BPTMN Newsletter – February 14, 2025

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Happy Valentine’s Day! This month’s newsletter is packed with exciting updates, inspiring stories, and valuable opportunities to connect with nature and your fellow naturalists.

You can access our latest newsletter from our Chapter’s Home Page at bptmn.org, click on the “Blackland Prairie Newsletter” image OR by direct link – https://txmn.org/bptmn/newsletters/

This newsletter will provide:

  • Chapter business
  • TMN State Program Updates
  • Next Month’s Chapter Meeting
  • Past Chapter Meeting Recordings
  • Recent Deep Dive Recordings
  • Shaking the Trees Member Submissions – Shaking the Trees Newsletter
  • Upcoming Advanced Training & Volunteer Hours Opportunities – Member VHAT Calendar.
    Do you want an event to be considered for VHAT? 
    click on the below to fill out the form
    VH/AT Opportunity Request Form

    Here are a few you may not know about! Go check out our calendar for details.
    • AT: Texas A&M Agrilife Anthropod Classification (ZOOM), February 18
    • VH: The Baha’i Faith Plano Center, NEW OPPORTUNITY weekly on Wed, Fri and Sat
    • AT – Youth Engagement ($65 fee) AgriLife Extension offers a series of municipal parks workshops. This session covers the basics of working with youth, February 19
    • AT: In-Person Workshop: 2025 Pond Management Workshop ($20 fee) on Friday, February 21
    • AT: Webinar – 2025 Monarch Conservation Webinar Series, The Butterfly (and Bumble Bee) Effect: Voluntary Conservation for At-Risk Species on Tuesday, February 25
    • VH: Blackland Prairie Raptor Center Gardening NEW OPPORTUNITY every Friday
    • VH: Multiple Opportunities at Hagerman NWR for tram guides, work crew, or garden maintenance!
  • Chapter Advisor
  • Chapter Partners

If chapter members need to share information in the bi-weekly newsletters,
please send your requests to communications@bptmn.org.


Michelle Connally
Communications Director
Blackland Prairie Chapter

Chapter Business

TMN State Program Updates

Virtual Volunteer Fair 2025! Call for Projects

Our volunteers are ready to volunteer!

Our Texas Master Naturalist Volunteers are dedicated to natural resource conservation work. After the innovations of the pandemic, we’re continuing to hold our ever-popular Virtual Volunteer Fair in 2025 where Texas Master Naturalist volunteers are introduced to virtual and distanced service projects offerings of our partner conservation organizations in their communities. This returning feature of our program easily allows members to remain active during the hottest months of the year and provide service opportunities for any ability throughout the year.

The Virtual Volunteer Fair will be an opportunity for our partner conservation organizations to present volunteer service projects that need volunteers from a distance or virtually! Save the date and plan to join us on Tuesday April 8, 2025, for this series of project presentations showcasing opportunities from across the state and across the spectrum of natural resource topics.

Do you have a volunteer project you need help with? Our call for projects is open!

We are seeking your “Virtual” and “Distance Based Service” project opportunities to add to our Texas Master Naturalist Program’s Virtual Volunteer Fair! You will present your project(s) online to our statewide membership of Texas Master Naturalist volunteers on Tuesday April 8, 2025, with short 5-10 minute spotlight presentations to highlight the tasks, expertise and help you need. We will offer time during the event to answer questions and opportunities for volunteers to sign up too!

Consider this when developing your project ideas – How could a natural resource trained volunteer help ease your workload from afar or fulfill virtual tasks? Try to connect their training and skills with your project needs that can be completed by volunteers working remotely.

Submitted Projects will be organized into the following categories:

Virtual Projects (Statewide or Ecoregion Specific)
Distance Based Projects (Statewide or Ecoregion Specific)
NOTE: Place-based projects are accepted but will be referred to the nearest chapter(s) where applicable.
To learn more about attending the Virtual Volunteer Fair or how to submit a project, visit: https://txmn.tamu.edu/blog/virtual-volunteer-fair-2025/

Project submissions are due February 25, 2025.

We look forward to seeing you at the Virtual Volunteer Fair—our April #TMNTuesday event!

Hannah Ferguson

Texas Master Naturalist Program Support Specialist
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service

GLOBE Observer Eclipse Results

Hello Texas Master Naturalist Friends!

Thank you again for your help collecting data during the April 2024 total solar eclipse. Ashlee Autore and Marilé Colón Robles have analyzed your data and submitted their results for scientific publication. They summarize their results here: https://observer.globe.gov/news-events-and-people/news/-/obsnewsdetail/19589576/april-2024-globe-eclipse-science-results

We are hosting an informal question and answer session on February 13 at 12 pm ET/11 CT. We welcome you to join us! Learn more and register at https://observer.globe.gov/go-connect.

Best,

Holli Kohl, SSAI
GLOBE Observer Coordinator
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

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