Tennessee Naturalist Progam Curriculum
The Fall 2011 Tennessee Naturalist Program is full.
If you would like to be notified when the next series is scheduled, please e-mail your contact information. The next class held at Owl’s Hill Nature Sanctuary will start in late summer of 2012.
To become a Tennessee Naturalist, a person must complete a training course of a minimum of 40 hours and complete 40 hours of volunteer service. Class dates and times, topics covered and instructors for the current class are listed below.
COURSES AND DATES
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So You Want to Be a Naturalist? Instructor: Margie Hunter, writer, gardener and life-long resident of Middle Tennessee, became actively interested in native plants in the early 1990s and began researching her book, Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee: The Spirit of Place (University of Tennessee Press, 2002, www.gardeningwithnativeplants.com), in 1996. The book's first part provides a quick natural history of the state, discussing soil, climate, geology, geography, plant communities, wildlife, rare plants, and exotic pest plants. The majority of the book is devoted to the description, culture, and distribution of approximately 450 species of wildflowers, ferns, grasses, vines, shrubs, and trees native to Tennessee and suitable for horticulture. There are nearly 400 photographs. Margie is an environmentalist and nature enthusiast with memberships in the Tennessee Native Plant Society and Tennessee Exotic Pest Plant Council, where she serves on the board as secretary. She gives presentations on native plants to various gardening and plant groups throughout Tennessee and the Southeast, has written articles for Tennessee Conservationist magazine, and volunteers with the Wildflower Pilgrimage in Gatlinburg and Discover Life in America's All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. A 2010 graduate of Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont's Southern Appalachian Naturalist Certificate Program, Margie actively studies the flora of Tennessee and is hiking all the trails in the park (see blog - http://hikinginthesmokies.wordpress.com). Class Outline:
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The World of Invertebrates: Pollinators, Predators, Pests and Parasitoids Instructor: Steve Murphree is an entomologist and native of middle Tennessee who has been a professor of biology at Belmont University since 1991. He holds a Ph.D. in entomology from Auburn University (1990) and B.S. and M.S. degrees, both in biology, from Middle Tennessee State University (1981, 1984). Among the biology courses he teaches are principles of biology II (organismal biology), zoology and parasitology. He is a specialist on biting midges and maintains the international research website for this family of flies (http://campus.belmont.edu/cienews/cie.html). Dr. Murphree is a frequent contributor of articles about arthropods to the Tennessee Conservationist magazine. He has taught summer insect day camps for children, “Beetles, Bugs and Butterflies”, since 1992 and has visited many elementary school classrooms and nature centers in middle Tennessee. In 2004 he was named the Tennessee Environmental Education Association’s environmental educator of the year. Dr. Murphree served as president of the Tennessee Entomological Society in 1998 and is currently the TES secretary. He and his wife, Kay, and children, Steven, Melissa and Daniel and Anna live in Murfreesboro. Class Outline:
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Feathered Friends: The Birds of Tennessee Instructor: Polly Rooker is the Region II Wildlife Biologist with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, a position she has held for 14 years. She presently works with those species classified as "Species of Greatest Concern." Prior to this position, she worked as a Wildlife Officer for 20 years. She is a lifelong member of the Tennessee Ornithological Society and the Tennessee Master Gardeners. Class Outline:
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Nocturnal Naturalist Instructors: Robert English has a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. His interests have included amateur astronomy for over 40 years and birding for twenty-seven years. His passion for night birds has yielded sightings of all nineteen species of North American owls and nineteen species of owls from other countries around the world. Many of his bird photographs are on file in the VIREO collection at The Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, and his photographs of Australian Owlets, Nightjars and Puerto Rican Screech Owls have been included in books and CD ROM’s. An example of his owl photography can be seen in the National Audubon Society books, The Bird Garden and The Audubon Backyard Birdwatcher. His astro-photography has appeared in Astronomy magazine, and eight of his frog and toad images are included in the recently published, The Frogs and Toads of North America, by Lang Elliott. Andrea English has a bachelor's degree in wildlife and fisheries science from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and a master's degree in biology from Austin Peay State University. She has been an interpretive naturalist for 25 years at such places as the Woodlands Nature Center at TVA's Land Between the Lakes, Dunbar Cave State Natural Area and the Warner Parks Nature Center. In 2003, she worked as the Outreach Coordinator for the Center for Environmental Education at Middle Tennessee State University. She was the Middle Tennessee Wildlife Diversity Coordinator for the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency for 7 years and wrote the Interior Low Plateau section of the State Wildlife Action Plan. She currently teaches biology at Columbia State Community College. Class Outline:
