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Advanced Training Events and Reporting

Advanced Training (AT)

  • AT provides Texas Master Naturalists an opportunity to focus their interests
  • AT promotes continued learning and development
  • AT provides experienced Texas Master Naturalists with tools to volunteer in more advanced ways

Every Texas Master Naturalist must complete 8 hours of Advanced Training (AT) each year to recertify. Normally, 4 hours must be in-person training, but due to COVID-19, all 8 hours may be completed by webinar for 2021. 

Where to Find ATs on this Site

More than 500 chapter-approved AT opportunities are available each year and are posted on the Chapter Advanced Training Calendar.

Criteria for Approving an Event as an AT opportunity

AT opportunities come from the Hill Country Chapter Service Area and, in the case of webinars, beyond. The AT Director reviews and approves each opportunity before posting them on the Chapter Advanced Training Calendar. Every opportunity must

  • Promote continued learning and development of naturalist skills
  • Provide knowledge and skills to work in volunteer efforts
  • Provide an opportunity to focus interests
  • Build on the core curriculum initially provided by the local chapter
  • Focus on resource management issues and information applicable to the chapter’s local community or ecoregion
  • Be presented by a person who is a recognized authority or skilled in the subject matter

If you have questions about Advanced Training, contact the Director of Advanced Training, Deb Youngblood at advancedtraining@hillcountrytmn.org

If you think you have an event that meets requirements for an AT and should be on the Chapter Advanced Training Calendar, please submit the event for review. Just click on the button below and fill in the form.

Submit AT Opportunity

Where to Report Advanced Training

All AT opportunities completed should be recorded in the VMS system. Please read the Step-by-Step How To instructions for entering the AT hours in VMS before you log in to the system.

Report AT Hours

Annual Meeting AT reporting

All the events at Annual Meeting this year will have the same AT code: AT21-AM. Add the title of the event, the presenter and the amount of time spent in training.

Too hard? Open VMS and when you get to the dropdown menu choose AT: TMN Annual Conference, enter the time you spent in training, the date of the event, then open this file,
https://txmn.org/hillcountry/files/2021/10/VMS-Entries.pdf
find the training event, copy and paste the VMS entry into the description block. Boom! You’re done.

Hope you all had a great time at Annual Meeting!