Field trips are a great way to experience the Olympia-Washington area,

to engage with fellow scientists, and to have fun! 

You may order a catered lunch by March 22nd?    menu & cost

Check registration table for availability, confirm logistics, and other information!

NEW!! Lichens of the Deschutes Fall County Park, 8:30am - 1:30pm

Sign-up is at the Registration Table

meeting location: Vans & Car-Pooling in Parking Lot B

meeting time:  8:00am or so & ready to leave at 8:30am

This recently re-opened park is about 45 minutes from Olympia, and features a river with waterfalls surrounded by oaks and conifers.  There are interesting lichen communities to checkout and Lichenologist Jeanne Ponzetti will lead this trip. 

Find out more about the park at: http://www.co.thurston.wa.us/parks/parks-deschutes-falls.htm

Come prepared with appropriate foot gear, rain gear, a hand-lens, lunch, and water.

Bryophytes, Lichens, & Ecosystem Ecology of Acidic Peatlands, 8:30am - 1:30pm   full details!  

meeting location: Vans & Car-Pooling in Parking Lot B

meeting time:  8:00am or so & ready to leave at 8:30am

Acidic peatlands (also known as bogs and poor fens) develop distinct biotic composition and structure due to their low pH and poor nutrient content.  We will explore the diversity and patterns of vascular plants, bryophytes, and lichens across various ecological gradients that characterize these peatlands. Washington DNR Vegetation Ecologist, Joe Rocchio, will discuss how various Sphagnum species are the primary ecosystem driver and indicators of ecological condition in these acidic peatlands.  The trip will see close to 10 species of Sphagnum, other common mosses, and the adjacent lichen community.  Waterproof hiking boots may keep your feet dry but rubber boots are a better bet. 
Come prepared with rubber boots, rain gear, a hand-lens, lunch, and water.

Prairies of the South Sound: Conservation & Restoration    full details!

meeting location: Vans in Parking Lot B

meeting time:  8:30 am or so & ready to leave at 9:00am

The prairies and oak woodlands of western Washington host a wide range of native plants and animals, many of which are rare due to declining habitat availability.  Additionally, traditional cultural practices, such as fire and native plant harvesting, have largely been lost.  Over the last 15 years the scale and complexity of restoration efforts have grown across this landscape to restore historical disturbances and diversity while considering desired future conditions.  On this field trip we will visit a regional native seed farm and two native prairies to learn about seed sourcing and seed production in a restoration context, fire ecology and rare species, and adaptive management in a system with shifting restoration priorities.

Using Small Unmanned Aircraft to Inform Natural Resource Management: 

               Applications by the Washington Department of Natural Resources   full details!

meeting location & time: campus at Lab II, 1223A and 1223B - 8am

The Washington State Department of Natural Resources manages more than 5.6 million acres of trust lands for revenue production and conservation.  Accurate and timely survey data is critical to many trust management objectives.  Small unmanned aircraft (sUAS) can rapidly collect high-resolution two- and three-dimensional geographic data to inform silvicultural treatments, habitat goals, and to monitor change over time.  sUAS have the potential to automate surveys that previously required dangerous and tedious field work, while collecting full-coverage data that reduces the effects of sampling.  sUAS data also acts as a permanent visual record of site conditions for future reference, and is easy for non-specialists to share, understand, and appreciate. Using both classroom and field exercises we will demonstrate how sUAS are used to collect data as well as describe how the resulting two- and three-dimensional data products help DNR address numerous natural resource management issues such as old growth delineation, precommercial thinning, landslide volume and scope estimation, and more.  If time allows we will use sUAS to estimate the size, density, and structural variability of a forest area on the Evergreen State College campus.