Seaweeds of the West Coast: A Weekend Field Course

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Friday, June 19th, 2015

This 3-day field course, based out of the Tofino Botanical Gardens, will introduce participants 
to the wonderful world of West Coast Seaweeds.

Topics to be covered:
• Introduction to seaweeds - what are they, and what is their role in coastal ecology?
• Biodiversity and ecology of west coast seaweeds
• Essentials of collecting and identifying seaweeds in the field

• Seaweed foraging and the relationship between seaweeds and people
• Pressing and preserving seaweeds

Friday, June 19th
• Introductory presentation: An overview of west coast seaweeds, different seaweed groups, role of seaweeds in coastal marine ecosystems.

Saturday, June 20th

• Field trip to explore seaweeds on Tofino’s rocky coast and practice naturalist skills, including fundamentals of seaweed identification.
• Collection of seaweeds at field site - bring journals and cameras to record habitat info.

• Seaweed identification and pressing workshop.
• Practice using dichotomous keys, field guides and online databases to identify unknown specimens.
• Create your own scientific and artistic seaweed presses.
• Seaweeds and people: from traditional uses to modern foraging, and everything in between

Sunday, June 21th

• Putting it all together: field trip to identify seaweeds and their communities in nature, including opportunities to share what you’ve learned with the group. Group lunch and course wrap-up.

Course Registration is $240 per person (incl.tax), including lunch on Saturday and Sunday

Dr. Caroline Fox is a conservation scientist and postdoctoral fellow with Raincoast Conservation Foundation and the Department of Geography at the University of Victoria. Her research interests revolve around marine-terrestrial interactions, marine predator ecology and the study of human impacts in marine ecosystems. As a big-picture ecologist, her research spans a diversity of coastal ecosystems and taxa, including kelp forests, seabirds and black bears. She teaches marine ecology and conservation courses at the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre, provides outreach and communications for Raincoast Conservation Foundation and spends time exploring the wild British Columbian coast.

Register at:
http://raincoasteducation.org/register

Please register by June 13th