The Shenandoah Chapter is currently running a Virginia Master Naturalists Training Class from March 19 through May 21 at Blandy Experimental Farm in Boyce VA, and other nearby locations for field trips.

If you are interested in attending a future training class please contact Alex Newhart at vmnshenandoah@gmail.com or call Alex at 540-837-1626.  You will receive an application for the class along with instructions on how to apply.

The Shenandoah Chapter is hoping to offer a Virginia Master Naturalists Training Class staring in September, 2021.  Tentative dates are September 11th through November 10th.  The location for the training classes has not yet been established.  Of course, development with COVID may affect these tentative plans.

If you are interested in attending our training class please contact Alex Newhart at vmnshenandoah@gmail.com or call Alex at 540-837-1626.  You will receive an application for the class along with instructions on how to apply.

The Chapter will hold its annual training classes beginning March 18th.  The classes are held on Wednesday evenings from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM and Saturdays from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM.  Most of the classes are held at Blandy Experimental Farm and State Arboretum located on Route 50 just east of Route 340. 

The classes cover a wide range of natural science topics such as geology, soils, weather, ecology, ornithology, mammalogy, herpetology, entomology, botany, land use, dendrology and interpretation.  We use a combination of class room lectures, hands on exercises and field trips to cover these topics.

If you are interested in applying to our training class, please contact Alex Newhart at vmnshenandoah@gmail.com to request an application form.  Alex can also be reached at 540-837-1626 if you have any questions about the class.  The deadline for sending in applications is February 6th.

24 hours. 75 acres. Every species you can find.

On June 28th, scientists, students, and amateur naturalists scurried over a 75-acre plot at Sky Meadows State Park located in Fauquier County, Virginia. Their task? To identify every species they came across from noon on Saturday to noon on Sunday. Separated into teams by broad taxonomic groups, our BioBlitz participants (Chapter members, Friends of Sky Meadows, or friends of both groups) drudged in ponds, overturned rocks,  and kept their binoculars aimed at the sky to find our furry, feathered, flowering, and many-legged wild friends. By recording the appearance of every species of plant or animal (a variable called "species richness" in biodiversity measurements), Sky Meadows hopes to gain a better understanding of the current health of the biodiversity in the chosen area. The long-term plan? To rehabilitate the wildlife habitat within the 75 acres which has historically been used as agricultural or grazing fields. If we know what plants and animals are there, not only can we build a better wildlife habitat but we can also tell through future measurements if the rehabilitation is actually increasing the biodiversity of the area. Stay tuned to learn about what the Friends of Sky Meadows and the Shenandoah Master Naturalists plan next for their BioBlitz rehabilitation area.

Pomp and Circumstance replaced the usual frog songs and bird titters of Blandy Experimental Farm on Wednesday night. After two months of lectures and trips across the Shenandoah Valley, the chapter's Class of 2014 officially graduated from their Basic Training Course. After a scrumptious potluck, the 2014 class presented their Independent Projects on local Volunteer Opportunities and then sat back with a glass of wine to enjoy Chapter course leader Laure Wallace's beautiful photo slideshow of their time as a Master-Naturalist-In-Training. Though they headed home content with a full belly and a mind rich with natural history knowledge, their journey is not over yet! The Class of 2014 has a year of volunteer service and continuing education to look forward to. The members of the Shenandoah Chapter can't wait to see what their new members can do!