We know it's been a while since you heard from us - we're sure you're dying to know what's up with the UMN program! We're ramping up for the 2023 Utah Master Naturalist field season and are excited to finally be reaching out with some updates. You can expect these newsletters from us on a quarterly basis from here on out.

What's new with UMN?

We have a new home!


As Mark transitions into the next adventure in his career, the Utah Master Naturalist Program has found a new home with the Swaner Preserve and EcoCenter within USU Extension. Don't worry though, we'll still be bringing Mark in for special appearances and reaching out to him with all the questions! We're learning our way through the admin side of this program and are excited to work with all of you. We'll continue to work with our amazing partners to provide each Utah Master Naturalist course.


We've been chugging away on some fun website and programming updates - we highly recommend a peek at the new website. Most excitingly though - 2023 Field Courses open for registration on March 1 at 8:00am! More information and registration details can be found on our website.


If you have any questions about the Utah Master Naturalist Program shoot us an email at utahmasternaturalist@usu.edu.


Cheers to an excellent year of naturalist adventures!


The Swaner Team

Hunter & Rhea from Swaner's team!

2023 Field Courses

Watershed Investigations

May 4 - 6, 2023

Salt Lake City, UT

Hosted By: Natural History Museum of Utah

Teacher Only Course


July 13 - 15, 2023

Park City, UT

Hosted By: Swaner Preserve & EcoCenter

Open to the Public



Mountain Adventures

June 23, July 21, & Aug. 18, 2023

Salt Lake City, UT

Hosted By: Cottonwood Canyons Foundation

Open to the Public


July 19 - 21, 2023

Salt Lake City, UT

Hosted By: Natural History Museum of Utah

Teacher Only Course


August 2 - 4, 2023

Salt Lake City, UT

Hosted By: Utah's Hogle Zoo

Open to the Public

Desert Explorations

May 17 - 19, 2023

Salt Lake City & Moab, UT

Hosted By: Utah's Hogle Zoo

Open to the Public


Sept. 29 - Oct. 1, 2023

Dewey, UT

Hosted By: Natural History Museum of Utah

Teacher Only Course

Dark Sky Investigations

Sept. 14 - 16, 2023

Davis County/Antelope Island, UT

Hosted By: Antelope Island State Park

Open to the Public

Registration & More Information

Volunteer Opportunities

Share your Master Naturalist skills!


Many organizations in Utah rely on Utah Master Naturalist volunteers to deliver educational programs, conduct land conservation activities, participate in monitoring and citizen science, and provide administrative support. Check out all of the awesome organizations and their volunteer opportunities on the Utah Master Naturalist website.


Volunteer Opportunities

Opportunity Highlight


Wings and Water is a wetlands education program that’s run through a partnership between USU Botanical Center and The Nature Conservancy. This program takes third and fourth graders on guided tours of the Great Salt Lake Shorelands Preserve and educational activities at the USU Botanical Center in Kaysville. Wings and Water is almost completely dependent on volunteers to help guide tours and run activities. For more information, email olivia.shively@usu.edu.

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