TMN Tuesday

VMS opportunity: AT: TMN Tuesday

On the Second Tuesday of each month at the noon hour (12PM Central Standard Time), the TMN State Office will offer an hour-long virtual advanced training event (sometimes including some fantastic new and returning guest speakers).

October TMN Tuesday

Project Fair Contest!

We hope to see you all at 11:45am-1pm to see our Chapter Project Fair!

Featured projects will include and be presented in the following order:

11:45 – Welcome and Introductions

11:55 – Sabine-Neches Chapter presents Beyond the Choir + Q&A  

12:15 – Lost Pines Chapter presents Bird Blind and Water Feature Design and Installation + Q&A

12:35 – Heartwood Chapter presents their Junior Master Naturalist Project curriculum + Q&A

12:55 – North Texas Chapter presents their Texas Buckeye Trail project + Q&A

1:15 – Final Wrap Up and Closing

The winner of the Chapter Project Fair will be announced at this year’s Annual Meeting in Houston October 20-23rd. 

Late Virtual Registration is still OPEN! Be sure to visit our Annual Meeting website to see the agenda full of opportunities to complete your advanced training requirements for the year. https://txmn.tamu.edu/2022-annual-meeting 

September TMN Tuesday

Recording link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLktVvjoYew&feature=emb_imp_woyt

Summer 2022: What Happened and Why

By mid-September, summer will be over, or almost so. It’s time to take stock and figure out how the summer of 2022 stacks up against past summers. This talk will put the summer of 2022 within its historical climate context and explain the short-term, medium-term, and long-term factors that contributed to 2022 being yet another memorable summer in Texas. Also, since Texas Master Naturalist members are spread across the state with varying experiences, we’ll look at where in Texas the conditions were particularly unusual and therefore likely to have an outsized impact on the natural environment.

John Nielsen-Gammon has been on the faculty at Texas A&M University since 1991. He is currently a Regents Professor of Atmospheric Sciences and also serves as the Texas State Climatologist and Director of the Southern Regional Climate Center. He graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a Ph.D. in 1990. He does research on various types of extreme weather from droughts to floods, as well as air pollution and computer modeling. As Texas State Climatologist, he helps the State of Texas make the best possible use of weather and climate information, through applied research, outreach, and service on state-level committees. He is a fellow of the American Meteorological Society.

*Note this #TMN Tuesday talk will be earlier than usual at 10am-11am*

https://climatexas.tamu.edu/products/texas-extreme-weather-report/index.html

August TMN Tuesday

Recording link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMOokQacOgc

Connecting All Texans to Conservation Through Meanin

gful, Engaging Interpretation

Join Craig Hensley, Texas Nature Trackers Biologist, on Tuesday, Aug 9, 2022 12:00 pm!

Guest Webinar Moderator: Tania Homayoun, Texas Nature Tracker Biologist and Balcones Canyonlands Chapter Advisor

Engaging Texans of all ages through education and outreach is one of the core tenants of the Texas Master Naturalist program. Delivering programs that are meaningful, accurate, educational, and yes, fun, requires a fundamental understanding of effective communication through interpretive techniques and approaches that lead to conservation action. It is not enough to simply fill minds with facts, or assume our engagement with nature will or should be the same as everyone else’s. Effective interpretation must address not only the resource and topic at hand, but also the audience, recognizing that everyone arrives with unique connections to, experiences with and understanding of, the natural world. Programs that invite all audiences to engage are critical to our success in expanding conservation efforts. This presentation will build upon your existing understanding of interpretation and provide practical and meaningful tips for effective communication with audiences of all ages and backgrounds to help your chapter move toward more inclusive community-wide engagement.

July TMN Tuesday

Recording link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQEVx-YnwAM

Authentic Leadership in Public Service

Dr. Kenneth Anderson Taylor will join TMN this July to define authentic leadership and discuss how nonprofit leaders can transmit leadership to other members of the team. The webinar will explore research data and provide findings and insights on leaders rated by employees on the constructs of self-awareness, transparency, morals, and balanced processing. The discussion will provide recommendations for the next steps participants can take to heighten their development as leaders.

Dr. Taylor is a Professor of the Practice at the Texas A&M Bush School of Government and Public Service and serves as the Director of Outreach and Professional Development within their Center for Nonprofits & Philanthropy.

June TMN Tuesday

Recording link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFw9iMBfj2o

A Master Naturalist in Space!

Astronaut Kjell Lindgren has offered a once in a lifetime experience for the Texas Master Naturalist Program. He’d like to ‘downlink’ from the International Space Station with the Texas Master Naturalist Program and connect his work on the ISS to the service TMN’s provide and answer any general questions that his fellow naturalist volunteers have.

May TMN Tuesday

Recording link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pXNVFIi_OQ

Crossing the Finish Line: Recovering America’s Wildlife Act with Richard Heilbrun

Description:

A bill winding through Congress is about to cross the finish line, and we need to mobilize the entire conservation community. Every TXMN has a role to play here, as Recovering America’s Wildlife Act would bring $55 million each year to Texas, and $1.3 billion nationwide for fish, wildlife, and nature education. This is huge, transformational funding that could reverse species and habitat declines, and finally address nature deficit disorder by investing in nature education and getting more people outside. We need your help to cross the finish line this month, and help us secure the future of 12,000 species of concern! Richard Heilbrun, from the TMN State Program, will discuss what is needed in this final push, and how it will benefit rare species and TMN chapters specifically. This bill won’t get passed unless we all get involved!

Bio: Richard Heilbrun is the Conservation Outreach Program Leader for Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, where his program connects Texans with the outdoors, improves wildlife habitat throughout the state, and manages the state’s most sensitive wildlife populations.  He has worked with bighorn sheep, Whooping Cranes, ducks, songbirds, raptors, quail, deer, dove, and bobcats.   He serves on the TMN State Committee.

April TMN Tuesday

Recording link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvlfdwuXVoQ

Health and Nature with Sarah Coles

Join Sarah Coles, Texas Children in Nature Network Executive Director, for this month’s presentation on The Connection between Health and Nature, and How TMN Volunteers Can Help!

March TMN Tuesday

Recording link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EFvbClKUyc

Historical Women Naturalists: Remembering Forgotten Pioneers

Take a trip through time as we spend the hour reviewing some of the pioneering women naturalists highlighted in Marcia Myers Bonta’s “American Women Afield.” We will explore the lives and scientific pursuits of these women in entomology, botany, ornithology, ecology, and even taxidermy! This is an informative session for any and all to join and be introduced to new (and possibly familiar) faces who all had great impacts on their respective scientific fields.

Join Addison Preston, our former Texas Master Naturalist intern for her presentation honoring Women’s History Month!

February TMN Tuesday

Recording link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsLyiLRGt_g

Seed Collections for Conservation

Join the Texas Master Naturalist program February 8th at noon.

Most people don’t think of seeds as living creatures, but that is exactly what they are! Humans have been collecting and saving seeds for thousands of years, and it’s vitally important that we as Texans utilize this timeless skill to help protect our nature heritage. Join TPWD Botanist Anna Strong, along with Minnette Marr (Conservation Botanist) and Andrew McNeil-Marshall (Arborist) from the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center as we learn about the best practices of creating seed and living collections for conservation purposes. Start making those seed collections today!

January TMN Tuesday

Recording link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2TrQoGF6xg

The State of the Program

Join us for the first #TMNTuesday of the year!

Mary Pearl and Michelle will be going over the state of the program on January 11th at noon!