Actively advocate for a healthy environment!
Direct any questions regarding volunteer/education opportunities to the Volunteer & Continuing Education Committee at volunteers@louisianamasternaturalistsgno.org
To submit an event fill out this form.
At LMNGNO, we aim to provide our membership with as many opportunities to engage with the natural world as possible.
The Volunteer & Continuing Education Committee and LMNGNO Board have been working hard to come up with ways to continue gaining volunteer and continuing education hours while keeping all of our amazing members safe. Our community's safety is of the utmost importance right now so please make sure to always practice safe social distancing measures in everything you do.
LMNGNO Volunteers in Action
Below is a breakdown of those pre-approved opportunities and some highlights. Please contact us if you have other socially distant ideas you'd like us to consider.
Continuing Education Opportunities:
Join Byron Almquist for Walks in the Woods. There will be opportunities to increase nature observation skills, learn some history about an area and to how to identify native trees.
Volunteer Opportunities:
Make sure to check POINT for the most up-to-date volunteer and continuing education opportunities.
Communication Committee contributions: We are always looking for contributions to the organization's various communications and platforms. Contact Tanee Janusz - tsjanusz78@gmail.com for more information.
NEEDED: One to two people willing to dedicate a few hours each general meeting to edit and coordinate the newsletter and its contents. They will be awarded one hour for every hour worked. Written contributions - 1 volunteer hour per page of unedited text. Includes reflections, blog posts, and newsletter articles. Photo contributions - 1 volunteer hour per 5 photos submitted.
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- Media contributions - 1 volunteer hour per hour of labor (incl. research, planning, and execution). This criteria refers to alternate forms of media: visual art, sketches, paintings, videography, recorded lectures & webinars, data visualization, etc. Anything that can be shared on social sites.
- Online content- 1 volunteer hour per 3 social media posts.
- Editorial Work - 1 volunteer hour per hour of labor.
Organizations needing socially distant onsite volunteers
Northlake Nature Center - ( The folks at Northlake always need help with things like titivation (trail maintenance)! Please check out the TIF calendar or contact Rue McNeil for more information: rue@northlakenature.org
Nature's Notebook - Discover and document changes in nature near you.
Sankofa Wetland Park and Nature Trail (please contact Tricia LeBlanc for more information- tricia@sankofanola.org )
City Park- Looking for some volunteer activities to do on your own time? Then come on out to City Park to help our community! Right now the Park needs assistance with litter pickup - just choose any spot you like and every little bit you can do will truly help us out tremendously! Looking for other options? There is always work to do in the forested areas of Couturie Forest & Scout Island. Needs include: removing invasives such as Cayratia japonica and Chinese Tallow, and clearing back any vegetation encroaching on the trails. Vines that are taking over the smaller, native trees in the forests can also be cleared and removed from around the trees. Anything that is cut back or removed can be left in the area, as long as it is off the trails. Contact Tyler Havens for more information thavens@nocp.org.
Pontchartrain Conservancy's Native Tree Nursery
The Pontchartrain Conservancy is seeking volunteers to help maintain their native tree nursery located at 398 Plaquemine St. Metairie, LA 70005 in Bucktown. The nursery contains over 4,000 bald cypress and green ash trees that will be planted throughout the swamps of southeast Louisiana as part of their coastal restoration efforts. Volunteers can sign up for an hour-long shift any day of the work week. Duties will include simple tasks like weeding, watering, and pruning. Feel free to contact Noah, the nursery manager, at noah@scienceforourcoast.org with any questions
Hummingbirds - get your volunteer hours on your schedule
Please e-mail Seth Nehrbass, SNehrbass@gmail.com, if you would like to volunteer with hummingbird-attracting projects at the New Orleans Botanical Garden at City Park. Current projects include maintaining the Hummingbird Garden (we usually meet weekly, Tuesdays at 9am, for 2 or 3 hours, and usually can fit in more volunteers) and cleaning and refilling hummingbird feeders. As the feeders typically need to be cleaned and refilled every 2 or 3 days, we have room for many volunteers to help. Each feeder cleaning should net you at least 1 volunteer hour, as you can pull Cayratia japonica (bush-killer vine - an invasive species) until your total time (traveling and working) adds up to at least one hour (or two, or three, or as much time as you would like to volunteer). We will train you the first time, and we have an online spreadsheet to allow you to sign up whenever you like.
