Location:  Field Seminars Center, 1895 Fall River Road, Estes Park, Colorado

Time:               8:30AM-4:30PM  (each day)

Course Description: 

Besides Columbine, Chokecherry, and Blue Spruce, there are hundreds of interesting plants in the Rocky Mountains!  Do you want to know how to identify flowers, shrubs, and trees?  This course includes short classroom sessions followed by field excursions to the montane, subalpine, and alpine life zones in Rocky Mountain National Park to learn about plants and their families.  We will look at plants and use hand lenses to reveal structural details and identify specific plants.  Field trips include hikes from 7,500 to 12, 000 feet above sea level in variable weather conditions.  If you want to know more about plants, and develop techniques to identify them, this class is for you.

Course Level:  III

Moderate hikes of less than five miles per day with elevation gain of less than 1,000 ft.

Brief Instructor Biography (additional information available at www.rmna.org):

Karin Edwards- Karin Edwards earned a Forestry degree from the University of Montana in Missoula.  She has worked as a field botanist for the National Vegetation Mapping Project in Rocky Mountain National Park (CO), Fossil Butte National Monument (WY), Craters of the Moon National Monument and Hagerman Fossil Beds (ID), Dinosaur National Monument (CO), Parashant National Monument (AZ), Curecanti National Recreation Area (CO), Canyonlands National Park (UT), Cedar Breaks National Monument (UT), Lake Mead National Recreation Area (NV, AZ), Mojave National Preserve (CA), Death Valley National Park (CA, NV), and Great Basin Nation Park (NV).  Karin co-created a noxious weed booklet for ELSA (Estes Land Stewardship Association) in 2011, and authored newspaper articles that highlighted problematic weeds in the Estes Valley.  

Expectations:  Professional conduct will be expected from participants at all times.  Individual ideas will be respected.  Except during course breaks, cellular phones, pagers, and personal entertainment devices are strictly prohibited in the classroom and during field sessions.

Car-pooling:

Rocky Mountain Field Seminars courses utilize car-pooling to limit vehicles traveling into the Park.  Car-pooling makes it easier to keep the group together, reduces transit time, and allows courses greater access because fewer parking spaces are required at destinations.  In addition, it provides an opportunity for participants to discuss course material in small groups during transit.  Typically, a few participants from each course volunteer the use of their vehicles for car-pooling to course locations.

Tentative Course Schedule: