Notes from a Remarkable Naturalist Week

Nature isn’t a place where you go. It’s all around us, all the time.

At Tremont, we aim to give learners of all ages the tools and understanding needed to appreciate nature. We want people to realize that they can experience the many benefits of nature from wherever they are – no national park required!

“My favorite activity was the spend 15 minutes creating a sound map. I realized that there were so many sounds, and it all happened just in my backyard! I also learned so many new things and noticed things I have never seen before.” – 11 year old, North Carolina

During our virtual Naturalist Week this month, we hosted a Level Up Challenge to encourage people to engage with nature in their own outdoor spaces. They were challenged to earn 25 points (here are the challenge prompts, if you’re curious) to earn a prize. The results? So, so positive!

56 individuals completed the challenge, earning a total of 2,088 points – that’s an average of 37 points per person. This is more than twice the number of participants and points earned than last year, which was the inaugural virtual challenge.

Naturalist Week participants explored thirteen different states: Tennessee, New Hampshire, Georgia, North Carolina, Alabama, West Virginia, Florida, Virginia, South Carolina, Kentucky, Illinois, Iowa, and Arkansas! And participant age range was just as diverse, with as young as five all the way up to 77 years.

“Besides personally loving soaking up sensations and peace, I noticed how magical it is to share time and perspectives with someone else while in nature. My daughter and I love similar experiences, but introduced new ways of seeing something to each other. This was a lot of fun! Thank you for the fantastic challenge!” – 46 year old, Tennessee

A Huge Big Day

Following in the footsteps of 2022, we designated Wednesday of Naturalist Week to be The Big Day—a twist on the birding activity where we asked everyone to go out and document as many species as they could. Our friends over at Citizens Bank generously matched $1 per species found, up to $500. Again, our participants delivered, finding over 800 species observations across seven different states and two countries!

We heard stories of people exploring with their grandkids, taking time outside during lunch breaks at work, and discovering nature mysteries in their backyards. They found plants, fungi, mammals, insects, arachnids, birds, lichen, and so much more! They used existing knowledge, field guides, internet searches, iNaturalist, Merlin and crowd-sourcing to identify their finds – and many remain mysteries! Take a peek at their discoveries.

“Most fun – observing a slug with my granddaughter; now every day has to include a slug hunt. Also fun – nature walk with grandson identifying and taking photos of as many plants as we could, uploaded to iNaturalist and the Big Day Facebook page. Learned plenty of new species AND learned my granddaughter is not afraid of snakes. We now have a ritual of high fives all around if anyone spots a snake.” – 70 year old, North Carolina

Keep the Connections Going

We deliver experiential learning for youth, educators, and adults through programs that promote self-discovery, critical thinking, and effective teaching and leadership. From our home in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, our research and residential programs investigate the diversity that sustains all life, develop a sense of place, and cultivate a stewardship ethic that will influence lifelong decision-making. Make a donation to support our work.

“I had a great time with all the activities! I especially enjoyed going for a run at sunset post thunderstorm when the sky was alive with colors and textures. At the conclusion of my run, with a little light remaining, I laid on a small walking bridge. With my face inches from a damp, rocky miniature world I watched the many on goings of my critter neighbors and I monologued to a couple of snails about my personal life.

I also enjoyed hearing others get excited about the challenge. Last year I did the challenge solo and then told people about it; whereas, this year I told people about it and then did the challenge along with them. I was a tad surprised to hear their enthusiasm, but genuinely excited to share this awesome adventure with them. People want to be involved and more mindful about nature and seem to need encouragement and direction sometimes to get started. Thank you everyone involved in this challenge for opening the doors and providing the invitation to explore the wonderful world right around us and for providing and incredible community to journey with. Cheers to many more naturalist weeks!” – 27 year old, Alabama