Volunteer Spotlight...Judith Kramer

What I love most about volunteering as a Master Naturalist is the learning never ends! And therefore the opportunities to pass on the excitement of what I have learned never ends either!

As a volunteer I particularly love teaching the upcoming Master Naturalists a segment on creating personal space that supports the diversity of life right where they live, while at the same time, thrilling our human need for beauty and companionship with the wild.

In 2008 I graduated from the first Master Naturalist Class offered in the Charleston area. It was life changing. I was already a Master Gardner and Garden Designer and pondering how I could meld these skills with my new Master Naturalist designation led me to create a PowerPoint program that I hoped would encourage people to share and create space for other forms of life enabling them to live and thrive alongside humans. Towards this end I created “Layers of the Landscape”. I not only present it to the MNs in training but have presented it in many, many different venues over the years. Churches, garden clubs, wherever an opportunity presented itself.

There are so many opportunities to volunteer I have taken advantage of. From being a founding member of the CMNA Board, and then subsequently President during the 2014/15 years of planning and executing a state wide conference at Camp St. Christopher during a 100 year flood event. That was an experience!

I have helped the Town of Summerville and North Charleston create spaces for people and wildlife, countless Master Naturalists needing help and ideas for transforming their typical turf yard into habitat. (Although I couldn’t count these hours b/c they were not benefiting a group of people like the municipal gardens were but rewarding none the less).

The most recent has been Eagle and Osprey Watches. Love the response and curiosity of the public when they encounter the opportunity to observe through a scope. I am very excited about getting training on the Motus Tower and having the opportunity to volunteer with that.

I have volunteered at Audubon Beidler for years as a roving interpreter. And as an Audubon Seabird/Shorebird steward on Dewees and Botany Bay.

Volunteering presents so many opportunities to experience the joy of being with the other-than-humans, observing, learning and passing what I learn on through story. I highly recommend it to all Master Naturalists.