Beginner to Intermediate Level Plant Identification Course

Course dates: 9:00am-3:00pm on August 20-22

Learn to identify common trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants found in the various habitats at the Mequon Nature Preserve. Learn the basics of plant identification, how to use a dichotomous plant key, and characteristics of common plant families. The course will be held outdoors, rain or shine, and will involve some light hiking off trail. Please wear long pants and sun protection and bring water and a field lunch. The course is geared towards beginning to intermediate-level botanists, and will be especially useful for those learning how to delineate wetlands or landscape designers who want to learn about native plants, but is open to anyone who wants to learn more about plants.

Instructor:  KRISTI SHERFINSKI is an Assured Wetland Delineator for the State of Wisconsin and she is also a Professional Landscape Architect licensed in the States of Wisconsin and Illinois.  She has an M.S. in Botany & Plant Ecology from Michigan State University and B.S. in Landscape Architecture from UW-Madison. Kristi worked in private consulting as a wetland delineator in Grand Haven, Michigan for six years, conducting wetland delineations in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin.  Kristi then worked for the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission (SEWRPC), where she updated the Wisconsin Wetland Inventory (WWI) and assisted with gathering data for the Natural Resources Protection plan for the seven-county area of southeast Wisconsin.  Kristi has been actively practicing field botany in the Midwest for over 25 years. She started her own company, LANDCO2, seven years ago in order to promote sustainable design with native plants (www.landco2.com ).