South Carolina Master Naturalist Program

10/16/2026

Bat Week 2026 Events!

10/13/2026

10/12/2026

Joro Watch 2026!

Just 1 day until Joro Watch! 🕷️📸

Tomorrow kicks off Joro Watch 2026, our annual awareness campaign and photo contest designed to help grow the distribution map of the invasive Joro spider. From October 12-18, you can help researchers track where Joro spiders are spreading while competing in the 5th Annual Joro Spider Spotting & Photo Contest.

Every verified report adds valuable data to the map. Whether you're an experienced participant or spotting your first Joro spider, your observation can make a difference.

⏰ Only 1 day to go! Keep an eye out, get your camera ready, and join us tomorrow for a week of community science.

🔗 Learn more: JoroWatch.org

10/09/2026

The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources’ Stream Team is such an amazing asset to this state. Thanks for joining the Upstate Master Naturalist class and giving us a glimpse of what lives under the surface 🐟🐠

10/07/2026

Help celebrate Congaree's 50th!

Can we find 50 species for 50 years of Congaree? As part of our 50th Anniversary weekend, Congaree National Park will be holding a bioblitz on Saturday, October 17, beginning at 10:00 A.M. Those wishing to participate in this citizen science activity should meet in the auditorium of the Harry Hampton Visitor Center and have the iNaturalist app downloaded to their phone. Remember to bring water, proper outerwear for the forecast, and lots of curiosity!

10/07/2026

This is a great way to spend some time in the woods! Help is needed with fall covey counts!

We're looking for some volunteers to help with the fall covey counts at Indian Creek this month. Even with all of today's technology, this is still a people-centered activity, and we need lots of people to help make this happen. The tentative dates (weather can be a factor) are:

Oct 20
Oct 22
Oct 27
Oct 29
Nov 3

If you can help on any of these dates, or on several of these dates, get in touch with Seth Sofferin ([email protected]) and let him know. In addition to counting the coveys, there may be opportunities for those of you with dogs to put them to work helping estimate the size of the coveys.

It's hard not to love this time of year 🍂

09/15/2026

Herpetology with the Fall 2026 Coastal Master Naturalist class!

08/28/2026

Help Celebrate Butterfly Big Day 2026!

Join us in celebrating the inaugural annual Butterfly Big Day by helping document butterflies around the world on September 12th, 2026.

Butterfly Big Day is an international event designed for people of all ages to find as many wild butterflies as they can, spread awareness of the importance of butterflies & other pollinators, and learn how we can help their populations.

Participating is easy!
Just download the free iNaturalist app and sign up for a free account. You can also use a web browser and access the iNaturalist web site (inaturalist.org).
Take photos of free-living butterflies (not captive or from butterfly houses)
Submit your photos to iNaturalist. Photos of butterflies submitted anywhere in the world on September 12th, will count for Butterfly Big Day! You do not have to be able to identify the butterfly in order for your observations to be useful.

For more information, links to quick iNaturalist tutorial videos, and to find the Butterfly Big Day regional partner in your part of the world, visit www.urbanbutterflies.org/big-day

Coordinated by the Urban Butterfly Initiative, Butterfly Big Day is a global day-long iNaturalist butterflying event.

08/27/2026

Cove Forests and cold water ecology. First program at Jones Gap since Hurricane Helene and it was a great one!