🌱 2024 Training Class Highlights: A Growing Community of Texas Naturalists

By: Crystal Grider

The Spring 2024 Master Naturalist Training class at Prairie Oaks Chapter has wrapped up, and it’s clear that the future of local conservation is in good hands. The class, which began in early 2024, has held space for many dedicated students and community members alike.  

In total, this year’s class contributed an impressive:

 211 volunteer hours
158 additional training hours
1 certified Texas Master Naturalist: Lauryn Bourget

By attending in person and online classes to gain a deeper knowledge of the environment and applying it through hands-on service in community, the 2024 class showed up, and were consistent with their level of commitment and passion for ecological stewardship.

Upon graduation, two students have taken their skills beyond the Prairie Oaks Chapter—one transferred to the Cross Timbers Chapter while another headed to the Gulf Coast Chapter, expanding their networks and opportunities to contribute to conservation efforts in different regions.

This kind of connection and mobility between chapters greatly impacts the Master Naturalist program, as graduates carry their knowledge and enthusiasm across the state, contributing to conservation on a larger scale.

Field Experiences included:
Geology with Joree Burnett
Soils with John Sackett
Archeology with the Rio Brazos Chapter
Ornithology with David Moore
Forest Ecology with Kimberlee Peterson
Aquatic Systems with Stephanie Keith and Karen Aho
Rangeland Management with Rickey Linex

As the Prairie Oaks Chapter continues to grow, the contributions of this new group of certified Master Naturalists will surely have a lasting impact on the community and the natural world they are working to protect, as they continue to give back their knowledge, and newly acquired skills throughout the region.

Thank you to the people who make it happen:

2024 Prairie Oaks Master Naturalist (POMN) Leadership Roster:
• President— Bill Hopkins
• Vice President— Jason Moden 
• Secretary— Gordon Lee 
• Treasurer— Katie Moses 
• Training Class Director & Tarleton Instructor— Karen Aho 
• New Training Class Representative—Will Johnson 
• Membership Director/VMS Administrator— Barbara Lever-Salter 
• Advanced Training Director—Kathy Weston
• Volunteer Service Director— Stephanie Keith 
• Communication Director— Layne Cassidy
• Advisor—Dr. Adam Mitchell (Tarleton State University) 
• Advisor—Devin Erxeleben (Texas Parks & Wildlife) 
• Advisor—Dr. Sonja Swiger (Texas A&M AgriLife Extension) 
• Outreach—Dr. Linda Wood 
• Education— Jan Rogers 
• Hospitality— Pam Chamberlain 
• Nature Center— Peggy Tolboom 
• Historian— Gail Bradshaw