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BY JEssicA DYER

Journal Staff Writer

Linda McDowellcan’t help herself.When she meets akindred spirit inthe great outdoors

— whether she’s snowshoeingor hiking — she often findsherself delivering the samespiel.

“If they’re talking abouthow much they love thebosque or love being in themountains, I always say, ‘Doyou know there’s a programyou can go into (to studythat)?” McDowell said.

That would be BernalilloCounty’s Master NaturalistProgram and McDowell, aretired teacher, is a proudgraduate of its first class.En route to her certificate,McDowell completed 55 hoursof education and training oneverything from hydrologyto geology. Unlike similarprograms around the countrythat charge, BernalilloCounty’s version doesn’t costparticipants any money. Butto reciprocate, participantsmust devote at least 40 hoursto a service project. Many,like McDowell, spend farlonger than that because theybecome so immersed in thework.

“This has reallyreconnected me with what atreasure we have here, theenvironment here,” McDowellsaid.

Bernalillo County beganthe program in 2010 as athree-year pilot project,but coordinator ColleenMcRoberts said it has provenso popular that it is sure tocontinue beyond this year.There is hope that otherentities will begin similarprograms throughout thestate, McRoberts said.

The Bernalillo Countyprogram — currentlyaccepting applications for the2012 session — typically hasmore interested candidatesthan spots. The applicationprocedure involves aninterview process that helpswhittle the pool down to thefinal 25 participants.

Students don’t need tobe science experts but areexpected to have someinterest in the natural world.

“We hope that people whocome into the program havealready shown some kind ofprior passion or interest inthe natural world becausethat means they’ll probablycontinue on,” McRobertssaid. “We really see thesemaster naturalists, once theygraduate, they’re mentorsin a way, a resource in ourcommunity.”

Between classroom sessionsand the hands-on lessonsthat take place at Open Spaceproperties, participantslearn a little bit about a widerange of topics, includinghydrology, geology, ecology,soils, and flora and fauna ofNew Mexico. They also dabblein environmental educationand interpretation as well asnature journaling.

The courses are taughtby hand-selected experts inthe various fields, often on avolunteer basis.

“We get top-notch

The TingleyBeach Trekis back

The second annualrace through the bosque— in which participantscomplete oddtasks alongthe way —

will take placeApril 21. Itfeatures a 1K“Over Easy” version forkids, the “Over Medium”2K and the “Scrambled”4K distance.

Find additional detailsabout the event and theregistration process byvisiting the Journal’s Fitwebsite at ABQjournalfit.corn.

The event is listedunder the “Active Local”category.

GO! BRIEFS

Ski the bumpsin Santa Fe

The 24th Annual JeffGladfelter Memorial BumpRun will take place Saturdat Ski Santa Fe.

Skiers and snowboardersof all ages will compete formedals as they are judged Itheir performance navigatthe moguls on the ski area’“Slalom” run.

The event runs from 11 ato 3 p.m.

Registration for the cont— a memorial to a localphotographer known forbuilding snow caves atopthe mountain above SkiSanta Fe — begins at 8 a.nat the lodge. The fee is $20(which includes a T-shirt).entrants must also have aticket to participate.

For more information, c505-982-4429.

Support wildiandfirefighters in rui

The public is invited to ja 5-kilometer run and wa]on Sunday to help raise ftto support the families ofwildland firefighters whotheir lives fighting wildfi:and to help firefightersinjured in the line of duty

The inaugural 5K WildIFirefighter Fun Run andWalk kicks off at 10 a.m. aNational Hispanic CulturCenter, 1701 Fourth NW i:Albuquerque. Participanwill run or walkalong thnearby bosque path.

Registration takes placonsite from 8 a.m.-10 a.mSunday. The fee is $25.

