“Education, Restoration, Conservation”
Our Mission
The Texas Master Naturalist Program’s mission is 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 for the State of Texas.
Our Commitment to You
The Blackland Prairie Texas Master Naturalist chapter is strengthened by the diversity of our members. We are committed to providing a welcoming environment where diversity, equity, and inclusion are a core part of everything that we do. We strive to be an organization that reflects the communities we serve and encourages multiple ideas and viewpoints.
The Texas Master Naturalist program is a partnership between the Texas AgriLife Extension Service, Texas Parks & Wildlife, and other local partners.
Congratulations to the Blackland Prairie Chapter Class of 2024!
![](https://txmn.org/bptmn/files/2024/05/BPTMN-2024-05-Class-Graduation-Photo-1024x419.jpg)
Monthly Chapter Meetings
2024 August Chapter Meeting with Rick Travis | Trees of the Piney Woods
![](https://txmn.org/bptmn/files/2024/07/2024-08-BPTMN-Meeting-Native-Trees-of-the-Piney-Woods-presented-by-Rick-Travis--1024x536.jpg)
We’ll discuss the overall makeup of the fascinating, extremely diverse Piney Woods ecoregion, and take an armchair hike into the woodlands of East Texas to look at some of the more interesting trees and plants found there.
Tuesday, August 13, 2024 – 7:00 PM
Click here to view our Calendar.
- SRC Doors will open at 6:30 PM
- Zoom meeting waiting room will open at 6:45 PM
- Business Meeting will begin at 7:00 PM
- Naturalist Talk will begin at 7:30 PM (approximately)
Topic: Trees of the Piney Woods
Speaker: Rick Travis owns a Bachelors’ Degree in Forest Management and an MBA, both from Stephen F. Austin State University. With retirement from his business career, Rick is fulfilling a long-deferred desire for involvement in the environmental sciences. He is an active member of the Blackland Prairie Master Naturalist Chapter and is currently serving as Chapter President. He is also a volunteer trail guide at several places, including the Heard Wildlife Sanctuary, the Lewisville Lake Environmental Learning Area (LLELA), Plano parks and trails, and Frisco parks and nature trails. Rick is also the Forest Ecology/Trees new class instructor for multiple Master Naturalist chapters in the North Texas area.
Physical Meeting Location: Heard Natural Science Museum & Wildlife Sanctuary,
1Nature Place, McKinney TX 75069, Science Resource Center (SRC) building.
Directions to SRC: Drive through Heard gates; go past parking lot and museum building; continue until the road ends at the large white SRC building.
Online Zoom Meeting Registration:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUqc-yrqT4rHtzVMlNaWFk_mL0NlAjq0Lpj
Please register ahead of time for this meeting using your Zoom Account Email address.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with information about joining the meeting.
Logging AT: The monthly meeting presentation will allow members to earn 1-hour of AT. Log as AT: BPTMN Chapter Monthly Meeting Only (1 hour) with the speaker’s name and topic in the description box.
For any additional questions, please contact.
Chapter Meeting Host: Stephanie Cleveland – [email protected] and Cali Bakker – [email protected]
Past Chapter Meeting Speakers and Topics
Current News
Summer Mothing with TPWD’s Sam Kieschnick At Oak Point Park
Submitted by: Leah Justice, Class of 2021 It was a typical hot and humid summer night at the recent mothing event at Oak Point on June 15th. Sam Keischnick spoke to the crowd of park visitors and master naturalists about insects that we might see. The kids in the audience were very excited to interact with a Common Green Darner dragonfly that showed up on one of the screens early in the evening. Sam set up several stations and Blackland Prairie TX Master Naturalists also brought their own mothing equipment to add to the fun. We were not disappointed!! According to Sam K.,…