FMN Quarterly Chapter Meeting, September 19th

Curious about the Fairfax Master Naturalist Program?

Come and join a virtual Fairfax Master Naturalist Quarterly Chapter meeting. It will be held on Monday, September 19, 2022 at 7 p.m. via Zoom. It will consist of a short business meeting followed by a presentation by the incomparable Alonso Abugattas. His talk is entitled “From Reptiles to Butterflies: A Capital Naturalist Shares Expertise and Resources.”

Please contact the Fairfax Master Naturalists at [email protected] for more information.

Alonso has won many awards for knowledge and skills about the natural world. He is the creator of the award-winning Capital Naturalist blog and Facebook group, which “reveals some of the wonders of the natural world found right around the Washington, DC Metropolitan area using his own photography and his life-long experiences”. He will be sharing these resources and how they can be helpful for Master Naturalists during his presentation at our fall Chapter meeting.

He has worked as a professional naturalist and environmental interpreter in several jurisdictions, including Fairfax, Alexandria, Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, and Arlington, where he served as the acting director for Long Branch Nature Center, and is now the Natural Resources Manager for Arlington County.

He’s an instructor for five master naturalist chapters, teaching classes in Maryland and Virginia, and was named a Trailblazer (honorary) master naturalist for his role in starting two chapters. He’s held various board positions, including president of the Potowmack Chapter of the Virginia Native Plant Society and is co-founder of the Washington Area Butterfly Club. A member of the identification team for the Virginia Herpetological Society, he wrote a natural history and identification book, The Reptiles and Amphibians of the Washington, DC Metropolitan Area.

Alonso also serves as a Certified Heritage Interpreter and as Co-chair of the Beltway Chapter of the National Association for Interpretation, receiving regional and national awards, including the Regional Interpretive Manager of the Year. In December 2020, Alonso was named a Regional Environmental Champion by the D.C.-based Audubon Naturalist Society.