It’s Our Nature
Mimi Cavender
Hays County Chapter Shines at 2022 Texas Master Naturalist™ Annual Meeting
Our organization’s Mission is “to develop a corps of well-informed volunteers to provide education, outreach, and service dedicated to the beneficial management of natural resources and natural areas within their communities for the State of Texas.”
Towards the end of each year, honoring that Mission, Texas Master Naturalists convene somewhere in this big state to learn from one another, hear the latest research, and celebrate another year of cherishing the natural world. Welcome to Houston, Texas! This year saw the 23rd Annual Meeting—and the 24th year of the Texas Master Naturalist Program.
The 2022 Annual Meeting agenda was packed with over 100 concurrent technical sessions on a stunning variety of topics. Attendees, in person and remote, could choose from presentations on topics ranging from laws and ethics to native pollinators, from fungi to night sky issues, and from youth programs to community science. Expertise, experience, insight…all for the taking!
In-person attendees could show up a day early on Thursday, October 20, for pre-conference field sessions, with a welcome social later that evening. Officially, the Meeting launched on Friday morning, October 21, with technical sessions throughout the day, and at lunch the prestigious keynote presentation by Hays County Master Naturalist Cindy Luongo Cassidy. There were more technical sessions throughout Saturday, October 22, and the conference closed Sunday morning, October 23, with contest awards and 2023 recertification pins.
For Hays County Chapter members, especially if you’ve never attended the state meeting, here are some highlights:
Friday, October 21
8:00am - 10:15am – Here an App, There an App: Getting the Most from Each for Community Science - Craig Hensley, Texas Parks & Wildlife Department biologist. This was the first presentation of three from our articulate colleague and tireless fellow volunteer throughout Hays County!
11:30am - 1:30pm – Keynote Address: Conservation of the Night - Cindy Luongo Cassidy, International Dark-Sky Association Texas Chapter.
6:30pm – 8:30pm – Keynote Presentation and Dinner - Michelle Haggerty and Mary Pearl Meuth, Texas Master Naturalist Program. Our HCMN 2022 Graduating Class will recognize these two inspiring women as the editors of their basic textbook, Texas Master Naturalist Statewide Curriculum.
8:00pm - 9:00pm – Evaluate Your Lights for the Critters and Plants - Cindy Luongo Cassidy, International Dark-Sky Association Texas Chapter, and John Cassidy, Hays County Friends of the Night Sky, Founders Circle, International Dark-Sky Association, Hays County Chapter.
Saturday, October 22
1:15pm - 2:15pm – Join the Flock! - Cindy Luongo Cassidy, International Dark-Sky Association Texas Chapter, and Soll Sussman, Hays County Friends of the Night Sky.
Cindy Luongo Cassidy, a Hays County Master Naturalist, with her superb team, is a conference veteran at multiple presentations. She’s a dynamite communicator, with great energy, clarity—and killer graphics!
6:00pm - 8:00pm Dinner and Evening Awards Presentation. After another full day of sessions, more food and camaraderie! Sleep well; the best part is tomorrow morning…
Sunday October 23—final day
8:00am - 9:00am – After 7:00am breakfast, the Contest Awards! Hays County MNs brought it home!
Texas Master Naturalists honor the Mission in ways that bring us joy and that harness our interests, our talents. It’s a pairing of head, heart, and hands. It’s our nature.
It was on display at the state meeting—all those talents in service to our love of the natural world! Each year those talents and that service find a wider peer audience. And maybe an award. At State 2022, the work of three Hays County Master Naturalists won awards: an outreach project director, a videographer, and a photographer. Take a look:
Robert Currie and Christine Middleton were juried 1st Place for video with their 2022 short documentary of HCMN’s Wild About Nature program, an education outreach to Hays County children and their parents.
Robert Currie and Christine Middleton were juried also 2nd Place for video with their 2022 short documentary of another of Christine Middleton’s programs, Habitat Enhancing Land Management (HELM), an education outreach to ecology minded rural property owners.
Videos created by and for Hays County Master Naturalists cover a range of topics related to Hays County’s rich natural world. A fabulous collection of our members’ work can be enjoyed on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@hayscountymasternaturalist4797
At the 2022 TMN Annual Meeting, the still photography competition had seven categories and drew scores of impressive entries from Texas Master Naturalist chapters statewide.
This extraordinary photo, Night of the Flower Moon, by Hays County Master Naturalist Betsy Cross, was juried 1st Place in the Enhanced Digital Photography category and then won Best of Show in the entire Photo, Art, and Media category!
Night of the Flower Moon
This image of last spring’s total lunar eclipse, known as The Flower Moon, was featured in the June 2022 Hays Humm as part of Betsy Cross’ article Flower Moon, which—in case you missed it—you can now enjoy here.
If you’ve never attended the Annual Meeting of Texas Master Naturalist, know that now with hybrid access, you don’t have to travel; you can grow your mastery from the comfort of home—but you’ll miss the in-person networking, the camaraderie.
Not yet a Master Naturalist? What are you waiting for? If you love the natural world with head, heart, and hands, you’re already one of us. It’s our nature.