Winter Fields and Forests

UMF hosts Symposium Day every years, it's an opportunity for students to present their creative and scholarly work, or research projects they've conducted over the academic year. I started a comprehensive study of our property, using what I learn through course work - it's a nice way to gain practical experience from lectures and reading. I began with a winter botanical study and survey of the plants on our property as well as the surrounding area. It's been an amazing winter, and it was a joy to put the presentation together and share it publicly. It was received better than I could ever have imagined - fellow students and faculty have offered very positive feedback, and several have said they're inspired to go out with a hand lens and see what they can find themselves... exactly what I'd hoped for. I thought I'd share a few sketches from teh preseentation.

Acer rubrum- Red Maple

Acer saccharum- Sugar Maple

I'm hoping, over the course of the summer, to put the sketches and the story online. Not right away though, I still have finals and an end-of-semester project to put together. Gotta go...