Arizona Central Highlands Master Naturalists

2696 volunteer and 1019 training hours YTD through September!

First – What is a Master Naturalist?

Master Naturalist programs are natural resource education and service programs which provide leadership, information, and resources to support partnering organizations. Although the Central Highlands chapter is sponsored by the Highlands Center for Natural History, we also work with partnering organizations in our part of Arizona, including (this list will continue to grow):

Master Naturalists offer active stewardship by supporting science-based outreach and service programs. Our program trains conservation volunteers to enhance and expand natural resource conservation and education in the Central Highlands, in Arizona, and across the nation. There are Master Naturalist chapters in Pima County, Maricopa County, and now in the Central Highlands. The chapters work together with each other, our partners, with volunteers, with leadership of the Master Naturalist organization, and with course facilitators and instructors to deliver an extensive educational program to certify new Master Naturalists.

The goals of this educational program are:

1. To maintain a corps of skilled natural and cultural resource leaders
2. To serve our partners by offering skilled volunteers who are able to move beyond basic natural resource volunteer service
3. To increase the profile and value of natural resource volunteer service across our state
4. To provide educational, natural and cultural resource content to members of all communities across the state of Arizona

We are a chapter of the Arizona Master Naturalist Association.

Our chapter is located on Yavapai Lands included the Yavapai-Prescott Indian Tribe and the Yavapai-Apache Nation. We honor them and their connection to this region. We give thanks for the opportunity to live, work, learn and gather on their traditional homeland.

The Arizona Master Naturalist Association is committed to developing Just, Equitable, Diverse, and Inclusive programs for everyone in the state of Arizona.

Course Logistics

The course is structured as follows:

• Zoom classes held every Tuesday and Thursday from 6:30 until 8 PM Arizona, commencing January 3, 2023 and running through April 25, 2023. The Tuesday classes will generally be lectures by our guest instructors, with the Thursday classes being available for discussion of the Tuesday content.
• This amounts to 60 hours of class time.
• In addition, you should expect an additional 4 to 6 hours of research, homework, and field journal time each week in order to complete assignments.
• There will be details during the course for the field labs (minimum of 20 hours) which involve field trips in the Prescott area for outdoor assignments followed by write-ups of the experiences.
• The program concludes with a capstone project that is done by each participant (or in participant teams) that involves a project that the participant undertakes during the course which involves a naturalist experience and can result in volunteer service hours after the course is complete. The capstone project is presented to our course facilitators at the end of the course and input is provided to the participant.

Volunteer Requirements

This basic structure leads to certification by the Arizona Master Naturalist organization. In order to maintain this certification, the Central Highlands Master Naturalist will be required to complete volunteer service hours by December 31st of each year, as follows:

• First Year: 20 hours
• Second Year: 40 hours
• Third Year and thereafter: 60 hours
• As well as 20 hours of advanced training every year, and this includes at least 5 hours of skills-based training

The program cost for the certification program is $525, payable to the Highlands Center for Natural History.

The chapter completed 1275 volunteer and 600 advanced training hours in 2022! In 2023, we have already logged 2696 volunteer service and 1019 advanced training hours through September!