Are you attending the October 8 CalNat Regional Rendezvous? Sign up to present a lightning talk now through September 8!
We hope you will take advantage of this fun and lively forum for attendees to inspire and discuss your California Naturalist experience and volunteer efforts. Please sign up to share your efforts to connect with nature and community! To learn more and sign up to speak, visit http://calnat.ucanr.edu/RR2017/lt17/. Details are also below. We look forward to hearing your story.
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What is a Lightning Talk?
A lighting talk is a low pressure review of important highlights of your naturalist experience. It provides a fun and lively forum for attendees to inspire and discuss their California Naturalist programs and volunteer efforts. Speakers are given five minutes each to formally present their key ideas and results (slides are optional, but no more than 5 slides per talk). Time is allotted at the end of the lightning talk sessions to interact with those interested in learning more about the information presented. Certified naturalists are great at giving a 5 minute talks after the experience of presenting a capstone project. Sample topics include capstone projects, interpretive work, results from a citizen science project, a technical skill/tool/new perspectives about the environment. See some example presentations and videos from CalNat2016 here.
How Do I Participate?
Please prepare a short summary of your topic, not to exceed 1,500 characters (approximately 200 words), including spaces. Begin with a clear statement of the topic or objectives, give brief methods or activities performed, describe what resulted for people and or the environment, and end with a conclusion or lessons learned. It is the responsibility of the author to verify the information submitted and to correct any errors or omissions before the submission deadline.
Important Dates:
· Submit your lightning talk title and short summary by Friday, September 8.
· We will confirm your participation no later than Friday, September 15.
· Send in your slides, if using them, by Monday, September 25. More to come on the website about submission details.
Schedule:
Naturalists will be split into one of two lightning talk sessions (AM/PM) depending on which excursion is chosen (AM/PM). Further scheduling details will be provided closer to the event.
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Please let Marisa Rodriguez know if you have any questions (myrodrig@ucanr.edu).
Thank you,
CalNat Regional Rendezvous Organizing Team
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
For the first time ever, anyone with an interest in gardening is invited to attend the UC Master Gardener Conference. Participants can learn the latest in home horticulture and share gardening stories with other gardening enthusiasts. The 2017 UC Master Gardener Conference will be held Aug. 22-25 at the Hyatt Regency in Long Beach.
“Due to our spacious conference location and increased number of sessions, we have the capacity to include more people who want to learn about gardening,” said Missy Gable, director of UC Master Gardener Program.
Participants can choose from 58 sessions to learn a wide variety of subjects such as training fruit trees, pruning grapevines or roses, managing garden pests from aphids to mountain lions, selecting low-water-use plants, diagnosing plant problems and many more.
Adam Schwerner, Disneyland Resort director of horticulture and resort enhancement, and Allan Armitage, University of Georgia professor emeritus will be the keynote speakers.
Four optional tours are available -- the Huntington Botanical Gardens, Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Gardens, Dramatic Gardens from the Desert to the Sea and Los Angeles Farm and Garden History.
Registration is $295 (actual value $466) and closes Aug. 7. To register, visit http://ucanr.edu/sites/2017MGConference/Register. Book rooms at the Hyatt Regency by July 31 for the conference rate.
For more information, visit the conference website at http://ucanr.edu/sites/2017MGConference.
The UC California Naturalist Program is pleased to announce the new Volunteer Portal (VMS 3.1) has arrived! Did you know that California Naturalists have logged over 99,000 volunteer hours? Thank you for your efforts! 2016 service pins were sent out over the last 2 weeks.
Over the last few months a small number of California Naturalist programs have been using the new version of the Volunteer Portal on a limited scale. Later this month, the program will go live for all California Naturalist programs around the state. This announcement provides you with important information to help you prepare for the new release.
- On July 12 (Wednesday) starting at 10:00 AM a 30 minute webinar will introduce you to the new Volunteer Portal and provide you with an opportunity ask questions. This will be followed at 10:30 by a similar 30 minute webinar for instructors/administrators only. To log-in to the webinar use the link below (suggested method for following along with the demonstration). If you do not have a computer, you can use the telephone to listen in:
- Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android to view the demonstration (you'll need a speaker to listen to the audio and a mic to make comments. If you don't have a mic you can type your questions into the chat): https://ucanr.zoom.us/j/5307501265
- Or, listen in on the telephone (US Toll): Dial: +1 646 558 8656 or +1 408 638 0968; Meeting ID: 530 750 1265
- We hope you will join us for this live webinar, but if you cannot, it will be recorded and made available with our other VMS help resources online.
