Our website is dedicated to keeping members and interested members of the public up-to-date on opportunities for learning and volunteer service in our area. The strength of our program is in its nature as a mutually-supportive community of highly-motivated and independent individuals. This site hopes to empower that community by promoting communications about what the members have been doing and what they can be doing to serve Central Texas.

CAMN volunteers continue to make a difference in the stewardship of natural resources across our area. We are proud of all the great projects that are happening and want to share them with you. Take the time to share our pride in your hard work, the learning that occurs and the sharing of your knowledge with others. The evidence of this great effort can be seen in our Hill Country surroundings, our streams and rivers, our thickets and woods, prairies and parks, and finally our schools.

Pictures courtesy: Lynne and Jim Weber

The Capital Area Master Naturalists’ Class of 2012 has now been filled. Applications for 2013 will be available in August 2012.

If this is inconvenient for you, you may wish to check for class availability with other Master Naturalist chapters in the region, or investigate programs such as Go Native U at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

 

CAMN Meeting—May 30th, 2012

Class Picture

 

At 6:30 (for social hour) and 7:00 (for program) on May 30, we will hold our Annual Elections Meeting. There will not be a speaker, but there will be several informative presentations concerning the contributions that CAMN has made to our community in the year gone by (including the Class of 2012 at left). You will also have an opportunity to discuss your ideas for the future course of the organization. Pizza will be served!

Nominations are still being taken and will be taken from the floor at the meeting, but the following is the slate proposed by the Nominations Committee. Please be there to vote.

 

 

President: Kris Thorne
Vice-President: Cheryl Goveia and Greg Cumpton
Past President: Christine Powell
Treasurer: Peg Gavin
Administrative Secretary: David Dunlap
Recording Secretary: Maggie Moody
At-Large Board Members: Meredith O’Reilly & Harry Miller

Regular Monthly Meetings are normally the last Wednesday of each month (except December when we do not meet) and are held at 6:30, at the Austin Nature and Science Center, Zilker Park (Map to Austin Nature Center http://bit.ly/hJ2Pli)

All meetings are open to the public, so bring a friend!

 

Upcoming Meetings:

  • 30th May, 2012—Annual Election Meeting. No speaker, but come and offer your input on the future direction of the organization. Pizza will be served.

Become a Master Naturalist

Texas Master Naturalists not only get their feet wet and their hands dirty, but while doing so they spend time in a natural setting, learn about different plant and animal species, and maybe even find something new: One member, in fact, discovered a new plant species.

To become a Texas Master Naturalist, each volunteer:

  • Goes through an approved training program with at least 40 hours of combined field and classroom instruction, plus 8 hours of approved advanced training
  • Donates 40 hours of volunteer service back to the state and community. Trainees can complete their 40 hours of volunteer service and 8 hours of advanced training within a year after their initial training.
  • Completes another 8 hours of advanced training and donates 40 hours of volunteer service every year after the first one.

Interested in joining? If you can’t find a chapter near you, contact the Texas Master Naturalist coordinator, a local office of Texas Parks and Wildlife or a local county Extension agent.

Become A Master Naturalist

Want to know more?
Here’s some facts:

Since the organization’s founding in 1998, Texas Master Naturalists have contributed more than 1,003,409 hours of service on 90,000 acres of wildlife and native plant habitats, and reached more than 1.2 million Texas residents of all ages. These volunteer efforts are worth more than $20 million.

Currently 5,306 Texas Master Naturalist™ volunteers serve in 39 local chapters across the state, and new chapters are opening all the time.

The program has earned the Wildlife Management Institute’s Presidents’ 2000 Award, the National Audubon Society’s 2001 Habitat Hero’s Award, the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission’s 2001 Environmental Excellence Award, and Texas A&M University’s 2001 Vice Chancellor’s Award of Excellence in Partnership. In 2005 program earned the U.S. Department of Interior’s “Take Pride in America” award.