Reading the Landscape – Biodiversity University
North Branch Nature Center 713 Elm Street, Montpelier, VermontReading the Landscape & Telling the Story is designed to acquaint you with Vermont landscapes in the Champlain Valley and to provide you with an integrative framework for reading the land here and around the world. This framework explores an understanding of the pieces, patterns, and processes that shape the natural world.
Summer Nature Romp
North Branch Nature Center 713 Elm Street, Montpelier, VermontWeekly on Sunday Mornings — June through September 10 am - noon | Adults and families welcome FREE | No registration required This new, weekly gathering is about exploring nature…
Robin’s Nest Nature Playgroup
North Branch Nature Center 713 Elm Street, Montpelier, VermontTuesdays, March 14 - June 6 | 10:00 - noon | Robin’s Nest Nature Playgroup is a free, weekly activity for families to gather, learn, and play in nature. Guided by the idea that children need to spend ample time outdoors, we offer a community experience in the world of nature and will model ways the natural environment can be used as a tool for learning and play.
Biodiversity Jamboree!
North Branch Nature Center 713 Elm Street, Montpelier, VermontCelebrate birds, bugs, plants, pollinators, and all the other creatures that call Vermont "home" in this summer festival. North Branch Nature Center and the Vermont Center for Ecostudies will be co-presenting this day full of field outings, nature exhibits, kids activities, live birds, music, food, and more!
Summer Tree Identification with Jonathan Shapiro
North Branch Nature Center 713 Elm Street, Montpelier, VermontLearning to identify trees can be a powerful way to connect to your local landscape. They are big, charismatic, and always around us, and knowing who they are provides a baseline of ecological understanding for the rest of our surroundings. Join Jonathan Shapiro of Fox Paw School for a dive into tree ID, focusing on a pattern-based approach that we are hardwired to understand. We'll talk about tree silhouettes, branching patterns, leaf shapes, bark, and more, and you'll leave with the observational skills to learn not only trees, but the rest of your landscape as well. By meeting in three different seasons, we'll have the opportunity to see how trees' lives change throughout the cycle of the year, and how they fit into the broader ecological context of our North Woods home.
Botanical Illustration – Biodiversity University
North Branch Nature Center 713 Elm Street, Montpelier, VermontThis class will focus on botanical illustrations at all scales, from the whole plant down to its smallest parts. At times we’ll practice with magnification, measurements, maps, and diagrams to expand our techniques. We’ll work primarily with graphite pencils and technical pens, and move into watercolor and colored pencils on our final day together.
Vermont Master Naturalist for Educators
North Branch Nature Center 713 Elm Street, Montpelier, VermontThis course for middle and high school educators is a unique collaboration between North Branch Nature Center and Vermont Master Naturalist. It is a place-based, integrated training in interpreting the local landscape and applying that training to 5th-12th grade classrooms and curricula. Each day immerses in a different ecosystem, exploring the pieces, patterns, and processes driving local ecology. We’ll practice field-based activities and classroom-based extensions aligned with Next Generation Science Standards and Proficiency-Based Learning frameworks.
Songs and S’mores
North Branch Nature Center 713 Elm Street, Montpelier, VermontCome join us for an evening of songs and s’mores as we gather around the campfire to share each other's company and revel in the joy of summer! This is a family friendly event and we welcome people of all ages!
Slow Birding – Biodiversity University
North Branch Nature Center 713 Elm Street, Montpelier, VermontSounds a bit strange, “slow birding.” Watching birds isn’t really fast in the first place and the pace of a birder in the field is already slow and methodical. But, it is possible to change how we approach traditional birding and what we get out of it. Slow Birding is a practice that builds a deeper observation of birds while at the same time creating a deeper connection to yourself and the place you live.
ECO Institute: Nature-Based Routines for Outdoor Classrooms
North Branch Nature Center 713 Elm Street, Montpelier, VermontFor elementary and middle school educators. The purpose of this ECO introductory course for elementary and middle school educators is to apply integrated academic curricula beyond the classroom, while immersing in and participating with nature as a learning partner. The course provides inquiry-based learning through intensive experiential lessons, activities, and discussions held entirely outdoors.
Nature Paddle at Curtis Pond
North Branch Nature Center 713 Elm Street, Montpelier, VermontA casual, slow, naturalist-led evening paddle around Curtis Pond. Once on the water, we'll head slowly north across this quiet pond, enjoying beavers, fish, botany, birdlife, and whatever other flora and fauna we come across before returning to the boat launch near sunset.
Backpacking in the Green Mountains (Grades 7-9)
North Branch Nature Center 713 Elm Street, Montpelier, VermontOn this 5 day backpacking trip, our team of participants will learn the basics of wilderness safety, backpacking/camping techniques, and navigation along with camp craft such as cooking, site selection, Leave-No-Trace ethics, and Team & Leadership skills.
Mosses and the Dry-rich Community – A Northern Forest Atlas Day Course
North Branch Nature Center 713 Elm Street, Montpelier, VermontQuarry Hill is a dry low-elevation marble hill with an exceptionally diverse flora. Marble hills rare in the Northern Forest Region. Some of the best are in western New England. This one, which has been famous botanically since the early 1900s, is one of the best of the best. We will focus on limestone mosses and also look at some distinctive woody plants, herbs, and indicators. A Northern Forest Atlas day course hosted by NBNC's Biodiversity University.
