UGA Cooperative Extension
Bryan County Extension
Agriculture & Natural Resources
Coastal Georgia Master Naturalist Program
Coastal Georgia Master Naturalist Program 2012
As an introduction to our state’s natural environment, The Coastal Georgia Master Naturalist
Program exposes participants to many of Georgia’s most treasured natural resources, introduces
them to the people and agencies who manage those resources, and examines how all of
these affect and interact with us, the citizens of the Georgia Lowcountry, on a daily basis. The
program is very much a field course, whose participants meet at a different site each week to
explore the site’s natural environment, its past and present effects upon the development of
our state, and its implications for our region’s future. We present Georgia’s natural inventory in the same order that Oglethorpe and the colonists encountered these, beginning at the ocean and examining not only its bounties and burdens, but their historic and contemporary impacts.
We next move inland to examine the marshes and estuaries, then move farther up into blackwater
swamps and Georgia’s “old” beaches, which extend to and include Waycross and Metter. At each site we consider the geology, hydrology, vegetation, soils, wildlife, past use and future challenges.
The Coastal Georgia Master Naturalist Program (CGMNP) will be held every Wednesday of each week from March 28 through June 6, 2012. Classes typically start at 9:00AM and end at 3:00PM.
Participants are responsible for their own meals and transportation to and from each class venue.
Cost of the program is $150.00 per person. This fee includes all materials necessary for the
course, excluding the costs for its two optional river trips, which will be addressed during the
group’s first meeting. Class size is limited to the first 30 paid individuals.
For more information and registration materials please contact either:
Don Gardner
Glynn County Extension Service
dgardner@uga.edu
(912) 554-7578
Pat Payne
Glynn County Extension Service
uge3127@uga.edu
(912) 554-7577
Sponsored by:
UGA Cooperative Extension for Bryan, Chatham, Glynn and Liberty Counties
USDA National Resource and Conservation Service
UGA Warnell School of Forestry
Dunham Farms of Midway, Georgia
Equal Opportunity in CAES. The University of Georgia College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences
(CAES) offers its educational programs, assistance, and materials to all people regardless of race, ethnicity,
national origin, color, sex, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, or veteran status and is an equal
opportunity, affirmative action organization.
We are the 1862 land-grant university in the state and a publicly funded institution. Because of this, we are
subject to federal laws and University policies regarding our day-to-day operations, with special emphasis
on Titles VI and IX of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Agenda
Coastal Georgia Master Naturalist Course 2012
WEEK 01: Date: Wednesday, 28 March 2012
Location: Mary Kahrs Warnell Education Center
Topics: Welcome and Introduction to Master Naturalist Program
Icebreaker
Admin / Housekeeping
Introduction to Ecosystems
Pre-test
WEEK 02: Date: Wednesday, 04 April 2012
Location: UGA Marine Institute, Sapelo Island
(Ferry departs 8:30 am and returns o/a 4:30 pm)
Topics: Marsh and Estuaries, Barrier Islands, Beaches, Mosquitoes,
Sea Turtle Nesting, Feral Hogs and other Invasive species,Laurel Wilt,
Smuggling and other Human Impacts, Kings Bay
WEEK 03: Date: Wednesday, 11 April 2012
Location: Skidaway (SKIO, Grays Reef, UGA Marine Extension)
Topics: Ocean Ecosystems; Oysters; Sand Sharing; Dredging; Sea Level Rise;
Ocean Pulsing; Fisheries Management
WEEK 04: Date: Wednesday, 18 April 2012
Location: Savannah
Topics: Water Treatments: Savannah Industrial & Domestic (I&D) and
Airport Wastewater Treatment Plants
WEEK 05a: Date: Wednesday, 25 April 2012
Location: Melon Bluff
Topics: Marsh & Maritime Forest; Geomorphology Review; Maritime Forest
Ecology; Intro to Salt Marsh Ecology; Salt Marsh Walk with
Dendrology; Marsh & Coastal Development Issues
WEEK 05b: Date: Thursday, 26 April 2012
Location: Bull River Marina (Boat departs at 8:30 a.m., returns @ 4:30 p.m.)
Topics: Ecology of the Port of Savannah and the Savannah River National
Wildlife Refuge. (This is an optional voyage to be taken at student
expense; the cost is expected to be @ $45 each.)
WEEK 06: Date: Wednesday, 02 May 2012
Location: Bamboo Farm
Topics: Urban Forest; Urban Recycling; Animal & Mosquito Control; Parks &
Recreation; Environmental inspection
WEEK 07: Date: Wednesday, 09 May 2012
Location: Ottawa Farms of Bloomingdale, GA
Topic: Agriculture
WEEK 08: Date: Wednesday, 16 May 2012
Location: Fort Stewart
Topic: Longleaf Savannah Ecosystems, Endangered Species
Management
WEEK 09: Date: Wednesday, 23 May 2012 —
Location: Ogeechee Outpost vic Morgan’s Bridge
Topic: Ogeechee River / Black Creek Canoe Paddle (This is an optional
voyage to be taken at student expense; the cost is $20 each.)
WEEK 10: Date: Wednesday, 30 May 2012
Location: GA Southern Wildlife Center
Topic: Wildlife Identification and Ecology, Backyard Wildlife, Wetland
Ecology
WEEK 11: Date: Wednesday, 06 June 2012
Location: Bamboo Farm
Topic: Wrap Up
Exam
Potluck Dinner and Graduation Ceremony
In order to be a part of this program, just fill out the registration and return it to the Glynn County Extension office,
Ballard Complex, Suite 110.
325 Old Jesup Rd.,
Brunswick, GA 31520.
