Mississippi Master Naturalists

Two women walk and look at a book.

Experiencing Mississippi like never before 

Volunteers in Extension’s Master Naturalist program are receiving scientific, research-based instruction to learn about all of Mississippi’s natural wonders and how to share their knowledge with others.

The Mississippi Master Naturalists are:

  • Creating educational materials and resources.
  • Teaching adults and children about natural areas.
  • Giving demonstrations and presentations to local groups.
  • Assisting in the management of local natural areas. n Providing technical assistance to natural resource organizations.
  • Helping people better understand and appreciate their natural environment.
  • Encouraging environmental stewardship.
  • Building friendships and working relationships with others who love Mississippi’s natural world.
Susan Thompson draws wildlife in the Pinecote Pavilion pond at Extension’s Crosby Arboretum in Picayune.
The caterpillar of a black swallowtail butterfly, Papilio polyxenes, crawls up a Water cowbane, Oxypolis filiformis, at Crosby Arboretum.
This bald cypress, Taxodium distichum, at Crosby Arboretum is just one of the many trees the Master Naturalist volunteers identified during their field trip there.
Jill Mirkovich and Margaret Waterson compare notes on the Crosby Arboretum hike.
Coastal Mississippi Master Naturalists, led by assistant Extension professor Eric Sparks, include Ray Tipton, Jim Ingram, Loraine Hughes, Jimbo Meador, Mike Ramsey, Vicky Foster, Jeffery Green, Josh McNiel, Hugh Bodden, and Susan Thompson. On their boat ride along the Gulf Coast, they identified moon jellyfish, Aurelia aurita; comb jellies, Ctenophora spp.; Atlantic croaker, Micropogonias undulates; Gafftopsail catfish, Bagre marinus; white trout, Cynoscion arenarius; and brief squid, Lolliguncula brevis.
The class of volunteers identified wildflowers during the Crosby Arboretum field trip.

Learn more about the program here.

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Extension Matters volume 2 number 2.