Free summer naturalist training offered for young valley residents. How to apply

If you're a young Coachella Valley resident who loves nature, but you don't have a lot of cash, two area organizations are again offering their free California naturalist training program this summer, called Nuestro Desierto.

Alternating a mix of field trips to mountain preserves and national parks with classroom sessions on traditional and academic ecology, geology, zoology, climate change and environmental justice, the four-month course is adapted to unique desert conditions, and could earn you four UC Davis college credits. Participants also will gain experience in community science research, outdoor recreation, environmental education, and advocacy.

And best if all, there's no final exam: instead students will go on an overnight camping trip, likely to Sequoia National Park. Camping equipment is available on loan to anyone who might need it.

The certification program is targeted toward low-income Coachella Valley young people ages 18 to 24, including from immigrant families. You do not have to be a college student to participate - you can be working at a fast food restaurant or anywhere else, with the course designed to be on Saturdays during summer months to offer flexibility. Having taken a high school biology class or similar coursework will help, as the subjects that will be taught are college level.

"There's no exams or quizzes," Colin Barrows said. "It's really more about getting outside and thinking (about) and discussing the natural history of the desert and how to be better stewards of our environment. We wanted as many people as possible to participate and we try to remove as many barriers to participation as we can."

The program is a collaboration between El Consejo de Federaciones Mexicanas and CactusToCloud Institute and is being offered for the third year in a row, thanks to funding from California State Parks access and equity programs.

"There's certainly, traditionally been a kind of conception of the kinds of people who would do these outdoor activities, which can be exclusionary, especially here in the Coachella Valley, which is home to a lot of folks who come from immigrant backgrounds," said Barrows, director of Cactus to Clouds Institute. In the past, he said, people would see a poster of a park ranger "and it would probably be a (white) guy with a beard and a plaid shirt ... we're interested not just in people having access, but also having decision-making authority and having some power in the public lands and environment in our area."

Sendy Hernández Orellana Barrows, conservation program manager for COFEM, said the summer course ties into the organization's goals to "uplift the immigrant community, across a variety of programs. For conservation, "there are main two focuses ... one is advocacy, and so we advocate for the protection of public lands in the desert at a local, state and national level. But the other component of the program is helping provide free recreational and educational resources for the community."

Love of outdoors ‒ and each other ‒ helped foster program

Barrows and Hernández Orellana Barrows are married, and both grew to love the outdoors, particularly the California desert, during their differing childhoods in the Coachella Valley. Her parents, from Mexico and Guatemala, immigrated to the valley when she was a small child, and her dad, an electrician, and her mom, a hotel employee, enjoyed taking their family to Whitewater Preserve and other outdoor spots for picnics and other quick getaways from daily stresses.

"It was very helpful for a young immigrant family," she said. "That's kind of what we did."

He is the son of UC Riverside professor emeritus of conservation biology Cameron Barrows and retired Coachella Valley Association of Governments environmental resources director Katie Barrows, and grew up hiking and camping in area parks and preserves.

They met in 2017 while working at Friends of the Desert Mountains, and bonded early in their relationship in a sister program, Desert Sands and Sky Islands at UC Riverside Palm Desert, which holds naturalist and climate steward training classes that are open to anyone. But the young couple and a third friend wanted to broaden accessibility. They sought and obtained funding from the California State Parks' outdoor equity and access programs, and are now in the third year of the program.

"The three of us took the naturalist course and the UC climate stewards course, and shortly after that, we saw the need for this type of work," said Hernández Orellana Barrows. In a news release, she said “growing up, I never knew conservation was a career option, and I am very thankful and proud that I will have the opportunity to help open the conservation door for others in the community.”

She said the funding for Nuestro Desierto covers text books, field journals and other class supplies. Natural area trips likely will include Mount San Jacinto State Park, Boyd Deep Canyon Desert Research Center, Whitewater Preserve and Sand to Snow National Monument, and Channel Islands National Park.

"It's just a really fun course," Barrows said. "The way we see it, it's about building community because, you know, people get college credit and they get desertification and stuff like that, but our hope is, especially as more and more people take the course, that they become part of this community, that are able to both enjoy nature together, and also help each other out ... where we post job opportunities and resources."

Learn more about how to apply

If you're interested but have questions, there will be an information session on Saturday, May 19 from 2 to 3 p.m. at the Coachella Library. That's where classes are held too, "so it gives people a chance to get the feel of it," said Barrows. If you miss the session, here is other contact info: colin@cactustocloud.org or sbarrows@cofem.org or call/text 760-984-2724

Applications for the competitive program are due May 24. You can learn more and apply here: https://www.cactustocloud.org/nuestro-desierto

Janet Wilson is senior environment reporter for The Desert Sun and co-authors USA Today Climate Point. She can be reached at jwilson@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Free summer naturalist training offered for young valley residents