Volunteer Ops

Middle school students at Port Lavaca are developing a birding guide for the Myrtle Whitmire unit of Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. As part of their effort, they need to be able to interview local-area birders. If you can help, please contact Sherri Krause at —361-552-5023 or krauses@calcoisd.org.

Mad Island Marsh Preserve

Volunteer to help with fresh-water and salt-water marsh ecology education.
Contact Cathy Porter at 361-972-3295 or cporter@tnc.org to volunteer or find out more.

Dates and groups with which Cathy needs help are on the Mad Island page.

Phytoplankton Monitoring Network (PMN) Project

Volunteers take water samples from a site two to four times monthly, analyze the samples for phytoplankton that may cause Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB), and then upload the information into an Internet database. If you did not receive the training, you can do on-the-job training with a PMN team member. For more information contact TJ Fox, who is coordinating the Chapter effort, at 361-729-2992 or tj.fox@charter.net to volunteer and arrange for OJT.

For more information about the program, see the PMN website.

Mid-Coast Chapter Speakers Bureau

If you are already making presentations to local groups as a Master Naturalist, or would like to, we would like know about you and be able to contact you if a group requests a speaker. Even if you are not interested in speaking to the public, if you would be interested in helping develop the program, please contact Paul at 361-570-3679 or paulmary0211@sbcglobal.net.

Victoria Advocate Guest Columnist

Paul and Mary Meredith, as Texas Master Naturalists, write a nature column for the Victoria Advocate. This activity relates directly to our TMN mission, "To develop a corps of well-informed volunteers to provide education, outreach, and service dedicated to the beneficial management of natural resources and natural areas within their communities." If you would like to write a guest column to appear in the paper, contact Paul or Mary at paulmary0211@sbcglobal.net.

Mid-Coast Website Writer

Know something that other Chapter members would like to know about? Write it up and send it to us at kris_kirkwood@wildblue.net. Don't think you can write? List what happened in chronological order, and we'll write it up for you and get your okay before publishing.

Texas Zoo Docent

The Texas Zoo is holding open enrollment for their newly revamped docent program. Docents are volunteer educators, 18 years old or over, who provide tours, animal encounters, and much more for zoo visitors. Docents have a passion to share all that they have learned about the animals that live at the zoo and in the wild.

Volunteer are needed to assist with: education programs, guided tours, special events, zoo camps, explorer carts, outreaches, animal care and handling, and more. No teaching or animal handling experience needed, only a love of nature and conservation.

If you would like to volunteer at the Zoo, but have not had the docent training offered January 20, contact Tammy Zellner, Education Curator, at 361-573-7681 or by email to tzellner@texaszoo.org for more information.

Texas Invaders Volunteer Opportunity

Do you want to help slow the spread of harmful invasive plant species and reduce their ecological and economic damage? The first step is to locate where invaders have arrived and get that information to those who can do something about it.

Check out the Texas Invaders website:

Home page: http://www.texasinvasives.org/
Why do we care? http://www.texasinvasives.org/About/invasives.html
About the Citizen Science Program: http://www.texasinvasives.org/Citizen_Science/citizen.html
Database being built: http://www.texasinvasives.org/Invasives_Database/invaders/Invaders.html

If you did not attend the training session, you can still volunteer for this effort. Contact Kris Kirkwood at 361-729-5901 or by email to kris_kirkwood@wildblue.net for OJT.

Coastal Birding Trails—Improvement and Maintenance

Ray Little mows trails, clears unwanted brush, maintains water drips and feeders, and performs other tasks at Aransas Woods, Fred Jones Nature Sanctuary, Rockport Demonstration Bird Garden and Wetlands Pond, and Connie Hagar Cottage Sanctuary. He can always use help. Contact Ray Little at 361-729-8816 or by e-mail to rlittle@pyramid3.net. Approved.

Bird Rescue & Rehabilitation

Volunteers gather bait fish for food, transport birds, administer medications, and other tasks:

Victoria—Contact Janene Adamson at 361-576-3806 or by e-mail to rrosspaull@cox-internet.com. Janene is also certified to do raptor rehabilition.

Bay City Area—Contact Cherie Allen at 979-245-4392 or by e-mail to cherie_iluvbirds@sbcglobal.net

Riparian Study—Chapter Project

Other Possibilities

Monarch Butterfly Migration Waystation

The 2005 Class Project to set up a waystation is spearheaded by Les Sorenson. He has found a location for one to be placed in the Connie Hagar Wildlife Sanctuary in Rockport. If you would like to help with this project, contact Les Sorenson at 361-729-6488 or by email to les.sorenson@sbcglobal.net.

Mid-Coast TMN Library Education and Outreach

Like to make posters? Talk to your local library and then go for it. Buy a science-project display board and create a static display to help with our TMN mission: "...provide education, outreach, and service dedicated to the beneficial management of natural resources and natural areas within our communities." The topic is up to you: teach about an environmental subject, display photos of TMN activities such as Matagorda Island Turtle Patrol; the sky is the limit. An additional benefit is the opportunity to publicize what we do and recruit for our Chapter. Contact John O'Connell at 361-920-5312 or by email to j-oconnell@tamu.edu if you have questions, or want suggestions, or need photo contacts.

Chapter Newsletter

If you would like to serve as point of contact for TMN news and send out a periodic newsletter by e-mail, please contact Project Chair Earl Matthew by email or phone to 361-790-9579.

Interpretive Events for the Public—Matagorda State Park

John O'Connell needs volunteers for this project in Matagorda State Park in Port O'Connor, TX. Watch this space for details, or contact John by e-mail or at 979-245-4100.

Insect/Plant CD Development

We want to develop a fund-raiser CD containing photos and narrative descriptions of insects, plants, and grasses in easy-to-access format. Watch this space for details, or contact John O'Connell by e-mail or at 979-245-4100.

Make Your Own Volunteer Opportunity

Check out the Volunteer Contacts page, and contact the person at a place you'd like to volunteer.
Keep an eye out for new opportunities in your community, check the Volunteering Guidelines to see if they fit our TMN mission, and contact Earl Matthew, Projects Chairman, at 361-790-9579 or mailto:earlmatthew@hotmail.com for approval.

Volunteering Guidelines

Forms Downloads (Word Documents)

Monthly Activity Report form—New! Use this form to report both approved volunteer hours and advanced training
Request for Approval of an Individual Volunteer Activity
Chapter Project Plan Approval Form

Click a link to download a form. Once it is open in your browser, choose Save As... from the File menu to save a copy to your computer. You can then open that copy and complete the form electronically or print it and complete it manually. If you do not have MS Word and need electronic forms in a different format, contact Kris Kirkwood.

Individual Opportunities

Volunteer for a Mid-Coast Chapter Partner

Other Information

Birding Guide Resource Persons Needed