07/29/24 - 107 New Stories - REAL Environmental & Conservation Leadership In PA: http://tinyurl.com/7k7dpu47
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Naturalist Training Program Seeks Participants in Southeastern Pennsylvania
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The volunteer training program Pennsylvania Master Naturalist is expanding its reach by partnering with three organizations across southeastern Pennsylvania, the PA Institute for Conservation Education announced.
With training courses now in Philadelphia, Bucks and Chester counties, the Pennsylvania Master Naturalist program will prepare substantially more citizens to become volunteer leaders reaching out to their communities through conservation education, citizen science and stewardship.
Pennsylvania Master Naturalist is a year-long volunteer leadership program with three key components: the initial volunteer training course, annual volunteer service, and continuing education in the natural sciences.
Master Naturalist volunteers design and pursue a wide variety of service projects, following their own unique interests and passions. Since becoming a certified Master Naturalist in 2010, George Parris has dedicated himself to improving his local neighborhood.
Mr. Parris used grant money to install a native plant garden in Malcolm X Park in Philadelphia in partnership with Philadelphia Parks and Recreation, Friends of Malcolm X Park and St. Thomas Episcopal Church. Mr. Parris said that the revitalization project "enable[s] the community to be a part of something they can be proud of because we all come together for a common goal and everyone pitches in and nobody feels left out. With gardening you can actually see your creation... and know we each put our love and care in it."
Another Master Naturalist, Maggie Strucker, has designed a different kind of service project. Ms. Strucker has dedicated herself to developing after school programs for children who participate in Habitat for Humanity's Learning Lab.
Once a week she meets with two groups of students to teach lessons about natural history, covering topics like native animals and native plants. Ms. Strucker incorporates hands-on exploration and games to ensure that the students have fun while learning science. She said she hopes to "share [her] passion for nature with children that may not understand the wonders that are right outside their doors, just as [her] eyes were opened to all of the natural wonders of urban environments by the PMN training." For her the most important part of the PMN program was learning about "fostering a sense of wonder about the natural world."
To date, twenty-six Master Naturalist volunteers have conducted 1,153 hours of volunteer outreach, stewardship, citizen science and education, contributing $23,000 of cost-savings to eighteen (18) conservation and community-based organizations in the region.
For more information, visit the Pennsylvania Master Naturalist Program webpage.
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2/13/2012 |
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