730214168854.jpeg?fit=480%2C298&ssl=1",480,298,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2024\/10\/IMG_0820-rotated-e1730214168854.jpeg?fit=480%2C298&ssl=1",480,298,true],"archive":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2024\/10\/IMG_0820-rotated-e1730214168854.jpeg?resize=400%2C225&ssl=1",400,225,true],"gform-image-choice-sm":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2024\/10\/IMG_0820-rotated-e1730214168854.jpeg?resize=300%2C298&ssl=1",300,298,true],"gform-image-choice-md":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2024\/10\/IMG_0820-rotated-e1730214168854.jpeg?resize=400%2C298&ssl=1",400,298,true],"gform-image-choice-lg":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2024\/10\/IMG_0820-rotated-e1730214168854.jpeg?resize=480%2C298&ssl=1",480,298,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"blairstewart","author_link":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/author\/blairstewart\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Karen Wilson, AAMN Class 47 Hi, I\u2019m Karen Wilson. My love for nature began when I was a child, exploring the outdoors through the Girl Scouts and family RV... Read More &rarr;","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5WTKM-3IJ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14305","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1506"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14305"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14305\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":14195,"date":"2024-06-26T17:38:51","date_gmt":"2024-06-26T22:38:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/?p=14195"},"modified":"2024-06-26T17:39:16","modified_gmt":"2024-06-26T22:39:16","slug":"national-champs-reflections-on-city-nature-challenge-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/2024\/06\/26\/national-champs-reflections-on-city-nature-challenge-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"National Champs! Reflections on City Nature Challenge 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>By Jane Weeden<\/em>, <em>Bexar County Coordinator for CNC24<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I fell in love with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.inaturalist.org\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.inaturalist.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">iNaturalist<\/a> during the Class 47 biodiversity project. It was an easy way to combine my love of photography with my newfound Master Naturalist adventures. Then I ran into Peter Hernandez at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.citynaturechallenge.org\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.citynaturechallenge.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">City Nature Challenge<\/a> 2023, and he was in full competition mode. Wait, what? City Nature Challenge is a competition? Oh, the naivet\u00e9! I thought I could haphazardly take a few photos and win it. That\u2019s not the case. That realization lit a fire with me and thus began my passion for CNC and all things iNaturalist.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Right then and there, I began plotting for CNC2024. I know, it\u2019s strange. But I realized how much fun CNC is and couldn\u2019t wait to ask all my Master Naturalist friends to join me in the CNC project I\u2019d become so enthusiastic about. And guess what?&nbsp; CNC resonated with many of you, as well!<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2024\/06\/team-Dragonflies-3-1024x590.jpg?resize=1024%2C590&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-14204\" style=\"object-fit:cover\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2024\/06\/team-Dragonflies-3-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C590&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2024\/06\/team-Dragonflies-3-scaled.jpg?resize=300%2C173&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2024\/06\/team-Dragonflies-3-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C443&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2024\/06\/team-Dragonflies-3-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C885&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2024\/06\/team-Dragonflies-3-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1180&amp;ssl=1 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Team Tournament 1st place, The Dragonflies, all AAMNs! Photo credit: Laura Bray<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I wanted to challenge us with a big goal &#8211; to win Texas. Think big? No, colossal! It started as a mere whisper of an idea, a goal so immense it bordered on audacious. But it was the kind of goal that galvanized us, uniting us in purpose. To achieve it, we&#8217;d have to triple the number of observations we made in 2023. An increase of this size is unheard of. Yet, the fervor caught on, and our CNC observations soared. Master Naturalists poured their hearts into it\u2014leading walks, making observations and identifications, joining teams, and spreading the iNat love among our friends and other organizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What we accomplished is nothing short of AMAZING!!\u00a0 San Antonio Metro Area made over 65,000 observations. Not to mention we had 11 people make over 1,000 observations each. This is no small feat! San Antonio, you rock!!\u00a0 Congratulations, Master Naturalists!! Your hard work has paid off. You are now the NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!!!