Going Forward with the Blackland Prairie Chapter

Note about Advanced Training

Advanced training enables Texas Master Naturalists to gain additional knowledge or develop a particular skill to assist with different volunteer service projects. Advanced training activities in the past have involved hands-on instruction, field trips to local natural areas, and lectures with such topics as Texas bats, Texas insects, Texas aquatic environments, wild-scape development, and trail planning, among many others. We have a speaker at almost every Monthly Chapter meeting, which allows attendees to earn 1 hour of AT each month.

Important! Attendance at virtual advanced training events will be credited under certain circumstances:

1. TMN Tuesdays: These virtual training sessions are offered by the state Texas Master Naturalist™ program. These one-hour sessions are offered at noon on the second Tuesday of each month and earn one hour of AT.

2. You may ALSO earn credit for watching the recorded TMN Tuesday sessions from 2025. Recorded sessions from previous years are available, BUT are         not eligible for AT credit.

3. With the exception of TMN Tuesdays, all other virtual AT events you attend must be live events that have time set aside for interactive Q&A with the presenter or moderator in order to qualify for AT credit.

Recertification and Annual Dues

After your initial certification, you will need to recertify each subsequent calendar year by completing 40 hours of volunteer service and acquiring 8 hours of advanced training. Upon attaining your annual certification milestone, your achievement will be commemorated with the recertification pin uniquely designed for that year. During your initial certification year, you have an opportunity to earn the annual recertification pin by earning an additional 8 hours of advanced training (for a total of 16) and an additional 40 volunteer service hours (for a total of 80) by December 31, 2025.

Summing up, as 2025 trainees, you have until December 31 of this year to achieve your initial certification. Some of you will even earn your 2025 recertification pin before the end of this year.  In either of these cases, you will need to recertify in the 2026 calendar year.  

Note: You do NOT need to pay dues for the 2025 calendar year. Your annual dues were included in your training fee. You won’t need to pay dues (currently $25/year) again until January, 2026. Reminders are made at the December and January meetings, and through chapter communication channels.