All Montana Master Naturalists need 8 hours of continuing education per year to maintain their certification. The goal of continuing education is to help Master Naturalists increase their understanding of Montana’s ecosystems, flora, and fauna–and it’s a great way to meet other naturalists and scientists, too!
Montana Master Naturalist continuing education needs to:
- focus on an aspect of Montana’s natural, environmental, or cultural history
- be a formal training or class
Most activities will:
- occur in Montana
- have an outdoor component
Examples include:
- Project WET, WILD, or Learning Tree training
- Plant or animal identification course or presentation
- Water quality monitoring training
- Montana geology or climate course or presentation
- Volunteer orientation for a nature center
- Forest management course or presentation
- Environmental sustainability lecture
- Naturalist Field Days through MNHC, Audubon, or other organizations
Examples that are NOT Montana Master Naturalist continuing education:
- Watching TV (even if it is a Montana nature-related show)
- Birding with friends
- Identifying trees at your cabin with family
- Reading a Montana natural history book
- Giving a natural history lecture (this would fall in the volunteering category, as long as it was unpaid)
- Researching & writing natural history articles (again, this would fall into the volunteering category, as long as it’s unpaid)
Where to find continuing education opportunities:
- Glacier Institute
- Swan Valley Connections
- Missoula Insectarium
- Montana State Parks
- Montana State University Extension Service
- Montana Wilderness Association
- Montana Audubon
- Montana Native Plant Society
- Montana Natural History Center (Naturalist Field Days, Evening Lectures, Volunteer Trainings)
- University of Montana or MSU — classes and lectures in Biology, Environmental Studies, Wildlife Biology, etc.
- Yellowstone Association
