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W e d n e s d ay, N ov e m b e r 19, 2025
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Jan Risher LONG STORY SHORT
Small acts, big connections
PROVIDED PHOTOS
Natural instincts Bob Thomas, on the right, leads a group of master naturalist students during a blue crab class.
Statewide naturalist program educates about flora and fauna
BY JOY HOLDEN
Staff writer
Long before Bob Thomas founded the Louisiana Master Naturalist Association, he grew up in central Louisiana, wandering the woods and waterways for snakes, frogs and bugs. “It was a wonderful place for me,” Thomas said, “because I was in the field all the time. Snakes were dripping out of the trees and fish were jumping out of the water.” His love for nature, fostered by a Louisiana wilderness childhood, led him to jungle after jungle studying snakes and their adaptations — Thomas became a snake expert, an environmental biology professor, the founding director of the Louisiana Nature Center and the director of the Center for Environmental Communication at Loyola University. He wanted to share this knowledge and passion with people beyond academia. After several years of trying, he finally established the first Louisiana Master Naturalist Association chapter. Now, the 13-year-old program’s popularity is surging. The Greater New Orleans chapter has a waitlist of over a year. Currently, seven chapters serve the state: Alexandria, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Monroe, New Orleans and Shreveport. The 501©(3) nonprofit group offers a statewide program to educate Louisiana residents about the state’s flora and fauna, as well as other aspects of their environment and ecosystems. Once certified, the master naturalists use their knowledge to educate others or assist programs that promote and protect Louisiana’s natural heritage. Courses are offered twice a year, in the spring and the fall.
Origins of naturalist association Master Naturalist Associations exist in 48 states, often state-funded. Louisiana does not have state funding. Thomas explained that he tried to establish an association with the LSU Ag Center at one point, but funding fell through. After multiple failed attempts at starting a statewide association, Thomas says he believed the only way to move forward was to start a local organization in New Orleans. He called naturalist friends there, and they set up the nonprofit, starting pilot classes in 2012. The first public classes were held in the spring of 2013. While each chapter in Louisiana is different, they all have workshops, learning opportunities and serve their communities. Every chapter presents a broad overview of the state’s natural history, but chapter activities vary based on geography. Louisiana is nicknamed the Sportsman’s Paradise for its abundant wildlife that many residents enjoy hunting and fishing in. Thomas values the sportsmen and sportswomen of the state for their tradi-
Helen Sierminski uses binoculars to spot birds in New Orleans on one of her urban nature walks. tional ecological knowledge. He says many have been through the program and have become certified naturalists. Other participants do not have nearly as much experience, but they are curious about their surroundings. Everyone is welcome. “We tell them at orientation that it’s a community of people who have similar interests,” Thomas said. “You might love insects, and you might love birds, or you might be into general nature. You might love refuges. It doesn’t matter. If you’re interested in nature, you fit the profile of people in these classes.”
Becoming a master naturalist
tems work with clients. She appreciates the ecosystem context the master naturalist certification gave her. “Understanding healthy ecosystems helps us to get along with nature,” she said, “like in Louisiana where you have coastal erosion and a lot of environmental factors.”
Around the state Louisiana Master Naturalists of Greater Baton Rouge member Colette Dean was instrumental in launching the Discover Nature series in 2016 at the LSU Hilltop Arboretum. The series is one example of how master naturalists give back to their communities. He emphasized that chapters are more than learning about wildlife. The members develop a community, and chapters share presenters and enjoy co-hosting field trips with other chapters. LMNA hosts an annual state gathering, Rendezvous, to meet one another and share knowledge and ideas. “Louisiana chapters may differ in their content and approach, but the coordination will ensure consistency in quality and focus,” Thomas said. Louisiana Master Naturalist Greater New Orleans even has a resource center Thomas affectionately calls “the clubhouse” that serves as a meeting and teaching place. They have a library of about 1,200 nature books and animal artifacts they use in their workshops. They even have study groups on such subjects as mushrooms or dragonflies. “We meet a lot of interesting people. We have regular membership meetings and gatherings in parks for mini workshops,” Thomas said. “There’s a lot more to it than just having workshops and learning about nature, it’s a big social occasion.” To learn more about joining a Louisiana Master Naturalist Association, visit www. louisianamasternaturalist.org/chapters. html. To view the association’s presentations, visit https://tinyurl.com/yfp9aywz.
