Learn More About Florida’s Coastal Nature

Love nature and being outdoors? Want to better understand Florida’s coastal and marine ecosystem? If hanging out with nature-minded folks learning about Florida’s coastal plants and wildlife sounds good, check out the “Coastal Systems” module of the Florida Master Naturalist program. The course is being offered soon at the Nassau County Extension branch in Yulee (and elsewhere around the state during the year).

Here’s a chance to delve into nature and be better able to identify plants, shrubs, and trees seen in the maritime forest and around the dunes and the beach. Plus shells, shore birds, life around the tidal salt marsh and lots more in our natural environment at the Florida coast.  For those who have relocated to Florida from another state (i.e., you’re a “transplant”), the course will be especially useful. (Browse photo slide show below featuring field trips taken during the program, click arrows to slow the gallery.)

The Coastal Systems course starts October 31, 2011 and runs three weeks, ending November 21, 2011, requiring a 40-hour time commitment (two evenings a week — Monday and Wednesday 6-9 pm), plus Saturday field trips. The goal of the Florida Master Naturalist program is to promote a better understanding of Florida’s natural environment and “initiate what is for many a life-long process of learning, of observation, and of sharing with others.”

Teaching the course and leading the outdoor adventures are two knowledgeable instructors, Steve Gaul, a Nassau County Extension Agent with background in forestry, and Christina Nelson, a certified Florida Master Naturalist who has run the Nature Center at Omni Amelia Island Plantation for 15 years.

Having taken the course last year, I can say firsthand it’s a good class to learn more about Florida’s environment.  I found the field trips to be the highlight of the overall experience, exploring the outdoors with classmates visiting Big Talbot Island, Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve, and Amelia Island Plantation.

If my class profile was typical, the program attracts lots of eco-minded folks, the majority having careers tied to various areas of science. The program is well suited for those in the eco-tourism business and teachers as well (educators may get up to 40 hours of continuing education credit). 

You’ll listen to lectures and watch videos in the classroom sessions, spend time outdoors on Saturday field trips, and are required to present an individual and group project to the class. There’s a wide array of options for the presentation projects from which to choose.  For example, I created a Powerpoint presentation on sea turtles and also worked on a photographic brochure with a classmate, “the flora of Egans Greenway.”

The two binders you’ll take home with you (“Student Workbook”), contain ­over 1,000 pages on coastal systems, habitats, plant and animal life, naturalist interpretation, planning, and additional resources.  All will walk away with a better appreciation and understanding of what we see around us at the Florida coast. Plus, you’ll also have a great resource on the bookshelf for future referral, along with memories of some neat nature hikes with interesting folks.

The “Coastal Systems” module is one of three sections of the Florida Master Naturalist certification, each module costs $225.  There’s no requirement to take all three, but some in the class had done so, and celebrated completion of the program. Online registration for the Coastal Systems course being offered at 86026 Pages Dairy Road in Yulee (at the Nassau County Extension office 904-879-1019), closes at 10:00 am on October 26, 2011.  

Also visit the Florida Master Naturalist website for more info and to see other places around the state of Florida where all three segments of the Florida Master Naturalist program are offered at various times throughout the year. Besides the “Coastal Systems” module, the other two are “Freshwater Wetlands” and “Upland Habitats.” In addition, special topic courses are also offered in some locations around Florida, such as “Environmental Interpretation” and “Wildlife Monitoring.”

Here’s a summary of the mission of the Florida Master Naturalist Program, from their website:

“The mission of the Florida Master Naturalist Program (FMNP) is to promote awareness, understanding, and respect of Florida’s natural world among Florida’s citizens and visitors. Florida Master Naturalist Program students will increase their knowledge of Florida’s natural systems, of the plants and animals that depend upon those systems, and of the role of humankind in shaping our past, of determining our future, and as stewards of the land. The objective of the Florida Master Naturalist Program is to prepare persons to share their knowledge with others, to act in a positive manner, to help others feel a greater connection to the land/sea and to help others to develop their own personal environmental ethics. Information on the ecology of Florida’s systems is an integral part of the program, but we do not attempt to create experts in botany, herpetology, or any other discipline. Rather, we hope to initiate what is for many a life-long process of learning, of observation, and of sharing with others.”

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