- That same day, a new Help Page will be released at http://calnat.ucanr.edu/Resources/VP_Help/providing PowerPoint and video tutorials for common tasks in the new Volunteer Portal such as updating your profile, entering hours, and viewing your hours. Instructors and Administrators will have tutorials on loading a roster, graduating a course and sending Email.
- On July 17 (Monday) the new Volunteer Portal will go live for all users. When you log-in on the 17thyou will automatically be in the new system. We recommend that you review and update your profile and preferences at that time.
Save the Date! Announcing the first California Naturalist Program Regional Rendezvous in the North Coast and Bay Delta Bioregions on Sunday, October 8! We are excited to work with long-time partners at Pepperwood Preserve to offer a one day gathering for California Naturalists and interested friends. Naturalist updates, field walks with experts, keynote speakers, book exchange, lunch, and a final gathering and reception will all be included in this fun day. We'll rendezvous under the oaks to feed our curiosity, inspire each other, and build community!
Located in eastern Sonoma County, approximately 25 minutes from downtown Santa Rosa and a 90 minute drive north of San Francisco, Pepperwood manages a 3,200-acre nature preserve located in the heart of a globally-recognized biodiversity hotspot. The preserve is an important refuge for over 750 varieties of native plants and 150 species of wildlife including birds, reptiles, and mammals representing California's diverse climates.
Please return to the website and stay tuned for more details. Registration opens July 14. Click image below for a PDF flier.
Dear California Naturalists,
We tallied your #CalNat2016 nominations for the 2016 service pin and we're announcing a winner: Stagmomantis californica, the California mantis! In exchange for logging at least 40 service hours in the 2016 calendar year, certified California Naturalists will receive a beautiful 18k gold and enamel pin service pin as our thank you. The link to the volunteer portal will always be available on the top yellow menu of our home page under “Record Service Hours.”
Want to start collecting the CalNat Annual Service Pins?
Step 1) log your 2016 hours into the Volunteer Portal by January 15. Here's a guide that explains the categories of service and how to log your volunteer hours.
Step 2) update your capstone project title and mailing address in the "Edit your profile" section of the volunteer portal.
We'll take care of the rest! And we'll remind you again in January. (Pepperwood and Tejon Ranch stewards only, we'll get your hours from your instructor, but we still need you to update your address in the portal, please)
Why log hours? Our community of over 1600 certified California Naturalists has volunteered over 71,000 hours in five years! We suspect that is a HUGE under representation of the time you actually spend volunteering. And we understand- logging in and reporting isn't likely your motivation or the most rewarding part of your efforts. But the bottom line is that when you report your activities, we have a metric we can share with our colleagues at UC and the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, our partnering organizations, and beyond that demonstrates that our collective efforts are making a significant impact in this state. That metric eventually translates into allocations of resources from collaborators and sponsors to keep offering and expanding programming (like the Statewide Conference that ALL Naturalists received a discount and/or scholarship to attend!) that will keep our network growing, connected, and learning together. You are part of a larger, longer UC legacy of stewardship. Please help us measure your impact!
What are the rules for volunteer hours? Volunteer hours are defined as any time spent for which you are not paid tending nature, teaching others, doing environmental science, or taking action on behalf of conservation. Volunteer hours should take place in California and fall into the four categories of restoration/conservation, education/interpretation, citizen science, or program support. Hours also need to be attributed to an institution- please choose your organization in the drop down menu of partner institutions that offer the course, or specify “other” institution. Volunteer work you've already done in 2016 can be counted today! Your 8+ Capstone Project volunteer hours should be logged and will count toward the pin, however class time doesn't! Here's a guide that explains the categories of service and how to log your volunteer hours. We offer a new pin design every year to qualifying Naturalists, so if you can't make it to 40 hours this year, you'll have future opportunities!
Need help? Issues gaining access to the site or logging hours? Here's a guide that explains the categories of service and how to log your volunteer hours. Please e-mail canaturalist@ucanr.edu for further troubleshooting. We can re-send your portal invitation or help if you're having trouble gaining access. We'll be on a short vacation Dec 19-Jan 2, but please be patient and we'll get you the help you need!
We look forward to celebrating your service and sending your new pins in late February/early March!
Thanks for all you do!
