Meet your Training Director
Connie Shortes is your 2024 training director. Connie is a retired COO of a shared office space company based in Austin. She and her partner Chuck Linton are Class of 2021 graduates and property owners in Fayette county. The training helped them immensely with the important responsibilities of stewarding private land in a way that respects the native flora and fauna of our region. In addition, they formed lasting friendships with other trainees and chapter members. Now, they just want to do their very best for the land in our region. Connie is excited to welcome more partners in that project with the 2024 training class!
Texas Master Naturalist Curriculum
The Texas Master Naturalist curriculum is designed to introduce you to the many disciplines encompassed by the term “naturalist.” It provides a common base of knowledge that each person can build upon through further study and volunteer experience. Although all Texas Master Naturalist chapters use the same curriculum, each chapter customizes its training class to the specific ecoregion in which the chapter is located. For more details on the content of each chapter of the curriculum, click here.
Class Schedule
Class # | Date | Time | Location | Topic | Chapter | Presenter |
1 | 1/13/2024 | 9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. | Winedale Historical Complex | Welcome, Orientation, Introductions | Training Committee & Board Members | |
10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. | Historical Naturalists of Texas | 3 | Frank Michel (GLC member) | |||
1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. | Ecological Regions of Texas | 4 | Dr. Stacy Hines, Asst. Prof. and Extension Rangeland Habitat Specialist | |||
2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. | Land Stewardship | 1 | Mark Brown (GLC member) | |||
2 | 1/27/2024 | 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. | Winedale Historical Complex | Orientation (cont.) – Volunteer Management System | Chris Morrison (GLC member) | |
10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. | Law, Ethics, and Regulations | 22 | Natasia Moore, Urban Wildlife Biologist | |||
12:30 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. | Project Fair | B.R. and Charlene Koehler (GLC members and project leader), Jaci Elliott (GLC Director, Volunteer Projects) | ||||
1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. | Climate & Texas Water Resources | 8 | Dr. B.J. Baule, TAMU, Regional Climatologist, Southern Regional Climate Center | |||
3 | 2/5/2024 | 6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. | Zoom | Tech Tools/Citizen Science | 24 | Lori Buffum (GLC Communications Director) and Training Committee |
7:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. | Project Fair | |||||
4 | 2/10/2024 | 9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. | San Felipe de Austin | Archaeology | 2 | Dr. Sarah Chesney, Archaeologist |
11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. | Museum Tour | |||||
5 | 2/24/2024 | 9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. | Randolph Recreation Center | Project Fair | Mark Brown, Julie Itz (GLC members, project leaders), Education Team | |
12:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. | Mycology – Fungus, Lichens, and Mushrooms | 5 | Chris Garza, Certified Ecosystem Restoration Practitioner in Training | |||
6 | 3/2/2024 | 9:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. | A&M Biodiversity Research Center | Ornithology | 12 | Alberth Carranza, Graduate Teaching Asst, Texas A&M |
Lick Creek Park | Bird Walk | Kim & Dana Roese – Brazos Valley Chapter TMN | ||||
7 | 3/4/2024 | 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. | Zoom | Riparian Ecosystems | 8, 19 | Ryan McGillicuddy, TPWD Conservation Ecologist |
8 | 3/18/2024 | 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. | Zoom | Volunteers as Teachers | 23 | Craig Hensley, TPWD, Nature Tracker Biologist |
9 | 4/1/2024 | 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. | Zoom | Geology | 7 | Dr. Carter Keairns, Head Petroleum Geologist, CSV Holdings |
10 | 4/6/2024 | 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. | Brenham Public Library | Aquatic Ecosystems | 18 | Brittany Chesser, Aquatic Vegetation Specialist, AgriLife Extension |
12:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. | Quebe Farm | Riparian Field Trip | 9, 19 | Charlotte von Rosenberg (GLC member) | ||
11 | 4/8/2023 | 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. | Zoom | Rangeland Management | 20 | Dr. Stacy Hines, Asst. Prof. and Extension Rangeland Habitat Specialist |
