Download the print version of this newsletter (PDF)
Volume 13, Issue 8 – August 2026
Mission. To develop a corps of well-informed volunteers to provide education, outreach, and service dedicated to the beneficial management of natural resources and natural areas within their communities for the State of Texas.
Monthly Program and Business Meeting
- Date: Monday, August 24, 2026
- Time: 6:30 p.m. social and visiting; 7:00 p.m. program; 8:00 p.m. business meeting
- Location: Schertz Area Senior Center, 608 Schertz Parkway, Schertz, and online via Webex
- Program: To be determined
Volunteer Opportunities
Nature Education
Nature Education Interest and Planning Meeting
- Date: Monday, August 24, 2026
- Time: 6:00 p.m.
- Location: Schertz Area Senior Center
Individuals interested in the future of Nature Education programs are invited to meet with Laura Griffith prior to the August membership meeting. Discovery programs in Seguin and Crescent Bend plus other educational opportunities will be discussed.
Nature Education is a very important part of the Master Naturalist mission. Please become a part of this work to the community.
A Nature Education Chairperson is Needed in Seguin
Please consider taking leadership of this vital opportunity to share nature experiences with the Seguin community. Our mission states we are “volunteers to provide education, outreach, and service.” Let’s fulfill this mission and bring Nature Education back to Seguin.
Resource Management
Park West Pollinator Garden
The Garden Team is managing the pollinator garden during the summer lull. Extra help will not be needed until fall.
Park West Needs Tree Waterers for the Summer
Guadalupe Master Naturalists have planted 125 new tree saplings in the Park West forest, 623 N. Vaughan Avenue, Seguin, TX 78155, and they will need monthly watering throughout the summer of 2026. Belinda Rossiter is coordinating a team to do that on Monday mornings once a month, and would like your help if this is something you can do.
The City of Seguin will provide a water trailer from which 2.5-gallon jugs can be filled. From that point, we need water deliverers to pull jugs in wagons to drop-off points on trails around the forest. We also need tree waterers to carry water to the trees, which are mapped and marked by flags. Each tree gets one jug of water, so that’s a lot of water to haul.
Get more information and sign up for tree watering shifts on SignUpGenius
Our little trees would appreciate your help.
Native Seed Library Events
Earn volunteer time while enjoying the company of fellow Master Naturalists at the public libraries. No experience necessary in cleaning, sorting, and packaging valuable native seeds. To reach either contact below, use the chapter Contact Us page.
| Date | Time | Activity | Location | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, August 1, 2026 | 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. | Seed cleaning and packaging workday | Seguin Public Library, Seed Tech Lab, 313 W. Nolte | Belinda Rossiter |
| Sunday, August 16, 2026 | 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. | Seed cleaning and packaging workday | Schertz Library, Meeting Room 1 | Milda Scott |
Arboretum San Antonio Invasive Species Removal
- Dates: Third Saturday of the month. August 15, September 19, October 17, and November 21.
- Time: 9:00 to 11:00 a.m.
- Location: Arboretum San Antonio, 4226 SE Military Drive, San Antonio, TX
This is a joint stewardship effort with the Guadalupe and Alamo Area Texas Master Naturalist chapters, and NPSOT-SA volunteers are welcome to participate. The focus is removal of Chinaberry tree and other invasive species along Salado Creek. Additional Arboretum stewardship projects are also in development, including the Pollinator Garden and trail-building efforts.
Contact: Peter Joseph Hernandez, NPSOT-SA member, or Craig Bruska, Alamo Area Texas Master Naturalist. Reach either through the chapter Contact Us page.
Photos of the Arboretum San Antonio volunteer crew appear in the print edition (PDF).
Kirchoff Prairie Restoration
This volunteer opportunity does not have a set date, as it’s dependent on when Don needs help with projects. If interested, I’ll add your name to his mailing list so you can be notified when a workday is planned. There are usually two or three opportunities a month and you’re welcome to participate in as much or as little as you want. This is a great way to see first-hand what’s involved in bringing a Blackland Prairie back to life. The Kirchoff Prairie is located around Dewees, out past Floresville.
