New CVMN Resource: Outreach & Education Materials List Now Available
Explore CVMN’s new online catalog of borrowable outreach and education materials, now just a click or QR scan away.
Central Virginia Master Naturalists are active across our region—leading hikes, hosting tables at community events, supporting school programs, and sharing the wonder of the natural world with learners of all ages. To make that work easier, our chapter has created a new online catalog of educational and outreach materials that members can borrow for programs throughout the year.
This catalog brings together the full range of items our volunteers use in the field, including:
Event equipment such as tables, a 10x10 tent canopy, weighted sandbags, banners, and table covers
Educational displays including posters on bats, trees, pollinators, watersheds, macroinvertebrates, and invasive species
Hands‑on teaching tools like insect stencils, nature photo boards, foam insects, rulers with aquatic insect designs, and a large turtle display
Outreach supplies such as brochures, business cards, CVMN flyers, and themed stickers
Activity materials for kids including coloring pages, matching games, Jenga blocks, and window clings
Field equipment like Save Our Streams kits, long‑handled trash pickers, work gloves, and loppers
Each item in the catalog includes the name of the member who currently stores it, making it simple for volunteers to reach out and borrow what they need. For example, many items are currently held by Sharon Clements, including the CVMN display board, table covers, posters, and outreach handouts; other materials are with members such as Helen Wheelock, Susan McConnell, Ann Lis, Nora Cox, and Suzy Rodemann.
You can now explore the full list anytime at:
👉 www.cvmn.org/materials-list
A QR code linking directly to the page will also be included in this post and can be shared with fellow volunteers, event partners, and new members to make the catalog even more accessible.
This resource reflects the generosity and collaboration that define our chapter. Thank you to every member who contributes materials, maintains them, and uses them to spark curiosity across Central Virginia.
Tracking Flowering Times Along the AT
Plant phenology, or the timing of seasonal growth, flowering, and fruiting, is a critical bioindicator of ecological responses to climate change. Shifts in phenological timing can cascade through ecosystems, influencing species interactions, migration, and resilience. The Appalachian Trail (A.T.) corridor, stretching 2,198 miles through 14 states and spanning nearly 2,000 meters in elevation, serves as a “mega-transect” for studying these changes across broad climatic gradients. The Appalachian National Scenic Trail, consisting of the treadway and approximately 300 meter buffer, is part of the National Park system and benefits from long-term federal protections to conserve natural and cultural resources across the trail. The Appalachian landscape has been recognized nationally as an important migratory corridor and a key region for biodiversity and building resilience to climate change. Monitoring plant phenology long-term across broad spatial scales and mountainous terrain presents challenges, but community science provides a practical solution.
Mastering the Art of Being A Master Naturalist
As a budding, soon-to-be certified, Master Naturalist, it is taking me time to find my footing and my place in the natural world.
What does it mean to be a Master Naturalist? What are my areas of interest and perhaps passion. How do I balance being informative vs being obnoxious?
Early in my basic training, I asked the instructor, “Will I get to a point where I’m not horrified every time I step outside?” I had learned just enough to recognize a few invasives, threatened species and harmful practices, but not enough to establish perspective or priorities.
My nephew, who introduced me to the master naturalist program, cautioned me early on, “Don’t get arrogant about invasives.” Well that is easier said than done. It’s hard not to condemn every Autumn Olive bush and every swath of Japanese Stilt grass. I get it though. Assisting nature is a balancing act. Interventions have to be measured and coordinated. And sometimes avoided altogether.
Another thing to not get arrogant about is sharing my limited knowledge. With everyone. Unsolicited. Like when a friend and her husband were clearing around a small fishing pond. Noticing some downed trees along the water’s edge, I commented how turtles love basking on them. Her husband replied as he dragged a tree up on shore, “I don’t want turtles, they’ll eat my fish.”
As we walked back toward the house, my friend pointed to a natural section of the lawn and asked, “Should I clean up all of these leaves?” I hesitated. “Well, the leaves and small limbs are actually good habitat for insects, birds, animals...” I stopped there. It was their property. And I wanted to be invited back.
While I’ll never be an expert, I do long to be one of those people on a hike that can identify flora and fauna on sight and speak intelligently about it. I want to hear the warble of a bird or the hammer of a woodpecker and know immediately what it is without Merlin’s assistance.
But honestly, I often feel like I know less than the average citizen. Friends and family now assume I’m knowledgeable (about everything!) and will ask me what’s this or what’s that and I have to confess I don’t know. But I can find out!
If nothing else, being a naturalist gives me hope in these times of turmoil. And a framework to better understand aspects of our unnatural, man-made world. Whether it is rediscovering a box turtle that has been monitored for 20+ years or seeing native plants peeking through in an area formerly overrun by invasives, it is reassuring to see that life goes on. If nature can be resilient, so can we.
And the good news is, there is no rush to figuring this all out. I have a lifetime left to explore, learn and contribute. And maybe earn some cool volunteer pins along the way.
By Ann E Lis