Classes are held on Wednesday’s. Optional Saturday field trips
will be scheduled for hands-on training. Trainees study the
ecology of forests and grasslands, streams and wetlands. They
get hands-on experience as they learn about plants and insects,
frogs, toads and snakes, birds and mammals. And they gain an
appreciation of the physical and human context of our
environment through sessions on anthropology and environmental
ethics.
The Extension’s Logan-Menard-Sangamon Unit offers the program in
partnership with Lincoln Memorial Garden, Illinois Audubon
Society at Adams Wildlife Sanctuary, the Friends of the Sangamon
Valley and Logan County Park and Trails- Kickapoo Creek Park.
Affiliates are Star Hill Forest Arboretum and the Illinois
Native Plant Society Central Chapter.
The program is designed to train participants in natural
resources through a combination of science-based education and
volunteer service. With the help of local experts, the Extension
provides educational support, while the partners offer
opportunities for volunteer service.
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Master Naturalists must contribute 60 hours of volunteer service the
first year and 30 volunteer hours each of the following years the
volunteer is in the program.
A $200 fee covers classroom sessions and field training, handouts,
and the Master Naturalist manual. Applications are due by August 12.
For more information on the schedule, and application, contact the
Extension Office at 217-782-4617. If a special accommodation is
needed to attend, please note that when registering.
[Jennifer Fishburn, University of
Illinois] |