From Novice to Naturalist with SFI

Lynn Ransford on a mushroom hike On September 13th, student Lynn Ransford officially met all the requirements to be recognized as a Siskiyou Naturalist by SFI, a certification she originally started working toward in 2008! We spoke with Lynn about her most memorable experiences completing the certificate, how the opportunity to volunteer as a course … Read more

“Spirit of the Forest” by Debbie Catalina

 Photos by Kathleen Pyle June fifth. Still spring. Delicious mist blanketing the valley. My car hugging the twisting, curving road, the road hugging the higher ground, and the high ground itself hugging the selvages of great flat stretching southward. Thoughts wandered. What would our class be like? What would the other students be like? What … Read more

Field Sketching by Mary Raby

Just wanted to share some of my pictures from the field sketching class taught by Linda Vorobik. The class was fun, relaxed, and inspiring. I learned about plant identification and botany — this was my goal but I was pleasantly surprised to also get an art class complete with field sessions and helpful critiques. Thank you, Siskiyou Field Institute, for such quality learning in such a beautiful setting.

— Mary Raby

Vancouveria by MR
Vancouveria hexandra, the inside-out flower.
Darlingtonia
A darlingtonia photographed by Mary Raby.

 

 

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Mary sketching beside a stream outside O’Brien.
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Some of the sketch-worthy forms we saw in the field included a convolvulus

 

 

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a lomatium, or desert parsley,
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a sedum
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and the colorful leaf bracts of an Indian paintbrush.