College of the Redwoods students earn UC Naturalist Certification
Ten College of the Redwoods students –Kelly Amaloo, Angela Cramer, Jessica Duncan, Courtney Harris, Michael Kiso, Gunner Kretchmer, Michael Pitts, Jacey Ragan, Suzanne Straube, and Chloee Simpson – are the first-ever Humboldt County students to earn University of California’s California Naturalist Certification.
The Naturalist Certification is recognized statewide as a standard in naturalist training and offers students an advantage when applying for internships and jobs in environmental science and environmental education, as well as qualifying them for a myriad of advanced training opportunities. The program is administered by University of California’s Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources through courses offered by trained instructors at partnering institutions. CR is one of only a few community college partners; most partnering institutions are private or non-profit environmental education or restoration organizations. More information about the California Naturalist program is available at http://calnat.ucanr.edu/.
California Naturalist Certification requires that the student complete at least 40 hours of classroom study and field training in organismal biology, habitat ecology, and resource management, learn how to create and use a field journal, participate in volunteer work and citizen science including the iNaturalist website, and complete an individual capstone project.
CR’s Dr. Karen Reiss heard of UC’s program, recognized that the requirements were similar to her BIOL 20 – Natural History course, a GE life science course focused on California natural history with a strong emphasis on field work in a diversity of local habitats, and thought that the certification would be an asset to CR students moving forward in their chosen career paths. After several teleconferences with UC program administrators Adina Merelender and Brook Gamble, a training workshop at UC Davis for partnering organizations, and some minor changes to her course, Dr. Reiss received the greenlight to offer BIOL 20 as an approved California Naturalist course in fall of 2016.
The students who were successful in the fall semester course completed capstone projects that ranged from a survey of Humboldt County’s medicinal plants, to restoration work and curriculum development for Friends of the Dunes, to developing interpretive materials for natural history public displays at CR, to public education and political action regarding the vulnerability of bee populations to pesticides.
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