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 2026 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 2026 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 | Hours |
| 1 | 1/10/2026 | 9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. | Winedale Historical Complex | Welcome, Orientation, Introductions | Intro | Training Committee & Board Members | 5 |
| 10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. | Historical Naturalists of Texas | 3 | Frank Michel (GLC member) | ||||
| 11:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. | How to Find a Volunteer Project | Jaci Elliott, Project Director | |||||
| 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. | Land Stewardship | 1 | Mark Brown (member project leader) | ||||
| 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. | Ecological Regions of Texas | 4 | Dr. Stacy Hines, Asst. Prof. and Extension Rangeland Habitat Mgmt. Specialist | ||||
| 2 | 1/17/2026 | Winedale Historical Complex | Gideon Lincecum Chapter Meeting | ||||
| 3 | 1/25/2025 | 9:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. | Zoom | Orientation (cont.) – Volunteer Management System (VMS) | Chris Morrison (GLC Membership Director and Training Committee) | 5.5 | |
| 9:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. | Class Presentation | John & Jacquie Pritchard (GLC Members) | |||||
| 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. | Climate & Texas Water Resources | 8 | Dr. B.J. Baule, TAMU, Regional Climatologist, Southern Regional Climate Center | ||||
| 12:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. | Law, Ethics & Regulations | 22 | Natasia Moore, Urban Wildlife Biologist | ||||
| 2:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. | Meet a Game Warden | Shaun Bayless, Fayette County Game Warden | |||||
| 4 | 1/26/2026 | 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. | Zoom | Tech Tools/Citizen Science | 24 | Lori Buffum (GLC Communications Director and Training Committee) | 2 |
| 7:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. | VMS Training (cont.) | Chris Morrison (GLC Membership Director and Training Committee) | |||||
| 7:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. | Review of the GLC website | Sheri Wilcox (GLC Past President) | |||||
| 5 | 2/7/2026 | 9:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. | San Felipe de Austin | Ornithology | 12 | Amber Leung, Houston Audubon Nature Programs Manager | 5.5 |
| 12:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. | Archaeology | 2 | Dr. Sarah Chesney, Archaeologist | ||||
| 6 | 02/09/2026 | 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. | Zoom | Herpetology | 15 | Paul Crump, TPWD | 2 |
| 7 | 02/21/2026 | 9:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. | Nellie Gail Ranch-Bellville | Soils Field Trip | 7 | Nathan Haile, Soil Scientist, Wildlife Habitat Federation | 5.5 |
| 12:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. | Nelsonville Brethren Church-Bellville | Soils | 7 | Nathan Haile, Soil Scientist, Wildlife Habitat Federation | |||
| 8 | 02/23/2026 | 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. | Zoom | Rangeland Management | 20 | Dr. Stacy Hines, Asst. Prof. and Extension Rangeland Habitat Mgmt. Specialist | 2 |
| 9 | 03/07/2026 | 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. | Brenham Public Library | Riparian Ecosystems | 9 | Alexander Neal, Program Specialist, Texas Water Resources Institute | 4.5 |
| 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. | Quebe Farm, Brenham | Riparian Field Trip | 9 | Charlotte Von Rosenberg, Member | |||
| 10 | 03/21/2026 | 9:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. | TBD | CHAPTER MEETING | |||
| 11 | 03/28/2026 | 9:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. | Quebe Prairie, Brenham | Prairie Field Trip | 11 | Will Newman, Coordinating Wildlife Biologist | 5 |
| 12:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. | Brenham Library | Plants/Prairies | 11 | Tim Siegmund, TPWD, Private Lands Program Leader | |||
| 12 | 04/11/2026 | 9:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. | Winedale Historical Complex | Entomology | 13 | Chris Helzer, Prairie Biologist | 5.5 |
| 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. | Insect netting exercise | ||||||
| 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. | Groundwater – Conservation & Mangement | 18 | Claire Marks – Education & Outreach, Lost Pines GCD | ||||
| 13 | 04/13/2026 | 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. | Zoom | Volunteers as Teachers | 23 | Craig Hensley, TPWD, Nature Tracker Biologist | 2 |
| 14 | 04/18/2026 | 9:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. | Winedale Historical Complex | CLASS PRESENTATIONS | 5.5 | ||
| 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. | Mammalogy | 16 | Pamela R. Owen, Assoc Director at Texas Science & Natural History Museum | ||||
| 15 | 4/27/2026 | 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. | Zoom | Geology | 7 | Dr. Carter Keairns, Head Petroleum Geologist, CSV Holdings | 2 |
| 16 | 5/2/2026 | 9:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. | Blue Willow Farm, La Grange | Forest Field Trip | 17 | Daniel Lewis (GLC member, Texas Forest Service (retired)) | 5.5 |
| 12:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. | Fayette County Library | Forest Ecology | 17 | Daniel Lewis (GLC member, Texas Forest Service (retired)) | |||
| 17 | 5/16/2026 | 9:30 a.m. – 12:00 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 10, 2026 – Historical Texas Naturalists, Land Stewardship, Texas Ecoregions
Historical Master Naturalists
- Frontier Naturalists in Austin’s Colony (Part 1) (Part 2) – 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 25, 2026 – Orientation: Volunteer Management System (VMS)
Important Volunteer Resources
Class presentations
(Email Sheri Wilcox with your preferred presentation date and topic.)
| Date | Name | Topic |
| 4/18/2026 | ||
| 4/18/2026 | ||
| 4/18/2026 | ||
| 4/18/2026 | ||
| 5/16/2026 | ||
| 5/16/2026 | ||
| 07/18/2026 | ||
| 07/18/2026 | ||
| 09/19/2026 | ||
| 09/19/2026 | ||
| 11/21/2026 | ||
| 11/21/2026 |
Example presentation: Mammoths in Texas