Gearing up for Florida Master Naturalist Program courses!

We are just a month away from one of my favorite programs I get to run each year – the Florida Master Naturalist Program Coastal Systems course. I love this course because we get to spend so much of our time outdoors learning out about and exploring a variety of coastal ecosystems. We also bring in several guest speakers who are experts in their areas – from sea turtles to sharks to clams – and I love getting to learn more from them each year just as much as the course participants do! The final reason I love this course is that it attracts inquisitive, enthusiastic, and caring participants who I greatly enjoy getting to spend my days with. As I prepare for my upcoming course, I wanted to share a little bit today about the Florida Master Naturalist Program.

Some of my first FMNP Coastal Systems course participants at River to Sea Preserve – several of whom I have had the chance to continue to interact with as volunteers, through additional courses, or even writing a letter of recommendation as they continue on to higher education in the environmental field!

The Florida Master Naturalist Program

The Florida Master Naturalist Program (FMNP) is an adult education program developed by the University of Florida and provided by participating organizations, including UF/IFAS Extension County offices and environmental education centers. The mission of the FMNP is to promote awareness, understanding, and respect of Florida’s natural world among Florida’s citizens and visitors. Participants take the course for both professional and personal knowledge and growth. Quite a few employees from environmental agencies and ecotourism operators take my classes each year, but many participants are either volunteers with environmental organizations or just outdoor enthusiasts who want to learn more about their local Florida ecosystems.

FMNP Courses

There are three core classes: Uplands, Coastal, and Freshwater Systems. These courses meet for 40 hours over several weeks and incorporate field trips to the various ecosystems found in the area. There are also many specialty topics courses that meet for 24 hours and focus on issues such as habitat restoration or invasive species. As a Florida Sea Grant Extension Agent, I teach the Coastal Systems core course, which focuses on marine and coastal ecosystems and their inhabitants, each spring. I also co-teach the Marine Habitat Restoration (corals, sponges, seagrasses, and artificial reefs) and/or Coastal Shoreline Restoration (oysters, mangroves, and marshes) courses each summer.

The 2024 FMNP Coastal Shoreline Restoration course after a great day of learning by doing by helping with part of a living shoreline at Riverside Conservancy.

Upcoming FMNP courses from Flagler/Volusia Sea Grant:

Coastal Systems in Flagler and Volusia Counties:

The 2025 FMNP Coastal Systems course will meet from 9 am – 4 pm on March 24, 28, April 4, 11, 14, and 21 at various sites around Flagler and Volusia Counties. Topics covered include coastal, estuarine, and uplands habitats, coastal plants, and marine invertebrates, birds, mammals, reptiles, and fish. The course includes some classroom presentations, but most of the learning takes place outdoors. There is at least one field-based activity each day, including a boat excursion on the Indian River Lagoon, a researcher-led tour of the UF Whitney Lab, and kayaking at Gamble Rogers State Recreation Area. Find the full agenda and registration information here.

Marine Habitat Restoration in Volusia County and the Florida Keys, taught in conjunction with Marine Discovery Center

This hybrid course will virtually on April 24 and 25, followed by an in-person field day in New Smyrna Beach focused on seagrass (May 1), and two in-person field days in the Florida Keys focused on coral and sponge restoration (May 8 and 9). Find the full agenda and registration information here.

Marine Habitat Restoration in Volusia and Brevard Counties, taught in conjunction with Florida Sea Grant at UF/IFAS Extension Brevard County

Agenda and registration to be released this spring for a course in July. This hybrid course will meet virtually on weekday evenings (likely July 15, 17, 22, and 24) with two Saturday field trips focused on seagrass in Cocoa and corals at the Florida Aquarium Center for Conversation in Apollo Beach (likely July 19 and 26).

Program Impacts

Over the past three years I have had the privilege of teaching 115 participants in FMNP courses. Out of the 66 who responded to the follow-up survey 6 months after their participation in the program:

100% shared the information they learned in the class with others
70% used the information learned in a professional setting, whether as a paid employee or volunteer
80% engaged in at least one new environmentally friendly behavior as a result of what they learned in the course

Whether the information learned helps you get a job at a nature preserve, be a more knowledgeable volunteer, or makes you more confident at helping to educate your grandchildren on the ecosystems in your backyard, it is wonderful to see information being shared by participants in the course and see how it often spurs residents to make changes in their day-to-day lives and within their communities.

Stay involved!

I hope to see you at one of my upcoming programs! If you are interested in participating in any of the other FMNP classes around the state, keep an eye out on the FMNP Current Courses page or reach out to your local UF/IFAS Extension office to see which courses they offer.

There are also several active Friends of FMNP groups around the state that host educational meet ups. The Friends of Volusia FMNP welcomes anyone to join the organization and their events, regardless of if you have participated in a FMNP program yet or which county you reside in. You call fill out their membership form to be added to their monthly newsletter with information about their outings, which have included walks through the forest, dip netting along a lake, kayaking through the estuary, and giving back to nature via beach and trail clean ups.