Event information
Date
Time
Central time
Location
Anoka Ramsey Community College
11200 Mississippi Blvd NW
Coon Rapids,
MN
55433
Minnesota Master Naturalist: Prairies and Potholes
Field Biology
This course is taught at Anoka-Ramsey Community College as part of a Field Biology course that meets in person and also has recorded lectures. In-person activities often have assignments that students are expected to complete as a group. These activities are both indoors and outdoors. Master Naturalists are not expected to take the quizzes ARCC's students take.
Course material is found on a platform called Desire to Learn Brightspace (D2L). Field trips on Tuesdays are within Anoka County. Two longer day field trips are planned on Thursdays, but only one is required. Ten hours of service learning is also required for a capstone project.
Audience
Potential and current Master Naturalist volunteers.
Cost
$295. Includes manuals and supplies.
If you would like to receive a scholarship do not register now. Instead, complete this scholarship form and wait to be contacted before enrolling.
Registration
Cancellation requests received more than two weeks before the start of class are refunded minus a $20.00 processing fee. Cancellation requests received less than two weeks before the start of class are refunded minus $50.00. If possible, your full fee may be transferred to another biome course..
In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, this course material is available in alternative formats upon request. Direct requests to Julie Larson, larso143@umn.edu, at least two weeks in advance of the course start date.
About the Prairies and Potholes course
The official name for the ecological province called the Prairies and Potholes by the Minnesota Master Naturalist Program is the Prairie Parkland Province. This biome was historically composed mainly of tallgrass prairie. Today it is used for agricultural purposes. The glaciers deposited between 100 and 600 feet of drift over the entire region. The Prairies and Potholes biome covers just over 16 million acres on the western edge of the state.
The biome is a hot and dry place, where evapotranspiration is annually higher than precipitation. In the northern portions of the biome, glacial kettles have filled with water and form the "potholes" that dot the landscape. These bodies of water are important for migratory waterfowl, and waterfowl production. The Minnesota River now flows through the old channel carved by Glacial River Warren, an outlet for Glacial Lake Agassiz.
Participants must complete the full 40 hours of training to become a certified Minnesota Master Naturalist Volunteer.
Each participant must complete a group capstone project. Participants will choose a capstone that they can complete before finishing the course.