Researchers and content experts at Bishop Museum, in collaboration with community partners, are gearing up to launch the Hawai‘i Master Naturalist Program — a certification that promotes active environmental stewardship through broad science and place-based training, as well as education and outreach in the natural and cultural history of Hawai‘i.

The program’s purpose is to help develop a corps of knowledgeable volunteers capable of providing biocultural education, outreach, and service to benefit environmental stewardship in the community. In addition, the program will help build the capacity needed to address the environmental and biosecurity issues that confront Hawai‘i now and in the future.

Hawaiʻi Master Naturalist Program graduates will be prepared to serve in numerous capacities, not only to bolster Bishop Museum’s efforts to serve as a center for education, outreach, and engagement within the community, but also to contribute to the initiatives of nonprofit, State, and federal agencies charged with the care and conservation of Hawai‘i’s environment.Bishop Museum is targeting fall of 2022 to launch a pilot of the Hawai‘i Master Naturalist Program. Participants will complete 48 hours of coursework spread over eight weeks, meeting one day each

week for courses taught by content experts from Bishop Museum as well as its conservation partners. Course material will be supplemented with hands-on experience where master naturalist candidates will join conservationists, resource managers, and cultural practitioners in the field for skills-based experiences and learning opportunities.

Bishop Museum’s Hawaiʻi Master Naturalist Program will be unique among other national programs. As an institution charged with perpetuating the Indigenous knowledge of Hawai‘i and the Pacific, the programmatic approach will be based on a biocultural understanding of the environment — utilizing Indigenous knowledge to better inform an understanding of the environment and bridging this understanding with contemporary science.

“Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Island cultures have long had an acute understanding of how to be responsible stewards of their environment, long before the advent of modern science,” said Brandon Bunag, vice president of public programs and interim director of education at Bishop Museum. “Our aim with this program is to establish an Indigenous worldview as foundational, so that master naturalists trained at the Museum have not only an understanding of the latest conservation practices but also have a renewed respect for the ʻāina.”
The Museum is seeking volunteer support as well as funding for the Hawaiʻi Master Naturalist Program. For information and to become involved, please click the button below to email the Hawaiʻi Master Naturalist Program.