Prairie Oaks Master NaturalistsPOMN Volunteer Service Opportunities—Revised 12/19/19
To assist the TMN State Program in its administrative functions, Chapters are required to use the following Service Activity codes when reporting hours to the state. The federal service activity codes are in the boxes below. The items in bold are the POMN specific opportunities and will show up in the drop down menu boxes when you report your hours. The red denotes information for completing the “Describe Your Service” box and for the bullet items the spelling MUST be exact.
Administration—Activities related to managing & running a Texas Master Naturalist Chapter & its committees
CB: Administrative Work
• Chapter Meeting – activities relating to preparing for, presiding over, or setting up for a regular chapter meeting (other than hospitality activities – see Hospitality below)
• Board/Committee Work – any activity in support of the chapter through your duties as a chapter recognized committee representative or your activities in conducting chapter business as a member of the Chapter Board of Directors
• President Duties – any of the chapter activities which, as outlined in the Chapter Operating Handbook, are conducted in your official capacity as Chapter President (planning meeting agendas, interfacing with other chapters or agencies)
• Vice President Duties- any of the chapter activities which, as outlined in the Chapter Operating Handbook, are conducted in your official capacity as Chapter Vice President (planning programs, interfacing with other chapters or agencies, conducting Chapter business in the President’s temporary absence)
• Treasurer Duties – any of the chapter activities which, as outlined in the Chapter Operating Handbook, are conducted in your official capacity as the Chapter Treasurer (preparing a budget and budget reports, presenting budget related information to the chapter)
• Secretary Duties – any of the chapter activities which, as outlined in the Chapter Operating Handbook, are conducted in your official capacity as Chapter Secretary
• Hours Management – activities relating to the review and approval of submitted hours, the preparation of reports concerning AT and Service hours both to the chapter and the State Program Office; volunteers who are officially designated by the chapter leadership to enter hours for other volunteers when those volunteers are unable to do so themselves
• Hospitality – those activities related to organizing others to prepare refreshments or the actual preparation of refreshments for chapter activities to include serving, delivery, setup and take down
• Communications – activities relating to promoting the chapter news and events through the production of a newsletter (writing articles, preparing the newsletter, publishing the newsletter), preparing and publishing a chapter brochure, providing information to newspapers, radio, television and other media outlets
• Website and Social Media – activities related to developing and maintaining a web site and/or Facebook site for the chapter or other social media outlets
• Photographer – those activities performed by the person or persons designated by the chapter administration to document
chapter functions by means of photography or videography
• Programs – activities related to providing programs at chapter meetings that meet the criteria for Advanced training at a Chapter Meeting (other than actually presenting at a meeting–see the chapter opportunity for Presentations)
• Project Management – volunteer time spent in organizing volunteers and preparing for the success of the project; accumulating and reporting the impact data for the activity; preparing needed materials
• Recruiting – activities related to generating interest among potential eligible trainees in becoming a Texas Master Naturalist
• Training Classes – activities related to supporting the Training Class though mentorship or as a class helper (distribute hand-outs); does not include presentation time
• Fundraising –activities related to raising funds or obtaining/creating items for the chapter that can be used to generate funds for the chapter, or other such activities as grant writing for the chapter or State Program
• Samaritan VMS Rollout – those activities related to the rollout of the VMS – for chapter personnel: preparing chapter data for conversion, training your volunteers; for the VMS Team: activities involving assistingchapterpersonnelwithanyaspectoftheconversiontoincludechaptertraining, troubleshooting and responding to Help Desk questions, editing chapter upload files
• State Meeting – activities relating to the support of the State Annual Meeting (preparing chapter contest entries), working as a volunteer at the State Meeting; does not include presentations. Note: your chapter may have an opportunity specific to volunteering at the State Annual Meeting (“TMN Annual Meeting – Volunteer” or “AT: TMN Annual Meeting”)
• State Program Office – activities relating to the support of state-wide projects like the Endowment Committee.
DO: Direct Outreach—leading, organizing, developing, delivering instructing or staffing an educational activity where participants have a planned learning objective and generally stay for the full event (e.g., planned start and end times with a single agenda). Examples: Classroom instruction, developing & delivering training presentations, interpretive hikes
DO: POMN, Educating Others Specify location and activities in “Describe your service” when you report.
• Acton Nature Center
• Advanced Training for chapter
• Community Presentations (examples: Gordon Garden Club, Master Gardeners’ meetings)
• Dublin Library
• Dinosaur Valley State Park
• Fort Worth Nature Center
• Initial Training Class
• Lake Brownwood State Park
• Lake Mineral Wells State Park
• Native Plant Society of Texas Hikes
• Palo Pinto Mountains State Park
• Stephenville Library
DO: Possum Kingdom Fish Hatchery Specify activities performed in “Describe your service” when you report.
DO: School Children Specify school, location, and activities in “Describe your service” when you report.
• Comanche ISD
• Lingleville ISD
• Mineral Wells ISD
• Gorman ISD
DO: Texas Wildlife Association Specify location and activities in “Describe your service” when you report.
