Workshops & Seminars
ASLE is pleased to list workshops or seminars that may be of interest to our members. To post a listing for your event here, please send relevant information to the ASLE Managing Director, including registration deadlines and contact information.
May 1, 2010. Call for Creative Writers: The Mount St. Helens Field Residencies, July 18-24, 2010. Sponsored by the Spring Creek Project for Ideas, Nature and the Written Word at Oregon State University; the US Forest Service; and the Andrews Forest Long-Term Ecological Research group.
Creative writers whose work in any genre reflects a keen awareness of the natural world and an appreciation for both scientific and literary ways of knowing are invited to apply for a weeklong writing residency at Mount St. Helens. The Mount St. Helens Field Residencies will take place July 18-24, 2010, with a base camp near Randle, WA, and will be held in conjunction with the 2010 Mount St. Helens Science Pulse, a gathering of ecologists and research scientists who are engaged in field work on Mount St. Helens. Residency writers will be able to join ecologists on field trips to various locations on Mount St. Helens, interact informally with scientists, and to focus on writing projects that embody creative responses to the volcano and its varied landscapes and the role of volcanic landscapes in the imagination and culture of the Northwest.
For the Mount St. Helens Field Residencies, writers will be provided:
• campsites at a private campground near Mount St. Helens (Bring your own camping gear. See the Spring Creek website for more information on the campground.)
• all meals provided by a camp caterer
• field trips to Mount St. Helens research sites and trailheads
• opportunities to interact with research scientists
• opportunities to write and have their writings included in The Volcano Log
• an honorarium of $1,000
• a copy of In the Blast Zone: Catastrophe and Renewal on Mount St. Helens
Deadline for applications is May 1, 2010. See the attached Call for Applications for more details, or visit the Spring Creek website http://springcreek.oregonstate.edu/.
May 1, 2010. Tecumseh Land Trust’s Responding to Nature workshop, at the Glen Helen Building on the edge of Antioch College’s beautiful 1,000-acre nature preserve in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Tecumseh Land Trust is the organization that has preserved from urban development the historically important site of the old Shawnee village at Old Town.
As part of TLT’s celebration of its 20th anniversary, the one-day workshop will focus on artful responses to nature, particularly writing and drawing, and include informative displays—a great chance to sell books and distribute materials about your publication and/or organization.
Local writers Ed Davis, Bill Felker, Bill Vernon, and artist Julie Karlson will lead WORKSHOP SESSIONS, which will precede THEMED HIKES into Glen Helen with experts knowledgeable on everything from birds to history to geology. Then “FREE TIME” will allow for immediate ARTFUL RESPONSES that the hikes might inspire, with small discussion groups devoted to these responses following. Finally, a WRAP-UP SESSION will feature some of the writing and art generated by these groups.
Concurrent with the workshop, displays will emphasize material from nature-oriented organizations, magazines and books, flyers with publication information and subscription forms. Authors and publishers are invited to attend, offer their books for sale and chat with participants. For publishers and authors unable to attend, we’ll be glad to display the free material, overseen by Tecumseh Land Trust volunteers, if received before the event.
Your participation assures you the chance for a peaceful day in nature as well as an inspirational educational and networking opportunity. Also, you’ll be benefitting Tecumseh Land Trust, an award-winning organization with over 17,000 acres of farm land preserved so far, mostly in Greene County, Ohio.
Please let us know if you’d like to participate and we will send you the details. Send requests to cathy@tecumsehlandtrust.org.
May 13-22, 2010. NEW! Graduate and Professional Course: Conservation Conflict Resolution. Smithsonian-Mason Global Conservation Studies Programs, at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (formerly CRC), Front Royal, Virginia.
Conservation Conflict Resolution, an intensive 10-day experiential training course, is a must for anyone addressing conservation conflicts, whether these are conflicts between people and wildlife or between people about wildlife or other natural resources. To reach our conservation goals more effectively, we need to better analyze conflict dynamics, anticipate and address arising conflicts, and reconcile old conflicts which impede new progress. We also need to understand how struggles about identity, status, and group recognition play into conservation conflicts.
