What do Volunteer Naturalists do?

Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists provide a wide range of interpretive events for visitors.
· A regularly scheduled Field Trip Program for classes of school children coming to the Recreation Area.
· Public Interpretation events in the upper and lower Canyons for visitors riding in on the shuttle bus
· Nature walks to interpret the unique plant and animal life of the Sonoran Desert
· Early morning birding walks (the Canyon is a prime birding area near Tucson)
· Demonstrations and talks at the Visitors’ Center near the shuttle station on various subjects from the desert tortoise to the use of jojoba beans and evidence of prehistoric Hohokam Indians in the Canyon.
In the children’s Field Trip Program, naturalists conduct specific activities with K – 6 grade children from elementary schools in Tucson and the surrounding area. Teachers schedule field trip activities in advance; children are bused into one of two Environmental Education areas in the Canyon. Children in small groups meet with a volunteer naturalist to participate for two to four hours in one of seven environmental education activities, including a nature walk. Each group is assisted by a teacher or helping parent from the school. Classes frequently bring sack lunches for a picnic before leaving the Canyon.

Volunteer naturalists lead the children in discovering how plants and animals are able to thrive in the desert and how they have adapted to the moist streamside (riparian) environment of the Canyon. They may explore animal coloration and its importance to both predator and prey. They may be introduced to the geology of the Santa Catalina mountains by learning to use a gold pan to separate minerals such as garnet and magnetite from sand grains in the creek. They may be challenged to catch, with an aquarium net, a variety of aquatic organisms, from algae and snails to backswimmer and crayfish, and observe how the animals move, eat, breathe, and grow. (They then return the organisms to the creek.) Or they may learn about the prehistoric Hohokam Indians, who once inhabited the Tucson Basic, by playing a Native American game, learning ancient techniques of pottery making, and using a replica of a prehistoric pump drill to make shell jewelry.

Where do Volunteer Naturalists work?

Most interpretive activities, whether for the general public or school children, are conducted outdoors in the Canyon. The Forest Service District Office at the Canyon provides a headquarters for the Naturalists

When do Volunteer Naturalists work?

In the Children’s Program each Naturalist works one morning a week during the school year, from mid-September through mid-May. The volunteers in the Public Interpretation Program work on a regularly scheduled basis, which may be either a morning or an afternoon, on any day of the week. Some volunteers employed in other occupations perform interpretive activities on weekends at the Canyon. Volunteers work about 50 hours per year after initial training.
Most interpretive activities are suspended during the hot summer months, although some Volunteer Naturalists choose to work on special projects such as conducting field trips at the Girl Scout Camp on Mt. Lemmon, or working on special posters, displays, or interpretive materials.

What are the requirements for becoming a Volunteer Naturalist?

All Volunteer Naturalists must successfully complete a training course which provides instruction in the natural history of the area and in interpretive techniques and first aid. This training class is offered each year, starting in early September, and requires attendance Monday morning each week for 15 weeks, plus some observation training. Supplemental Advanced Training classes are offered thereafter on a monthly basis from September through May.
The most important requirements are your love of nature and the outdoors, your enthusiasm, and your willingness to commit some of your time. Much of the training and most of the interpretive events are conducted outdoors at the Canyon in a variety of weather. Therefore, prospective volunteers must enjoy being outside, even when the weather is less than ideal, and physically able to negotiate the natural terrain.

Contact us!! Please call 520-751-4766 and leave a voice mail message with your name and telephone number. Someone will be in touch with you shortly.

If you would like to download and print a brochure describing the joys of becoming a Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalist, click on this link: SCVN brochure

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If you are interested in joining our program, please view and/ or print our Introductory Letter and Application Form.