From the White Mountains to Baxter State Park, the rugged landscapes of northern New England are certainly thrilling to explore. But in New Hampshire and Maine you will also find that fascinating alpine and wetlands adventures can be had in smaller, more accessible places. The summits of Mt. Kearsarge and Mt. Cardigan in New Hampshire are mostly treeless, allowing for splendid vistas, but they also reveal legacies of a glacial past carved in their rocks. And according to recent census data, Maine’s Rangeley Lakes District has more moose per square foot than any place from away. That’s why the annual moose calling contest is so popular there- not to mention that my brother helps to run it.

For the vast majority of its 4.5 billion year history, the Earth has been much warmer than it is today. The presence of permanent ice in glaciers has occurred only about 20% of the time. We have glaciers now, and we are still in an ice age. The continental ice sheets have been retreating for the last 20,000 years, and we are experiencing one of the interglacial warm periods that happen in typical ice ages.  But if the warmth continues, the glaciers won’t be back for a long time, and we’ll be in a kind of “greenhouse Earth” that has prevailed over about 80% of Earth’s history. What are the possible causes of these periodic warm and cold cycles? What is a possible human contribution? What can humans do to prevent warmer ocean waters and rising seas from degrading things we value, like the coastal cities and beaches we’ve built all over the planet? How could human intervention possibly help us keep a climate we like? Or not?

Flowering plants are the most recently evolved group in the plant world. Yet they have by far the most diversity. Why? They also engender the most human interest- they are the charismatic lions and tigers of the plant world.  As a result, far too many photographs of flowers have already been made- why should we keep trying? What can we try with flower photography that would be new and exciting?

Since the mid-1970s, photography has achieved a parallel status to painting and sculpture in the world’s great art collections. It has also been exceedingly influential in shaping our understanding of nature and culture. Who were the pioneers? Who are revered for their contributions and why? We’ll consider the portfolios of numerous photographers whose work can inspire us to create or immerse ourselves in this great tradition.  (2 class sessions minimum)