TN Naturalist @ Ijams class of 2015 meet for first time

Senior naturalist Peg Beute looks for frogs and newts in a Homesite pond

The 2015 class of the TN Naturalist @ Ijams met last Saturday for their first of a series of classes. 

This year there are 25 people taking the course which wraps up in November and covers a wide range of topics: trees, wildflowers, birds, amphibians, mammals, reptiles, geology, fungi and even one late night class in September called the "Nocturnal Naturalist."  

This is the third year that Ijams is involved in this state-wide program. In addition to the 12 classes, students must put in 40 hours of volunteer work at Ijams or elsewhere. After all the requirements are met, the students will become certified Tennessee Naturalists. 

Senior naturalist Peg Beute and education director Jennifer Roder conducted the first class and afterwards the group went into the woods to look for early signs of spring. 

Welcome class of 2015!

- Stephen Lyn Bales. Photos by Jen Roder.