BioU-2023-woodyplants – North Branch Nature Center

Introduction to Woody Plants: Habitats, Branches, Young Leaves, Flowers

Instructors: Jerry Jenkins & Brett Engstrom
May 20 - 21, 2023 | $285
Course size: 12 students
Financial support available (contact us)
A Northern Forest Atlas field course

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oody plants—trees, shrubs, vines, creepers—are, to us, the key to understanding habitats, ecological patterns, and plant geography. This is an introductory course covering about 40 common species: how they grow, leaf, flower, and fruit; how to distinguish them and their habitats in the field; and how to use the Northern Forest Atlas photoguide and digital Atlas to confirm them.

These two-day Northern Forest Atlas courses are systematic introductions to single plant groups—looking at and looking up plants, we say. We teach you how to describe and draw plants in the field, examine them in the lab, guess identifications by habitat, look them up in our books, and confirm identifications with diagnoses. We use the Atlas photo-guides and digital atlases and Sue Williams’ new ecological guide as references.

We teach a three-step method of field identification, called filter, guess, and confirm, that emphasizes salient characters and ecological constraints. When this is not enough, they will follow up with comparative work in the lab.

We will emphasize practical field methods and problem solving. We do a little demonstrating and lecturing—old habits die hard—but not much. We prepare you to go out in the field, show you what you need to do there, and then turn you loose to do it. We spend a lot of time finding, observing, characterizing, diagnosing, and discussing; we spend comparatively little with books, and almost none with slides and keys. They have their place, but are not how we like to start.

About the Instructor(s)

Jerry Jenkins, from White Creek, New York, was trained in philosophy and mathematics, and has done botanical work 55 years. He has free-lanced in botany and ecology, worked as a researcher for the Wildlife Conservation Society, and currently produces books and imagery for the Northern Forest Atlas Project. He has written books on Vermont geography, acid rain, climate change, conservation easements, Adirondack geography, and four photographic guides (Woody Plants, Sedges, Mosses, and Grasses) and accompanying digital atlases for the Atlas Project. We will use the grass guide and digital atlas in the course. He is currently working on a full-length field guide to woody plants and a book on ecological patterns.

Brett Engstrom is a field naturalist living on Drew Mountain at the northern end of the Granite Hills of Vermont. For over 30 years he has worked, and continues to work, as a freelance botanist & ecologist throughout New England and upstate New York. The bulk of his work centers on ecological inventories and natural community mapping for public agencies, conservation organizations, and private individuals and businesses. He has assisted Jerry in work on the Northern Forest Atlas Project’s Woody Plants and Sedges, and is co-author with Jerry for the Grasses of the Northern Forest.

Meals

We will provide coffee, tea, and light breakfast fare (pastries, etc.) at NBNC. Participants should bring their own lunches and snacks.

Timing

Course begins 9 AM on Saturday at North Branch Nature Center. Course begins on Sunday at a time of the instructors' choosing. Course concludes by 5 PM on Sunday.

Academic Credit / Professional Development

This course may qualify for 1-2 graduate-level credits for an additional $200-$400 course fee. All BioU courses are accredited by Castleton University. Participants interested in receiving credit must contact us at least 2 months in advance so we have time to arrange course accreditation.

It is the student’s responsibility to ensure that home institutions will accept the credit. Participants pursuing academic credit will be required to complete an additional assignment above and beyond the course hours, including literature review, reflective writing, or a field-based project.

This course qualifies for 20 hours of professional development hours and continuing education units. Certificates of completion are provided at the conclusion of the course.

Cancellation Policy

While we realize that unexpected circumstances arise that are out of our control, North Branch Nature Center cannot guarantee refunds for registrations cancelled within 30 days of the course. If a cancellation occurs within this window, NBNC will attempt to fill the space from our wait list and provide a full refund. If the course needs to be cancelled by NBNC, we will provide a full refund.

Northern Forest Atlas Field Courses

Learn more about Northern Forest Atlas field courses here. Visit our Biodiversity University homepage to see other Northern Forest Atlas one-day courses being offered through NBNC this year.