Virtual Volunteer Fair – September 2nd, 2020 - Texas Master Naturalist Program

Our volunteers are ready to volunteer! Our Texas Master Naturalist Volunteers are dedicated to natural resource conservation work, but as a result of this year’s extreme circumstances our members have been severely limited in conducting many of their typical outreach, technical guidance and community stewardship service projects. Thus also severely limiting their ability to obtain their required volunteer service hours so far this year.

The Virtual Volunteer Fair will be an opportunity for our partnering organization, Texas Parks & Wildlife Department and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service to present volunteer service projects that need volunteers from a distance or virtually! Join us on September 2nd, 2020, for this series of project presentations showcasing opportunities from across the state and across the spectrum of natural resource topics.

THANK YOU!

Our first ever Virtual Volunteer Fair was a success! Thank you to our volunteers for joining our sessions or watching them post-event. Thank you to our sponsoring agencies, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, for your new projects and presenting these volunteer opportunities. THANK YOU both for your dedication and service to the Texas Master Naturalist Program and our state’s wild things and wild places!

The recording of the Virtual Volunteer Event held on Wednesday September 2nd from 9am to 4pm is below. Please note the following session changes –

10:40am – Janet Hurley had issues with her internet connectivity and presented at 4pm (last session of the day) instead.
11:05am – David Fischer wasn’t able to join us, his Project details are listed in the Program Catalog.
2:40pm – Kiki Corry wasn’t able to join us, but Melissa Felty presented her project later in the day (second to last session) at 4:00pm.

How do I Sign up to Volunteer?

At the completion of EACH project proposal and then again at the end of the event, we will share the “Project Volunteer Registration” survey.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TMNVolunteerFair

Texas Master Naturalist Volunteers will use this survey link to select which Service Project(s) they are committed to volunteering with. This survey will stay open for the month of September, but the first pull of volunteer signup lists will be done on September 8^th! Make sure and sign up early to ensure a quick turnaround time for our Project Hosts. Each Project Host will then receive their list of volunteers (by September 8^th). From there, these Project Hosts will reach out to get the projects kicked off. Please note that in the event that a Project gets more volunteers than the Project Host can handle, he/she will make the call on how to manage the project. Project service positions are not guaranteed.

How do I log Volunteer Hours?

We’ve created a QUICK GUIDE for all Texas Master Naturalist and VMS Admins to refer to when logging hours.

QUICK-GUIDE-Logging-Volunteer-Service-Hours-for-the-Virtual-Volunteer-Fair Download

For Attending the Virtual Volunteer Event :

TMN volunteers can earn Volunteer Service hours for attending all project proposal sessions of the VVF on September 2nd (live or recorded) – please use the “TMN Virtual Volunteer Service Fair” Statewide Project Opportunity for logging service hours.

For Projects presented at the Virtual Volunteer Fair :

As a result of the virtual service component of 2020, and with advance notice of the projects sent to all chapters, our hope as with all of our service project and AT opportunities is that each of the proposed opportunities be reviewed, and pre-approved by your local chapter using the TMN service project and advanced training criteria outlined in the TMN Chapter Management and Operations Protocols (CMOP). We ask, for efficiency, in the final signing up for these projects, that your chapters review these opportunities as soon as possible to let their chapter members know prior to the Volunteer Fair event which are approved.

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.

Agenda

Please note, the agenda below is NOT in any specific order. There are both statewide available project opportunities and those that are State Park site-based projects. There are a total of 40 projects listed in the full Catalog, however only 31 of the 40 will be presented at the Virtual Volunteer Fair – the remaining 9 are still open for volunteers though!

