Check out the latest version of Lyman Brown's Compendium of Plants on the home page! 

Check out the three volumes of plants at ABNC that Lyman Brown has put together for us at the bottom of the home page! 

Check Out the Calendar    

Our Volunteer web site calendar lists upcoming activities and events each month.  Volunteer Board Members and a couple other Volunteers (working with Education) are tasked with keeping it up-to-date.  You will be able to see what is happening and who to contact if you want to help out. 

Thursday, October 20, 2011, 10:30 AM - 1:00 PM
Category: Education.
Added by: admin

Guided Pontoon trip and tour of Hanson House Gardens and house. Need interpreters for the house, for 2 senior groups. Especially helpful if we had someone to interpret or at least be working or watering in the garden and/or vegetable garden that day, too. Lemonade and cookies to be served to group on the porch.

Location: Hanson House

Contact for more information: Heather x14 or Kathy G. x13

Volunteers Needed?: Yes

Visit Often! Be “in the know”!

Please read and be prepared to vote at the next volunteer meeting

Here is the full document:  2011 bylaws

Record high temperatures and low rainfall have resulted in an extreme fire hazard at ABNC.  All hiking trails have been closed to public access.  A Harris County "no open fires" ban also applies to ABNC. Of course, smoking is always prohibited. All staff supervised education programs and stewardship projects will occur as scheduled, provided that conditions do not worsen. The Discovery Loop trail will also remain open, but all prairie and forest trails (including Boathouse Road) are posted and blocked.  If you live in the neighborhoods or work at the businesses that surround ABNC, please urge your neighbors and fellow employees to exercise extreme caution with any flames or smoking materials.

If there are any trail or prairie guides or farm interpreters available during our regular operating hours Wed-Sun, we can really use them to assist visitors during the time of trail closing. Please contact the front desk or education office if you are able to volunteer.  Thanks!

New to the nature center?  Come to orientation and find out more about what you can do as a volunteer.  (All volunteers are officially required to attend an orientation.) 

A seasoned volunteer?  Come help lead the orientation sessions!

Sessions are scheduled from 9am until 2pm both Saturdays.

Contact Heather or Kathy from ABNC's education department for more information or to sign up.  (call 281-474-2551 ext. 14)

Most of the beds are mulched with hay, and we are putting some of them to rest for a couple of months.  Vegetables which are thriving in July and August include squash, okra, peppers, eggplants, southern peas, sweet potatoes, and peanuts.  The herbs, lemon balm, oregano, rosemary, parsley, mint, basil, and Mexican mint marigold (tarragon/liquorice flavor) continue to be available for visitors to taste and take a few sprigs home.  I have been surprised and pleased to learn that we can plant arugula throughout the summer: fresh leafy greens can be hard to find in the hot months.  The loofa and birdhouse gourd plants are looking good, except where the raccoon (?) has broken some of the vines in its climbing over the fence to get the corn. That damage will stop once the animal understands that there is no corn left!

Hilary Gibbs

Gardening volunteers met during the social time before the Volunteer meeting on August 12.  This will be a regular meeting time on second Thursdays.  Other volunteers are welcome to join us.

We discussed ways to communicate more often with the group, whether by e-mail or in person, particularly about that all-important chore of Watering.  We decided to have two days a month when we can actively plan ahead to be there, knowing that there's a good chance we will meet at least one other gardener in the garden.  This should lead to more cohesive planning and action!  It will also be a good time for other interested volunteers to see what we’re up to.

These two days will be:
- the first Thursday morning,
- the third Saturday afternoon.....

Click here to read more

Armand Bayou Nature Center volunteers (and prospective volunteers) are welcome to join the VAN (Volunteer Administrators Network) of Bay Area for monthly luncheon meetings.  The next VAN meeting is Tuesday, August 31st, 2010 from 11:30-1:00 at the United Way Service Center.  This month, come hear speakers from Star of Hope talk about volunteer value, pride, and recognition, and see how you can bring their ideas to better ABNC's volunteer organization.  For more information, contact Heather Millar (ABNC Director of Education 281-474-2551 x14).  Meetings have staff approval for meeting continuing education hours.  

A nice overview of Harmful Algal blooms (and a brief mention of my Phyto iPhone app) in a podcast (audio) put together by NOAA: http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/podcast/nov09/mw111209.mp3

Rebekah and I have been working with NOAA and the master naturalists identifying phytoplankton.  As part of that effort I wrote a small iPhone app to help learn the different species and it was featured on the "NOAA World" web site. (It mentions ABNC)

We have released a new web site that is more interactive.  If you are a volunteer hit the register link in the upper right corner to begin!