Eighteen students recently graduated from the Maine Master Naturalist Program’s year-long course at the Viles Arboretum. As part of the program of study, students learned how to identify wildflowers, shrubs, trees and ferns; mammal tracks, scat, signs and skulls; trees in winter; insect orders; and other topics. They also developed skills in bird-watching, teaching natural history, and profiling natural communities, according to a news release from the arboretum.

The goal of the program is to create a network of citizen-naturalist volunteers who share knowledge, insights and enthusiasm about Maine’s varied natural communities to a broad array of individuals.

MMNP students, from left, Karen Herold, Cheryl Ring, Ellen Blanchard and Katelin Craven, examine macroinvertebrates. Photo by Judith Feinstein

Each graduate makes a commitment to volunteer 40 hours teaching natural history in the year following graduation. Ellen Blanchard, of Readfield, began by leading a geologic tour of the rocks that edge Readfield’s fairground trailhead using Readfield Rocks!, her guide to the different types of rock found there; the brochure is also available at the trailhead. Cheryl Ring, of Augusta, and Cathie Murray, of Hallowell, volunteered at the China Forest Day, when roughly 600 students in grades K-8 rotated through stations in the woods adjacent to the town’s primary and middle schools.

Other schools and nonprofits have benefitted from student Capstones, individual projects requiring at least 20 hours of independent work. Tina Wood, a teacher at Marcia Buker School in Richmond, who lives in Gardiner, brought together staff, students and other members of the community to create a butterfly garden at her school; teachers folded garden-related activities into the learning standards curriculum. Cheryl Ring combined her photographs and knowledge of birds to develop a brochure featuring a dozen species commonly seen during spring migration at the Viles Arboretum. Andrea Lani, of Whitefield, drew on years of visits to the arboretum to write and illustrate “Deer Tracks and Dragonflies: A Year at Viles Arboretum,” a 52-page booklet. Cathie Murray, of Hallowell, interviewed educators, outdoor leaders and camp counselors to create a tool kit of activities she can use at Friends Camp in China, where she will serve as the camp’s volunteer naturalist for two weeks this summer. Judy Feinstein, of Hallowell, worked with the Vaughan Woods Homestead Foundation, drafting “What’s in the Meadow: A Nature Guide to the Old Pasture,” a brochure that will also be available to the public.

Additionally, Denise Bluhm, of Bowdoinham, wrote a Junior Naturalist activity book for Thorne Head Preserve in Bath for the Kennebec Estuary Land Trust; Dick Brown, of Dresden and Dover-Foxcroft, developed written surveying Maine amphibians, including adaptations and tactics for survival; and Melanie Lanctot, of Readfield, developed a presentation, Wee Wonders of Our Wide, Wild World, an exploration using close-up imagery of insects, plants and other natural phenomena, according to the release.

Other students graduating from the course included Melissa Bastien, of Unity; Jan Collins, of Wilton; Katelin Craven, of Bangor; Paula Curtis-Everett, of Auburn; Kate Drummond, of Madison; Bryce Hach, of Falmouth; Karen Herold, of Cumberland; Joan Lundin, of Hollis Center; and Lynne Zimmerman, of Portland.

For more information, visit www.mainemasternaturalist.org.

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