Field Botany

Catalog description

How does one understand nature if not by the power of careful observation? This course seeks to use natural history to inspire an interest in the natural world right here in the geologically fascinating Finger Lakes region. We will embark on an exploration of a variety of local habitats including old growth forests, secondary forests, swamps, old fields, hills, and gorges that the Finger Lakes region is known for. We will build foundational field methods skills including taking field notes, assessing species richness, observing ecological interactions, and collecting specimens for herbarium deposition. Finally, we will revisit our first field site in the last class to make observations about changing phenology and the potential of collecting timeseries data.