Schedule is at the very bottom of this post.
Get ready to volunteer! The Texas Master Naturalists is hosting its second Virtual Volunteer Fair over two days next week: Wednesday February 3rd and Thursday February 4th from 9:00am to 12:00pm (Central) each day with a series of 10-minute sessions highlighting projects by a variety of partner conservation agencies and organizations. Each day’s sessions will be recorded and uploaded to our website post-event for those who cannot attend the live presentations.The agenda for the event is attached and can also be found on the Virtual Volunteer Fair page on our website.A full catalog for the 36 presentations indicating the available Project Presentations and their detailed requirements to be shared later this week.
How do I join?
Registration is now OPEN to attend our Virtual Volunteer Fair! Register for either of the days or for both days but registration is day specific so make sure you sign up for the day you want to attend! You can attend any or all project proposal presentations on either of the days – come and go as you please! TMN volunteers will earn Volunteer Service hours for attending all project proposal sessions – please use the “TMN Virtual Volunteer Service Fair” Statewide Project Opportunity for logging service hours.Use the following links to sign up for one or both days of the Virtual Volunteer Fair:
| Event: | Virtual Volunteer Fair 2021 – Day 1 | |
| Event address for attendees: | https://tpwdevents.webex.com/tpwdevents/onstage/g.php?MTID=e078f95b8237cc9fbe497458c30ae565a | |
| Date and time: | Wednesday, February 3, 2021 9:00 am Central Standard Time (Chicago, GMT-06:00) |
| Event: | Virtual Volunteer Fair 2021 – Day 2 | |
| Event address for attendees: | https://tpwdevents.webex.com/tpwdevents/onstage/g.php?MTID=ed446d79da8b880fe3c118f2f5040ab8b | |
| Date and time: | Thursday, February 4, 2021 9:00 am Central Standard Time (Chicago, GMT-06:00) |
If you’ve never used WebEx as a platform at all, the WebEx 101 Guide linked is a great place to start – plus there are live testing sites on the Cisco WebEx page for any day users to test their equipment and set up.
How do I Sign up to Volunteer?
At the completion of EACH project presentation and again at the end of the event, we will share the “Project Volunteer Registration” survey link.Texas Master Naturalist Volunteers will use the survey link to select which Service Project(s) they want to join. This survey will stay open for the month of February! Make sure and sign up early to ensure a quick turnaround time for our Project Hosts. From there, these Project Hosts will then reach out to you to get the projects kicked off. Please note that if a Project gets more volunteers than the Project Host can handle, he/she will make the call on how to manage the situation. Project service positions are not guaranteed.Also note – some of the Projects in the Virtual Volunteer Fair are “place-based” opportunities, i.e physical on public property service requests. Those should only be considered for approval by the local chapters within the direct ecosystem of that location/state park. Other volunteer opportunities are fully virtual and can be preformed by anyone across the state. Keep this in mind when you submit your Project Volunteer Registration surveys!
Have More Questions?This is a new opportunity for us and for our volunteers – please let us know if you have any additional questions. If you have further questions after reviewing the Virtual Volunteer Fair webpage, you can email:
- Judit Green – Texas Parks & Wildlife Department – Judit.Green@tpwd.texas.gov
- Michelle Haggerty – Texas Parks & Wildlife Department – Michelle.Haggerty@tpwd.texas.gov
- Mary Pearl Meuth – Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service – mpmeuth@tamu.edu
Mary Pearl MeuthTexas Master Naturalist Program Assistant State CoordinatorTexas A&M AgriLife Extension Service Office: (979) 845-7294Cell: (727) 366-1144E-mail: mpmeuth@tamu.edu 495 Horticulture Dr, 2138 TAMUCollege Station, TX 77843-2138
Wednesday February 3rd
9:00 AM – 9:10 AM Introduction
9:10 AM – 9:20 AM George W. Bush Presidential Library Native Texas Park Docent – Lois Diggs
9:20 AM – 9:30 AM Prairie Restoration Maintenance Plan – Stephanie Keith
9:30 AM – 9:40 AM Erosion Plot Design – Stephanie Keith
9:40 AM – 9:50 AM Social Media Content – Jordan Kieffer
9:50 AM – 10:00 AM BREAK
10:00 AM – 10:10 AM Flora and Fauna Guide to the Chris W. Burkett Service Center Demonstration Gardens – Rebecca Sales
10:10 AM – 10:20 AM Virtual Interpretive Videos – Brent Wilkins
10:20 AM – 10:30 AM Request for Social Media Content emphasizing the natural resources and flora and fauna of Southeast Texas. – Emilee Gerngross
10:30 AM – 10:40 AM 3 Rivers Foundation Biodiversity and Educational Assistance – Christena Stephens
10:40 AM – 10:50 AM Nature Notes Contributor – Rachel Powers
10:50 AM – 11:00 AM BREAK
11:00 AM – 11:10 AM Butterfly Monitoring – Irmi Willcockson
11:10 AM – 11:20 AM Texas Butterfly Monitoring Co-coordinator – Irmi Willcockson
11:20 AM – 11:30 AM Texas Aquatic Science Video and e-Book Production – Melissa Felty (Alderson)
11:30 AM – 11:40 AM Adopt-A-Paddling Trail – Shelly Plante
11:40 AM – 11:50 AM Monitoring Invasive Aquatic Species Through Birding – Alice Best
11:50 AM – 12:00 PM Conclusion & Wrap Up
Thursday February 4th
9:00 AM – 9:10 AM Introduction
9:10 AM – 9:20 AM Bracken Cave Preserve video projects – Fran Hutchins
9:20 AM – 9:30 AM City Nature Challenge 2021 in the Rio Grande Valley – Tony Henehan
9:30 AM – 9:40 AM AquaPlant Website Review & Enhancement – Brittany Chesser
9:40 AM – 9:50 AM Invasive Species Surveys and Verification – Angela England
9:50 AM – 10:00 AM BREAK
10:00 AM – 10:10 AM Adopt-A-Loop – Great Texas Wildlife Trails – Joshua Lee
10:10 AM – 10:20 AM Fat Bat project – Fran Hutchins
10:20 AM – 10:30 AM Story Time for Bats – Fran Hutchins
10:30 AM – 10:40 AM Plant ID Bingo – Meg Inglis
10:40 AM – 10:50 AM Aligning TPWD Educational Resources with the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) – Louisa Torrance
10:50 AM – 11:00 AM BREAK
11:00 AM – 11:10 AM Texas Municipal Park Providers Inventory – Jamie Walker
11:10 AM – 11:20 AM Aquatic Plant Photo Submission Round 2 – Brittany Chesser
11:20 AM – 11:30 AM Armchair Botanist: Community Scientists Transcribing Specimen Labels – Tiana Rehman
11:30 AM – 11:40 AM Horned Lizard Conservation Educational Materials – Mason Lee
11:40 AM – 11:50 AM TPWD’s Texas Ecological Analytical Mapper user testing – GroundTruther tool – WendyAnderson
11:50 AM – 12:00 PM Conclusion & Wrap Up
Projects Not Presented During Virtual Volunteer Fair
Village Creek State Park Trail Maintenance and Minor Repair Projects – Kathy Smith
Village Creek State Park Invasive Species Control – Coral Ardisia – Kathy Smith
Village Creek State Park Bird Checklist – Kathy Smith
Species Spotlight for Village Creek State Park Social Media – Kathy Smith
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