Tennessee Naturalist Program

Frequently Asked Questions

Core Course Questions

How do I become a Tennessee Naturalist?
To become a Certified Tennessee Naturalist, register at a chapter of your choosing, and complete 40 hours of instruction and 40 hours of volunteer service. Find a chapter near you here or read more about becoming a certified naturalist here.

How do I register for a course?
Open registrations will be posted on tnnaturalist.org/register. Each chapter is a separate, individual entity that sets their own course schedule. Find your closest chapter here. The posted class schedule will help you learn when chapter courses typically start and how they are formatted, but keep in mind that the schedule can change year to year. Add yourself to the interest list here to be notified when registration opens. Most registrations typically open about 6-8 weeks before classes start. Some courses fill up within minutes, so it can be helpful to already have an account in the database with your information. You can create an account here.

How much does the TNP course cost?
The TNP core course costs $400 and includes 40 hours of expert instruction and a variety of student materials, including a hand magnifying loupe, detailed study guides and portions of presentations for each class, and several additional handouts and publications. Plus, local chapters receive 40% of the tuition fee.

Can I take just take specific classes from the core course?
Classes are not offered individually. The core course must be taken as a whole.

Can I cancel and get a refund if I change my mind?
TNP will give refunds based on the following tiered refund policy. Count backwards from the course start date. In the event the entire course is cancelled, full refunds will be given.

Up to 14 days (day 15 and earlier) prior to course start date: full refund
Day 14 up to day 7 (through day 8) prior to course start date: 50% refund
Day 7 up to day 3 (through day 4) prior to course start date: 25% refund
Day 3 prior to course start date: no refund

I am already certified at one chapter. Can I get certified at another chapter?
Being a Tennessee Naturalist requires a significant commitment of time to actively participate in the course and volunteer projects. For that reason, Tennessee Naturalists are encouraged to choose just one chapter for their certification. However, some volunteers have the time and energy to fully commit to two or more chapters and have worthwhile reasons to participate in multiple chapters (a second residence or long association with a nearby chapter). Therefore, graduates may register for TNP courses at additional chapters (full program fees required). Second courses would count as continuing education hours in the database under the initial chapter.

Is there a Tennessee Naturalist course near me?
Check out the chapter page to find the closest chapter to you!

What does the schedule look like?
Class schedules are set by the individual chapters and will differ in terms of seasonal timing and course length. The class schedule for each chapter’s most recent core course is posted here. Please note that the schedule is liable to change, but this page gives you an idea of what a typical schedule looks like at each chapter.

What happens if I can’t attend a class? Can I make it up?
Yes! Students missing a core class must make up that class within the certification deadline (registered before June 2025: 2 years after last class; registered after June 2025: 2 years after first class). Two make-up classes may be taken at the home chapter for no charge; additional classes will incur a fee of $40 per class. Make-up classes taken at another chapter will require a $40 fee to be paid to the hosting chapter. Students must receive permission from the chapter coordinators of all involved chapters before attending a class.

I started the TNP classes and had to stop because of an emergency/family issue. Can I finish my hours?
We understand special circumstances arise. Please reach out to TNP’s Operations Manager at [email protected].

Is there a deadline to complete certification requirements?
Yes, but it depends on when you registered. Students who do not complete the requirements within this time frame must retake the course to receive certification. Students registered before June 2025: complete all 10 classes within 2 years of the last class; no deadline for volunteer hours. Students registered after June 2025: complete all 10 classes and volunteer hours within 2 years of the first class.

Who enters my attendance?
The chapter coordinator enters your attendance. You can view your attendance in the database. If you believe there is an error, reach out to your chapter coordinator immediately.

How close am I to becoming a Certified Tennessee Naturalist?
You can view your progress in the database. Log in, then scroll down until you see a tab with your name. You can see attendance and volunteer hours, as well as a percent completion rate.

Volunteer Questions

What kinds of activities can count towards volunteers hours?
Volunteer service projects typically fall within three primary categories — Environmental Education, Community (Citizen) or Participatory Science, and Stewardship. Two additional volunteer categories – TNP/Chapter Support and Admin/Other – cover activities that do not fall within the above three categories but still support environmental organizations or the Tennessee Naturalist Program and TNP Chapters in other ways.

Can I log volunteer hours that occurred before the start of class?
No, volunteer work done prior to the start of the course may not be counted for certification. Students may begin earning volunteer service hours for certification immediately following the first class.

