Shelby County is home to more than 40,000 residents within its 386 square miles.  As a neighbor to Kentucky's largest population center, Louisville, current Extension agriculture/horticulture programming seeks to inform the public and enhance the sustainability of agriculture as Shelby County faces the continued challenges of a growing urban-rural interface.  An additional programming focus is to increase the visibility and relevance of Extension to an expanding audience of increasingly diverse clientele. 

In order to meet these program goals, the agriculture agent and horticulture technician adopted and modified the University of Illinois' Master Naturalist program.  While not a true "master" program, the Outdoor Naturalist series of classes provided a wide-ranging curriculum which attracted participants not typical to Extension programming, as well as offering existing clientele a new program and new informational format. 

61 unique participants completed one or more classes within the Outdoor Naturalist program over the 13-month course.  Average attendance was 22, with a high of 41 attendees and a low of 16.  Compared to other local programs, this was a higher-than-normal average attendance, especially considering the length of the program (March 2016 - April 2017).

Participants were surveyed following completion of the program series.  A survey response rate of only 16% can be partially explained by the fact that several participants attended only one or two courses and may not have felt they had sufficient course experience to contribute.However, participating respondents were overwhelmingly positive about the Outdoor Naturalist series with 60% indicating that they had already applied information learned in one or more sessions to their own outdoor environment.

90% of respondents indicated they became more aware of or connected to nature as a result of the series, and 100 % of respondents said they are more aware of their relationship to their environment and their responsibilities as an outdoor advocate as a result of one or more of the classes in the series.  100% of respondents also indicated that they plan to seek out additional information about one or more of the topics presented.

Courses receiving additional praise and being cited as favorites or highlights of the series included Geology/Soils (2), Native Plants (1), Archaeology (3), Environmental Ethics/GMOs (3). 

80% of respondents provided answers to open-ended questions (a high percentage).  Answers included the following:

Did you learn specific skills or information that will benefit you?  What were they?

• Yes. How to make arrowheads.
• Importance of native plants, trees and wildlife for the balance of our environment and area.I learned a lot about the history of Shelby County.
• How to sharpen tools. Treat the environment with respect.  UK has knowledgeable presenters as does KSU.  Don’t be fooled by those selling.
• I was very disappointed not to be able to attend most of the sessions. The ones I did attend were very interesting and were I to have an opportunity to apply the knowledge, I would have a great set of notes to refer to.

What topics would be most interesting or beneficial to you during future Outdoor Naturalist series?

• Climate change – pros and cons (2)
• Archaeology
• Loved archaeology, mammals and birds classes!
• Feeding the world’s population on less land.  More on trees, please.
• Geology & archaeology – which I missed.  Importance of agriculture to the county economy.
• Pasture lands – any aspect.  Geology again.  All of the ones I missed! Land conservation efforts in Shelby and surrounding counties, especially horse riding trails.

Other comments or suggestions you’d like to share:

• Would like an avian biologist and herpetologist
• Wish I could have attended more sessions, but work schedule did not permit it.
• Wish I could have attended more sessions.  I enjoyed all that I was able to attend.
• Thank you. Great series!
• Please keep doing this!

The results of the Shelby County Outdoor Naturalist series should be extremely beneficial in the development of the UK Master Naturalist program.  This program is currently being developed and I am proud to be serving on the oversight committee.  Master Naturalist will serve a new and diverse audience across all Kentucky counties.