Nature Journaling Educators Program Stewardship Projects

Region: California

Bio: Ashley Resurreccion is a California Naturalist and a Los Angeles Youth Leadership Council Delegate for National Parks Conservation Association. She recently earned her Wild Wonder Nature Journaling Educator Certificate.

Description of Project: Ashley became certified as a California Naturalist with Los Angeles Nature for All. As part of the stewardship capstone project for California Naturalist and the Wild Wonder Nature Journaling Educator Certificate, she chose to volunteer as a tree planting supervisor with TreePeople, a cleanup ambassador with Keep Nature Wild, and a native gardens docent with Theodore Payne Foundation to complete the mandatory 40 hours of volunteer stewardship work. She exceeded the 40 hours and completed 100 hours as of July 2024, earning her California Naturalist pin. Ashley continued her volunteer and stewardship activities receiving certifications for NOLS Wilderness First Aid and Leave No Trace, completing 150+ hikes to complete in the 52 Hike Challenge, and participating  in the 2-day, 100-mile Born to Run Ultra trail marathon event in Los Olivos, CA. 

Region: New Hampshire

Bio: Heidi Colburn is a Wild Wonder Nature Journal Ambassador and Educator that does outreach and classes in her community. She recently launched the New Hampshire Nature Journal Club!

Description of Project: Heidi Colburn’s Wild Wonder Nature Journaling Educator Certificate stewardship project began with this statement in her nature journal page: “Raise Awareness about New Hampshire’s endangered species!” After researching New Hampshire's threatened and endangered species, Heidi became aware of volunteer opportunities with Fish and Game and was trained as a volunteer to help monitor and protect newly hatched piping plovers. Colburn had to record her hours and log her observations about the piping plovers for Fish and Game. When she was done with those duties, she created nature journal pages. She posted these pages to her social media page to help educate others. She also posted information about other endangered and threatened species to include the right whale, horseshoe crab, and lady slipper.

Region: Alaska

Bio: Addie Willsrud is an Alaska-raised hobby naturalist, scientific illustrator, and creative nonfiction writer.

Description of Project: Addie Willsrud harnessed her curiosity and wildlife observation to engage in work exploring the lives of arctic migrants throughout their summer habitats in Alaska. She continues to create educational material with the hopes of bringing awareness to the connectivity of all migratory creatures and the lands they frequent, curating passion for action in people from all walks of life. “I believe that there are many ways to spread inspiration and stewardship–through teaching, through example, through exploration, and through showing true passion to people around you,” she said. “My own inspiration has been sparked by mentors and peers that have not been afraid to share their love of the world, and it is my hope that through sharing my art, as well as teaching nature journaling, I can share my sparks with others, igniting theirs along the way.”

Region: Canada

Bio: Billie Jo Reid is a Nature Journaling Educator, helping to inspire educators and youth in her community to connect with nature.

Description of Project:

Billie Jo converted her front lawn into a pollinator garden using species found in the wilds of her area. Adding feeders, bird baths, shelters, and saving seeds allowed her garden to be certified as a Wildlife Friendly Habitat. “The joy this project has brought not only to our wildlife neighbors but our human neighbors has been incredible,” she said. “We have received many messages and comments from folks walking by about how much joy it brings them to see all the wildlife. We also love watching all the children on their walks to and from school stopping to gasp and admire all the wildlife. We hope our actions will inspire others to do the same.”

Region: Germany

Bio: Katja is a nature and environmental educator and professional photographer who founded the Nature Journal Cub Marburg in Germany.

Description of Project: In 2019, Katja Boazrth began her garden project in order to become actively engaged in helping insects and other animals suffering from habitat loss. The garden project included planting natives and bushes very rich in nectar, establishing a wildflower meadow, cultivating healing and kitchen herbs, and installing a bird feeding station, a mini pond, and insect hotels. More recently, Katja began to document everything in her garden with her macro lens and uploaded her discoveries into INaturalist. She created nature journal pages highlighting some of the “weird and wonderful things” she found, including fascinating slime molds. She even saved “common weeds” after discovering the living creatures that inhabited them.“Being a steward of this patch of land with all its different forms of life has become a joy and an honor that I treasure daily,” she said. 

Region: Brazil

Bio: Gersony Jovchelevich teaches in her community as a Wild Wonder Educator.

Description of Project: For her stewardship project, Gersony Jovchelevich decided to take care of a small fragment of Cerrado–Brazilian Savanna–close to her home. This included removing exotic trees and grasses to stimulate natural regeneration of open Cerrado vegetation. Working every Saturday, she was joined by family and friends that lived in the neighborhood. Most of the helpers had never done nature journaling, so part of her process involved guiding them to observe and record what caught their attention and stimulated their curiosity following the prompts: “I Notice, I Wonder, It Reminds Me Of.” “It is very beautiful and moving to see that even simple work like this has an effect on both people and nature,” she said. “The group reports that they feel good and enjoy observing calmly. Personally, the constant care of this special vegetation made me pay even more attention to its beauty and value each single plant. It becomes a ‘friendship with the place.’”