A collaborative learning approach combined with peer-to-peer consulting among participants and instructors are course hallmarks that provide rich classroom experiences and a unique post-course professional network. Employing principles developed by a leading conflict resolution training organization, the Human-Wildlife Conflict Collaboration (HWCC), this course teaches strategies and processes for effectively addressing conservation-related conflicts, including:
• The role of neutrality in conflict prevention and reconciliation
• Effective conflict-resolving communication techniques
• Applying conflict analysis and process models to develop real-life conflict resolution plans
The course fee is $2,500, which includes instruction and course materials plus all meals, lodging, and ground transport to/from Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD). All other travel costs and incidental expenses are the participant’s responsibility. Participants earn Continuing Education Units, or graduate credits are available through Mason for qualified applicants, at additional cost (and upon completion of further course requirements).
Smithsonian-Mason Global Conservation Studies course participants engage in dynamic learning communities, build lifelong professional networks, and connect with valuable conservation resources.
Contact zootraining@si.edu or visit www.conservationtraining.si.edu for more information.
May 16-28, 2010. Species Monitoring and Conservation: AMPHIBIANS. Course offered through the Smithsonian-Mason Global Conservation Studies Programs, at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (formerly CRC), Front Royal, Virginia.
This course engages graduate students and practitioners in developing skills, approaches and solutions applicable to the worldwide extinction crisis affecting amphibians. Course participants explore the many tools and techniques for in-situ and ex-situ amphibian research and conservation practice. The curriculum includes: Amphibian biology and ecology Habitat monitoring and management Species monitoring plans Field techniques and collection methods Lab techniques: toxicology, pathology, specimen preparation and genetics Captive breeding and husbandry Community outreach and education
The course fee is $2,750, which includes instruction and course materials as well as all meals, lodging, and transport to/from Washington-Dulles International Airport (IAD). All other travel costs are the participant’s responsibility. Course participants earn Continuing Education Units, or graduate credits are available through Mason for qualified applicants, at additional cost (and upon completion of further course requirements).
Smithsonian-Mason Global Conservation Studies course participants engage in dynamic learning communities, build lifelong professional networks and connect with valuable conservation resources.
For more information, visit www.conservationtraining.si.edu or e-mail zootraining@si.edu
June 4 – 9, 2010. Writing & Meditation: A Way with Words. Novelist Ruth Ozeki will be leading a residential writing retreat and workshop at the Hollyhock Educational Retreat Centre on Cortes Island, British Columbia, Canada.
Writing and meditation have much in common. As contemplative practices, they require a balance of relaxation and rigor, of mental focus and spaciousness of mind. As sitting practices, they train us to be with our stories, embody them, and let them go. And as transformative practices, they have the power to inspire and change the practitioner and the world.
In this workshop, participants will experience how attentive sitting can spark creativity and enrich expression on the page. We will work with our physical selves and senses to write in more fully embodied language, and we will introduce guided meditations designed to support and enhance key elements of the writer’s craft, such as characterization, voice, plot, and point of view.
In a supportive and nonjudgmental environment, we will have time to sit, and write, and read, and talk about our writing. We will share work, receive feedback, and leave with foundational meditation and writing practices that we can take back to our everyday lives.
The workshop will provide ample time for being outdoors and writing in nature. Hollyhock, located on Cortes Island, B.C., is a stunningly beautiful educational and health retreat centre, which offers opportunities for hiking, kayaking, and naturalist guided walks, as well as massage, yoga, hot tubs, and delicious vegetarian meals.
This workshop is open to writers, meditators, educators, and all who are interested in fiction, or non-fiction, or something in-between. All levels are welcome and no previous meditation experience is necessary.
