This webinar is part of the Virginia Master Naturalist Continuing Education series.

Description: This session will train Master Naturalist volunteers to join with the Department of Conservation and Recreation's Division of Natural Heritage to relocate and monitor rare species populations that occur in Virginia. The session will be in three parts.  Participants will learn about the Natural Heritage Program (the Commonwealth's biodiversity inventory program) and why we track rare species locations

(Part 1). They will then be trained on the project RareQuest that utilizes the talents and skills of the Master Naturalists to relocate and monitor some of these locations (Part 2).  A smart phone data collection app will be presented as a tool to support the project (Part 3).  The remaining time will be spent to provide information on next steps and to take questions from participants.  Please note that this project is no longer active.

Presenter: Chris Ludwig has been with the Division of Natural Heritage within the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation since 1988.  For his first 10 years with Natural Heritage, he served as the Staff Botanist, traversing the state in search of rare plants and significant conservation sites.  Since 1998, he has served as the Chief Biologist, directing a team of botanists, zoologists, and ecologists in their quest to identify all of the rare species populations and significant natural communities in Virginia.  In 2001 he co-founded the Flora of Virginia Foundation, formed to produce the first modern manual to the vascular plants of Virginia. The Flora was published in 2012 and was in its 2nd printing by late 2013.  Chris' wide range of interests in biology is reflected in his other professional experiences. In addition to work with Virginia Natural Heritage, Chris worked as an ornithologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, a butterfly surveyor for Maryland Natural Heritage, a data technician in the bird skeleton collection at the Smithsonian Institution, and as an Ecologist for The Nature Conservancy. Chris and his wife Jolie live on ten woodland acres in far western Hanover County, Virginia. They enjoy frequent visits from their college-attending daughters Jane and Rachel and, when time allows, take exotic vacations to foreign countries in search of birds and exciting natural history experiences.


This webinar was presented on 28 October 2015