Virginia Master Naturalist
In 2016, while on sabbatical in Arizona I met a Master Naturalist rock star. Ted Mouras, a docent at Ramsey Canyon Nature Preserve, led our small group on a hike into the canyon pointing out dozens of amazing facts about the flora, fauna, and history of the unique environment through which we were traveling. His delivery, and the confidence in which he presented the material, was astounding. It was a first exposure to the world of Master Naturalists, of which Ted is one of the very best.
The sign on the message board was an advertisement for the State of Virginia’s Master Naturalist program. The Shenandoah chapter’s annual training program was slated to begin in March, and interested candidates needed to have their applications, references, and other paper work completed within a few weeks. After reviewing the program’s web information, I was hooked. Joining the program made sense in several ways. Put simply, marrying the knowledge that comes from naturalist training with my hobbies of travel writing, nature conservation, photography, and a general love of things outdoorsy seemed a perfect match. So for the next few weeks, I filled out papers and snuck my application in just under the deadline wire.
On my first night of class, we participated in an exercise intending to give us all a sense of the immense time through which the earth has existed. The apex of the demonstration was to show that over five billion years, the existence of humans in their current evolution, is but a miniscule blip – just the past 100,000 years. So many other species of organisms have come and gone in-between. Will humans’ fate be similarly tenuous? Are we like the dinosaurs: here for a good time, not for a long time? The earth has shown a propensity to endure, regardless of what critters scurry about upon it. Are we a flawed creature doomed to self-destruct? Are we too extractive of the earth’s resources, pouring dangerously high levels of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and continuing to ignore the warning flags? Are we evolving too-recklessly for our own good?
This was just the first of many similarly thought-provoking classes that would follow over the next eight weeks. Each class has been as equally compelling as the first. The knowledge, frankly, has been intensely intoxicating. Our director told us students several times to hold on tight; the program will overwhelm you with information.
Often, before each class I would arrive early for a walk around the property. Classes were held in the library at the State Arboretum in Boyce. My walks were nothing more than time following my whims, meandering about with binoculars in hand. The imagery captured through those lenses has been extraordinary:
A red-shouldered hawk pecking apart a half-eaten frog,
Two tree swallows mating atop of bluebird nesting box,
While watching a perched goldfinch, a rate indigo bunting flew into view.
On a macro level, I watched a swarm of minnows in Lake Georgette,
Spotted darner nymphs among reeds,
And viewed egg masses afloat in ephemeral ponds.
Aimed skyward, I saw battling hawks, locked claw-in-claw swirling above the arboretum,
And while walking through a pine stand,
I spotted a freshly-dead squirrel surely to be scavenged soon.
The amount of collective scientific knowledge and research that has been presented by the Virginia Master Naturalist training has been astounding , and yes, overwhelming too. The information presented has been done so by some of the finest scientists in the area – many of which are professors from the University of Virginia. Their stories of the extent to which they examined a very specific aspect of our natural world are fascinating - studying the lifecycle of a mayfly, or sampling the rock layers of the Blue Ridge Mountains, or measuring the atmospheric carbon found in ancient fossils, etc. Their dedication for the sake of knowledge is inspiring.
Frankly, our propensity to collect and share knowledge represents one of humanity’s greatest accomplishments, and if we’re self-aware enough, the source of our survival. The accumulation of knowledge, garnered generation after generation has led to a vast and detailed understanding of our world. To revel in this concentration of deeply rich scientific knowledge for nine weeks has been a true blessing.
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