General Meeting and Advanced Training

Texas Master Naturalist
Cradle of Texas Chapter
General Meeting and Advanced Training
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
AgriLife Building, Angleton

8:30 am	Fun and Fellowship Refreshment team: Denis James, Gabriella McCrae, Kathy Speights, Andy Smith
9:00 am	General Meeting This meeting is approved for 1.00 hour volunteer time.
9:30 am	Program:  Wetland Watch - Health of Galveston Bay Speaker:  Heather Biggs.  GIS Analyst at Independent Consultant. This presentation will discuss basic wetland education, aerial interpretation of wetlands, and current policy governing wetland regulations. This training is approved for Advanced Training credit.   Approved credit hours will be announced at the meeting, and will be available after the meeting at http://tmn-cot.com/advanced-training/

Heather Biggs is a certified wetland delineator and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) professional.   She currently specializes in wetland education and GIS mapping of habitats for watershed protection.   She has worked in both the public and private sectors and has a unique understanding of our ecosystems and watersheds.

Biggs holds a Master's in Environmental Science from the University of Houston Clear Lake (2005).   She has had over 14 years of experience working in the environmental community in the Houston-Galveston Area, with emphasis in wetlands, water quality, watershed management and geographic information systems (GIS).

Biggs works with Galveston Baykeeper, a non-profit organization that focuses is on the loss of wetlands and the effects this loss has on water quality in Galveston Bay and in the Gulf.   Galveston Baykeeper is a member of Waterkeeper Alliance, a global environmental movement uniting more than 190 Waterkeeper organizations around the world and focusing citizen advocacy on the issues that affect our waterways, from pollution to climate change.   The vision of the Waterkeeper movement is for fishable, swimmable, and drinkable waterways worldwide.   Our belief is that the best way to achieve this vision is through the Waterkeeper method of grassroots advocacy.