Upcoming Advanced Training opportunities, seminars and events are located and listed in the Events Section of this Website on the main page.

2017 Webinars - Profiles in Service

Please consider participating or viewing our quarterly OCVN webinars. This year the series will focus on volunteer service and highlight what service volunteer naturalists are participating in Ohio and beyond as well as examine the needs and service opportunities. Please see the list below for dates and times of the webinars. A recording will be posted on this page following the program. More information on the program and connection details for all the programs will be posted later.

December 13  - 12 noon -1:00 pm - Ohio Dragonfly research, presented by Jim Lemon, OCVN

2017 is the first year of a planned three-year statewide survey; the first large scale effort since the 1990’s. We are looking to get good data primarily through photographic observation and also collecting. We will be using iNaturalist for photo submissions. Many of our OCVN’s volunteer in good Odonate habitats and can contribute if they can make photos and submit them to iNaturalist. Most of our Odonates can be identified from photographs. The use of iNaturalist is a good system for citizen science. OCVN’s do not need to be experts as the community will help with identification. We are looking for data by species, location, habitat, and flight date. By this fall, we should have a good handle on our survey process, first season data and goals for next year (2018). Jim

Jim Lemon is retired. He has an MS in Entomology from OSU. Jim has been an OCVN since 2014. He volunteers at Cedar Bog (monitor of Dragonfly, Butterfly, Moth). He is currently the Incoming (2017) president of Ohio Odonata Society; Co-Chair of the Urbana Tree Commission and a nature photographer. He speaks on insects, invasives and Urban Forests.

Previous 2017 webinars

April 12 noon-1PM; Preservation and Long Term Stewardship in Northern Ohio—this webinar will focus on two unique efforts aimed at long-term stewardship and preservation of northern Ohio’s biotic communities.

Sherwick Tree Stewards, Greg Cada

Project Description:
The goal of the Sherwick Tree Stewards program is to enhance urban forests in and around the City of Cleveland by educating and encouraging tree planting. Greg will describe his role in this effort and how he obtained his knowledge and skills. This effort could serve as a template for other locations interested in encouraging forestation in urban and suburban settings.

Greg completed the OCVN program last year. He volunteers at ODNR's Old Woman Creek National Estuarine Research Reserve, Cleveland Metroparks and the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. He is also an OSU Extension Master Gardener Volunteer.  Photo credit: Greg Cada

Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Natural Areas, Renee Boronka and Ashley Hall, Cleveland Museum of Natural History

Project Description:
The Museum established its Natural Area Program in 1956, when it acquired Fern Lake Bog. Over the years, many other sites have been preserved, with a total of nearly 8,000 acres currently under protection. The vision of the Natural Areas Division is to create a system of nature preserves that best represents the broad spectrum of biodiversity found within the geographic area of northern Ohio. Each of our preserves harbors one or more distinct biotic community; including hardwood forest, Lake Erie island, fossil dune ridge, marsh, swamp and glacial wetland, among many others. They serve as an outstanding resource for studying and teaching about the remarkable biological diversity of the region. Museum preserves are model scientific field laboratories in which researchers can conduct long-term studies in locations relatively free from human interference, as well as spectacular locations to take Museum members on field trips.

Renee Boronka has worked in the Botany Department and Natural Areas Division since 1995. She graduated from The Ohio State University in 1993 with a BS in Natural Resource Management. Renee directs the management of the Museum's 8,000-acre system of natural areas; as well as assisting in the curation of the Museum Herbarium, a 75,000-specimen collection of plants.

Ashley Hall is the Adult Programs Coordinator at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. She manages the Naturalist Certificate Program and coordinates the museum’s many adult learning programs and field trips. She has a B.A in Anthropology from Indiana University Bloomington and is a published paleontologist and naturalist.

October 11  - 12 noon—1:00 pm  - Volunteer opportunities at the Wilds, presented by Stephen Spear, Director of Wildlife Ecology