EDUCATION

FIELD COURSES

Important General Information

The remoteness of this field site will require participants to camp in tents on the Preserve. Meals will be provided at a rustic cabin near the campsite.  There is no access to electricity, running water, cellular telephone reception or the internet. To view a recommended equipment list, click here.  

For further information, or to register, contact:

Stephen Langdon, Project Manager
Shingle Shanty Preserve and Research Station
shingleshantyresearch@gmail.com
(518) 593-5723

Ecology of Mosses and Liverworts
Instructor: Sean Robinson
June 27th through July 1st, 2011

REGISTRATION CLOSED

This course is an opportunity to learn about a group of plants that are often overlooked, the mosses and liverworts. Bryology  (the study of mosses, liverworts and hornworts) is a fascinating field that reveals much about the importance of ecology from a very small scale to a global scale. The course will consist of field work in different habitats followed by laboratory time with microscopes. 

Sean Robinson is a Lecturer at SUNY Oneonta who specializes in the study of Mosses and Liverworts. He was a Research Fellow at the New York State Museum and is finishing a PhD at SUNY Albany. Sean’s research in the Adirondacks has been focused on the population genetics of species of Sphagnum moss on the Adirondack alpine summits.

Academic credit should be arranged through participant’s institution.

Costs:
Tuition $425 
Food $125 

Maximum Participants: 8
Minimum Participants: 5

Adirondack Wetland Plants and Plant Communities
Instructor: Jerry Jenkins
August 11th - 15th, 2011

REGISTRATION CLOSED

This 5 day field course is a rare opportunity to learn from one of the most experienced botanists and researchers in the Northeast, Jerry Jenkins. The course will explore the structure, relationships, and identification of about 100 characteristic plants in 5 major wetland communities on the Shingle Shanty Preserve; ecology of dominant species; wetland structure and dynamics; climate change, acid deposition, and other conservation issues affecting wetlands.
 
Jerry Jenkins is a researcher with the Wildlife Conservation Society that has over 40 years of experience as a field botanist, educator and researcher in the Northern Forest. He has authored and co-authored numerous books, technical reports and field guides including Climate Change in the Adirondacks and The Adirondack Atlas.

Academic credit should be arranged through participant’s institution.
 
Costs:
Tuition $425
Food $125

Maximum Participants: 8
Minimum Participants: 5

Fantastic Fungi of the Adirondacks
Instructor: Rick Van de Poll, Ph.D.
August 16th - 19th, 2011

REGISTRATION CLOSED

This short course on Mycology will introduce the beginner and amateur mushroomer to the intricate world of higher fungi in the Adirondacks. For beginners, this course will introduce basic ecological concepts as well as the major macro-fungi groups. For someone familiar with these 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 fresh specimens and diagnostic keys. Habitat and occurrence information collected by the instructor over the past 30 years will be shared with participants. Recommendations on the best keys to use for particular genera will augment the use of available reference materials. The focus will be on Basidiomycetes, although selected Ascomycetes will be discussed as well. Daily forays will explore the varied habitats of the Shingle Shanty Preserve, and will include the safe collection and (optional) consumption of wild mushrooms.

Baskets and 10x hand lens required.  Please bring your favorite reference guides as well.

Dr. Rick Van de Poll is the principal of Ecosystem Management Consultants (EMC) of Sandwich, New Hampshire. Beginning in the mid-1980’s, his company was one of the first to perform natural resource inventories for the public and private sector of New England. With an emphasis on biodiversity conservation, Dr. Van de Poll has included inventories of fungi among many of his projects. Dr. Van de Poll has completed field-based biological inventories on over 150,000 acres of land, most of which included floristic analyses of fungi. He has recorded over 1300 mushrooms in New Hampshire, including a number of undescribed species. After studying with Dr. Harry Thiers at San Francisco State University for 2 years, he taught Mycology at Antioch New England from 1985 to 2001, and currently teaches Mycology as an adjunct faculty at Plymouth State University. As an instructor, Rick has presented dozens of walks and workshops throughout New England. He co-founded the Monadnock Mushroom Club in SE NH in 1988, and founded the local Sandwich (NH) Area Mushroom (SAM) Club in 2001.

Costs:
Tuition TBD
Food TBD

Maximum Participants: 8
Minimum Participants: 5

WILD CENTER BIRDING FIELD TRIPS

The Wild Center periodically holds members only birding field trip at the Preserve. For more information on these field trips and others open to members of the Wild Center, please view this PDF (click to view). All inquiries regarding these field trips should be directed to the Wild Center at (518) 359-7800 ext. 116.

Female Black-backed Woodpecker (Picoides arcticus). This boreal species is a common sight along Shingle Shanty Brook. The Black-backed Woodpecker, like the American Three-toed Woodpecker (Picoides tridactylus), feeds by flaking off the bark of dead conifers.

A white form of the typically blue Bottle Gentian (Gentiana andrewsii). This is a threatened species in New York, but is abundant in the Preserve.

Shingle Shanty Preserve and Research Station is a member of the Organization of Biological Field Stations.

Shingle Shanty Preserve and Research Station is partners with The Wild Center.