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All workshops are limited to 10 students.
The program fee includes instruction in field and classroom, use of our microscopes, lodging, and all meals from Friday
supper through Sunday lunch.
[Click here to go to our "Contact Us" page, where you will find information about registering for a workshop]
For family reasons, our 2008 season will end on August 31, and all of our October workshops will be rescheduled for our 2009
season. Please check back in January for a 2009 schedule of workshops!
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Avian Ecology: Populations and Communities
June 19-22, 2008
Leonard Reitsma
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This 3-day workshop will combine lecture and discussion of key principles and theories concerning bird morphology, behavior
and ecology, together with experience in the field. The field component will include bird identification and observation on
visits to two active avian ecological research sites near High Pond Farm: the Bear Pond Natural Area in Canaan, NH, and the
Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in Campton, NH. The research being undertaken at each site will be thoroughly discussed.
There will also be time to explore the environs of High Pond Farm and to spend time in the classroom reviewing what we've
learned in the field.
Fee: $350
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An Introduction to Odonata: Dragonflies & Damselflies
July 18-20,2008
Michael Blust
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This 2-day workshop will provide a thorough introduction to the identification, life history, and ecology of Odonata. Emphasis
will be placed on getting to know the adult dragonflies and damselflies found around the High Pond Farm area. With over 150
species recorded in New Hampshire, expect to see and become familiar with at least 30 of these during the weekend. Many of
these species are found through the northeastern North America. Activities will include field observation, netting techniques,
field identification, and laboratory identification of these primitive yet eminently successful insects. The process of learning
to observe, capture and identify these insects will be infused with information about their fascinating adaptations and lifestyles.
Fee: $250
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Break Lands Botany and Ecology
July 25-27, 2008
Brett Engstrom
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The focus of this 2-day workshop will be the botany and ecology of breaklands. Breaklands are steep, rocky slopes with
frequent ledges and cliffs that form an ecological break from the forested, relatively gentle, terrain both above and below.
An introduction to vegetation and geological patterns and processes relative to slopes will be presented the first evening,
along with information on how to locate breaklands. Both days will be spent in the field at nearby breaklands examining the
varying vascular floras occurring in the different physical settings from slope bottoms to tops. While all flowering plants
will be noted, a special emphasis will be placed on the field identification of grasses and sedges, both families often being
important in plant diversity in breaklands. Saturday evening will be spent identifying any plants collected, as well as discussing
the breaklands visited. While no technical climbing is involved, participants should come prepared for hiking steep, rocky
terrain.
Fee: $250
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An Introduction to Ferns and Their Relatives
August 15-17, 2008
Elizabeth Farnsworth
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This 2-day workshop is for anyone who is new to the world of ferns and would like to learn more about how to identify them,
their fascinating ecology and habitats, their anatomy and biology, and tips for gardening. Through lectures, field explorations
and time in the laboratory, participants will learn how to recognize dozens of species of ferns, clubmosses, and horsetails.
We will also hunt for and discuss the harder-to-find quillworts and spikemosses. By the end of the weekend, participants
should be able to spot many species easily and to gain new insights about landscapes by understanding the distribution of
ferns.
Fee: $250
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An Introduction to the Lichens of New England
August 29-31, 2008
Scott LaGreca
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This 2-day workshop will provide a comprehensive introduction to lichens, those ubiquitous, fascinating and colorful organisms
that are a combination of a fungus and an alga or cyanobacteria. Through lectures and time in the lab we will cover the basic
biology, ecology, taxonomy, and identification of both macrolichens and microlichens. Most of the time will be spent in the
field, and a variety of field sites will be covered, with an emphasis on alpine and boreal habitats. By the end of the weekend,
participants should be able to identify several dozen species in the field. The recommended text for this class is Lichens
above Treeline, by Ralph Pope, which will be available for purchase at the beginning of the class.
Fee: $250
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Fantastic Fungi of Northern New England
Rick van de Poll
Sorry, this workshop will be rescheduled for our 2009 season.
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This 2-day workshop will introduce the advanced beginner and amateur mushroomer to the intricate world of higher fungi in
northern New England. For someone familiar with the basic groups of mushrooms as well as their role in nature, this course
will take the learner deeper into the realm of taxonomy by using microscopic techniques and diagnostic keys. Habitat and occurrence
data collected by the instructor for the past 30 years will be shared with participants. Recommendations on the best keys
to use for particular genera will aid in the use of extensive reference materials. The focus will be on Basidiomycetes, although
selected Ascomycetes will be discussed as well. Daily forays will provide material for lab analysis, although collections
brought in by the participants will be reviewed as well. Microscopes are available at High Pond Farm, although participants
are encouraged to bring their own. Baskets and 10x hand lens required. Please bring your favorite reference guides as well.
Fee: $250
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An Introduction to New England Bryophytes
Dorothy Allard
Sorry, this workshop will be rescheduled for our 2009 season.
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This 2-day workshop is designed for the naturalist, botanist, or ecologist who wants a beginning knowledge of mosses and liverworts,
those small green plants that play such a major role in our northern ecosystems. This seminar will teach you the basics of
bryophyte ecology and identification, focusing upon those species that are common and abundant and that can be identified
in the field with no more than a hand lens. You will visit different bryophyte habitats, learn about bryophyte life cycles
and how to tell a moss from a liverwort from a lichen; and learn how to make your own bryophyte reference collection. By the
end of the weekend, you will be able to identify as many as 30 bryophyte species. For this workshop you will need a copy
of the new field guide, Common Mosses and Liverworts of New England , which will be available for purchase at the start of
the class.
Fee: $250
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The Geology of New Hampshire
David Wunsch
Sorry, this workshop will be rescheduled for our 2009 season.
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This 2-day course will include classroom lecture, laboratory and outside exercises, with field excursions to experience hands-on
learning about New Hampshire's spectacular geology. Lectures will include basic historical geology that explains how the state's
current physiography and landscape evolved. Laboratory time will cover basic rock and mineral identification, analysis of
sediment, and the examples of the types of field measurements and data that geologists collect to construct a geologic map.
The evening session will include time for rock and mineral identification of specimens collected during the day, and also
evening presentations on earthquakes in New Hampshire, and the collapse of the Old Man of the Mountain. Field trips will examine
geologic features and glacial landforms such as the Ossipee Ring Dike structure and other geologic features in the northern
Lakes and White Mountain Regions of New Hampshire. Participants should be prepared for hiking through wooded and rocky terrain.
After completing this class, the landforms you drive past every day will come alive, and you will never look at the world
in quite the same way!
Fee: $250
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