During a recent joint Zoom meeting, attended by members of the local Middle Peninsula Master Naturalists and Gloucester Master Gardeners, I mentioned that I would be happy to write a column about the Master Naturalist program.

Within a few days, I received an email from Master Naturalist and Master Gardener Emeritus Felicity Rask, inviting me to lunch and a casual meeting with several Master Naturalists. The lunch was delicious, and the afternoon provided plenty of stimulating conversation with a group of people enthusiastic about their chosen activity.

So, who are the Virginia Master Naturalists anyway, and what do they do? Virginia Master Naturalists are a statewide corps of volunteers who demonstrate a passion for the outdoors and a desire to manage and protect our precious natural areas and wildlife resources. Thirty Virginia Master Naturalist units are located across the Commonwealth, each working locally in various ways as citizen scientists, educators, and environmental s...