Advanced Master Naturalist Coastal Training 2012

Summary

Coastal ANR Agent Don Gardner produced an Advanced Master Naturalist class to study Coastal Challenges. Attending Georgia Master Naturalists received an intensive multi-day training taught by experts in their respective areas resulting in increased knowledge, awareness and appreciation for the Georgia coast and the challenges facing it.

Situation

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. State Master Naturalist Coordinator Mike Mengak requested the Coastal Master Naturalist Program Agents to offer a coastal issues training as an advanced class. Don Gardner coordinated a three-day class on Sapelo Island taught by state experts.

Response

The initial class was offered in October 2011. Don Gardner produced a two-day Advanced Master Naturalist training at Sapelo Island October 13-14, 2011 featuring eight speakers from Georgia Department of Natural Resources, UGA Marine Institute, Gray's Reef/NOAA, Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve (SINERR), Skidaway Institute of Ocenography and Georgia Department of Public Health. Forty–one (41) Master Naturalist graduates from across Georgia participated. Faculty from Warnell School of Forestry, USDA NRCS Staff , UGA Marine Institute, and Bryan County Extension provided support. 36 of 41 attendees provided feedback through a post-event survey. Survey results guided development of the 2012 class. The 2012 class was expanded form two days to three days (October 17-19, 2012). Thirty-two Master Naturalists and spouses participated with speakers from Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve (SINERR), 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. Half of participants responded to the post-event evaluation and survey.

Impact

All participants rated the training an excellent experience they would recommend to other Mater Naturalists. When asked for attitudinal changes resulting from the training 28% of 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. 20% responded that they gained appreciation for the influence of upstream interior activities in Georgia to health of coastal ecosystems (water quality awareness). When asked for changes in personal action and activity, responses included incorporation of Georgia coastal issues in literacy classes in north Georgia, recruitment of more people into the Master Naturalist Program, education of children and grandchildren on coastal issues, asking for Georgia seafood at restaurants, and advocacy for state and federal agencies managing coastal resources.

Details

• Year: 2012
• Geographic Scope: State
• County: McIntosh
• Program Areas:
  • Agriculture & Natural Resources