Registration is free for members and a $10 donation for non-members.
REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED FOR THIS PROGRAM
This program is a partnership between the Mountain Top Arboretum and the New York Flora Association to help anyone of any level of expertise who is interested in plant identification to identify shrub species in a relaxed and supportive way. We will spend our time acquiring the tools necessary to correctly identify native shrubs primarily during the growing season. We will focus on common New York species.
Shrub Identification is based on two premises:
1. Each shrub species has a suite of characteristics that, taken, together, serve to separate it from other shrub species, i.e. leaf and twig arrangement, leaf shape, bark color, bark texture, odor, growth form, etc.; and,
2. By asking certain questions in a logical, consistent and systematic way one can focus on the characteristics that separate species, i.e. Is the branching opposite or alternate? Are the leaves entire or toothed? Is this a species that grows in wetlands or uplands? Etc.
Dan retired from the Adirondack Park Agency in 2012 after a 27+ year career, where he served as Supervisor of the Resource Analysis and Scientific Services division since 2005. He has been a member of the New York Flora Association and of the Adirondack Botanical Society since their inceptions, and presently serves as President of NYFA. He co-authored the NYS Freshwater Wetlands Delineation Manual (1995), developed the NYS Adirondack Park Agency Compensatory Wetlands Mitigation Guidelines (1996), and served on the NYS Invasive Species Task Force Steering Committee (2005). Dan has been an adjunct lecturer at SUNY Plattsburgh and at Paul Smith's College on wetlands ecology and landscape scale environmental assessment. He is a professional musician playing bass in a jazz band. Winter will find him on Nordic skates on wild ice and summer will find him hiking, biking, botanizing, Odonata hunting and canoeing.
A.A.S. Forestry/Forest Recreation (1976); Paul Smith's College.
A.S. Biological Sciences (1980); Orange County Community College.
B.S. Environmental and Forest Biology (1982); SUNY ESF.
M.S. Environmental and Forest Biology (Plant Ecology) (1985); SUNY ESF.