Invasive plant removal at the New Orleans Botanical Garden - get your volunteer hours on your schedule
Please e-mail Seth Nehrbass, SNehrbass@gmail.com, if you would like to volunteer with invasive plant removal projects at the New Orleans Botanical Garden at City Park. Current projects include pulling Cayratia japonica (bush-killer vine - an invasive species) in the New Orleans Botanical Garden, but we expect to work elsewhere in City Park in the future. Once you are oriented and trained (which just takes a few minutes), you can go at your convenience and work until your total time (traveling and working) adds up to at least one hour (or two, or three, or as much time as you would like to volunteer). We will train you the first time.
Volunteers do not need to be Master Naturalists, so please share this information with your friends who are NOBG fans (including Master Gardeners, who also get volunteer credit for helping).
SOUL is looking for volunteers to distribute door hangers in neighborhoods where we want to plant trees in the fall. If you’re interested, please contact Mary Mysing-Gubala, marygubala@bellsouth.net or call 225-573-5192.
Volunteer Opportunity at the Louisiana Children’s Museum! Nature Guide Volunteers- The Louisiana Children's Museum is looking for Nature Guide Volunteers for this Summer! You’ll lead individual family tours around the museum landscape, keeping a social distance. Teach families about local plants and wildlife, and engage children in playful conversations about nature! Apply online at www.lcm.org/volunteer (Shift options: weekends and weekdays 9 am-12 pm, 12-3 pm or 3-6 pm)
Project Gutenberg & Distributed Proofreaders
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- Sign up as a volunteer transcriber! "Distributed Proofreaders (DP) rescues public domain/out-of-copyright (and frequently out-of-print) books and converts them to "electronic texts" that can be read by people on most computers or e-readers...via Project Gutenberg."
- The book you select must be in the public domain and related to natural history. For reporting, the title must be included in the “Notes:” field on Track It Forward.
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- Receive 1 hour of volunteer credit for each list you submit (contact Joelle Finley for help with lists). All hour submissions must include a list of species in the notes section to qualify for approval.
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- Receive 1 hour of volunteer credit for every 5 observations you submit and tag with the LMNGNO Explore Your Landscape project. All hour submissions must include a list of observations and confirmation you have contributed to the project in the notes section to qualify for approval.
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Create a National Wildlife Federation Certified Garden
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- Must either show your certificate (fee associated with certificate) or your application to receive credit hours. Learn more.
Seminar volunteer component (see below)
Do you know of any other organizations that need onsite volunteers and are practicing social distancing protocols?
Continuing Education Opportunities:
Louisiana Natural History Book Club
The club meets monthly on the first Sunday of the month from 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm. There will be a list of potential books. One person will choose to lead the discussion on a book of their choosing the following month. You will receive 1 hour of continuing education credit for reading the book and 1 hour for every hour spent discussing the book.
Contact Tres Fisher tresfisher@gmail.com for more information.
LMNGNO Seminars
A variety of speakers and content areas will take place via ZOOM. In addition to an interesting hour of natural history, each speaker has been asked to present a challenge to the audience that would involve some variety of outdoor exploration or observation on your own. Attendance at one seminar is eligible for 1 hour of continuing education and participation in the individual outdoor challenge is eligible for 1 - 3 hours of volunteer time depending on the challenge. As always, you must file your hours on POINT. If you have not signed up for an account, here is the link to POINT account - https://dash.pointapp.org/sign-in. Visit our seminars page to view the schedule and to see recorded seminars.
Only 1 hour of CE will be awarded per seminar attended.
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- Watch our Pre-recorded Seminars: Check out past LMNGNO seminars by visiting the "Seminars" tab at the top of this page. All seminars count for 1 hour of Continuing Education only. Please make sure to note in your hour submissions that you watched a pre-recorded seminar and indicate which one.
- Pre-approved Organization Webinars: Most webinars from our list of pre-approved organizations (please see the TIF hour submission form for the most up-to-date list) will count for continuing education. You must add the title of the webinar and a few bits of information that you took away from the webinar to the notes section. Otherwise, the submission will be rejected.