Initial training provides a solid foundation, but Advanced Training (AT) is where you can follow your specific passions and focus on the natural resource topics that interest you most. By expanding your knowledge base, you bring vital, specialized expertise back to our chapter’s local volunteer projects and help build leadership within our community. For initial certification and to maintain your active Certified Texas Master Naturalist status thereafter, you are required to complete at least 8 hours of approved AT each calendar year.
What qualifies as AT?
Training must align with the Master Naturalist mission and focus on natural resource issues and information applicable to Texas, with an emphasis on our local community and the unique ecoregions of the Balcones Canyonlands.
Preferred Formats
- Live & Interactive: It is highly encouraged to obtain the bulk of your hours through live, interactive environments whether in-person on a guided hike or via live virtual webinars. Being able to participate in a Q&A with the instructor makes for the best learning experience.
- Alternative Formats: Specialized opportunities like college courses, chapter-sponsored book clubs (for discussion time, not reading time), or specific mission-relevant recorded media may also count, if approved by the AT Director.
What does NOT count: Watching a generic nature documentary with no interactive element, or attending classes focused on non-regional ecosystems (like Alaskan wildlife or residential vegetable gardening).
Sources of Advanced Training
- The Advanced Training Slack Channel
This is your primary hub for local and regional opportunities. Our chapter’s AT Director regularly posts upcoming webinars, workshops, and guided hikes here. Every opportunity posted in this channel is already chapter-approved, and the post will explicitly include the specific VMS category you need to select when logging your hours. It takes the guesswork out of reporting. - Chapter Meetings
Presentations given by experts at our own monthly chapter meeting and at other Master Naturalist chapter meetings. - State and Regional Partnerships
You can also earn hours through broader networks, including:
- Statewide TMN Tuesdays and the TMN Annual Meeting sessions.
- Workshops and presentations hosted by approved natural resource organizations (such as Texas Parks and Wildlife, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, Travis Audubon, Wild Basin, Friends of Balcones Canyonlands NWR, Travis County BCP, Austin Water Wildlands, or local nature preserves).
Note: If you find an outside training opportunity that hasn’t been posted to Slack, please reach out to the AT Director for approval before you attend.
Logging Your Hours
Once completed, log your actual training time into the Volunteer Management System (VMS) within 45 days of the activity.
Keep in mind that hours are tracked to the nearest quarter-hour. Travel time and preparation time do not count toward AT, and AT hours can never be converted into Volunteer Service (VS) hours.