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Pima County Master Naturalist Quarterly Newsletter
Volume 5, Issue #15.  Winter 2022
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President's Update

Happy 2022 everyone! We are happy in spite of the ongoing virus because we are still here and we are still doing our naturalist things.

A hardy welcome to cohort 6! We started with 17 participants on January 12 and it’s going well, a great group of folx.

Our community is officially restarting the phenology trail at Mission Garden in February. We are also continuing to engage with citizen science at the Tortolita Preserve, Tohono Chul and Tucson Botanical Gardens.

Once again, we will take a lead role in the City Nature Challenge in Pima County, and with the help of the community we will beat our numbers from last year. If you would like to participate download iNaturalist and join the group: City Nature Challenge-Pima County. It starts in late April so there is plenty of time to practice with the iNaturalist app.

Our naturalist book club is going strong. The next book that we’ll read is The Forgotten Botanist: Sara Plummer Lemmon’s Life of Science and Art by Wynn Brown.

Many advanced training opportunities will be available this year, one of which is the coming exhibition at the Center for Creative Photography in partnership with the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, entitled, Trees Stir in Their Leaves. The exhibition runs from February 5 thru July 23.

With all naturalists and friends pitching in we will celebrate the beauty of our beloved Sonoran Desert in 2022.

Jan Schwartz
President, Pima County Chapter
Arizona Master Naturalist Association

Pima County Master Naturalist Annual Membership Meeting 2021 Recap
The Pima County Chapter of the Arizona Master Naturalists held its annual membership meeting on Sunday 12/5/21 at the home of the Chapter Secretary, Carrie Barcom, in Tanque Verde. The central theme of the gathering was ‘resiliency.’ We were reminded that we are a volunteer organization run entirely by volunteers.

You can read all about this gathering on our blog!
Read More

Birth of a bio-blitz, it all started with two guys walking around in the desert
"During the lockdown in 2020, I came across a big piece of desert Northwest of Tucson called the Tortolita Preserve. Ethan Fraijo and I were curious about the “interior” of the Preserve. We both had time on our hands during the lockdown, and we started exploring the washes and cattle paths that crisscross the area. Data we collected during these walks eventually caught the attention of three respected environmental/conservation organizations. And as this is being written, it seems likely that these three organizations will cooperate in a “bio-blitz” in the Preserve."

Read about Pima County Master Naturalist Dave Degroot’s exciting blogpost and how using Naturalist skills can lead to exciting projects!
Read More

Volunteer Spotlight
On a sunny winter’s day in January, a group of 10 Pima County Master Naturalists and other volunteers built 13 specialized release tents over artificial owl burrows at Wild At Heart’s Martin Farm site in Marana. Wild at Heart is an Arizona-based raptor rescue organization and their Burrowing Owl Project relocates burrowing owls rescued from construction or land development sites across the state of Arizona.

Check out Pima County Master Naturalists Deb Petrich (C1), Kathy McLin (C3), and Penny Miller’s (C1) blog post! Thank you to all the other Master Naturalists and volunteers that helped with this project!
Read More
The Pima County Master Naturalists are hosting the 2022 City Nature Challenge in Pima County, Arizona. Be a part of this community science project by participating in this worldwide effort to document the amazing biodiversity of our region!

Join the Pima County City Nature Challenge project to get updates and see the events being held in Pima County for the 2022 City Nature Challenge. Click the button below to learn more about the event!
City Nature Challenge 2022

Capstone
This beautiful artwork was a capstone project created by Cohort 5 Pima County Master Naturalist Intern, Kathy Altman.

Thank you Kathy for your wonderful project on the Gila Monster!

Express Yourself
TOP: Photo taken by PCMN Josh Skattum (C3) while hiking at Sabino Canyon December 2021.

BOTTOM LEFT: A crested saguaro cactus reigns over Saguaro National Park East. Photo by Sam Wilber (C4) December 2021.

BOTTOM RIGHT: Christmas cholla fruiting on a winter morning. Photo by Sam Wilber (C4) December 2021.

PCMN Chapter Community Partner Events


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