Becoming a Naturalist

Fall 2022

The Northern New Mexico Master Naturalist Program is celebrating its fifth year and welcomes a new cohort of 31 trainees! The 13 week program is a collaboration between Santa Fe Botanical Garden, Santa Fe County Open Space, Parks, and Trails Department, and Audubon Southwest. Since 2020, it is a hybrid course of online lectures and discussions, combined with in person field trips. The mission is to “foster a diverse community of naturalists equipped to promote awareness, understanding, and stewardship of New Mexico’s natural environment, resources, and heritage through education and service with our partner organizations.”

Master Naturalist Interns graduation for the 2019, 2020, and 2021 cohorts on July 24, 2022 at Santa Fe Botanical Garden.

Once a Master Naturalist Trainee completes class and field instruction, they continue on to become a Master Naturalist Intern. Master Naturalist Interns volunteer a minimum of 30 hours at one of the partner organizations within 12 months.

“Adventures in Phenology”

Toby Kessler, Master Naturalist Intern.

After completing the 2021 course, Toby Kessler, decided to volunteer with Santa Fe Botanical Garden’s community science initiative to collect phenology observations through Nature’s Notebook, a project of the USA National Phenology Network. Each week he visits each of the designated plants and enters his observations through an easy to use smartphone app. As a bonus, he takes incredibly photos and shares them with the Garden.

“Taking this course has provided me several life changing opportunities and I am thankful. It has allowed me to get back in touch with the natural world and taught me how to observe. I am a professional photographer and I have know how to see, but now I take the time to observe! Thank all of you that take your time to share the information in the program with us… I plan to continue my adventures in phenology.”

Enjoy some of Toby’s photography this past year!