Continued Education and Volunteering - Montana Audubon Center

Montana Audubon: Celebrating 50 Years!

Continued Education and Volunteering

Criteria for Volunteer Service

The activity needs to:

– relate to Montana’s natural or environmental cultural history

– occur in Montana unless you live out of state

– be sponsored by an organization

– be unpaid

Each volunteer service activity may fit under one of these categories: Citizen Science, Stewardship, Education, Organizational Support, Other.

Citizen Science

Citizen Science involves volunteers assisting with scientific research. These projects usually involve gathering data and returning it to researchers. Examples include:

Assisting with any kind of natural history/biological survey (iNaturalist, eBird)
Participating in a Christmas Bird Count
Collecting monarch larval monitoring data
Monitoring water quality or macroinvertebrates
Collecting/interpreting biological data for any number of projects through SciStarter, Zooniverse, or other local or nationwide projects

Stewardship

Stewardship includes natural resource management activities. Examples include:

Removing invasive weeds
Helping develop a school forest management plan
Assisting with restoration (collecting native seeds, planting native species)
Improving trails to reduce erosion
Helping maintain a community native plant garden

Education

Education includes the presentation and/or development of educational materials. Examples include:

Assisting in teaching visitors about wildflowers at a nature center
Writing a Field Note or educational article for publication in a magazine or newsletter
Creating a brochure for a natural area
Assisting with an environmental education program for a school group (Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, 4H, church group, etc.)

Organizational Support

Organizational Support projects include working to ensure the functioning of any conservation/environmental organizations. Examples include:

Preparing mailings
Answering phones
Computer work
Organizing a digital library
Serving as a board member
Assisting with events, lectures, fundraising

Other

Other projects should be described when you submit hours

Criteria for Continuing Education

Montana Master Naturalist continuing education needs to:

1) focus on an aspect of Montana’s natural, environmental, or cultural history, and

2) be a formal training or class.

Most activities will occur in Montana and 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 Montana Natural History Center, Montana Audubon, or other organizations
Because we have some great documentary film festivals in the state, we will allow up to two continuing education hours from watching a natural history-focused documentary film at a film festival, ideally focused on Montana (or at least the West), and even better if there’s a discussion forum afterwards!

Where to find continuing education opportunities in the Billings area:

Montana Audubon Center
Montana State Parks
Montana Native Plant Society

MSU-B and Rocky Mountain College — classes and lectures in Biology, Environmental Studies, Wildlife Biology, etc.
Pompey’s Pillar National Monument
Western Heritage Center

Wild Montana
Yellowstone Art Museum
Yellowstone Forever Institute

For more information, please contact:

Danella Stapley

Center Conservation Science Coordinator

Montana Audubon Center

Billings

[email protected]