Can I volunteer out of state?
We ask all students to seek volunteer opportunities for the benefit of Tennessee and its many organizations working towards a better environment. Exceptions may occasionally be made for organizations and projects that are multi-state focused and include Tennessee. Out-of-state volunteer hours must be approved by the Operations Manager ([email protected]) and are limited to 10 hours per milestone.

Does travel time count toward my volunteer hours?
Not unless driving is an integral part of the volunteer activity (i.e. driving from one site to another during monitoring).

Can I just make one entry of 40 hours when I am finished with my certification hours?
No. Hours must be entered individually by event date and activity type.

Milestone and Continuing Education Questions

What are TNP milestones?
The Tennessee Naturalist Program strongly encourages continued education and volunteer service. Certified Tennessee Naturalists may earn additional hours in both categories and receive milestone recognition with special Tennessee Naturalist hour pins. There is no time limit for reaching hour milestones.

How do I know what milestone I am working towards?
You can view your progress in the database. Log in, then scroll down until you see a tab with your name. You can see volunteer hours and continuing education hours, as well as a percent completion rate.

What counts towards Continuing Education (CE) credit?
Continuing education promotes lifelong learning and personal development, provides a chance to focus interest in specific topics, and expands volunteer capabilities and options. TNP may provide some continuing education programs through TN2 (Tennessee Naturalist 2) workshops and courses. Other suitable opportunities may be found locally through chapters, chapter partners, area and state organizations or agencies, nature centers, and universities. To be approved, continuing education hours should promote continued learning and development of naturalist skills and relate directly to core TNP course topics or Tennessee natural history.

What is TN2: Continuing Education?
TNP’s in-house continuing education component is TN2 (Tennessee Naturalist 2). TN2 classes expand upon the core course, delving more thoroughly into an array of topics and, where possible, merging this instruction with skill development related to more specific volunteer opportunities. These in-depth TN2 workshops and courses may range from half to full-day workshops or multi-day courses. TN2 classes are eligible for continuing education credit. Open TN2 registrations are posted on tnnaturalist.org/register.

Can I log CE hours that occurred before the start of class?
No, continuing education hours done prior to the start of the course may not be counted for certification. Students may begin earning continuing education hours for milestones immediately following the first class.

Can I count webinars as CE?
We encourage our students to get out and learn about nature in an experiential setting. However, there are many quality webinars available for online learning. Webinars that are directly related to Tennessee natural history education and conducted by experts are allowed on a limited basis. For webinars and online classes, students may receive a maximum credit of four (4) hours for every ten (10) hours of overall continuing education. Database entries that exceed this limitation will be automatically counted towards the next milestone.

Can I take continuing education courses out of state?
Yes, continuing education hours must be expert driven including out of state educational opportunities and accredited online courses. Course content must directly relate to Tennessee.

Can I count TV nature programs as CE?
Television nature programs cannot be counted as continuing education.

Can I count college courses as CE?
Tennessee natural history related college course hours are counted as they are counted by the university (i.e. one semester of a lecture/lab is typically counted as 4 hours by the university).

Logging Hours

Who enters my hours?
Students must enter their own volunteer and continuing education hours. The Operations Manager approves or disapproves volunteer and continuing education hours in the database.

Can I make a bulk entries for continuing education or volunteer hours?
No, education and volunteer hours cannot be entered in bulk. Hours must be entered individually by event date and activity type.

How do I log hours?
Please view the how-to guides to log volunteer and CE hours. Remember, you must be registered for a core course and sign the liability waiver before you can record hours. How to add, edit, and view volunteer hours ; How to add, edit, and view continuing education hours

How do I see my hours after submitting?
The Operations Manager approves or denies volunteer and continuing education hours in the database within a few days of them being submitted. The Operations Manager may reach out via email if there are questions or concerns. If your hours are approved, they will appear on the database. If they are not approved, the Operations Manager will reach out via email.

The sponsoring organization/location I need is not listed. What do I do?
The list of sponsoring organizations/locations is built from student requests and approved by the Operations Manager. If the sponsoring organization/location you need is not listed, please follow the steps here to request it be added. The Operations Manager will review your request within a few days and get back to you.

Database Questions

Why can’t I get into my account in the database?
Anyone can create an account in the database. Students that are registered for a core course or TN2 class will see their registration info on their homepage. If you have forgotten your password, use the password reset feature on the login page. If you have forgotten your email, you can create a new account with a different email and then ask [email protected] to merge the two emails. If the issue persists, contact [email protected].