Each chapter has different, but comparable, requirements to receive and maintain certification. To receive certification, aspiring naturalists must complete a course (4060 hours of workshop time), volunteer time to benefit the environment and community, as well as pay modest dues. Thomas says learning happens indoor and outdoor, but they don’t spend a lot of time inside. Field trips and workshops are often outside in nature. Helen Sierminski of New Orleans leads urban nature walks through the city. Her partner told her about becoming a master naturalist. He had completed the program a few years earlier. She was wait-listed for a year, but was able to start the classes when someone backed out in the fall of 2024. “The challenging part about it is that we get a lot of information all at once. We have classes twice a month, and it’s an all-day class learning all the things. We don’t learn one thing at a time,” Sierminski said. Visiting specific sites for field study is also a major component of the program. When Sierminski and her class visited sites during the program, she noted that different experts discussed multiple aspects of that environment, like lizards and birds in the area and what made the soil unique. Sierminski started her own company which offers urban nature experiences. She uses her master naturalist training professionally as a guide, identifying dif- Email Joy Holden at joy.holden@ ferent species and sharing how the ecosys- theadvocate.com.
As we approach the holidays, I’ve thought a lot about people who are lonely. Peeling back the layers of what it takes to build community might just be the antidote to loneliness. So, let’s work backwards: If the epidemic of loneliness is the outside layer, building community would be its undoing, which begs the question: How does one build community? Doing so is not a “just add water” sort of equation. Community grows in layers, from the inside out. It’s a tangled web of genuine relationships — and it’s messy. As therapist Amanda E. White points out, community is not frictionless — and I love that phrasing. White is executive director of Therapy for Women in Philadelphia. She says that being in a community sometimes means getting annoyed because that one friend sends too many texts, or you have to listen when you don’t feel like it to the friend who tells you way too much. Maybe there are limits to your patience, but being part of a community might even mean maintaining the relationship with the friend who loudly smacks at the table. The point is being in a community is messy, sometimes difficult — and it comes with being in relationships at a variety of stages. But genuine relationships are at the heart of every strong community. The tricky part these days, especially for people in younger generations, is finding the other folks to build relationships with. To meet people, I’m a big fan of joining organizations that focus on shared values, activities and interests — churches come to mind, but if church isn’t one’s cup of tea, perhaps a tennis league or a trivia team would work. The secret to finding new friends is the same advice that my photographer friend gave me to take better photographs: move your feet. Get up and get out. Find the clubs. Go to the meetings. Stay a while. Show up — then show up again. Sometimes doing so takes courage. Once a pool of potential friends have been found, what’s the next step? It’s having meaningful conversations — the kind that move beyond small talk and help us understand each other to discover how our weirds overlap. As a longtime journalist who has interviewed thousands of people, my advice on this is easy — ask questions. If you sincerely ask good and thoughtful questions and listen to the answers, you’ll be amazed at what people will tell you. Let’s dissect that last sentence again: Sincerely ask: From my vantage point, I see “sincerity” as the key to almost everything when it comes to relationships. Being sincere means knowing who you are and following through being true to yourself instead of following whatever it is you saw someone else do and thought was cool once upon a time. To practice sincerity, pay attention to what makes your heart sing — and follow that song. Thoughtful questions: Don’t go with the obvious. Think about what that person just said and allow yourself room to wonder. Then be bold enough to ask the question. Yes, there’s a line not to cross to avoid the creepy territory, but there’s a lot of room before you get there. Listen. The number of times I hear other people ask a question that a person just answered is high — and, in full disclosure, I have done it myself too. Nearly every time I do, I’m focusing on what my reply will be as opposed to simply listening and taking it in. People will tell you. They’ll tell you about the time they got into the Peace Corps to go to Albania but ended up in Honduras instead. They’ll tell you about their secret pregnancy. They’ll tell you about driving across two states to buy a car for their ex-wife because it looked like a specific Pokémon. People will tell you amazing things. In all these small exchanges — questions asked, stories shared, kindnesses shared — community starts to take shape. It doesn’t arrive all at once. Community is built layer by layer — through sincerity, curiosity, courage and persistence. Email Jan Risher at jan.risher@ theadvocate.com.