Twenty new graduates of the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History’s 2016-17 docent program will be sharing their passion for the natural world with elementary and high-school students.

Over five months, the 20 graduates engaged in weekly training courses focused on multiple areas of natural science including marine biology, botany, Chumash culture, paleontology, entomology, and other topics showcased in the museum’s galleries.

Training was made possible by museum curators and guest lecturers from local colleges.

Docents facilitate programs at the Museum Natural History for more than 14,000 K-12th-grade students annually.

This year’s graduating docents are:

Genevieve Badoni, Farshad Barman, Katie Cowan, Fred Dentinger, Sandy Dentinger, Debbie Esser, Steven Faulstich, Carol Friedrichs, Bob Gayou, Serene Gorss, Glenn Grayson, Barbara Holzman and Wendy Hong.

Also, Judy Kolanek, Judy Litschel, Diane Payne, Connie Petry, William Poltl, Jane Sun and Gretchen Zee.

To learn more about becoming a docent, visit http://www.sbnature.org/education/46.html or call 682-4711 ext.168.

The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History is at 2559 Puesta del Sol. Hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

— Sherri Frazer for Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History.