Yellowstone Association Institute winter season field seminars

November 5, 7:05 PMRV Travel ExaminerKeith Bennett

Previous Next

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the RV Travel Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Nov. 5, 2009 – In Yellowstone National Park, travelers often fit into one of two categories: those who briefly wonder what kind of animal made a track in the snow, and then move on, and those who wonder, and then find out. Travelers in the latter category fit perfectly the profile of the typical Yellowstone Association Institute (YAI) Field Seminar student.

The nonprofit Yellowstone Association educates Yellowstone National Park visitors by offering trip planners, books, videos, and guided classes through Yellowstone Park by our field institute. The Yellowstone Association is located in Yellowstone National Park and promotes preservation of Yellowstone National Park through its educational Park Store bookstores, publication of books, and funding provided to Yellowstone through membership and sales of educational materials to park visitors. Since 1933, the Yellowstone Association has been the National Park Service’s official partner in education in Yellowstone National Park.
 

Field Seminar themes vary widely. Examples include:

• Food for the Masses – Researching How Yellowstone’s Wolves Affect Scavengers, Nov. 17-23, Nov. 23-29, Nov. 29 – Dec. 5, Dec. 5-11, $700. Offered four times this year, this popular program allows students to become part of an actual research team. Institute instructors take participants into prime wolf habitat to help with a variety of research projects. The project and seminar are particularly relevant this winter as January 2010 is the 15th anniversary of the reintroduction of wolves to the park.

• Wilderness First Aid, Jan. 8-9, $230. This 16-hour certification course teaches hikers, skiers and outdoor professionals how to respond in a backcountry emergency. Students learn a variety of skills for treating shock, wilderness wounds and other medical situations requiring backcountry emergency care.

• Secrets of the Snow, Jan. 21 – 23, $225. New this year, this seminar teaches participants to become snow scientists, at least for two days. Instructed by one of the world’s foremost winter ecologists, James Halfpenny, Ph.D., participants learn to dig and analyze snow pits to gather data that may tell how the winter conditions will affect the park’s ecology, including its plants and wildlife.

• The Artistic Journal in Deep Winter, Feb. 25-28, $420. Also new this year, students experiment with words and drawings to note their experiences in backcountry Yellowstone. Instructor Eleanor Williams Clark, M.L.A., leads participants into a variety of settings to observe wildlife and landscapes that will inspire creativity and introspection.

• Yellowstone’s Winter Serengeti, March 22-24, $300. Instructor Jim Garry, M.S., leads participants deep into Lamar Valley, known as the Serengeti of North America because of the abundance of wildlife. Participants will learn about the behavior and observe bison, elk, deer, bighorn sheep, fox, wolves, coyote and river otter.
 

For more information visit their website at:http://www.yellowstoneassociation.org/default.aspx

Happy Camping