Announcements from the May Chapter Meeting

Highlights from the May Chapter Meeting

The Announcements
View the full set of May announcements here..

Highlights of the meeting

City Nature Challenge – our second virtual chapter meeting
Does it feel like all of life is online now? Thanks to all of you who turned out for our second NTMN Live via Zoom chapter meeting. I appreciate how you’re patiently adapting to our new format. While we’re all eager for the day we can meet in person again, this is a good substitute.

And many thanks to our speaker, Sam Kieschnick, TPWD Urban Wildlife Biologist and one of our chapter advisors, for a fascinating presentation on the impact of the City Nature Challenge. It’s amazing that the DFW area finished second worldwide, even though this year it was “not a competition.” You are an important part of that.

Using iNaturalist to record and share observations, the challenge is interesting to us as citizen scientists just for the details in our environment it showcases. On a micro level, our appreciation of nature increases as we grow in understanding the world around us. For example, the complexity of the Yucca Moth, Tegeticula yuccasella, life cycle (nice observation, Adam Cochran!): how the female pollinates the yucca flower in the process of providing for its own offspring – gathering a pollen ball, laying her eggs in the ovary and depositing the pollen ball. While we learn from these symbiotic relationships, there is a bigger picture with the Nature Challenge.

Greater Relevance – Sam reminded us how on a macro level, there is an important cycle taking place. As we naturalists share our observations with the community, the community begins to care about their natural world. This drives advocacy that pulls policy makers and land managers to make better stewardship decisions. Real change results from the awareness that iNaturalist promotes.

We’ll look forward to the NTMN citizen science socially distant bioblitz, upcoming this summer. Stay tuned for details.

Thank you for all you do for our chapter and our community.

Take care,
Scott Hudson
President
North Texas Master Naturalist