Fall 2019: California Naturalist Certification

Lindsay Wildlife Experience is proud to host another offering of the California Naturalist certification course focused on the Mt. Diablo region. Taught by local expert guest speakers, the course provides a broad overview of California natural history while helping participants to become skilled interpreters, citizen scientists, and land stewards of the Diablo region. Through field trips, classroom instruction, hands-on exercises, and project-based learning participants will observe and learn about the variety of ecosystems of our region. Participants will also improve their communication skills by sharing knowledge and working on a group project.

Course Requirements for certification as a California Naturalist:

• 12 weeks of class instruction(40 hours), plus field trips
• Capstone project (individual or in groups)
• Participation in citizen science project (whole class)
• Read California Naturalist Handbook and complete assigned homework
• Field Notebook and iNaturalist – recording field notes and observations

Class Dates: From August 20th to November 9th, 2019 class instruction will be held on Tuesday evenings from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. and field trips will be held on Saturday days–exact time TBA. No class/field trips will be held on August 31st, September 21st, October 5th, and October 8th, 2019.

Location: Lindsay Wildlife Experience, 1931 First Avenue, Walnut Creek, CA 9459, and various field sites that will be clearly explained before each Saturday trip.

Field Trips: 

• Saturday, August 24th at CSU Field Station 
• Saturday, September 7th at CSU Field Station 
• Saturday, September 14th at Mitchell Canyon 
• Saturday, September 28th at Mount Diablo Summit
• Saturday, October 12th at Briones Park
• Saturday, October 19th at Shell Ridge/ Castle Rock
• Saturday, October 26th at Shell Ridge/ Castle Rock
• Saturday, November 2nd at Borges Ranch
• Saturday, November 9th at CSU Campus – Capstone Presentations and Picnic 

Cost: $475 (limited number of scholarships available)

Attendance Policy: If an evening class is missed, the participant will be expected to complete make-up activities on their own time at the direction of the instructor. Only one evening class session and one Saturday session can be missed and still complete the certificate.  

Cancellation Policy: After paying, you can cancel up to August 6 to get a refund, minus a $50 administrative fee. If we can find someone to take your spot by the first day of class, then you can receive a full refund. No other cancellations, for any other reason at any time, will result in a refund. 

Application Deadline: The application deadline has been extended to Friday, June 28th at 3:00 p.m.

Click here to apply!