Contact: Carolyn Wolfer for information, through the chapter Contact Us page.
Garden Volunteer Day at Fischer Park Nature Center Pollinator Garden
- Date: Saturday, August 1, 2026
- Time: 9:00 to 10:00 a.m.
- Location: 1946 Monarch Way, New Braunfels, next to the Nature Center
Come join other volunteers on the first Saturday of each month helping our pollinators have a great place to stop off for a meal. There are always tasks available for any age or ability and the garden is completely accessible, so feel free to bring additional family members. The tasks vary depending on the time of year, how many volunteers we have available, and what’s going on in the garden at that moment.
This August we will be removing some of our more aggressive plants from the beds, clearing the paths of overgrown vegetation, and doing a bit of pruning on our trees. With all the rain, there are lots of plants we don’t have any room for. Volunteers are provided water, gloves, and tools, but you’re always welcome to bring your own.
Contact: Carolyn Wolfer or Craig Bruska for additional information, through the chapter Contact Us page.
Community Science
Earn Volunteer Hours on iNaturalist, Out of the Texas Heat
Looking for a way to get volunteer hours while avoiding spending time in the Texas heat? Look no further than iNaturalist. Adding accurate identifications to observations made by other users helps improve and maintain the quality of iNaturalist data and its value to the scientific community.
Any member of the iNaturalist community, meaning anyone with a login, can add an identification to anyone’s observation. Spending an hour or two on your computer confirming the identification of observations by other people is considered volunteer time under the TMN guidance. You do not have to be an expert in a particular field to make an identification.
If you are new to identifying on iNaturalist, the easiest way to start is by adding IDs to unknown observations. In this instance, the person adding the photo or sound observation didn’t add any specific identification for their observation. You can help by taking the next step and identifying the observation as perhaps a plant, or animal, insect, or further to dicot or monocot, mammal, reptile, butterfly, and so on. From there, others with more expertise can make a more specific identification. If you have an area of interest with which you have considerable knowledge, you can confirm or suggest a more specific identification for observations that haven’t reached research grade.
To get started, select “Identify” in the header of the iNaturalist website. On the Identify page, use the filters to find unknown observations, marked with a dashed line leaf. You can also select the specific filter for the area you are most familiar with, such as birds or plants. You’ll want to add a location so that you can limit observations to Texas. Spend a little time working with the filters to find observations that interest you.
If you have questions, contact Sandi Wheeler, Community Science Chair, through the chapter Contact Us page.
Use FR: iNaturalist when entering your hours in VMS.
Advanced Training
Join details for the Zoom sessions below, including meeting IDs and passcodes, are in the print edition (PDF).
Native Grasses and Why They Are Needed
Presented by the Collin County Native Plant Society.
- Date: Tuesday, August 4, 2026
- Time: 7:00 p.m.
- Location: Zoom. Join the Native Grasses Zoom meeting.
Presenter David Will’s lecture will explore the rich history of native prairies and trace the historical shifts that led to the lack of prairies today. Attendees will discover the vital, multi-layered benefits of native grasses, alongside actionable steps individuals can take to restore and protect these essential landscapes in our communities.
Wildlife Disease Ecology
Presented by the Hays County Master Naturalists.
- Date: Sunday, August 16, 2026
- Time: 3:00 to 4:00 p.m.
- Location: Zoom. Join the Wildlife Disease Ecology Zoom meeting.
Presenter will be Kelly Pierce. Wildlife disease ecology is a growing field of research aimed at increasing our understanding of how pathogenic microbes interact within ecosystems and impact the health of animals, including humans. As naturalists, we often focus on what we can see, hear, feel, and smell. Microbes can be easy to overlook, but the microbial world is vast and influential, and the more we understand about the complex interactions between wildlife and pathogenic microbes, the more effectively we can steward and manage wild populations. This talk will overview a small subset of the wildlife diseases in Texas. We will discuss how the impacts of these microbes are made apparent in the flora and fauna we see around us, and how Master Naturalists can incorporate this information into their work.
