About the Wenatchee Naturalist Program
Update: We are taking a pause in 2023-
Here is how the course was held in 2023:
- Registration opens mid-August for 24 people
- Class dates: Wednesday evenings, 6-8:30pm, mid-Sept. -mid-Dec. (no class week of Thanksgiving), and three all-day Saturday field trips, and one half-day field trip in early December.
- Tuition includes a field journal, waterproof pen, and a loaner library box and hand lens. At each class, students are provided with art materials to use with hands-on materials.
Registration opens mid-August 2023, on Wenatchee Valley College Continuing Education website . Course instructor, Susan Ballinger, explains, Busy adults take the course, so it is likely a course participant will have to miss one or more classes and/or a field trip – life happens!- I can offer alternative field experiences and resources to use.
Susan invites you to begin your journey as a Wenatchee Naturalist by using resources on this website. Check out the periodic enews, the Curious About… Blog series, and explore the Topics/Resources tab. Susan has curated selected bibliographies by topic here.
The 12-week course runs late September through early December at Wenatchee Valley College, on a week night, 6:00-8:30 PM.
The centerpiece of the course are field trips exploring habitats along the White, Entiat, Columbia, and Wenatchee River corridors, guided by expert guest field scientists.
Three of these Saturday field trips are all day (8AM-4PM) and one is a 1/2-day field trip (9AM-noon). This interdisciplinary course explores three ecosystems – shrub-steppe, riparian, and the low-elevation forest – and focuses on 100 common species of the Wenatchee watershed. Classes includes suggest readings, lectures, handouts, guest scientists, hands-on labs, nature journaling. Every class includes hands-on activities, practice using a science field journal and a featured local conservation organization. Tuition includes supplies, a field journal, and loaned equipment. If you have questions, feel free to contact the course instructor, Susan Ballinger at 509.669.7820 or skylinebal@gmail.com.
Nature Journaling
Each student is provided with a Walleye Cards selected nature journal, created by Heather A. Wallis Murphy. Heather leads our first class as a workshop, teaching basic drawing techniques using her original art in a booklet. Each week, we practice observation skills, both in the field and the classroom, writing and sketching in a nature journal.
Read the syllabus for the 12-week course, or go to a print-ready PDF 2022 Syllabus
Pre-Class Orientation
Familiarize yourself with the following prior to the first class meeting
Susan Ballinger – Course Instructor
Introduction to the Wenatchee Watershed Ecosystems (PDF Presentation).