We are now accepting online applications for our Fall 2025 Basic Training Course!
The Eastern Shore Chapter of the Virginia Master Naturalist Program is a corps of well-informed volunteers who provide education, outreach, and service dedicated to the beneficial management of ESVA’s natural resources and natural areas.
- Natural Resources: This focus distinguishes our program from some other programs, such as Virginia Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners, which is focused on home horticulture.
- Volunteerism: The primary purpose of the VMN Program is to train, develop, and support volunteers who will participate in natural resource conservation through volunteering.
- Local Communities: Although the program is statewide, it is a chapter-based program that encourages volunteers to focus their learning and service in their own communities.
We support the Eastern Shore by volunteering in:
- Education and Outreach Activities: activities or programs in which the VMN educates the public. It may include interpretive programs at parks; presentations and tabling/booths at fairs, markets, and other public events; and educational presentations to identified audiences, such as community groups, school groups, or homeowner associations.
- Science Activities: service involving data collection, monitoring, biological inventories, and other science-oriented activities. These activities may be called citizen science, community science, participatory science, or other terms, depending on the activity and partners involved. Examples include stream monitoring, vernal pools monitoring, and organized bird and butterfly counts.
- Stewardship Activities: hands-on volunteer activities intended to improve habitat and other natural resources, or, in some cases, to improve the ability of the public to access these resources. These activities typically occur on public lands and may include invasive plant removal, habitat restoration, and trail building/maintenance. As with other service activities, these activities must be for public benefit, not personal gain, and must first be approved by the chapter.
