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Audubon and NATIVE Project partners are hosting volunteer trainings in August and September. Each training will teach participants how to implement our seed collection protocols and how to identify, evaluate, and collect target species. Trained volunteers are critical to our ongoing collection efforts and providing locally-sourced seed resources.

Instructor: Jennifer Ogle, Herbarium Collection Manager, University of Arkansas

Details: Classroom instruction will be in the morning followed by field training in the afternoon. Participants should bring a sack lunch. Close-toed shoes, long pants, and hat strongly advised. Registration required. 

The following trainings are currently scheduled. Click each individual event to register. 

• Saturday, August 12 at 9:00am-4:00pm at the Rick Evans Grandview Prairie Nature Center (1685 Hempstead 35 Rd N, Columbus, AR 71831) — CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

• Saturday, August 26 at 9:00am-4:00pm at the Washington County Extension Office (2536 N McConnell Ave Fayetteville, AR 72704) — CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

• Saturday, September 2 at 9:00am-4:00pm at the Janet Huckabee Arkansas River Valley Nature Center (8300 Wells Lake Rd, Fort Smith, AR 72916) — CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

• Saturday, September 16 at 9:00am-4:00pm at the Little Rock Audubon Center (4500 Springer Blvd., Little Rock, AR 72206) — CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

We'll be hosting NATIVE Project seed collections in Fall 2023 across the state in selected natural areas with the permission of the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission and Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.

Audubon's NATIVE Project trains and supports farmers to grow native plants as an environmentally friendly, climate change-resistant specialty crop. NATIVE Project farmers plant plugs grown from locally-sourced seed in monoculture production plots. The seed is collected by dedicated volunteers on natural areas throughout the Ozark, Arkansas River Valley, Blackland Prairie, and Mississippi River Delta regions.

Questions? Email uta.meyer@audubon.org.