"If future generations are to remember us with gratitude rather than contempt, we must leave them more than the miracles of technology. We must leave them a glimpse of the world as it was in the beginning, not just after we got through with it."
Lyndon Johnson
Frequently Asked Questions
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Go Ahead and Ask Us!
Whether you are already a Texas Master Naturalist, a new training graduate, or someone who is interested in joining our chapter, you may have a lot of questions.
After all, there is a lot to know about us.
Don't worry. Here are some of the answers.
Additional information also can be found on the other pages of our Web site.
Feel free to contact any of us if you have questions not answered on our site.
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Click on the list of questions below or scroll down the page.
What is a Texas Master Naturalist?
How do I become a Texas Master Naturalist?
How is the chapter organized and where are the meetings?
What are the volunteer activities and advanced training?
How do I report my volunteer hours?
How do I update my membership information?
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What is a Texas Master Naturalist?
A Texas Master Naturalist is someone who is passionate about the natural world and is eager to share his or her knowlege and experiences with others. It is also someone who volunteers his or her time to the local community by assisting with activities that involve the education, preservation, restoration, and conservation of natural resources.
Historically, the Natural Initiatives Program Group, the San Antonio Parks & Recreation Department, and the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department had designed and developed an educational program to improve the understanding and management of natural resources in urban areas. The mission of the program was to train volunteers to work with our community to achieve these goals.
From these local origins, the Texas Master Naturalist Program grew into the statewide natural resource-based volunteer training and development program sponsored by the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department and the Texas AgriLife Extension. In addition to our official sponsors, our Alamo Area Master Naturalist Chapter partners locally with the San Antonio Parks & Recreation Department and the Texas Forest Service.
As a matter of fact, the Alamo Area Master Naturalist Chapter is the founding chapter in the entire Master Naturalist Program; not just here in Texas, but also nationwide.
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How do I become a Texas Master Naturalist?
You must complete the Texas Master Naturalist Program consisting of a 44-hour training course on regional natural features and on the impact that people have on nature. Also, you must complete a minimum of 40 hours of volunteer service and 8 hours of advanced training during your first 12 months. Training courses are held in the spring and the fall of each year and average about 20 students. The course includes presentations by biologists, geologists, naturalists, and others from local, state, and federal agencies and universities.
For our chapter, go to our current Spring 2008 training schedule for Class 22.
Because the purpose of the course is to train Master Naturalist volunteers, it is available only to participants who plan on completing an official Texas Master Naturalist Program through a recognized chapter. Those volunteers who have some basic knowledge about local natural history are better prepared as Master Naturalists. This course can be a springboard to additional information based on each person's individual interests.
Also, you must complete a minimum of 40 hours of volunteer service and 8 hours of advanced training during the first 12 months following your completion of the course. This must be completed before your class graduation anniversary date. Advanced training enables Texas Master Naturalists to learn additional knowledge or a particular skill in order to assist with different volunteer projects. Advanced training activities in the past have involved hands-on instruction, field trips to local natural areas, and lectures with such topics as: Texas bats, Texas insects, Texas aquatic environments, wildscape development, and trail planning, among many others.
All of the volunteer and advanced training activities must be approved by the chapter board of directors and you must report your hours to get credit. Once you meet these requirements, you will receive a gold seal for your certificate and will be certified as a Texas Master Naturalist.
To maintain certification, an additional minimum of 8 hours of advanced training and at least 40 hours of volunteer service are required each year. As above, all of the volunteer and advanced training activities must be approved by the chapter board of directors and you must report your hours to get credit.
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How is the chapter organized and where are the meetings?
The chapter elects the board of directors and the committee chairs are appointed by the board. The board members and the committee chairs are listed in the monthly newsletter as well as on the contact page. If you would like to serve on the board of directors or as a committee chair, please refer to the monthly newsletter or the contact page for any openings, or contact the chapter president. There are many ways to get involved, from helping with the big annual events to helping with the monthly tasks. Your help is always needed and is greatly appreciated!
The Alamo Area Chapter meets on the second Wednesday of each month at the Bexar County office of the Texas AgriLife Extension Service (Texas Cooperative Extension). There is usually a guest speaker at the general meeting and often the topic is considered to be advanced training. The general meeting is usually at 7:00 PM. Just before the general meeting, the chapter board meets to conduct chapter business at the same location, usually at 5:15 PM. Refer to the monthly newsletter and the activities calendar for any information on the general meeting topics.
