Education Program

Vegetation Rapid Assessment:
Primary Instructors: Todd Keeler Wolf, Jennifer Buck, Rachelle Boul
Location: Donner Summit

Course Description: The California Native Plant Society (CNPS), the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG), present a Vegetation Rapid Assessment workshop near Donner Summit. The course will be a combination of lecture and field exercises in vegetation sampling. The course will focus on collecting data using the CNPS Rapid Assessment protocol. We will discuss applications of fine-scale vegetation sampling, classification and mapping, how to document rare natural communities, and how vegetation information fits into planning documents.

Full Description (PDF 160 k)
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Introduction to the second edition of A Manual of California Vegetation
Primary Instructors and authors: Todd Keeler Wolf, John O. Sawyer, Julie Evens

Location: A 3-day transect across the central Sierra Nevada, from the foothills to the eastern Sierra. We will begin at Calaveras Big Trees and end at Grover Hot Springs Valley, near Markleeville. (See map)

The authors will debut the greatly expanded second edition of A Manual of California Vegetation. They will provide an overview of additions and changes to the manual, including new vegetation types recognized or redefined across many habitats. You will learn how to use the new manual, in the field as we traverse a variety of vegetation types in the Sierra Nevada, as well as its uses for conservation and management.

Full Description (PDF 250 k)
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Print and mail registration form (PDF 25k)

Legends of the Fall: exploring the clandestine flora of early fall in the eastern Mojave Desert
Primary Instructors: James M. Andre & Tasha La Doux
Location: UC Granite Mountains Desert Research Center

Course Description: Few botanists journey out in the late summer or early fall in search of colorful blooms of California’s desert plants. Yet the early fall bloom in the eastern Mojave Desert can be more reliable than the more popular spring blooms. Approximately 10% of eastern Mojave annuals are considered “summer annuals”, species that germinate following the monsoonal cloudbursts of summer, grow rapidly, and complete the life cycle before temperatures decline sharply in fall. In addition, many perennial species flower in early fall, particularly those of the Asteraceae, Poaceae, and Polygonaceae. This course will introduce botanists to the ecology and taxonomy of the diverse flora of early fall in the eastern Mojave Desert, with special emphasis on rare or unique species. Participants should have moderate to advanced taxonomic skills. Field trips will include moderate to short day hikes.

Registration and detailed information available here soon

Vegetation Mapping
Primary Instructors: Todd Keeler-Wolf, Julie Evens, Anne Klein, Jennifer Buck, Rachelle Boul
Location: Mulford Hall, UC Berkeley and Marin Municipal Water District, Fairfax

Course Description: Please join CNPS and California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG for a three-day, vegetation mapping workshop, hosted by University of California Berkeley’s Geospatial Imaging and Informatics facility and Marin Municipal Watershed District (MMWD), Mount Tamalpais. This workshop will be a combination of field and computer exercises in fine-scale vegetation mapping. Participants will learn about vegetation sampling, classification, and photo interpretation. They will collect reconnaissance samples to support a Vegetation classification and map and practice techniques of photo interpretation, delineation, and attribution. They will use accuracy assessment to validate a vegetation map.

Registration and detailed information available here soon