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The Furry Creatures of Tennessee Gray Anderson, Ph. D., the TWRA Furbearer Project Leader will teach this program. Tennessee Mammals |
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Hooray for Herps Instructors: Andrea English has a bachelor's degree in wildlife and fisheries science from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and a master's degree in biology from Austin Peay State University. She has been an interpretive naturalist for 25 years at such places as the Woodlands Nature Center at TVA's Land Between the Lakes, Dunbar Cave State Natural Area and the Warner Parks Nature Center. In 2003, she worked as the Outreach Coordinator for the Center for Environmental Education at Middle Tennessee State University. She was the Middle Tennessee Wildlife Diversity Coordinator for the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency for 7 years and wrote the Interior Low Plateau section of the State Wildlife Action Plan. She currently teaches biology at Columbia State Community College. Robert English has a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. His interests have included amateur astronomy for over 40 years and birding for twenty-seven years. His passion for night birds has yielded sightings of all nineteen species of North American owls and nineteen species of owls from other countries around the world. Many of his bird photographs are on file in the VIREO collection at The Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, and his photographs of Australian Owlet-Nightjars and Puerto Rican Screech Owls have been included in books and CD ROM’s. An example of his owl photography can be seen in the National Audubon Society books, The Bird Garden and The Audubon Backyard Birdwatcher. His astrophotography has appeared in Astronomy magazine, and eight of his frog and toad images are included in the recently published, The Frogs and Toads of North America, by Lang Elliott. Class Outline:
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Forests and Trees of Tennessee Instructor: Dave Walters is a forester with Tennessee Department of Agriculture; Forestry Division currently working as a budget manager and planner in Nashville and PLT co-coordinator. He is a Boy Scout leader, and a husband and dad to outdoors enthusiasts. Class Outline:
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Forbs, Ferns, Fungi and More Instructor: Margie Hunter, writer, gardener and life-long resident of Middle Tennessee, became actively interested in native plants in the early 1990s and began researching her book, Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee: The Spirit of Place (University of Tennessee Press, 2002, www.gardeningwithnativeplants.com), in 1996. The book's first part provides a quick natural history of the state, discussing soil, climate, geology, geography, plant communities, wildlife, rare plants, and exotic pest plants. The majority of the book is devoted to the description, culture, and distribution of approximately 450 species of wildflowers, ferns, grasses, vines, shrubs, and trees native to Tennessee and suitable for horticulture. There are nearly 400 photographs. Margie is an environmentalist and nature enthusiast with memberships in the Tennessee Native Plant Society and Tennessee Exotic Pest Plant Council, where she serves on the board as secretary. She gives presentations on native plants to various gardening and plant groups throughout Tennessee and the Southeast, has written articles for Tennessee Conservationist magazine, and volunteers with the Wildflower Pilgrimage in Gatlinburg and Discover Life in America's All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. A 2010 graduate of Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont's Southern Appalachian Naturalist Certificate Program, Margie actively studies the flora of Tennessee and is hiking all the trails in the park (see blog - http://hikinginthesmokies.wordpress.com). Class Outline:
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Book Discussion & How to Lead a Hike Discussion Leaders: Margaret Cameron and Nancy Garden
Organizing the group Telling the story Fielding questions Safety issues
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Future Focus: Lead a Hike
Panel Discussion of Volunteer Opportunities Moderator: Margaret Cameron, Director of Owl's Hill Nature Sanctuary. Members of local environmental and nature oriented organizations will present the volunteer needs from their site. Class members will be able to register for these opportunities to fulfill the 40 hour requirement for volunteer work.
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Tennessee's Living Waters
Instructors: Margaret Cameron, Owl's Hill Executive Director and Nancy Garden, Owl's Hill Director of Education
The Fall 2011 Tennessee Naturalist Program is full. If you would like to be notified when the next series is scheduled, please e-mail your contact information. |