FR: Field Research (Including Surveys & Citizen Science)—Planning leading or participating in data collection and/or analysis of natural resources where the results are intended to further scientific understanding.
FR: Bird Populations Specify location and activities in “Describe your service” when you report.
• Cornell Project Feeder Watch
• eBird
• NAS Christmas Bird Count (POMN, Proctor Lake, etc.)
• Nestbox monitoring
FR: iNaturalist Specify location & project in “Describe your service”, when you report. iNaturalist Cataloguing in public spaces within the state of Texas.
FR: POMN Specify location, activities, & project in “Describe your service”, when you report. For partners/organizations not separately listed.
• Dinosaur Valley State Park
• Palo Pinto Mountains State Park
FR: Citizen Science Specify Citizen Science program, location & activity in “Describe your service”, when you report. Planning, leading, or participating in Citizen Science programs not separately listed.
• CoCoRaHs
• Globe at Night
• Globe Observer
• Monarch Larva Monitoring Project
• Pollen Trackers
• Texas Invasives
• Texas Nature Trackers
• Texas Stream Team
FR: Possum Kingdom Fish Hatchery Specify activities in “Describe your service” when you report.
FR: Tarleton Specify location and activities in “Describe your service” when you report.
• Tarleton graduate & undergraduate research projects (Pre-approval required)
NPA: Nature/Public Access—field-based activities that improve & manage the public’s access to natural areas or resources. Creating &/or maintaining nature trails, Wildscapes &/or interpretive areas.
NPA: Bosque River Trail Nature Center Specify activities in “Describe your service” when you report.
NPA: Palo Pinto Mountains State Park Specify activities in “Describe your service” when you report.
NPA: POMN Specify location and activities in “Describe your service” when you report.
• Acton Nature Center
• Covia Nature Trail
• Cleburne State Park
• Dinosaur Valley State Park
• Palo Pinto Mountains State Park
NPA: Pollinator Gardens Specify location and activities in “Describe your service” when you report.
• Dublin Library
• Lake Mineral Wells State Park
• Gordon Community Center
• Acton Nature Center
• Lake Brownwood State Park
NPA: Possum Kingdom Fish Hatchery Specify activities performed in “Describe your service” when you report.
OT: Other—Any activity approved by a Chapter not defined above. In general, a Chapter should only have a small percentage of hours in this activity. When this activity code is used, a Chapter should investigate the reason. Time spent serving as a board or committee member of a natural resource organization partner i.e., NPSOT, Friends organizations. Please note that hikes, events and other similar activities cannot be logged under friends groups and must fit into the other approved project categories.
• Friends of Palo Pinto Mountains State Park
• Friends of Acton Nature Center
• Friends of Cleburne State Park
• Friends of Dinosaur Valley State Park
• Friends of Ft. Worth Nature Center
PO: Indirect Outreach (Public Outreach)—Leading, organizing, or staffing an educational activity where participants come and go & are able to inquire on a broad set of topics. <or> Writing an educational article or brochure.
PO: Outreach Writing Specify activities & publication/organization in “Describe your service” when you report.
PO: POMN Specify location and activities in “Describe your service” when you report.
RM: Natural Resource Management (including Natural Resource Stewardship & Conservation)—Activities that improve the health of a public natural area or resource. Natural resource management, restoration, rescue, & rehabilitation.
RM: POMN Specify location and activities in “Describe your service” when you report.
RM: Possum Kingdom Fish Hatchery Specify activities performed in “Describe your service” when you report. Assist the staff in activities that include feeding and moving fish, cleaning and maintaining equipment, etc.
TG: Technical Guidance—Providing free, detailed natural resource management advice or assistance for any natural resource related program or related business.
TG: POMN
• Forestry Service Firewise Program (ONLY technical guidance for native plants and habitats is approved)
Citizen Science Programs:
• CoCoRaHS: Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, & Snow Network https://cocorahs.org
• Cornell Project Feeder Watch: https://feederwatch.org/about/project-overview/
• eBird: https://ebird.org/
• Globe at Night: https://www.globeatnight.org/
• Globe Observer: Collect data on clouds, mosquitos, land cover, trees & sponsors challenges using an app on your
phone https://observer.globe.gov/
• iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/
• Monarch Larva Monitoring Project:
https://www.citizenscience.gov/monitor-monarchs
• Nest Watch: https://nestwatch.org
• Pollen Trackers: https://www.usanpn.org/nn/PollenTrackers
• Texas Invasives: https://www.texasinvasives.org/invaders/
• Texas Nature Trackers: Texas Nature Trackers (TNT), part of the Wildlife Diversity Program, tracks the status of wild
populations of plants and animals throughout Texas. Participating in TNT projects is a great way to learn more about
the biodiversity of the state and contribute to Texas Parks and Wildlife’s research and conservation efforts https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wild/wildlife_diversity/texas_nature_trackers/
https://www.facebook.com/texasnaturetrackers
• Texas Stream Team: Texas Stream Team at The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment is dedicated to
understanding and protecting the 191,000 miles of Texas waterways. https://www.meadowscenter.txstate.edu/Service/TexasStreamTeam.html
