Aldo Leopold, The Land Ethic
“When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.”
Meet your Training Director
Connie Shortes is your 2023 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 2023 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 | 1/14/2023 | 9:00-10:30 | Winedale Historical Complex | Welcome, Orientation, Introductions | Training Committee & Board Members | |
| 10:30-12:00 | Historical Naturalists of Texas | 3 | Frank Michel (GLC member) | |||
| 1:00-2:00 | Land Stewardship | 1 | Mark Brown (GLC member) | |||
| 2:00-3:00 | Ecological Regions of Texas | 4 | Dr. Stacy Hines | |||
| 2 | 1/28/2023 | 9:00-10:00 | Winedale Historical Complex | Orientation (cont.) – Volunteer Management System | Chris Morrison (GLC member) | |
| 10:00-12:00 | Soil Chemistry & Biology | 7 | Dr. Jake Mowrer | |||
| 12:30-1:00 | Adopt-a-Highway Project Presentation | Mary Ann Butler & Jaci Elliott (GLC project leaders) | ||||
| 1:00-2:30 | Climate & Texas Water Resources | 8, 9 | Dr. John Nielson-Gammon | |||
| 3 | 2/6/2023 | 6:00-7:30 | Zoom | Tech Tools/Citizen Science | 24 | Training Committee |
| 7:30-8:00 | Project Fair | |||||
| 4 | 2/11/2023 | 9:00-10:30 | San Felipe de Austin | Archaeology | 2 | Dr. Sarah Chesney |
| 11:00-1:00 | Museum Tour | |||||
| 5 | 2/25/2023 | 9:00-1:00 | A&M Biodiversity Research Center | Ornithology & Bird Walk | 12 | Dr. Gary Voelker |
| 6 | 3/6/2023 | 6:00-8:00 | Zoom | Law, Ethics & Regulations | 22 | Richard Heilbrun |
| 8:00-8:30 | The Role of Game Wardens | 22 | TBD | |||
| 7 | 3/11/2023 | 9:00-10:15 | Winedale Historical Complex | Project Fair (Indian Creek, Wash-on-the-Brazos, Stephen F Austin SP) | Project leaders | |
| 10:15-11:15 | Volunteers as Teachers | 23 | Craig Hensley/Training Committee | |||
| 12:00-2:00 | Herpetology | 15 | Kelly Norrid | |||
| 8 | 3/25/2023 | 10:30-12:30 | Brenham Public Library | Aquatic Systems Ecology & Management | 18 | Brittany Chesser |
| 1:00-2:30 | Quebe Farm | Riparian Field Trip | 9, 19 | Charlotte von Rosenberg (GLC member) | ||
| 8.5 | 3/27/2023 | 6:00-7:00 | Zoom | Riparian Ecosystems | Ally Schlandt | |
| 9 | 4/3/2023 | 6:00-8:30 | Zoom | Rangeland Management | Dr. Stacy Hines | |
| 10 | 4/15/2023 | 9:00-11:00 | Washington County Agrilife | Botany/Prairies | 11, 20 | Tim Siegmund |
| 12:00-2:30 | Quebe Prairie | Botany Field Trip | 11, 20 | Tim Siegmund | ||
| 11 | 4/22/2023 | 9:00-11:00 | Fayette County Agrilife | Forest Ecology & Succession | 17 | Dr. Eric Taylor |
| 11:30-2:00 | Blue Willow Farm | Forest Ecology Field Trip | 17 | Daniel Lewis/Damian Gomez | ||
| 12 | 5/6/2023 | 9:00-11:00 | Winedale Historical Complex | Mammalogy/Urban Wildlife | 16, 21 | Pamela R. Owen |
| 12:00-1:30 | Entomology | 13 | Elizabeth “Wizzie” Brown | |||
| 1:30-2:30 | Insect Sweep | 13 | Elizabeth “Wizzie” Brown/Teaching the Prairies Team | |||
| 13 | 5/8/2023 | 6:00-8:00 | Zoom | Geology | 7 | TBD |
| 14 | 5/20/2023 | 9:30 – 1:00 | 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 presentations
| Date | Name | Topic |
| 3/18/2023 | Scott M. | Yaupon holly |
| 5/20/2023 | Jim K. | Ant identification |
| 5/20/2023 | Rhonda S. | Endangered red wolf on Galveston Island |
| 5/20/2023 | Carey S. | Light pollution and international dark skies |
| 5/20/2023 | ||
| 7/15/2023 | Deb M. | Opossum |
| 7/15/2023 | CJ C. | Drought-wise native plants |
| 7/15/2023 | Karen D. | |
| 7/15/2023 | ||
| 7/15/2023 | ||
| 7/15/2023 | ||
| 9/16/2023 | Trey G. | |
| 9/16/2023 | Marvelyn G. | Edible and medicinal native plants |
| 9/16/2023 | John I. | |
| 9/16/2023 | Shirley I. | |
| 9/16/2023 | ||
| 9/16/2023 |
Class #1 January 14, 2023 – Historical Texas Naturalists, Land Stewardship, Texas Ecoregions
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.
- Land Stewardship Presentation – Mark Brown
- Land Stewardship and Reading the Land: Tools for Developing a Land Stewardship Ethic – TMN Tuesday November 2022
Historical Master Naturalists
- Frontier Naturalists – Frank Michel
- Historical Women Naturalists: Remembering Forgotten Pioneers – TMN Tuesday March 2022
Texas Ecoregions
Volunteer projects
- Volunteer project – Prescribed Burning Introduction
- Native Prairies Association of Texas – Small Acreage Restoration Program
Class #2 January 28, 2023 – Historical Texas Naturalists, Land Stewardship, Texas Ecoregions
Volunteer Managment System
Soil Chemistry & Biology
- Jake Mowrer Zoom presentation, passcode: G3^z$w*G
- NRCS Web Soil Survey – This site allows the user to map an area, e.g., your personal property, and obtain a listing of soils an plant communities.
Class #3 February 6, 2023 – Citizen Science, Volunteer Projects, Chapter Communications
Citizen Science
- Citizen Science with iNaturalist and eBird – Lori Buffum
Chapter Communications