\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" height=\"1024\" width=\"768\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2024\/06\/IMG_0313-2-768x1024.jpg?resize=768%2C1024&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-14207\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1;object-fit:cover\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Jane leading an iNat Walk during CNC2024<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">My focus has been on making observations &#8211; it\u2019s how success is measured in the City Nature Challenge. But making observations is merely the gateway to a treasure trove of ecological knowledge. Now that we&#8217;ve mastered making observations, let&#8217;s delve deeper into utilizing that data. Ever wondered how many species visit your backyard or property? Want to document the first blooms of the year? Have a new project that needs analytical justification? iNat is your new BFF.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Truly, our local flora and fauna are the real winners of the City Nature Challenge. Each observation represents a species in time and space. These observations serve as invaluable resources, informing us of species distribution and dynamics. They lend weight to our AAMN projects, provide policymakers with grounds to support our parks, and furnish scientists with insights into trends and new discoveries. Leveraging iNaturalist to enhance the efficacy of our ongoing projects just makes sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I urge you to visit <a href=\"http:\/\/inaturalist.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">iNaturalist.org<\/a> on your computer, dive into making identifications, to hone your species-identification skills. Try creating a project on iNat for your property or current master naturalist venture. Spruce up your profile, follow an expert or your favorite nature enthusiast, and be sure to join relevant projects, like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.inaturalist.org\/projects\/city-nature-challenge-2025-san-antonio-metro-area\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CNC2025<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So, what&#8217;s on the horizon? I&#8217;m itching for more iNat adventures, and I&#8217;d love for you to join. With iNat coursing through our veins, it&#8217;s time to spread the iNat love. BioBlitzes, black light events, and advanced iNat training\u2014there&#8217;s a plethora of activities waiting. Join us! Stay up to date through the <a href=\"http:\/\/eepurl.com\/iIqDxk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">newsletter<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SanAntonioCNC\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">socials<\/a>, participate in BioBlitzes, and keep using iNat as part of your daily routine. Let&#8217;s keep the iNat momentum rolling!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Jane Weeden, Bexar County Coordinator for CNC24 I fell in love with iNaturalist during the Class 47 biodiversity project. It was an easy way to combine my love of&#8230; <span class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/2024\/06\/26\/national-champs-reflections-on-city-nature-challenge-2024\/\">Read More &rarr;<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1506,"featured_media":14204,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[48113],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-evergreen-reflections","entry"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2024\/06\/team-Dragonflies-3-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1475&ssl=1","uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2024\/06\/team-Dragonflies-3-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1475&ssl=1",2560,1475,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2024\/06\/team-Dragonflies-3-scaled.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2024\/06\/team-Dragonflies-3-scaled.jpg?fit=300%2C173&ssl=1",300,173,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2024\/06\/team-Dragonflies-3-scaled.jpg?fit=768%2C443&ssl=1",768,443,true],"large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2024\/06\/team-Dragonflies-3-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C590&ssl=1",1024,590,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2024\/06\/team-Dragonflies-3-scaled.jpg?fit=1536%2C885&ssl=1",1536,885,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2024\/06\/team-Dragonflies-3-scaled.jpg?fit=2048%2C1180&ssl=1",2048,1180,true],"archive":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2024\/06\/team-Dragonflies-3-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C225&ssl=1",400,225,true],"gform-image-choice-sm":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2024\/06\/team-Dragonflies-3-scaled.jpg?resize=300%2C300&ssl=1",300,300,true],"gform-image-choice-md":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2024\/06\/team-Dragonflies-3-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C400&ssl=1",400,400,true],"gform-image-choice-lg":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/txmn.org\/alamo\/files\/2024\/06\/team-Dragonflies-3-scaled.jpg?resize=600%2C600&ssl=1",600,600,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"blairstewart","author_link":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/author\/blairstewart\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Jane Weeden, Bexar County Coordinator for CNC24 I fell in love with iNaturalist during the Class 47 biodiversity project. It was an easy way to combine my love of... Read More &rarr;","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5WTKM-3GX","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1506"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14195"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14195\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/txmn.org\/alamo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}]