If you have, or know someone who has, an expertise or experience in a topic that fulfills our goals as Master Naturalists, then please contact our outreach coordinator for giving a talk during our chapter meetings. We are always interested in increasing our knowledge and understanding of the natural world and of the proper use and management of natural resources.
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What are the volunteer activities and advanced training?
There are several ways you can keep up with the volunteer activities and advanced training.
The two major ways are available online at this Web site, where you can download our chapter newsletter and view our activities calendar. Both the newsletter and this Web site contain chapter news and other related information, and both contain postings for volunteer activities and advanced training.
If you have an email address, you can receive announcements for such activities along with the monthly newsletter. If you want chapter email, or if you need to update your contact information, please fill out your information on the contact page. We use your information only to keep in contact with you regarding any chapter news and announcements, and will not use it for spam. See our privacy policy.
Also, sign-up sheets for various activities are sometimes available at our monthly chapter meetings.
If you are a Master Naturalist and have an activity or if you want one approved, fill out an activity approval form and submit it to the activities coordinator for consideration. All approved activities will appear either in our chapter newsletter or on the activities calendar. If your approved activity is ongoing, you will need to resubmit it each year for approval.
If you are a sponsor or partner with our Master Naturalist chapter, you will need to fill out the streamlined partner activity approval form and submit it to the activities coordinator for consideration. As above, all approved activities will appear either in our chapter newsletter or on the activities calendar. If the approved activity is ongoing, you will need to resubmit it each year for approval.
You can either mail a paper copy of each form or, better yet, email it to the activities coordinator. Each activity must be approved by the chapter board in order for you as a Master Naturalist to receive credit for your volunteer hours, or for you as a partner to request help for your activity from Master Naturalist volunteers. Once approved, the activities coordinator will put the activity on the chapter approved list.
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How do I report my volunteer hours?
Since we are a community service organization sponsored by the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department and the Texas AgriLife Extension, it is important to keep track and report our volunteer hours. This is important not only to maintain our individual Master Naturalist certification, but also for our chapter to tally the total annual hours served. This information is the basis for funding from grants and other programs which help further our goals as Master Naturalists.
It is best to report your hours regularly on a quarterly basis so that the tally of your hours can be the most accurate: March 31, June 30, September 30, and December 31. Fill out the hours report form and email it to the appropriate membership coordinator. If you want detailed instructions and examples on how to use the hours report form, it can be found on the report hours page.
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How do I update my membership information?
As long as you desire to keep your membership with our Alamo Area Master Naturalist Chapter, please try to keep us up-to-date with your contact information (especially your home and email addresses) by using our Alamo Area Master Naturalist Contact Form. It's quick and easy!
This contact form is also used to let us know if you want a newsletter subscription via email instead of having to download it from this site every month. Just be sure to let us know in the comments box if you want to subscribe.
Keeping your information up-to-date would be a big help to us! We only use your information to keep in contact with you regarding any chapter news and announcements, and will not use it for spam. See our privacy policy.
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How can I submit my photos to the Web site or link to it?
We encourage you to take pictures or write articles on any of the approved activities. That way, you can share your experience with everyone! Email your articles to the newsletter editor before the last full weekend of each month for inclusion in the next month's newsletter. If you have any pictures, email them along with a brief description and any source credits to the webmaster. If approved (subject to any editorial or space considerations), then your work will appear in the newsletter or on the gallery page.
On the other hand, if you would like to use our photos or articles on your own Web site, please refer to our copyright and linking policies. We welcome your interest in our Web site, so if you want to see our chapter-specific graphics, go to our graphics page.
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Why can't I log in to the approved activities calendar?
The approved activities calendar is available for everyone to use. All of the events listed on our calendar can be viewed by anyone who visits our chapter Web site. You do not need to subscribe to a membership group or ask for a password.
However, because the listed events must be activities that have been approved beforehand by our chapter, not everyone can use the log in page to modify the calendar.
If you have an activity that you want listed on the calendar, please go through the chapter approval process first. If you have an activity that has been already approved, but it is not listed on the calendar, then please contact Sam Glass. Both the Newsletter Editor and the Webmaster try hard to have the same information available for you to use, but mistakes do happen.
