Date:
Location:
Fall Weekend Cryptogamic Botany Workshop on the Eastern Maine Coast
Mosses and Liverworts
October 7th-9th, 2016 at the Eagle Hill Institute in Steuben, Maine
This introductory workshop is designed for anyone who appreciates the outdoors and has ever been excited or curious about these attractive and often overlooked plants, whether in their backyards, gardens, or while hiking some remote forest trail. The workshop will also provide a solid foundation for those contemplating more advanced coursework. Lectures will focus on the distinguishing features of major groups of mosses and liverworts, their life histories, and the unique adaptations which allow them to continue to be successful in the wide variety of habitats in which they are found. Field trips to a variety of habitats will introduce these plants in their natural settings where students will be taught to recognize common genera, recognize their macro- and micro-habitat preferences, and learn basic collection techniques. Follow-up labs will give students an opportunity to learn basic moss and liverwort structure while learning to key and identify specimens collected in the field and will introduce students to the preparation of properly curated herbarium specimens. The goal of the workshop is to provide participants with the confidence, basic knowledge, and skill to pursue further study of mosses and their allies on their own. No prior experience in identifying these plants is assumed.
Dr. Fred Olday (folday@gmail.com) has previously instructed in botany, chemistry, and soils at University of Massachusetts Lowell and at College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine. Following his retirement, he has returned to College of the Atlantic where he presently teaches courses in bryophyte and lichen biology. He spends as much time in the outdoors as possible where he divides his time between hiking, trail clearing, and becoming more familiar with the local bryophyte and lichen floras.
http://eaglehill.us/programs/fall-workshops/fall-workshops.shtml