Engagement through Naturalist training

Master naturalist programs give volunteers without a background in environmental science the knowledge and skills to participate deeply in the study and stewardship of ecosystems. Master naturalists engage in citizen science, habitat stewardship and environmental education, building connections to local ecosystems by linking knowledge to direct action. California’s master naturalist program is UC California Naturalist, aka CalNat. Like similar programs, it suffered from a lack of diversity. In 2013 I instigated a program to diversify participation by working with new community partners to serve Southern California better.

Local Conservation Corps provide young adults training and experience in the day-to-day effort of conservation work as a possible career pathway. Many of these programs target low-income youth from Black and Brown communities. The conservation corps programs had expertise in recruiting and training youth in job skills but lacked a basic training program in ecology and conservation. Our 40-hour Naturalist certification program was a perfect fit. We partnered with the Los Angeles Conservation Corps, Long Beach Conservation Corps, San Gabriel Valley Conservation Corps, Inland Empire Urban Conservation Corps, Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority’s Bridge to Park Careers program, USC SeaGrant, the National Forest Foundation and US Forest Service’s Youth Conservation Corps and MobilizeGreen Field Rangers programs, Community Nature Connection, Nature for All, and Pacoima Beautiful.

Since 2014, over 300 youth have participated and been certified as California Naturalists. These Naturalists completed more than 3,500 hours of volunteer service in areas such as environmental interpretation, participatory data collections for studies, and on-the ground restoration activities, such as planting native species. They also received 4 units of college credit. One Naturalist currently working for the US Forest Service as a Wildland Fire Fighter told us: “I am focused on getting more young people of color interested in careers in wildland fire. There is a big need to make the forest service more diverse and I have created a workshop to share my personal fire story and pathways into fire.” (Irvin Barragan Ponce, Nature For All).

For more, check out Diaz-Carrasco, Claudia; Fabregas, Lupita; Drill, Sabrina (2022). Engaging Underserved Urban Audiences in Environmental Conservation. Handbook of Sustainable Cities and Landscapes in the Pacific Rim, Y. Yang and A. Taufen, eds. New York and London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-367-47114-9 978-1-03-218994-9