Nineteen new volunteers have joined the Master Naturalists program across Bureau, LaSalle, Marshall, and Putnam counties. After completing six weeks of training on Illinois’ natural history and environmental stewardship, these individuals are set to contribute 60 hours of service to local conservation efforts.
Colleen Soon, Melissa Araujo, Joanne Fitzgerald, Janell Satler, Katee Johnson, Joann Bowman, Jenny Eckhardt, Jeff Nieman, Cyndi Nieman, Amy Murphy, John Murphy, Joe Jakupcak, Zak Kaufman, Tom Dwyer, Chris Woeltje, Bonnie Claudnic, Bettyann Harrison, Amy Williams, and Brian Johnson completed 6 weeks of training to better share their passion about the environment with their communities.
Experts from the University of Illinois and environmental partners led a 40-hour classroom instruction and fieldwork to cover the prairie state’s natural history and environmental issues. Some of the new volunteers’ favorite topics included bats of Illinois, prairie wildflowers, wetlands, ornithology, and streams.
“This is the first time we’ve been able to offer an in-person training since 2019,” says Emily Hansen, Illinois Extension Agriculture Educator. “I’m so happy that we have such a great new group of volunteers. I learned just as much from them as I did from our classes, and I look forward to seeing what the new class will contribute to our future programs.”