ECO Institute: Natural History Fundamentals for Educators
North Branch Nature Center 713 Elm Street, Montpelier, VermontFor elementary and middle school educators. This goal of this course is to deepen our understanding of the natural landscape and learn how to utilize this knowledge to build a partnership with the land that meets the needs of all students. Participants will develop a foundation of natural history knowledge through immersive study of bird language, tree and plant identification, wild edible safety, geology, and stream ecology. We will practice techniques for achieving a deeper level of inquiry and observation in nature while learning hands-on methods for embedding this knowledge into outdoor lessons and making classroom connections. The routines that we build throughout the week are designed to deepen your class’s sense of place within the outdoor learning environment.
Songs and S’mores
North Branch Nature Center 713 Elm Street, Montpelier, VermontCome join us for an evening of songs and s’mores as we gather around the campfire to share each other's company and revel in the joy of summer! This is a family friendly event and we welcome people of all ages!
Old Forest Ecology – Biodiversity University
North Branch Nature Center 713 Elm Street, Montpelier, VermontThe course will provide an introduction to old forests, including their forms, functions, and inhabitants. Each day will explore an old forest field site in Northern Vermont, combined with time back at NBNC to share slides and discuss concepts in a classroom setting.
ECO Institute: Nature-Based Routines for Outdoor Classrooms
North Branch Nature Center 713 Elm Street, Montpelier, VermontFor preschool and kindergarten educators. This course applies early childhood learning curricula beyond the classroom, while immersing in and participating with nature as a learning partner. The course provides inquiry-based learning through intensive experiential lessons, provocations and discussions held entirely outdoors.
Paddling in the Adirondacks (Grades 7-9)
North Branch Nature Center 713 Elm Street, Montpelier, VermontOn this 5 day canoe trip, our team of participants will learn boating safety, paddling techniques, and navigation along with camp craft such as cooking, site selection, Leave-No-Trace ethics, and Team & Leadership skills.
The Shores of the Winooski – A Northern Forest Atlas Day Course
North Branch Nature Center 713 Elm Street, Montpelier, VermontA one-day course in low-water and floodplain grasses, sedges, and woodies along the lower Winooski River. Vermont has about forty species of late-blooming sedges (mostly), rushes (a few) and grasses (even fewer) that are best sought on river and lake shores in late summer and fall. They are a distinctive and fascinating flora; the lower Winooski is one of the best places to find them and learn them. A Northern Forest Atlas day course hosted by NBNC's Biodiversity University.
Mushroom ID and Ecology – Biodiversity University
North Branch Nature Center 713 Elm Street, Montpelier, VermontIn this course, participants will explore the diversity and ecological importance of the kingdom of fungi. Over this two-day course, participants will learn the fundamentals of mushroom identification through a combination of classroom and field experience. Topics include fungi ecology, taxonomy, field identification, morphology, edibility, toxicity, fungi as medicine, bioremediation, utilitarian function, as well as ‘best’ harvesting practices.
Shorebirds, Seabirds, and Songbirds on Cape Cod
North Branch Nature Center 713 Elm Street, Montpelier, VermontAfter the summer beach crowds clear out, Cape Cod is certainly for the birds. Shorebirds, seabird, raptors and songbirds are plentiful on the Cape, and migration is in full swing. his trip is about watching, enjoying, and studying seabirds and shorebirds among a community of like-minded nature lovers under the leadership of a first-class guide and educator.
Fall Tree Identification with Jonathan Shapiro
North Branch Nature Center 713 Elm Street, Montpelier, VermontLearning to identify trees can be a powerful way to connect to your local landscape. They are big, charismatic, and always around us, and knowing who they are provides a baseline of ecological understanding for the rest of our surroundings. Join Jonathan Shapiro of Fox Paw School for a dive into tree ID, focusing on a pattern-based approach that we are hardwired to understand. We'll talk about tree silhouettes, branching patterns, leaf shapes, bark, and more, and you'll leave with the observational skills to learn not only trees, but the rest of your landscape as well. By meeting in three different seasons, we'll have the opportunity to see how trees' lives change throughout the cycle of the year, and how they fit into the broader ecological context of our North Woods home.
Cape May & Delmarva Birding with Chip Darmstadt
North Branch Nature Center 713 Elm Street, Montpelier, VermontExplore this extraordinary birdwatching paradise during one of its most exciting times to visit. With over 430 total species observed, and over 330 species seen this time of year, Southern New Jersey and the Delmarva Peninsula are home to some of the greatest avian biodiversity in the northeast.
Wild Art Workshop
North Branch Nature Center 713 Elm Street, Montpelier, VermontWild Art is a form of dialogue between you and the world beyond your skin; a means of expressing what you sense inside yourself and what you attune to around you. We will first engage in a sensory awareness practice, then go onto the land to be in conversation with the plants, animals, and wild elements. Utilizing the ancient art form of the mandala, we will create our own expressions of wholeness, attentiveness, and relationship to the Wild, inside, and out.