12 | 4/20/2024 | 9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. | Fayette County Agrilife Extension | Forest Ecology and Succession | 17 | Daniel Lewis (GLC member, Texas Forest Service (retired)) and Demian Gomez (Texas Forest Service) |
12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. | Blue Willow Farm | Forest Walk | Daniel Lewis (GLC member, Texas Forest Service (retired)) and Demian Gomez (Texas Forest Service) | |||
13 | 4/22/2024 | 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. | Fayette County Agrilife Extension | Herpetology | 15 | Laura Sherrod, Wildlife Biologist, Texas Parks & Wildlife |
14 | 4/27/2024 | 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. | Brenham Public Library | Botany/Prairies | 10, 11 | Will Newman, Coordinating Wildlife Biologist |
1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m | Quebe Prairie | Botany Field Trip | Tim Siegmund, TPWD, Private Lands Program Leader | |||
15 | 5/6/2023 | 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. | Zoom | Soil Chemistry and Biology | 5,7 | Alan Stahnke, Soil Scientist, USDA-NRCS |
16 | 5/11/2024 | 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. | Winedale Historical Complex | Mammalogy/Urban Wildlife | 16 | Pamela R. Owen, Assoc Director at Texas Science & Natural History Museum |
12:00 p.m – 1:30 p.m. | Entomology | 13 | Chuck Duplant, Native Prairies Assoc. of Texas volunteer educator | |||
1:30-2:30 | Insect Sweep | |||||
17 | 5/18/2024 | 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. | Winedale Historical Complex | Graduation & Chapter Meeting |
Where do I find it on the website?
- Chapter leadership – Chapter leaders can be located on the website under Members Area, Contacts and Communications.
- County contacts – Links to the websites for each of the five counties served by our chapter can be located under Members Area, Contacts and Communications.
- Chapter volunteer projects – Descriptive information about each of our chapter’s approved volunteer projects can be located under Members Area, Volunteer & AT Opportunities, Approved Volunteer Projects. The project leader for each project is listed both on the individual project page and under Members Area, Contacts and Communications. To find volunteer opportunities by date, see the chapter Events Calendar.
- Chapter newsletters – The GLC Tidings is published six times a year in the even months. In the newsletter, you can read member profiles, updates on chapter volunteer projects, member observations, and more. The current and past newsletters can be located under What’s New, Chapter Newsletter – The GLC Tidings.
- Chapter minutes – Minutes of the meetings of the Board of Directors and meetings of the membership can be located under Members Area, Meeting Minutes.
- Governing documents – Our chapter by-laws and other governing documents can be located under Members Area, Documents & Forms
Class resources
Class #1 January 13, 2024 – Historical Texas Naturalists, Land Stewardship, Texas Ecoregions
Historical Master Naturalists
- Frontier Naturalists in Austin’s Colony – Frank Michel
- Historical Women Naturalists: Remembering Forgotten Pioneers – TMN Tuesday March 2022
Land Ethic/Land Stewardship
- Voices of the Wilderness – Aldo Leopold – YouTube video
- A Sand County Almanac – Aldo Leopold’s seminal work in which his essay “The Land Ethic” appears.
- 2023 Texas Leopold Conservation Award – Brown Ranch presentation video
- Land Stewardship Presentation – Mark Brown
- Land Stewardship and Reading the Land: Tools for Developing a Land Stewardship Ethic – TMN Tuesday November 2022 with Ricky Linex
- Land Stewardship – It Might Not Be What You Think – TMN Tuesday December 2023 with Steve Nelle
Texas Ecoregions
Class #2 January 27, 2024 – Law & Ethics, Climate & Weather Resources, Project Fair, VMS
Law & Ethics
- Wildlife Law & Ethics – Joseph Plappert, Urban Wildlife Biologist, TPWD
Class #3 February 5, 2024 – Tech Tools/Citizen Science
- GLC Communications – Lori Buffum
- Around the World with iNaturalist – Lori Buffum
- Bird Basics – Lori Buffum
Class #4 February 10, 2024 – Archaeology
Class presentations
Date | Name | Topic |
3/16/2024 | Wanda A. | Top Species of Greatest Concern |
5/18/2024 | Tayvis D. | Solitary Bees |
5/18/2024 | Nancy D. | Caddo Mounds Historic Site |
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7/20/2024 | Kent C. | Invasive Plants in Riparian Ecosystems |
7/20/2024 | Bill F. | Monarch Butterfly Migration |
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9/21/2024 | Georgia C. | Timber rattlesnake |
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11/16/2024 | Sheril S. | Climate, Trees, Restoration and Migration |
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