Fall 2022
The Northern New Mexico Master Naturalist Program is celebrating its fifth year and welcomes a new cohort of 31 trainees! The 13 week program is a collaboration between Santa Fe Botanical Garden, Santa Fe County Open Space, Parks, and Trails Department, and Audubon Southwest. Since 2020, it is a hybrid course of online lectures and discussions, combined with in person field trips. The mission is to “foster a diverse community of naturalists equipped to promote awareness, understanding, and stewardship of New Mexico’s natural environment, resources, and heritage through education and service with our partner organizations.”
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Master Naturalist Interns graduation for the 2019, 2020, and 2021 cohorts on July 24, 2022 at Santa Fe Botanical Garden.
Once a Master Naturalist Trainee completes class and field instruction, they continue on to become a Master Naturalist Intern. Master Naturalist Interns volunteer a minimum of 30 hours at one of the partner organizations within 12 months.
“Adventures in Phenology”
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Toby Kessler, Master Naturalist Intern.
After completing the 2021 course, Toby Kessler, decided to volunteer with Santa Fe Botanical Garden’s community science initiative to collect phenology observations through Nature’s Notebook, a project of the USA National Phenology Network. Each week he visits each of the designated plants and enters his observations through an easy to use smartphone app. As a bonus, he takes incredibly photos and shares them with the Garden.
“Taking this course has provided me several life changing opportunities and I am thankful. It has allowed me to get back in touch with the natural world and taught me how to observe. I am a professional photographer and I have know how to see, but now I take the time to observe! Thank all of you that take your time to share the information in the program with us… I plan to continue my adventures in phenology.”
Enjoy some of Toby’s photography this past year!