Ruth Ozeki is a filmmaker, novelist and the author of the muck-racking eco-novels, My Year of Meats, and All Over Creation. She gave the keynote at the 2009 ASLE conference in Victoria, B.C., where she was delighted to receive an honorary ASLE membership. Ruth will be leading this workshop with Kate McCandless, who is a poet, a Zen Buddhist priest and a clinical counselor working in hospice and bereavement care in Vancouver, B.C.
For more information and to register, please visit www.hollyhock.ca.
July 19-30, 2010. SPATIAL ECOLOGY, GEOSPATIAL ANALYSIS, AND REMOTE SENSING FOR CONSERVATION. Course offered through the Smithsonian-Mason Global Conservation Studies Programs, at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (formerly CRC), Front Royal, Virginia.
Our world is changing rapidly. Environmental changes occur over areas so large and time spans so long they often escape human perception, sometimes with catastrophic consequences. Geospatial analysis techniques have radically transformed our ability to detect, monitor, map, and model these changes. Advances in spatial ecology allow us to analyze these data to develop both ecological theory and conservation applications.
Taught by SCBI researchers, this hands-on, 10-day intensive course is designed for anyone seeking expertise in using geospatial technologies to monitor biological systems and quantify the effects of human-induced global changes on wildlife and biodiversity conservation. Assigned their own SCBI desktop computer for all lab exercises, participants learn to use ArcMap, Spatial Analyst, ERDAS Imagine, and other programs. By the course’s end, participants will: Perform basic geospatial analysis; Conduct remote sensing analysis and use satellite data to make land cover and habitat maps; Collect GIS data in the field using statistical sampling and GPS; Conduct a basic land cover change assessment using satellite imagery; Link species presence/absence or abundance data in a GIS; Compare existing techniques for modeling species habitat, niche selection, and distribution; Apply advanced spatial analysis techniques to real-world conservation and ecology problems, with case examples based on Smithsonian research.
The $2,500 course fee includes instruction/lab use/course materials, Washington-Dulles (IAD) International Airport transfers, and local transport between lab/restaurants. Meals (~ $25/day), lodging (~ $70/day), and other expenses are the participant’s responsibility. Contact us to book discounted lodging with daily lab/hotel shuttle. Participants earn Continuing Education Units, or graduate credits are available through Mason for qualified applicants, at additional cost (and after completing further course requirements). Smithsonian-Mason Global Conservation Studies course participants engage in dynamic learning communities, build lifelong professional networks, and connect with valuable conservation resources.
For more information, visit www.conservationtraining.si.edu or e-mail zootraining@si.edu
July 26th – 31st, 2010, Medomak Retreat Center in Washington, Maine: the 7th annual workshop led by Tom Wessels of Antioch New England. Deforestation, urban sprawl, agriculture, and other human influences have substantially altered and fragmented our landscape. All the more reason we need the opportunity for continuing education when it comes to promoting healthy land use in America. Professor and author Tom Wessels presents a multi-day workshop like no other, where one can explore the issues in-depth far beyond the headlines. In “Reading the Forested Landscape” Mr. Wessels takes readers on a physical and cultural investigation of the forests, fields and streams to reveal the scientific evidence that proves something must be done NOW to restore balance to this earth.
During this retreat, participants will hike the historic property of Medomak Camp – a camp established in 1904 and a property of pristine forests, fields and lake; investigate Acadia National Park, and learn while exploring the forests outside Camden in the Coastal Mountains’ Land Trust - Fernald’s Neck Preserve.
This is the only extended workshop Tom facilitates each year. Space is limited to provide an intimate setting and the opportunity to interact with Wessels and learn his techniques. A keen sense of observation is valuable when it comes to reading the landscape. Because of the length of the retreat attendees have the opportunity to attend multiple field studies, ask wide-ranging questions and discuss points of interest with Wessels.
To learn more go to http://www.medomakcamp.com/wessels.php , call us toll free at 866-633-6625 or email us at retreats@medomakcamp.com.
Written In Nature
Writing School and Retreat offering writing lessons & women's retreats
in Bragg Creek and British Columbia, Canada. (Ongoing)