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Description

Advanced training courses provide Master Naturalists and the public with opportunities to participate in a recreational activity and learn about a new natural resource topic. Topics build on the curriculum taught in our core biome courses, but participants do not need to be a Master Naturalist in order to take any of the advanced training courses.

Course content questions

info@minnesotamasternaturalist.org

Registration questions

Extension Registration, ext-reg@umn.edu

User Name or Password help

UMN Help Desk, HELP@umn.edu, 612-301-4357


Visit the Minnesota Master Naturalist website for more information on this and upcoming courses.

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Enroll Now - Select a section to enroll in

Section Title
ADV - Earth Colors - Making Watercolor Paints from Natural Earth Pigments at Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge
Type
--
Days
F
Time
9:30AM to 3:30PM
Dates
Apr 17, 2026
Campus
Off-Campus
Schedule and Location
Contact Hours
6.0
Location
  • Off-Campus
Course Fee(s)

Section Details

Join us in this day-long workshop and discover natural color pigments hidden in soil, minerals, and stone in your surroundings. Explore the geology of Minnesota and its clay resources.

Learn the process of foraging, harvesting, and transforming soil and stones safely into watercolor paint. Create a sample of watercolors that celebrates the local natural environment and share in the joy of experimenting and creating with nature. Class will meet at Oak Savannah Learning Center inside Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge.

Make an origami box with a color card to store the watercolor half-pans of paint made at the workshop.

 

Location

Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge
16797 289th Ave NW
Zimmermam, MN 55398

Cancellation requests received more than two weeks before the start of class are refunded minus a $10.00 processing fee. For cancellation requests received less than two weeks before the start of class, no refunds will be given.

Section Title
ADV - Earth Colors - Making Watercolor Paints from Natural Earth Pigments at Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge
Type
--
Days
Sa
Time
9:30AM to 3:30PM
Dates
Apr 18, 2026
Campus
Off-Campus
Schedule and Location
Contact Hours
6.0
Location
  • Off-Campus
Course Fee(s)

Section Details

Join us in this day-long workshop and discover natural color pigments hidden in soil, minerals, and stone in your surroundings. Explore the geology of Minnesota and its clay resources.

Learn the process of foraging, harvesting, and transforming soil and stones safely into watercolor paint. Create a sample of watercolors that celebrates the local natural environment and share in the joy of experimenting and creating with nature. Class will meet at Oak Savannah Learning Center inside Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge.

Make an origami box with a color card to store the watercolor half-pans of paint made at the workshop.

Location

Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge
16797 289th Ave NW
Zimmermam, MN 55398

Cancellation requests received more than two weeks before the start of class are refunded minus a $10.00 processing fee. For cancellation requests received less than two weeks before the start of class, no refunds will be given.

Section Title
ADV - Spring Butterfly Field Day
Type
--
Days
Sa
Time
9:00AM to 4:30PM
Dates
May 09, 2026
Campus
Off-Campus
Schedule and Location
Contact Hours
7.5
Location
  • Off-Campus
Course Fee(s)

Section Details

Join us for a full-day exploration of native butterflies and their remarkable relationships with host plants in the diverse landscapes of Burnett County, Wisconsin.

Join Dean C. Hansen, a PhD in entomology for a unique field trip to observe early-season butterflies like duskywing skippers (Erynnis) and elfins (Callophrys). We will also search for species that overwinter as adults like Mourning Cloaks. Our route will take us through a variety of high-quality habitats, including Crex Meadows Wildlife Area, known for its mosaic of wetlands, barrens, and uplands, a scenic black spruce–cranberry bog just north of the Namekagon River and the Namekagon Barrens Wildlife Area near the county’s northeast corner. Our focus will not only be on identification, but also on understanding habitat, phenology, and plant associations.

Whether you are an experienced lepidopterist or a curious beginner, this trip offers a wonderful opportunity to deepen your appreciation for native butterflies with fellow naturalists.

Location

Crex Meadows Wildlife Area Visitor & Education Center
102 East Crex Avenue, Grantsburg, WI 54840

Cancellation requests received more than two weeks before the start of class are refunded minus a $10.00 processing fee. For cancellation requests received less than two weeks before the start of class, no refunds will be given.

Section Title
ADV - Explore the Prairie
Type
--
Days
F
Time
10:00AM to 3:00PM
Dates
Jun 12, 2026
Campus
Morris (US Central Time)
Schedule and Location
Contact Hours
5.0
Course Fee(s)

Section Details

Come out to the beautiful prairies of western Minnesota and explore Amy's favorite, ditch, visit a calcareous fen, see the Richardson's ground squirrel colony, pelicans galore and of course, what's blooming.

Location

Lac qui Parle Area
14047 20th Street NW
Watson, MN 56295

Cancellation requests received more than two weeks before the start of class are refunded minus a $10.00 processing fee. For cancellation requests received less than two weeks before the start of class, no refunds will be given.

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