Parks in Partnership: Michigan State University Extension and the Michigan Naturalist Class

December 25, 2024

By Erin Parker, Interpretive Services Supervisor

What are you looking forward to in the new year? If you are hoping to deepen your engagement with and understanding of southeastern Michigan’s myriad wild places and wildlife, consider the Michigan State University Cooperative Extension’s Michigan Naturalist Course. Participants will explore Michigan’s rich natural resources over the course of seven months, with individual sessions focused on understanding the climate, geology and soils, terrestrial, and aquatic habitats that are found here. Additionally, the class learns about the basics of wildlife from mammals to insects. Most importantly, each lecture is followed by a field experience so that student learning is put to immediate use.

Get Outside and Learn

Michigan Naturalist class participants come from a wide variety of backgrounds and with varying levels of prior knowledge about Michigan’s ecology. One thing that they all have in common, though, is a desire to spend time outdoors and to better understand how to observe and steward the landscapes around them.

Each region of Michigan that hosts a course, tailors the topics and field trips to the unique features of that area. Every class participant will have the same baseline of content, keeping classes across the state learning about the same broad concepts while keeping specific examples local.

Field trips are both a critical piece of learning, as students take their classroom lecture and put it into practice, but also a great opportunity to explore parks, waterways, and other greenspaces in each region. The course is typically a collaboration between agencies, college and university experts, and nonprofit organizations so that students have exposure to a wide variety of people and places. Ultimately, many naturalist class graduates will volunteer or support these sites with their newfound knowledge and skills, making it valuable for everyone involved.

Upcoming opportunities for a class near you

In 2025, southeast Michigan residents will have two opportunities to participate in the Michigan Naturalist class. The Environmental Interpretive Center at the University of Michigan- Dearborn hosts a Wayne County Cohort and the Huron-Clinton Metroparks is home to a Macomb/Oakland County cohort. Because of the amount of planning, coordinating, and logistics of pulling together each course, they are only offered in each region every other year.

According to Wayne County host, University of Michigan- Dearborn’s Environmental Interpretive Center’s Program Manager and Interpretive Naturalist Dorothy McLeer; “The MSU Extension Michigan Naturalist course is a great way to meet like-minded people who are interested in learning more about our state and its many diverse habitats. Participants learn from a variety of experts on a wide array of topics, both in the classroom and out in the field, to provide insights into how healthy natural systems function–and what can be done to keep them that way. Group field trips to local sites demonstrate real world examples, while familiarizing participants with these regional gems.”

Course participants “graduate” as a Michigan Naturalist through participation in the majority of the classes and completion of online quizzes about the subject matter. To remain certified, graduates must submit 8+ hours of additional training in natural resource and conservation topics such as lectures or workshops attended. This keeps the cohort of certified naturalists up-to-date on current issues and practices specific to ecology in Michigan.

Interested in learning more about the 2025 Michigan Naturalist Class? Find out more and join the waitlist to receive registration information when the course cohorts open in 2025: https://www.canr.msu.edu/courses/michigan-master-naturalist