Ohio Certified Volunteer Naturalist (OCVN) Spring 2025 Course Franklin County

Registration Opening March 10!  

The School of Environment and Natural Resources in partnership with the Franklin County Metro Parks and OSU Extension in Franklin County will host a OCVN course in April.  Course sessions will be held at the OSU main campus and Franklin County Metro Parks.  Where possible live zooms will be made available when this is not possible there will be a recording available of the same or similar content.  This course will help you build your knowledge of Ohio’s diverse ecology and natural resources, education techniques, field identification skills, and ability to participate in community science and land stewardship.  Session instructors include faculty and staff of The Ohio State University, Franklin County Metro Parks, and guest experts.    The mission of the OCVN program is to raise awareness of Ohio’s environment through science-based education and community service. Following the course Ohio Certified Volunteer Naturalists record 40 hours of service and/or continuing education to receive their certification.  https://ocvn.osu.edu/about-ocvn

Format: Hybrid (online and Face to Face) you can also participate fully online. 

Participation:

• Course requires use of OSU’s Scarlet Canvas online course management system
• Be 18 years old or older;
• Complete a short presentation; (optional) homework, and quizzes;
• Face to face educational sessions will sometimes involve optional field activities that involve walking on even and sometimes uneven surfaces and a variety of weather conditions.  If you have questions about the activity level of the course and how we can help you participate please contact Anne Baird at baird.41@osu.edu or 614-292-8603 prior to registering.

Schedule

Tuesday April 1, 6—7:00 PM EST Overview of Scarlet Canvas (Zoom) (Optional)

Tuesday April 8, 5:00—8:00 PM EST Introduction and Environmental Education (in person)

Tuesday April 15, 5:00—8:00 PM EST Birds (in person)

Tuesday  April 22, 4:30—8:00 PM EST Amphibians and Reptiles (in person)

 Tuesday April 29,  5:00—8:00 PM EST Geology (in person)

Tuesday May 6, 4:30 –8:00 PM EST Mammals (in person)

 May 8,  5:00—8:00 PM EST Soils (in person)

Tue May 13,  6:00—7:30 PM EST Botany (Zoom)

Saturday May 17, 9:00 AM - 12:30 PM EST Geology Hike (Optional)

Tuesday May 20, 5:00—7:00 PMEST Forests (Zoom)

Thursday May 22 5:00—8:00 PM EST Insects (in person)

Saturday May 24, Field Day Time 9:00 AM - 12:30 PM EST Water Resources and/or Birds Depending On Weather (Optional)

Tue May 27, 4:30—8:00 PM EST Aquatic Ecology (in person)

Wed May 28 noon-1:30 PM EST Hydrology (Zoom)

June 2-5 Capstone plan presentations (day and evening opportunities) (Zoom)

*Our new OCVN Handbook is in production so we  provide draft pdfs of the chapters for readings during this course and you will be provided with a promo code to obtain the OCVN Handbook when it is available.