Master Class

Master Class 2012 – 2013: Education for positive environmental change

Environmental Forum of Marin’s Master Class is a comprehensive program focusing on three key areas: The Natural World, Human Impact, and Stewardship.

The Natural World

Marin’s vibrant environmental heritage comes alive during in-the-field excursions led by Environmental Forum members and outside experts. Through a series of field trips, you will visit places such as West Marin to talk with Albert Straus of Straus Dairy, one of the first organic dairies in the country, and John Finger of Hog Island Oyster Farm, involved in efforts to restore the Tomales Bay watershed; you will hear directly from Rangers at Pt. Reyes National Seashore about the pressures on our parks; you will visit a landfill and a water treatment plant; you will visit a creek and bayland restoration project. These are examples of just a few of the field trips.

These are unique opportunities you will not get anywhere else!

Human Impact

Environmental sustainability is the lens through which you will learn about problems posed by human impact on our world. In small classroom settings you will interact directly with subject-matter experts: scientists, policy makers, environmental advocates, land use and transportation planners, as well as local citizen advocates.

You will learn about:

Climate change and what it means from both local and global perspectives
Marin’s bountiful food shed and how it is being protected
Marin’s remarkable geology and watersheds
Zero waste — what it means and how we’ll get there
Ecosystems and the services they provide
The difference between growth and development

Stewardship

Once you are equipped with information on current environmental issues, you will learn how to take effective action through first-hand experience — learning how to deliver a compelling, short, advocacy speech as well as participating in and presenting a project. The project you choose can be driven by your individual passion, or you can join your classmates in a team project. You will find just how effective you can be!

This Year's Master Class Projects

Reducing Plastic Waste in Marin Schools

Stories of Environmental Intervention (a video)

The Bay Area: An Illustrated Guide to What Could Have Been

Supporting Marin’s Coastal Prairies

Rodenticide-Free West Marin

Master Plan for Pt Reyes Station

Public School Environmental Education

Green Street Project, Sausalito

Creek Restoration at Arroyo Corte Madera del Presidio, Mill Valley

It's Not Just About Cars: Reworking the Greenbrae Corridor Project

to Benefit All Users

Zero Waste – Keeping Us in the Loop

Nature Education – Pepperwood Preserve/Tilden Park Nature Center

Green Gulch Creek Restoration

Eradicate Invasive Plant Species on Mt Tamalpais

CEQA and the Public Trust Doctrine

“Eat Good Food” - Bringing a Grocer’s Guide to Life

Nature for Families and Faith

Lecture Series 2013 – Marketing to a New Demographic

Lecture Series 2013 and Marin TV

Vaughan Acton & Eliana Reeves

Susan Bierzychuydek

Victoria Bogdan

Tish Brown

Stockton Buck

Kore’ D’Abravanel

Raphael Durr

Susan Frank and Jill Templeton

Ann Fricker

Diane Furst

Renee Goddard

Lynn Horowitz

Mary Morgan

Linda Mornell

Pat Nelson

Christine Schantz

Juan Carlos Solis

Cheryl Pole

Taylor Watts

For further information about the Master Class contact:

MasterClass@MarinEFM.org