Boston Flora

Tag: Antioch University

  • Thursday, February 17, 10:00 am – Garden Club of the Back Bay February Meeting – A Growth of Trees: A Journey Through Time, Online


    No single view of a tree is a fixed snapshot in time that tells the complete story. Join Michael Wojtech and discover how trees grow, reproduce, and interact with their environment across days, weeks, seasons, and years and over varying scales—from the intricate details of buds, flowers, leaves, and bark that we use for species identification to the collaborative roles of trees in ecosystems. Learn more about the function and experience the beauty of characteristics such as peeling bark, overwintering buds, lobed or toothed leaves, flowers by the thousands, and seeds that fly on the wind. This Garden Club of the Back Bay meeting will take place February 17 at 10:00 am.

    Michael Wojtech earned his Masters degree in Conservation Biology at Antioch University New England, where his coursework brought a welcomed, intense immersion into the natural history and ecology of the plants, critters, and other organisms in the landscape. As a naturalist and educator, he strives to share the science and wonder of trees in an accessible and compelling fashion. He writes, photographs, illustrates, and presents programs about the structure, growth processes, and ecology of trees—including their bark, buds, leaves, roots, and wood—for audiences at all levels of experience.  

    Michael previously presented to the Garden Club of the Back Bay in 2013, when he spoke to us about his book, Bark: A Field Guide to Trees of the Northeast.  We are delighted to bring Michael back to speak to us  again!  To learn more about Michael Wojtech, visit his website at http://knowyourtrees.com. Please rsvp by February 11th by clicking HERE.  A ZOOM link will be sent a few days before the program.  The program will not be recorded.

  • Wednesday, June 2, 11:00 am – 1:00 pm – Wolf Trees: Elders of the Eastern Forest, Online

    Massive, charismatic deciduous trees-some more than 300 years old-are sprinkled throughout our woods. Ecologist Michael Gaige reveals the stories these “wolf trees” tell of settlers who cleared mighty forests to make way for pastures and past foresters who sought to cull them. He’ll show how wolf trees, with their advanced age, texture, and structure, support many woodland denizens. You’ll come away convinced that we should cherish them as key elements of our forests and manage them accordingly.

    Michael Gaige is an independent consulting ecologist from upstate New York. His work explores the intersection of nature and cultural history at the landscape level. Michael works with organizations, private landowners, and design teams on park and landscape projects, historical ecology inventories, and conservation planning for natural areas. He holds degrees from Antioch University and Prescott College and has taught field studies programs for 15 years at several colleges and universities. For more than a decade, Michael has been researching the ecology and history of wolf trees. The June 2 online lecture is sponsored by the New York Botanical Garden, and is $65. Register HERE.