Agenda Linked Here

9:00am – Opening Remarks, Welcome & Virtual Volunteer Fair Guidelines
9:15 – 9:25am – Native Plant Resources four (4) Bexar County Ecoregions (San Antonio), Judit Green
9:25 – 9:35am – Video Interview Transcription, Olivia Schmidt
9:35 – 9:45am – Texas Wildscapes Website + Resources Redesign, Olivia Schmidt
9:45 – 9:55am – iNaturalist Social Media Content Collection + Creation, Olivia Schmidt
9:55 – 10:00am – 5-minute break
10:00 – 10:10am – Pollinator Citizen Science Project, Erfan Vafaie
10:10 – 10:20am – Aligning TPWD videos to the TEKS, Louisa Torrance
10:20 – 10:30am – Armchair Botanist: Community Scientists Transcribing Specimen Labels, Tiana Rehman
10:30 – 10:40am – AquaPlant Review, Brittany Chesser
10:40 – 10:50am – Measuring the Public’s Perception about Pesticides, Janet Hurley
10:50 – 11:00am – Saltcedar Removal at Lake Casa Blanca International State Park, Querubi Guerra
11:00am – 11:05am – 5-minute break
11:05 – 11:15am – Social Media Short Video Series / Content (Possum Kingdom SP), David Fischer
11:15 – 11:25am – Guadalupe River State Park – Interpretive Programs Assistance Holly Platz
11:25 – 11:35am – Guadalupe River State Park – Social Media Content Creator, Holly Platz
11:35 – 11:45am – Stream Team Testing–Fort Parker State Park, Amanda Zumwalt
11:45 – 11:55am – Plants of Texas Rangelands Virtual Herbarium, Megan Clayton
NOON – 1:00pm – BREAK FOR LUNCH
1:05 – 1:15pm – Texas Aquatic Science Teacher Guide Review, Melissa Felty
1:15 – 1:25pm – Adopt-A-Loop – Great Texas Wildlife Trails, Joshua Lee
1:25 – 1:35pm – Distance Learning Media Blitz, Lindsay Pannell
1:35 – 1:45pm – International Dark Sky Certification-Palo Duro Canyon SP, Lindsay Pannell
1:45 – 1:55pm – Palo Duro Canyon State Park–ADA trail to the Wildlife Viewing Blind, Lindsay Pannell
1:55pm – 2:00pm – 5-minute break
2:00 – 2:10pm – Goose Island SP – Big Tree Area Hurricane Clean-up, Improvements & Maintenance, Kendall Keys
2:10 – 2:20pm – Nature Rocks Texas Assistance, Sandra Williams
2:20 – 2:30pm – TPWD’s Texas Ecological Analytical Mapper User Testing, Wendy Anderson
2:30 – 2:40pm – Texas Children in Nature Stories Project, Sarah Coles
2:40 – 2:50pm – Project WILD Workshops, Kiki Corry
2:50 – 3:00 pm – Curation Assistance of Texas Nature Trackers Project, Craig Hensley
3:00pm – 3:05pm – 5-minute break
3:05 – 3:15pm – Writing for Texas Parks & Wildlife Magazine, Louie Bond
3:15 – 3:25pm – Photo Compilation and Archive, Roy Rodriquez
3:25 – 3:35pm – Social Media Content Creator – San Antonio Urban Office Facebook Page, Jessica Alderson
3:35 – 3:45pm – Wildlife & Natural Resource Education Trunks Review & Update, Jessica Alderson
3:45 – 3:55pm – Develop Species/Eco Region Social Media Spotlights To Help Promote The Wildlife And Habitats That Could Benefit With Dedicated Conservation Funding, Rachel Rommel
3:55pm – 4:15pm – Wrap Up & Final Project Conversations

There are also nine Projects that are available to volunteers, but are not able to be presented at the Virtual Volunteer Fair due to schedule conflicts.

Distinguishing Oak Tree Species-Fairfield Lake State Park, Kate Sherman
Feral Hog Destruction of Natural Habitat & Increase in Invasive plant species – Fairfield Lake, Kate Sherman
River Otters Informational Video – Fairfield Lake State Park, Kate Sherman
Flora and Fauna Guide – Fairfield Lake State Park, Kate Sherman
Crawdad Population and Varied Species Study – Fairfield Lake State Park, Kate Sherman
Educational Video on our Spider Lilly Population–Fairfield Lake State Park, Kate Sherman
Enchanted Rock State Natural Area Butterfly Surveys, Jessica DeBoer
Enchanted Rock State Natural Area Bird Surveys, Jessica DeBoer
Trail Maintenance-Dinosaur Valley State Park, Zachary Riggs

Full Program Catalog

For more information on each of the Volunteer Service Project opportunities submitted for the TMN Virtual Volunteer Fair, please refer to our Catalog of Projects – While long, this document contains descriptions of each project, detailing expectations, number of hours anticipated, experience and expertise or additional training if needed, along with hours and location notes for volunteers to consider. Note that there are a total of 40 projects listed in the full Catalog. Only 31 of the 40 will be presented at the Virtual Volunteer Fair – the remaining 9 are still open for volunteers though!

Have More Questions?

This is a new opportunity for us and for our volunteers – please let us know if you have any additional question. For questions, 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

What can I expect?

The Texas Master Naturalist Virtual Volunteer Fair will happen Wednesday September 2^nd from 9am to 4:15pm with a series of 10-minute long project sessions highlighting 31 of the projects by our two sponsoring agencies, Texas Parks & Wildlife and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service.

The Agenda of Project Presentations is linked below, along with the Catalog of Projects informational pages detailing expectation of the project, number of hours anticipated, experience/expertise or additional training if needed. Note that there are a total of 40 projects listed in the full Catalog. Only 31 of the 40 will be presented at the Virtual Volunteer Fair – the remaining 9 are still open for volunteers though!

Register now to attend our Virtual Volunteer Fair! There is no cost to register and you can attend any or all of the project proposal presentations! TMN volunteers can earn Volunteer Service hours for attending all project proposal sessions on September 2nd – please use the “TMN Virtual Volunteer Service Fair” Statewide Project Opportunity for logging service hours.

How do I join?

Through the Volunteer Fair Registration Link, a WebEx Event invite link will be sent to your email used when registering. At the time of your desired project session, join the WebEx Event as an attendee.

WebEx 101 Guide

If you’ve never used WebEx as a platform at all, the WebEx 101 Guide below 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.