Extension ServiceOregon Master Naturalist
Oregon's landscapes define the people and wild species that call our state home. If you want to learn about the natural history, ecology, and natural resource management practices of Oregon, become an Oregon Master Naturalist. Our training takes place both online and on-location in Oregon’s beautiful outdoors.
Are you interested in becoming a Master Naturalist?
Do you love the outdoors? Do you want to learn more about natural history and the management of Oregon's natural resources -- and volunteer your time in service for Oregon’s natural places? By becoming a Master Naturalist you:
- Learn science-based information: The natural history of plants, animals, habitats, and geology. The history and processes of landscape change. And relevant topics in present-day sustainable natural resource management.
- Grow your community: Meet beginner and expert naturalists in your area.
- Share your love of the land: Help others learn about Oregon’s outdoors.
- Make an impact: Volunteer for natural resources programs, agencies, and organizations in your community.
The Oregon Master Naturalist Program received the 2022 Alliance of Natural Resource Outreach and Service Programs Program of the Year Award. This award recognizes an especially innovative ANROSP member program, including their set of educational materials and events aimed at a specified audience, for its unique, cutting edge, risk-taking educational programs that succeed in meeting the program’s objectives.
Alliance of Natural Resource Outreach and Service Programs is a professional organization made up of programs that are peers of the OSU Extension Master Naturalist Program.
Master Naturalists Make a Difference
What people are say about their involvement in the Master Naturalist Program
Our stories
Read the Corps of Discovery article and watch The Nature of Oregon video from OSU's Terra Magazine
About
The OSU Extension Master Naturalist Program enhances a sense of place and increases knowledge about and connection to the natural environment for all Oregonians. The program provides transformative, science-based, experiential learning in outdoor settings, and it encourages service that protects and supports ecosystems and community wellbeing in Oregon.
The Program provides an opportunity to learn about natural resources through the study of scientifically sound information: the natural history of plants, animals, habitats, and geology, the history and processes of landscape change, as well as the most relevant topics in present-day sustainable natural resource management. Participants volunteer for natural resources programs, agencies, organizations, and other groups in their communities.
The Oregon Master Naturalist Program is an OSU Extension Forestry and Natural Resources program, established in 2009.
Land Acknowledgement
The Oregon Master Naturalist Program studies the vast and diverse ecosystems of Oregon. These landscapes shape the way we see and experience Oregon as naturalists. We acknowledge that the places we visit as learners are the ancestral homelands of more than 60 distinct Indigenous tribes and bands representing many cultures and languages. Indigenous peoples have called Oregon home for time immemorial, and the varied and diverse landscapes and natural resources shaped who these people are. When white settlers came to Oregon, they were forcibly and violently removed from their lands to make way for settlement of the state. We acknowledge that Indigenous people are still here and thriving on their ancestral lands, honor their traditional ecological knowledge and stewardship of the Earth, and commit to an ongoing partnership and engagement with indigenous communities to create authentic learning experiences and teaching of this knowledge through our courses.
To learn more, visit the Native Lands mapping site to find out upon whose lands you live, and watch the Oregon Public Broadcasting Oregon Experience episode "Broken Treaties, An Oregon Experience".