Medicinal Plants of Texas
Presented by the Austin Chapter, Native Plant Society of Texas.
- Date: Tuesday, August 25, 2026
- Time: 7:00 p.m.
- Location: Zoom. Registration is required for Medicinal Plants of Texas.
Presenter Ginger Webb has been studying and practicing herbalism for 30 or more years, as a community herbalist, clinical herbalist, herbal medicine maker, teacher, wild plant lover, botanist, and mentor.
She founded Texas Medicinals in 1999, providing high-quality, artisanal herbal medicine to the central Texas community and beyond for 24 years, only recently stepping down and passing the reins and ownership in 2023. Ginger counts many teachers along her herbal path, most notably Michael Moore of the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine, and has herself trained hundreds of students to be herbalists through her programs at Sacred Journey School of Herbalism, which she founded in 2012.
Her mission is to keep alive the craft of herbalism through modeling the age-old wisdom of being in right relationship with the plants, and she teaches her students to be stewards of the Earth and the plants first. Ginger has lived in and around Austin, Texas, for over 35 years.
Master Volunteer Entomology Advanced Training
- Dates: September 1 through October 29, 2026, on Tuesdays and Thursdays
- Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
- Location: Virtual
The class covers over 30 hours of entomological subjects. The class fills up quickly, so if you want to take it this year, I encourage you to sign up soon. Wizzie Brown will be leading the class this year. If you want to take the class when Molly Keck is the lead, then you should wait until next year. You can see the program agenda by selecting a link on the registration page.
You must be a certified Master Gardener or Master Naturalist to sign up for the course.
All classes will be recorded and posted for class participant viewing. Recording links should not be shared with others not in the class. The class can provide Advanced Training hours, but how many hours are given and whether you need to attend sessions live is up to your local advisors, so check with them for that information.
Complete information and registration for Master Volunteer Entomology
Training Class and Upcoming Events
Meet Our New 2026 Trainees at Bracken Cave
Mark your calendars for an evening of fellowship, mentoring, and one of Texas’ greatest natural spectacles: the emergence of millions of Mexican free-tailed bats from Bracken Cave.
- Date: Sunday, August 30, 2026
- Time: 6:00 to 9:30 p.m.
- Location: Bracken Cave Preserve
This special evening gives chapter members the opportunity to welcome our newest Master Naturalist trainees, reconnect with fellow members, and experience the incredible bat flight together.
Whether you’re a longtime member or just beginning your Master Naturalist journey, we hope you’ll join us for this memorable evening. More details and registration information will be coming soon. Please save the date. We look forward to seeing you at the cave.
Volunteers are needed to help at the cave for this event. Please contact Michelle Darnell, Membership Chair, through the chapter Contact Us page if you are available to help.
Texas Master Naturalist 2026 Annual Meeting
Get excited for our Texas Master Naturalist 2026 Annual Meeting, to be held Thursday, October 22 through Sunday, October 25 in Waco, Texas.
The Texas Master Naturalist Annual Meeting provides an opportunity for Texas Master Naturalist volunteers from around the state to gather, participate in hands-on educational seminars, and receive all their Advanced Training requirements for the year in one weekend. It’s also an opportunity for program participants and supporters to network, share new ideas, and learn from chapters in different regions of the state.
Texas Master Naturalist 2026 Annual Meeting details. Lodging information is now on the website.
Thank You, Texas Master Naturalist Class of 2025
A heartfelt thank you to the Texas Master Naturalist Class of 2025 volunteers who joined us for Pay It Forward Day at the Canyon Lake Gorge.
Together, we cleared fallen trees, removed brush, and transformed the area into a new outdoor classroom where students can gather to learn, explore, and connect with nature during future educational programs. Your hard work has created a meaningful space that will benefit thousands of students for years to come.
