Advanced Master Naturalist Coastal Training

The Georgia Master Naturalist program provides natural resource training to Georgia residents. The program is offered by counties across the state. The Georgia Master Naturalist Association requested an Advanced Master Naturalist course for coastal resources for those who did not have a coastal component to their local Master Naturalist class. The UGA Cooperative Extension agent in McIntosh County coordinated a three-day class on Sapelo Island taught by state experts. In 2011, 41 Master Naturalist graduates from across Georgia participated. Faculty from UGA Warnell School of Forestry, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, UGA Marine Institute and Bryan County Extension provided support. The 2012 class was expanded form two days to three days. Thirty-two Master Naturalists and spouses participated with speakers from Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Gray's Reef/NOAA, East Tennessee State University and UGA Marine Institute and UGA Cooperative Extension on tides, sea level rise, conservation planning, fisheries management, coastal geology, aquifers and water management, water quality and watershed management, beach ecology, coastal ornithology, coastal insect inventories, and shellfish history, management and conservation. Following the training, participants cited their increased conviction that more educational outreach was needed to increase public appreciation for the fragility and environmental services rendered by the Georgia coastal environment.