The Journey's Begun...

Well...it's been nearly 5 months since my last post.  Gonna start doing this more regularly. That 1st post was created on the day that I had the wonderful opportunity to visit the North Cascades Institute to learn a little bit more about their Master's in Environmental Education program.  I am excited and energized about the potential future that I may create should I decide to attend this program. To some extent that was really a spark for me to get moving on figuring out "where I go from here."

Since my last post I've accomplished A LOT  in determining whether this Naturalist /Environmental Educator path is the right one for me.  Let me summarize what I've accomplished over the last 5 months:

- GSMNP: 3 of 8 courses completed at Great Smoky Mountain National Park (Tremont Institute) in the Southern Appalachian Naturalist Certification Program.(Mammals, Naturalist Skills & Interpretation).

- Classes at Cincinnati Nature Center(CNC): 12 hour Member Naturalist Workshop; Primitive Cooking, Nature Observation & Tracking with Tom Brown III.

- Volunteering at CNC: Worked in the Sugar House running the evaporator and talking about the process    of making syrup during the  for Maple Syrup Season; now working 6 hours per month helping the Director    of Marketing and Membership with market research projects.

- Kamana Naturalist Program- I have recently completed Kamana I through Jon Young's Wilderness Awareness School and look forward to starting Kamana II in May '11.

Phew..I have done quite a bit, but I still have a lot planned for the remainder of the year:
CNC: Nature Mentoring I and II (March/April);"Playing in Nature" in May(tentative).
SANCP: Plants(May); Aquatic Natural History/Reptiles & Amphibians(July); S. Appalachian Ecology(Sep)
Marine Mammal Naturalist Training: Super-excited to FINALLY have the chance to attend this course out in the San Juan Islands. Thanks Mom and Dad for the graduation gift!

Oh...did I mention I am finishing up my MBA part-time at Xavier as well:)

With Thankfulness and Appreciation....Greg(aka the Accidental Naturalist)