Master Naturalists and Citizen Science:
Building a well-trained volunteer corps
Michelle M. Haggerty
Texas Master Naturalist State Program Coordinator
Texas Parks & Wildlife Department
and ANROSP President
What is Citizen Science?
 Citizen Science is:
• Data collection projects that are designed to answer a
specific scientific question.
o Projects can happen at any scale—local, state, national,
continental
o Projects generally take place over the long term tracking
trends/changes over time
– E.g. - How populations change distribution over time and space
– E.g. - How emerging disease and pests spread through populations
– E.g. - How environmental changes affect species physically
 Citizen Science involves two groups
• The sponsoring organization who:
o
o
o
o
Develops the project and data collection protocol
Provides training and support where needed
Collects and analyzes data submitted
Publishes the results in scientific journals and publications
• The citizen volunteer who:
o Collects and submits the data
Benefits of Citizen Science
 Engages a larger, more diverse audience
 Gets people outdoors, involved and concerned
about natural resources
 Cultivates awareness which improves science
literacy
 Provides professionals with richer, more abundant
data sets
 Allows projects/programs to collect data on such a
large scale that efforts could never be matched by
research teams
 Provides a tool for grassroots participation in
government and policy making
Master Naturalist Programs
 Continuing education for
adults
 Natural resource, natural
history, and science
focused
 Service-oriented
 In-depth
 Typically run by state
agencies
 Community-based
 Also called Volunteer
Naturalists, Conservation
Stewards, Coverts, etc.
A Master Naturalist Movement with a
National Scale
Master Naturalist-type Programs in at least
28 states (AR, AZ, CA, CO, DE, FL, GA, IA,
ID, IL, IN, MI, MD, MN, MO, MS, NE, NJ,
OH, OK, OR, SC, TX, TN, UT, VA, WI, WV)
Some programs are local, others statewide
Many additional programs in development
(HI, PA, NM, for example)
Connected through Alliance of Natural
Resource Outreach and Service Programs
(ANROSP)
Master Naturalist Certification
Basic Training
+
Advanced Training
+
Volunteer Service
=
Certified Master Naturalist
Master Naturalist Training
25-50 hours
Classroom
components
Field and handson sessions
Taught by college
faculty, state
agency staff, and
other local natural
resource experts
and educators
Topics Covered
 -ologies
• Botany
• Herpetology
• Ornithology
• Entomology
• Ichthyology
• Mammalogy
• Dendrology
 Ecology and
management of systems
(e.g. wetlands, forests,
estuaries, streams)
 Naturalist skills
 Basic principles of
ecology
Core Citizen Science Topics
Nature of science,
scientific process
Types of scientific
studies
Components of a
good citizen
science project
Awareness of
citizen science
opportunities
Core Citizen Science Skills
 Keeping a field notebook
 Proper recording of
observations
 Using keys to identify
organisms
 Using field guides
 Common methods used
to study different types
of organisms
 Observation
 Familiarity with local
environment and natural
areas
Advanced Training
Continuing education
hours
~8-12 required
annually
Opportunity to focus
interest and gain
additional skills
Targeted at
programs in need of
skilled, trained
volunteers
Volunteer Service
~25-50 hours
required annually
Typically done
within the local
community
3 types of projects
• Education
• Stewardship
• Citizen science
Volunteering: Citizen Science
Diversity of projects
• Local to national
• Scientist to community-driven
• Monitoring, inventory, and experimental
research
Master Naturalist Program Outcomes
 Thousands of volunteers trained
• 5300 in Texas over 10 years
• 900 in Virginia over 3 years
• 500 in Minnesota over 3 years
 Multiple evaluations conducted by individual
programs have shown that course training is
effective in changing participants’ knowledge and
attitudes.
 Thousands of service hours provided
• E.g. 1.03 Million hours of service by Texas Master
Naturalist volunteers
 Widening community impact
• In just one year, Texas Master Naturalists reached
175,000 youth, adults, and private landowners, engaged
in projects on 90,000 acres of habitat, and developed and
maintained 1,000 miles of interpretative trails.
Why Partner with Master Naturalists?
 Ready pool of trained
volunteers
 Geographically well
distributed
 Leaders with initiative
 Existing lines of
communication and
infrastructure
 Strong community
connections
 Ability to build
partnerships (e.g. 4H,
public lands)
 Volunteer retention
How to Partner with Master
Naturalist Programs…
Alliance of Natural Resource Outreach & Service
Programs goals:
 To provide leadership- information- and resources
to support the establishment and expansion of
member programs nationally and internationally.
 To serve as the primary nexus of information about
natural resource outreach and service programs for
natural resource professionals- volunteers- and
interested citizens.
 To increase knowledge of best practices for natural
resource outreach and service programs and
encourage their adoption.
 To build effective program partnerships and
collaborations at the local- state- and national
levels.
Acknowledgements
 Alliance of Natural Resource Outreach and Service
Programs (ANROSP)
• www.anrosp.org
 Thank you--Michelle Prysby, Virginia Master
Naturalist Program Coordinator
 My Contact info:
Michelle Haggerty,
ANROSP President and
Texas Master Naturalist Program Coordinator
•
•
Texas Parks & Wildlife Department
309 Sidney Baker South
Kerrville, TX 78028
830-896-2504
mhaggerty@ag.tamu.edu