(73) Return of the Naturalist: New Horizons in Natural Resources Outreach and Service

Martin Main, University of Florida, Immokalee, FL
Mark Larese-Casanova, Utah State University Extension, Logan, UT
Michelle Haggerty, Texas Parks and Wildlife/Texas Cooperative Extension, Kerrville, TX
Michelle Prysby, Virginia Cooperative Extension, Charlottesville, VA
Peter Warren, Virginia Cooperative Extension, Charlottesville, VA
Elizabeth Haynes, University of Illinois Extension, East Moline, IL
Amy Rager, University of Minnesota Extension, Morris, MN

Session: Concurrent session D5:  The Role of Extension in Community and Volunteer Programs – Part II

Over half a century since natural historian Aldo Leopold laid a foundation for modern ecology and conservation, naturalists have returned.  Beginning with Florida and Texas, Master Naturalist programs have proliferated across the national landscape of natural resources outreach and service-learning.  Many of these popular programs depend upon innovative partnerships between state Extension, local nature centers, non-profit environmental organizations, and natural resource management agencies.  Participants in the programs often represent a new mixture of audiences, building on a strong public desire to be involved in environmental service-learning, interpretation, stewardship and citizen science.  Since 1998, Master Naturalist programs have evolved in 19 states with more than a dozen additional variations on the theme. Beginning in 2004, a national initiative has brought these programs together under an umbrella network which has since been formalized into the non-profit Alliance of Natural Resources Outreach and Service Programs (ANROSP).  Yet, who are the Master Naturalists and how are the new programs structured? What are the critical needs that these programs seek to address?  For those who would like to build their own programs, what models exist? Panelists will briefly present the history, structure and key goals for Master Naturalist programs in the states of Florida, Illinois, Minnesota, Oregon, Texas, Utah, and Virginia.  Additionally, members of the panel will highlight and discuss the national movement that has inspired the creation of ANROSP as well as its role within a larger context of natural resources Extension.  The audience will be actively encouraged to dialogue with the panel.

Robert Emanuel
Oregon State University Sea Grant Extension
2204 Fourth Street
Tillamook, OR 97141, USA
Phone: (503) 842-3433
Fax: (503) 842-7741
robert.emanuel@oregonstate.edu
ORAL (Panel) Presentation and Discussion