We’re excited that this new outdoor classroom will be ready to welcome the Class of 2026 during their Gorge tour and serve as a lasting reminder of the Class of 2025’s commitment to conservation, education, and stewardship.
Thank you for giving back and helping make the Gorge an even better place to learn.
Save the date: Our next Pay It Forward Day is Saturday, February 13, 2027. We hope you’ll join us again as we continue improving the Canyon Lake Gorge for future students and visitors.
Thank You for Leaving a Lasting Legacy at the Gorge
Our thanks to the volunteers who cleared the area and built the new outdoor classroom:
- Canaan Henderson
- Kathy Gulley
- Chelsea Smith
- Connie Gueits
- Lisa Ancelet
- Lisa Jones, Lindheimer Chapter
- Pat Carnes, Lindheimer Chapter
- Sandi Wheeler
- Greg Darnell
- Michelle Darnell
Photos from the workday, including the cleared classroom area and the crew taking a well-earned break in the hammocks, appear in the print edition (PDF).
Chapter Calendar
Visit the Guadalupe Chapter calendar for volunteer or advanced training opportunities. Check back often, as new items are added as we hear about them.
Need to add an event or report a change? Please send information to Renee Harvey, Calendar Chair, via the chapter Contact Us page.
Celebrating Our Members: June and July Achievements
We have some wonderful member accomplishments to celebrate from June and July.
2026 Recertification
Congratulations to the following members who completed their required volunteer service and advanced training hours and earned their 2026 Texas Master Naturalist recertification:
- Donna Alvarado
- Bruce Bebow
- Bobby Cowley
- Mary Habib
- Janet Magee
- Susan Rumsey
- James Salles
- Carolyn Wolfer
Thank you for staying on top of your hours and for continuing to give your time, energy, and talents to our chapter and community.
Volunteer Service Milestones
A very special congratulations to these members who reached impressive volunteer service milestones:
- 250 hours: Pat Hartley
- 500 hours: Laura Griffith
- 1,000 hours: John Barrington
Your dedication is inspiring, and you are setting a wonderful example for all of us.
Initial Certification
Please also help us congratulate Chelsea Smith on earning her initial Texas Master Naturalist certification. What an exciting accomplishment.
These members will be recognized, and their certification and milestone pins will be presented, at the August chapter meeting. We are proud of each of you and grateful for everything you do.
Newsletter Submissions
Send announcements and news items for distribution in the newsletter to Marilyn Anderson, Newsletter Chair, by Monday, August 24 for the September issue. Submissions can be sent through the chapter Contact Us page.
Chapter Contacts
To reach any officer or committee chair, please use the chapter Contact Us page. Email addresses are not published here in order to limit address harvesting by spam crawlers.
Officers
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| President | Craig Bruska |
| Vice President | Jenn Jontry |
| Secretary | Belinda Rossiter |
| Treasurer | Chris Castoro |
Committee Chairs
| Committee | Name |
|---|---|
| Advanced Training | Jim Dyess |
| Communications | Bruce Bebow |
| Calendar | Renee Harvey |
| Marketing | Position open |
| Newsletter | Marilyn Anderson |
| Community Science | Sandi Wheeler |
| Fund Raising | Position open |
| Hospitality, Seguin | Marilyn Anderson |
| Hospitality, Schertz | Deborah Dedrick |
| Hospitality, Schertz | Kenneth Harvey |
| Membership and VMS | Michelle Darnell |
| Nature Education, Seguin | Position open |
| Nature Education, Schertz | Laura Griffith |
| Programs | Deborah Dedrick |
| Resource Management | Nancy Masterson |
| Resource Management | John Barrington |
| Training Class | Michelle Darnell |
| Volunteer Service | Bruce Bebow |
Sponsors
| Organization | Contact |
|---|---|
| Texas A&M AgriLife Extension | Jeff Hanselka, County Extension Agent |
| Texas Parks and Wildlife | Olivia Kost, Game Warden |
The Texas Master Naturalist program is sponsored by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and Texas Parks and Wildlife.