The Middle Peninsula Master Naturalists will offer a winter/spring basic training course running from February through May 2021. Virtual classes will be held on Wednesday evenings with several field trips usually on Saturdays throughout the Middle Peninsula.

To become a certified Virginia Master Naturalist, volunteers are required to pass a basic training course which covers a wide range of natural sciences, including botany, dendrology, ornithology, herpetology, geology and more.

After training, volunteers complete eight hours of continuing education and 40 hours of volunteer service annually. The Middle Peninsula chapter of the Master Naturalists serves Gloucester, Mathews, Middlesex, King and Queen and King William counties.

Virginia Master Naturalist Bill Blair checks a bluebird box.

Chapter members are presently involved in many projects that include monitoring water quality, education programs with public school children, monitoring of vernal pools, creating oyster h...