Bandelier seeksimage for pass

Bandelier NationalMonument is calling onphotographers and artisfrom around the countr3submit work for displaythe park’s 2013 annual p

The park will be accepsubmissions through Ap

Park Superintendent JLott says if Bandelier ha

and snowboardingconditions B6 GO!ABOjournal.com/go ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL Thursday, March 29, 201

PHOTOS COURTESY OF COLLEEN MCROBERTS

Joan Brown discusses the deeper connections we all have to nature at Carlito Springs as part of Bernalillo County’s

Master Naturalist Program.

MASTERS

NA1fJRECounty’s Naturalist program an immersion

in the science of the outdoors

Hydrologist Christian Leieune

helps Master Naturalist trainees identify benthic macroinvertebrates, or aquaticinsects, during training aspart of the Bernalillo Countyprogram.

Naturalist Rob Yaksich points out animal tracks to a group of trainees. Participants

in the Master Naturalist Program receive 55 hours of education and training, learn

ing from experts In a wide variety of fields.See MASTER on PAGE B6

See GO! BRIEFS on

B6 ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL GO! ThURSDAY, MARCH 29, 2012

Master Naturalist program fuels outdoor passionram PAGE B4

nstructors all the time,” saidtephanie Long, a graduate

)f the 2010 program. “It’s notomebody who knows a littleMt about the topic shows upmd presents a class. It’s likeme of the best universityevel survey classes you canake.”Now retired, Ricardo

vila-Carbajal was teachinglementary school at the timete went through the programn 2010 and said becoming aIaster Naturalist made him)etter at his job, especiallyvhen it came to scienceurriculum and creative ‘fieldrip ideas.Also, he added with a

augh, “I was really weakn identifying plants andinimals — seriously. It iseally exciting now to be.ble to walk into a park oromething and I can identifylants in there.”While Bernalillo County

.oesn’t charge for the Masteraturalist curriculum, itets repaid via participants’york on service projects.Avila-Carbajal, for

xample, helped with theounty’s Junior Masterardener program, whileong studied the bear

population at Bernalillo’sOjito de San Antonio OpenSpace

McDowell also focused

onOjito de San Antonio,conducting research todetermine the best way tocontrol poison ivy in the

area. Her overarching goalwas to help allay some ofthe fears people have aboutspending time outdoors.

MasterNaturalistprogram

Bernalillo County isaccepting applicationsthrough April 30 for its 2012Master Naturalist program.The program is intense,requiring 55 hours of training— including classroomsessions and field studies —

followed by a 40-hour serviceproject. Classes will takeplace every Thursday nightand every other Saturday inJune and July. Students haveapproximately a year afterto complete their serviceproject.

For an application, visitbernco.gov/openspace andclick on “Master NaturalistProgram” link on the left sideof the page.

For any questions, contactColleen McRoberts atcalangan@bernco.gov or314-0398.

“My real passion isbringing families andvery young children intonature, (addressing) thenature deficit disorder we’reexperiencing (because)technology and fear are

keeping families and yoimgchildren from connectingand really becoming futureguardians of these area,”McDowell said.

Langan said the program’sfirst-year students hadleeway in picking theirproject, but the county hassince refined the systemso that participants havemore direction and aresteered toward jobs that willassist Bernalillo County orsites like the Rio GrandeNature Center or SandiaMountain Natural HistoryCenter. Examples of MasterNaturalist projects developedto help county Open Spaceinclude an assessment oftree health at Bachechi OpenSpace, water quality testingand vegetation monitoringwithin the county’s EastMountains properties,and the development of anaturalist curriculum forfifth-graders visiting OpenSpace.

“Other states chargea lot of money to be inthis program, and we’reproviding it for free,”McRoberts said. “They get alot out of it, but they really dogive us a lot by being reallydedicated volunteer. It’sreally a win-win.”

Participants in Bernalillo County’s Master Naturalist program receive 55 hours f training andcomplete a 40-hour service project. Pictured from the program’s first graduating class are,from left, Linda McDowell, Ricardo Avila-Carbajal and Stephanie Long.