Actively advocate for a healthy environment! 

**See COVID Updates Below**

At LMNGNO, we aim to provide our membership with as many opportunities to engage with the natural world as possible. 

This graph depicts the sum of volunteer hours
​contributed by LMNGNO membership in the last six weeks. 

We work to build partnerships with the expansive network of environmental groups in Louisiana so that our members can apply the knowledge they learn in the Master Naturalist workshops in the field.  

Each year, our organization volunteers thousands of hours of time and energy towards educating others about Louisiana's natural history. 

**COVID Updates

[Last Updated: July 29th, 2020]
The Certification Committee and LMNGNO Board have been working hard to come up with ways to continue gaining volunteer and continuing education hours while keeping all of our amazing members safe. Our community's safety is of the utmost importance right now so please make sure to always practice safe social distancing measures in everything you do. 

Below is a breakdown of those pre-approved opportunities and some highlights. Please feel free to respond to this email if you have other socially distant ideas you'd like us to consider.

Volunteer Opportunities:

• Communication Committee contributions: We are always looking for contributions to the organization's various communications and platforms. Please find the attached document for more details. All submissions must be approved by Alahna Moore, the Committee Chair.
  • NEEDED: One to two people willing to dedicate a few hours each general meeting to edit and coordinate the newsletter and its contents. They will be awarded one hour for every hour worked.
  • Written contributions - 1 volunteer hour per page of unedited text. Includes reflections, blog posts, and newsletter articles.
  • Photo contributions - 1 volunteer hour per 5 photos submitted.
  • Media contributions - 1 volunteer hour per hour of labor (incl. research, planning, and execution). This criteria refers to alternate forms of media: visual art, sketches, paintings, videography, recorded lectures & webinars, data visualization, etc. Anything that can be shared on social sites. 
  • Online content- 1 volunteer hour per 3 social media posts. 
  • Editorial Work - 1 volunteer hour per hour of labor.
• Organizations needing socially distant onsite volunteers
  • Northlake Nature Center (please contact Rue McNeil for more information- Rue@northlakenature.org)
  • Sankofa Wetland Park and Nature Trail (please contact Tricia LeBlanc for more information- tricia@sankofanola.org )
  • Phenology trails in the area
  • City Park- Looking for some volunteer activities to do on your own time?  Then come on out to City Park to help our community!  Right now the Park needs assistance with litter pickup - just choose any spot you like and every little bit you can do will truly help us out tremendously!  Looking for other options?  There is always work to do in the forested areas of Couturie Forest & Scout Island. Needs include: removing invasives such as Cayratia japonica and Chinese Tallow, and clearing back any vegetation encroaching on the trails. Vines that are taking over the smaller, native trees in the forests can also be cleared and removed from around the trees.  Anything that is cut back or removed can be left in the area, as long as it is off the trails. Contact Tyler Havens for more information thavens@nocp.org.
  • SOUL is looking for volunteers to distribute door hangers in neighborhoods where we want to plant trees in the fall. If you’re interested, please contact Mary Mysing-Gubala, marygubala@bellsouth.net  or call 225-573-5192.  
  • Volunteer Opportunity at the Louisiana Children’s Museum! Nature Guide Volunteers- The Louisiana Children's Museum is looking for Nature Guide Volunteers for this Summer! You’ll lead individual family tours around the museum landscape, keeping a social distance. Teach families about local plants and wildlife, and engage children in playful conversations about nature! Apply online at www.lcm.org/volunteer (Shift options: weekends and weekdays 9 am-12 pm, 12-3 pm or 3-6 pm)
  • Do you know of any other organizations that need onsite volunteers and are practicing social distancing protocols? Reply to this email and we can get them included on the list!
• Project Gutenberg & Distributed Proofreaders
  • Sign up as a volunteer transcriber! "Distributed Proofreaders (DP) rescues public domain/out-of-copyright (and frequently out-of-print) books and converts them to "electronic texts" that can be read by people on most computers or e-readers...via Project Gutenberg." 
  • The book you select must be in the public domain and related to natural history. For reporting, the title must be included in the “Notes:” field on Track It Forward.
• Zooniverse Projects:
  • Zooniverse is an online citizen scientist platform with lots of different projects! Below are a variety of pre-approved projects. Please email volunteers.lmngno@gmail.com for other project approvals on this site.

• • Notes from Nature: Southeastern Biodiversity 
  • Notes from Nature 
  • Nest Quest: Robins 
  • Fishing in the Past 
  • Nest Quest: Flycatchers 
  • Fossil Atmospheres 
  • Project Plumage 
  • Invader ID (Invasive Species) 
  • Notes from Nature Butterflies 
• eBird 
  • Receive 1 hour of volunteer credit for each list you submit (contact Joelle Finley for help with lists). All hour submissions must include a list of species in the notes section to qualify for approval.
• iNaturalist
  • ​Receive 1 hour of volunteer credit for every 5 observations you submit and tag with the LMNGNO Explore Your Landscape project. All hour submissions must include a list of observations and confirmation you have contributed to the project in the notes section to qualify for approval.
• Create a National Wildlife Federation Certified Garden
  • Must either show your certificate (fee associated with certificate) or your application to receive credit hours.
• Seminar volunteer component (see below)  

Continuing Education Opportunities:
"Seminars from a variety of speakers and content areas will take place every Wednesday evening at 7 PM via ZOOM. In addition to an interesting hour of natural history, each speaker has been asked to present a challenge to the audience that would involve some variety of outdoor exploration or observation on your own. Attendance at one seminar is eligible for 1 hour of continuing education and participation in the individual outdoor challenge is eligible for 1 - 3 hours of volunteer time depending on the challenge. As always, you must file your hours on Track it Forward. If you have not signed up for an account, here is the link to LMNGNO Track it Forward account. Do not sign up for a second account if you already have one."
Only 1 hour of CE will be awarded per seminar attended. 

• Independent or Very Small Study Group Project - Submit topic, methodology, and time frame to Mary Mysing-Gubala, marygubala@bellsouth.net. She can approve the event and send it to the Certification Committee if the event is suitable for participation by individuals or other members.
• Webinars from pre-approved organizations (see Track It Forward for the list of pre-approved organizations).

Upcoming Events

Direct any questions to the Certification Committee at volunteers.lmngno@gmail.com ​