Voices of the Forest with Toussaint St. Negritude
NBNC’s Spring 2026 Visiting Teacher-Naturalist Residency
Voices of the Forest is a free workshop series perfect for nature enthusiasts, poetry lovers, and anyone seeking fresh inspiration!
Toussaint St. Negritude is a former poet laureate of Belfast, Maine, and 2024 nominee for the poet laureateship of Vermont, self-taught bass clarinetist, Afrofuturist/Oro-shamanic poet, hat-maker, and more. Toussaint is the author of the recently published Mountain Spells (Rootstock Publishing, 2024). Mountain Spells is an intimate deep dive into how Toussaint — a “Black/queer/high-hat-wearing artist” — envisions the world through the lenses of spirituality, the liberation and expansion of the African diaspora, and nature as his home. Toussaint takes inspiration for his improvisational, freeform, and musical poetry from both jazz and the sounds of nature: “I listened to the birds, to the sky, what the leaves were telling me.”
Toussaint will facilitate a variety of workshops for youth and adults, as well as a session centering BIPoC and/or Queer participants. Each workshop will help participants connect with nature and find inspiration to express themselves through poetry and music while contemplating the existential questions and challenges we face as a community today, learning how to build a future together. We invite you to come share new experiences in nature, explore new ways to express yourself, and discover Toussaint’s vision for how community-building can lay the ground for collective liberation.
Upcoming Voices of the Forest Programs with Toussaint: Click Below to Learn More
Nature Poetry Two-Part Workshop with Toussaint St. Negritude
Tue, Apr 28 |
10:00AM
An Evening of Poetry with Toussaint St. Negritude: Poems for Collective Liberation
Tue, Apr 28 |
6:00PM
Nature Poetry Affinity Group Program for LGBTQ+ and BIPOC Community Members
Sat, May 2 |
12:00PM
Nature Poetry Two-Part Workshop with Toussaint St. Negritude
Tue, May 5 |
10:00AM
Nature Poetry Program (For Teens) with Toussaint St. Negritude
Sat, May 9 |
10:00AM
Nature Poetry Drop-in Program (for Adults) with Toussaint St. Negritude
Sat, May 9 |
1:00PM
About the Visiting Teacher-Naturalist Program
Calling all teaching naturalists, ecologists, trackers, nature educators, outdoor accessibility advocates, and more!
Are you an educator or expert in a field related to nature connection? North Branch Nature Center (NBNC) is excited to welcome you and your work into our community for a week of teaching and learning through our Visiting Teacher-Naturalist (VTN) Program.
Powerful, personal experiences in nature are central to our goal of cultivating current and future generations of environmental stewards. We envision a world where people learn, teach, and play together in nature, supporting healthy, resilient communities and ecosystems.
The Visiting Teacher-Naturalist Program invites teachers and naturalists into that vision with us! This program is designed to spotlight the expertise, knowledge, and skills of Black, Indigenous, POC, rural, immigrant, disabled, and LGBTQIA+ individuals. This program is designed to help us find experts who can represent identities missing from our current staff, thus broadening the perspectives shared with the NBNC community.
Our next VTN will teach across several NBNC programs, such as Forest Preschool, our ECO partnership with local schools, and adult and community workshops, over the course of 4 – 6 days.
We will continue to accept proposals for this and future sessions on a rolling basis.
Past Visiting Teacher-Naturalists:
Additional Logistics about the VTN Program
Payment and Housing
Depending on the dates of the program, housing may be provided. Please let us know in your application if you would like to take advantage of housing so that we have time to make arrangements.
Also included in the duration of your program is access to working and teaching space, access to the Nature Center land and existing materials, marketing support, and lunches on some program days.
Financial compensation will be a flat rate of $2,000 for 4 days, $2,500 for 5 days, or $3,000 for 6 days, aiming for approximately 8 hours of Visiting Teacher-Naturalist work per day. We expect a robust but sustainable number of hours of contact time with the public through these programs, including ~2 non-consecutive evening programs, 2 visits with existing NBNC youth programs, and at least 2 other public programs.
Application Instructions
Phase 1 – To apply, please send an email to luis@northbranchnaturecenter.org with a short description of who you are and your work in the field of nature connection, naturalist study, or adjacent topics! Please include a description of what you’d like to contribute to North Branch Nature Center programs, why you’d be excited to join us as a Visiting Teacher-Naturalist, and what support you would envision needing to be successful here. Our hope is to co-create this program together with you.
Phase 2 – Successful applicants will then be asked to submit additional materials, including references from a colleague and two former students or participants, as well as a sample of a project, lesson, or program that you would be interested in sharing with NBNC participants and staff.
Applicants are considered on a rolling basis. See above for current review periods.
